Black Face vs White Face

Hei Lian, Bai Lian - direct translation in Chinese, which goes to say that in parenting your kids, there is always the case where either one of the parents would take the role of the stern, fierce, shouting, chasing, in other words the devil one and the other one would be the lovey dovey, soft spoken, anything-can-do, saint-like character...

Ok, I guess you all know where I stand. Yes, the devil one with the two horns. You are SOOOOO absolutely RIGHT!

I guess normally the one who stays at home and face them more would always be the 'hei lian'. What to do? We are seeing their horns growing every SECOND and just can't help but to YELL, YELL and YELL!

Jien sometimes can be so mischievous and he is such a techy-boy at his age. Being a TV addict, he would turn on the TV, computer and sometimes playing daddy's i-Phone and the PSII (which we upload Baby Einsteins and Elmo's shows) all, I repeat -- ALL, at ONE GO!!

Recently this really pissed me off! Actually, it worries me, so it kinda pissed me la! He couldn't care less when we call him. He is so blur and absent minded! He was SO into the thing he is playing or watching! Goodness!

So yesterday nite, I restricted him from watching TV or playing computer. I pulled him down to read with me - all nite. Every time his itchy hand almost touch the button, I would yell and stop him. He jumped and pulled himself back, looking at me and laughing away. That is my boy, never really understand the meaning of scolding...

We actually sat down and do some spelling and drawings. He did well. He asked for his milk later and knocked off fast when in bed after a very very hilarious song of the Micky Mouse Club House which made both hubby and myself laughed so badly (because we tried not to laugh out loud and we don't want him to know that we were laughing!! ;P)......

Kids. No kidding.

Jien at 2.5 yo

It has been a long time since my last blog...miss me??

Anyway, I do miss all of ya...

I was not exactly THAT busy. Anyway, being at home, I noticed my elder son is acting pretty much like a very lonesome child. His main companion is TV and TV alone (oops, I left out his con-the-puter [his- computer, that is the way he pronounces it, on purpose]). Ok ok, yes, he is spoilt to the brim!! 2.5 yo with a computer - laptop to be exact!

I do sneak out to play with him for a while, but I guess that is not enough. Having peer group to play with is a different story all together...

Off late, Jien started to LOVE spelling!! He picked up his old books again with a new interest - to spell, my memorizing of course! He now can spell - cat, dog, bird, papa, mama (no more mrm!), bat, ball and owl. That's all.

Whenever we are out, any signboard that is in bold and catch his attention, he would start to spell out the word. Cute!

But this worry mama starts to get a bit jittery that the son will become 'banana'. Most of my friends' children have this problem of refusing to speak Chinese. Wahhhh!! That is utterly not what we want! I noticed my child will turn into one soon if I do not start talking to him in Chinese NOW. So lately, I purposely talk to him in Chinese, I just don't care if he understands it or not.

Our Chinese 'lessons' which took place in the morning at my last trimester with Jung ended when Jung was born. I speak to Jung in Chinese from the very beginning and I never feel odd about it. But since I started speaking English to Jien, it felt a bit odd to switch though. Sigh...

With all his fantastic fabulous nouns and verbs that he is using and speaking, there are only TWO things that he refuses to say. One small one big. Nope, not 4D or DaMaChai lah please...The small one - wee wee and the big one POO POO!!

Yes, he simply refuses to tell and that make us all very busy searching for clues to avoid the after MESS since he is already off diapers! Gosh! Parents out there, any tips for me please?

He still needs to be fed..well, am I spoiling him??

x x x

With all the points above, I am planning something for him to do. Something BIG and would surely left him in awe and tears..

I will tell you in detail next time...kekeke

四个爸爸 一个午餐

上个星期日, 我请了四个爸爸吃午餐。

那是一个父亲节的月份。

第一个男人, 当然是我老爸。
老爸今年八十岁了。
两鬓斑白的他还是相当健壮。
老爸算是最疼爱我这个老么了。
想想，到我现在要整四十啦，
老爸还会帮我买鱼，买水果。
总是怕我饿坏了。

老爸除了跟他相熟的朋友会滔滔不绝，
和其他人，包括阿哥们和我，
他总是选择沉默，三缄其口。
可是我早知道他的爱。
他爱家，爱老妈，爱孩子 - 爱透了。
但，他就是不会说，不会表达。

爸，您不必说。女儿明白。
女儿我，面对着您，
也变得哑女，顿时语塞。

爸，我爱您！

。。。

第二个男人嘛。。。
犀利了！
打从我没和老爸住在一起，
我就和这男人同居了整整十多年！

老妈的传统思想，要女孩念完中学就好。
你连忙把我从老妈手里抢了我过来，
匆匆地把我给推进大学门拦。
供我，宠我。总是把好的东西往我这里塞。
就从来不计较。也没埋怨你的担子。

他是我三哥。

想当年，他就像老爸一样的管教我。
甚至比起老爸更严肃，更凶！
对他，我总是又爱又怕又敬。

要不是这老三，我没今天。

阿哥，我敬爱你！

。。。

第三个男人 - 我的家翁。

我很感谢他。
因为，他给了我这第四个男人！

。。。

当然，不用说，这第四位 - 是我丈夫；我孩子的爸爸。

我常常跟老公说，
他呀，是我老妈选的。
认识了十多年的朋友，
竟然是在老妈去世的时候再遇上而互产好感！天！

自老爸手里接过了我，
你就像老爸一样呵护、怜惜我。
是几时修来的恩德?

有你，我真的万事足矣！

孩子的爸，希望我们真的能够

携手

白头谐老！

Jung @ 3 months

My baby turned 3 months old last Monday!! How fast!

Recalling the time during confinement, he was such an angel initially, sleeping most of the time and 'behave' so well until the about the 3rd week, the 'wind' in his tummy build up and he was crying relentlessly for about 3 weeks then.

Come Saturdays and Sundays when our maid left us, ooo....it would be such a hectic, restless, mindless, super-busy, super-tired day for me and hubby taking care of the 2 monsters. And baby Jung just seems to cry so hard especially in the evenings before he knocked off... sob sob! I felt like a terrible mother!

Until....

One fine day, I picked up my parenting book again and look for some clues. I knew all the rules but I just want confirmations and a 'pat' on my shoulder to reaffirm myself that my baby is FINE. No baby is born to cry so much and to be hot tempered! There must be something wrong!

I kept hypnotizing myself that I should keep myself HAPPY, POSITIVE so that my baby can sense it. I keep shower him with kisses, strokes, massage and telling him how much I love him even the cry is so loud it could be heard miles away, I swear! That aside, I make sure I do not touch any 'offensive' food for that period. I did not eat any ginger, big onion, garlic, orange, milk, cheese, lemon, etc etc. Mind you, the bread that we baked that period - we use soya milk instead of cow's milk. Yes, to that extend.

Then, one morning, I turned my baby (he sleeps chest down) after his sleep. That particular morning, he gave me the sweetest heart-melting smile!! And from then on, there is no turning back!! He loves smiling to me and hubby every time we carry him, and especially in the morning! What a great way to start off the day! :)

Evening sleeps?? He did cry a bit but not the super loud cry anymore. It was the kind of cry that tells me : Mama, I am tired, I need to sleep now!! Well, before this, he would want us to carry and carry him - DON'T EVER PUT ME DOWN or I will BLAST!!! Whoa, mind you, my record was to carry him more than an hour putting him to sleep! - I am so relieved that was already a HISTORY...phew!

Talking about sleep, one day, like any other days, he was sobbing a bit trying to sleep. I carried him, this way, that way, all ways- all failed. I could feel my temper brewing.....ahhh...I need to stay away from him, to calm down myself. So I just put him down...to back off.

What is wrong?? What have I done wrong?? Then something kinda miracle happens to me : After a while, he kinda quiet down. Myself, still feeling a bit agitated, I just stay put to watch what happen next. Another minute passed. I told myself, give him 5 mins before I pick him up again. Next minute - even more quiet. Next he was seen turning his head, eyes shut and next - zzzzzz away!! Hooray!! I was so used to patting Jien to sleep and I forget that all babies are different. Nowadays, my boy sleeps on his own but sometimes with mama's patting. How easy.

For the past one month, my baby is super sweet baby. The type that anyone would want!!

He feeds about 2 hours intervals and more frequent in the evenings storing up his 'tank' before a long long sleep of 5-6 hours before the next feeding.

He knocked off quite punctually at 8pm. So I could go out with friends for dinner. Or have a short outing with Jien and hubby. This had never happened to me when I had Jien!

He sleeps well in the afternoon and feeds on bottle well too if I do go out for work. I normally left the house in the afternoon to ease out my maid. That is when everyone's tummy is full and happy; the boys are ready to take naps - then vrrooom I go!

He loves his mobil now and love watching his hands!! He suckle his hands too and as usual - very LOUD!! Wakaka!

He is such a dear boy and we all love him so much!

Portrait

Yes, notice I changed my picture on my profile? Oh it was for a corporate member picture thingy and being a last minute person, I got hubby to do it last night for me (while the deadline is TODAY). I was on my simple cotton shirt (about to go to bed), I am tired, so is hubby.. I told him the reason I need the picture and I don't want to look straight and smile (please la, knowing that I am so tired with blood shot eyes, I don't think it would be a good idea to smile...).

Anyway, we sort of get it done. In less then 3 mins. Supermodel just know how to post well and fast! Wakakaka!

Well, I wanted to do it last week but then hubby was on an oversea assignment....is this a good excuse??

This morning, I did some touching up. Ahhhh...too many 'pot-holes' on my face. I don't want to cause uneasiness in the board y'know...ahem...

When I was almost done and actually quite satisfied with it whilst the bugger, Jien, walked in and saw my picture on the screen.

'Mama!!' he exclaimed; when I am about to ask him if the picture is NICE...he blurted out first and said

'Big mole, VERY BIG mole, mama...!!'

Duh....

Walking Again

Last Sunday, a week plus after the cast had been taken off Jien's leg, he was still unable to walk. Or shall I say, he was SO UNWILLING to walk. He stretched, kicked, knelt, crawled macam-macam but just dare not to stand up. He bent his knees immediately when we try to make him stand up. MIL was worried seeing him this way. So that Sunday she kept asking us to take him for physiotherapy treatments. Well, ehhem...what makes her think that our son will listen to the doctor? Knowing him inside out, we just wait. Probably giving him another week. Afterall, he was SUPPOSED to be on cast for another 3 more weeks or so if we do not seek another doctor's advise. We count ourselves lucky to have his leg 'breathing' again. Oh...hubby said that sting when the cast was taken off was TERRIFYING! Just by seeing him bending his knees and swinging his leg freely already make us quite happy.

Anyway, the very next day, I did what I normally did encouraging him to walk a bit. To my surprise, he yielded to me this time and actually walked! I was so delighted and the whole day, he had been either holding my hands or pulling my shirt when walking. It felt good to see him on his both legs again.

Then, the following day, waking up from his loooooong 12 hours sleep, he slipped down the bed and started walking on his OWN! I was smiling from ear to ear then! He walked gingerly and slowly. Seeing my happy face, he grinned too!

Kids, they are simply amazing!

Outing

I have been longing to meet up with friends. I mean in a relax way without my babies with me.

And so I was lucky to be able to attend a wedding lunch the other day, without babies, without hubby. I was chatting away like a bird (please, I hardly talk nowadays! It is hard!) and was enjoying myself with the good food and good company. Catching up with the latest updates is vital for me.

Here is the groom, my course mate, my ex-house mate. Lucky him, he got a sexy wife! :P

I was with a long maxi dress I bought just days before at Lavie. I fall in love with the dress immediately when I laid my eyes on it, it was love at first sight!!

Gugu Gaga

My little one is a little chatty cutie.

He loves talking to his papa especially. He would gugu-gaga and it is like having a conversations.

Everyday, he would have a few sessions of 'conversations' and if you don't understand him and carrying him the wrong way so that he can't face you and 'talk' to you, he would make a fuss!!

How CUTE! ;P

Boutique Lover

Ever since I am a mother, I have been shopping at this little heaven of mine - Lavie, a boutique at Plaza Damas (behind block G) and Grace the owner of the shop has become a friend of mine whom I will see about 4 times a year!! Hahaha!

I simply can't find time to leisurely hunt for nice clothing nowadays. At Lavie, Grace, knowing my taste, likings and SIZE, would continuously flood my changing cubicle with tops or dress for me to keep trying. I save effort and best of all, TIME, shopping there. Of course, she has a good selection of clothings which she sources from Thailand, Korea, etc and she also has some branded stuff which I normally shy away, hahah!! The quality of the material is good I should say. Now, I am her good customer for I always end up buying a few pieces (sometimes 10!!).

The other day, I went there again to grab some new 'simple smart'baju and I bumped into a woman, at the age of 60 and having extremely good figure with size S, goodness!! She is super sanguine (the one wearing white with black prints) and she and Lavie's partner kept us laughing and giggling away the whole afternoon and we all had a wonderful shopping day that day.

And of course, I ended up buying 7 pieces of baju!! Ahhhh! It does feel good to shop! INDEED. :)

Updates

Oh.....what a busy week.

Nope, not because of the kids. Basically I am back to work.

I am very happy to resume work for my partner had been doing SO SO MUCH during my pregnancy and also my long leaves. I was on site checking some of our latest works the other day and not forgetting snapping some pictures of my own. Haha! Not bad, not too fat I thought....

As for my the other baby- the bungalow, well, still snailing and inching away and now it is more of the ID work and I am busy checking out some final details before they proceed on making the built-ins. I love the brightness and airiness of the house. Simple layout and to me, it is NICE. I love this house.









AIRY living room with timber roofing and exposing rafters. I just love it!



As for the other house, the client is very busy checking work on my behalf during my leaves!! Hahaha! She is the 'site officer' now checking all the sub-contractors work. Even the main Contractor does not know some of the NSC! Well, I am still doing my part and give her advise and well, it is a more relaxed work because the main contractor is a better contractor and I am not the ID for the job. My client relied heavily on her ID consultant, so GOOD for me la! :P

And most importantly, I will have some new jobs coming in. SO SO LUCKY. Yesterday, I closed a deal for a bungalow - a good one. But his kind of taste is not my cup of tea....I hope we can meet half way though for the design and outlook of the house.





As for the 2 kiddies at home, they are doing great.

We consulted another doctor last Friday with the title 'Sports' orthopedic and it made a great difference. He took off the cast and did an x-ray and was of the opinion that the bone is growing well and Jien can actually do AWAY with the cast, with IMMEDIATE EFFECT!! Hubby told him that the other doctor's advise was to stick with the cast for another month. Well, he was so confident that it can be taken off and tadaaaaa.............bye bye cast. His only advise is don't let him run, just walking will do. Till today, my boy still have not gather the courage to walk. RUNNING?? Not so soon la. He is now crawling and today, he actually stand up to switch on the TV. See how important the TV is for him?!!

The younger boy is so angelic lately. Sleep well and eat well. Of course, if we are slightly late to cater for what he wants, the loud speaker is still blasting alright! Kekekeke

Conversations

Talking to a toddler can be quite cute..

Passing by the the 'M'..
Jien : Mama, I want Old Mc'Donald Fries.
Me : OK OK!
After buying, I did not give him straight away..
Jien : Mama, I want Old Mc'Donald Fries.
Me : Jien, you can't have it now, it is very hot.
Jien : Mama, I want VERY HOT!

:P

x x x x

It can be quite musical..

The other day, I bought a pair of breast milk storage shells and I have been quite constantly wearing it at night. My boy who always kena hugs from me of course noticed it right away.

For the first time when he accidentally 'touched' it, his first reaction was to quickly moved away (like kena electric shock la) and stared at my breasts and wanted to touch them again which I said no!

After a couple of times, he somehow knew about this hard breasts his mother suddenly had.

One fine day..

Jien : Mama! I want!
Mama : Yes, what do you want?
Jien was looking at my breasts and said

'DRUM'!!


x x x x


Well, sometimes he can talk like a Japanese too (no offense please, sumimasen yo!)

Me : Jien, say 'Mitsubishi'
Jien : Mitsubishi
Me (amazed, wah! Not bad!) : Jien, say hippopotamus.
Jien : Hippopotamus
Me (proud) : Jien, what colour is this ?
Jien : YERROW..........
Me : Alamak!

It takes a Mother...

I was lying down at my usual salon at DH having my hair washed and getting ready for my long due hair cut. My eyes started to well up and tears streamed down my cheeks.

Yes. I was crying.

...

I was happily walking towards the salon and as I reached there, I heard a young lady's screams. Hysteric scream. I stood still. I saw her car all the way up the curb, obviously she reversed her car too fast probably and the whole car went up the wide curb. But her screams sounds panicky and onlookers rushed to help her. Kind Malaysian, I thought. But the face of all onlookers told me something is not right. She was looking down and looked away. Repeatedly.

I waved to my hairdresser and went in. I thought she was just a young girl driving her father's car and now so panicky for she knocked the car....

No..

I was told there is a BODY down there. A small girl. Maybe 3 years old.

My heart shivered. My body felt cold. My fingers went numb. 3? Just like Jien...Tears streamed down.

.....

Later on, the news came back and said that the lady was actually the driver AND the mother of the girl. She could have moved in the wrong gear and reversed too fast and knocked down the little one who was standing on the curb. They said the little one's head was crushed....Tears welled up again.

I don't know how I can be so sentimental. Maybe I am a mother now.

But life seems so fragile. Life can be so cruel, the way the daughter was brought to rest is just simply too unexpected and .........poor mother, how is she going to go through her life now knowing that she is the one who ramped her daughter under the wheels.....

.....

Even after I left the salon, there were still crowds at the site with police and ambulance..

I did not joined them. Yes, useless me. But what can I do? Watching her cry? I don't want to record the scene in my brain. I can go crazy..

With a heavy heart, I uttered a prayer for both the girl and the mother.

Rest in peace, little one. God loves you...

.....

Parenthood

I don't know how to begin writing this.

I was hilarious and merry on my last post and just on the same day, a matter of few hours, I was brought down to the lowest valley. My heart shattered, bled and I was in deep sorrow.

That very day, Jien was pretty much the same. Happily practicing his skill 'hitting' at the mouse and playing with his pass-down computer from me.

Perhaps he played too much on the screen. He was a bit blur, maybe. At night, he requested again to play. We let it be but after an hour or so, we reckoned it was enough for him. He was then showing a bit of tantrum and went to the kitchen and dished out his plastic bowls and ........

as I saw him coming out from the kitchen, I laid Jung for his bedtime. When I came out, Jien was already screaming and crying. He tripped and fell down on the floor and limping to his dad. I thought it was a normal cry. I reached for my phone for a missed call and called back a friend. The cry persisted. Hubby and I suspected something is not right.

After calming him down, he was still complaining of pain and refused to move his left leg. He was unstable emotionally.

We decided to go to the hospital to do an X-ray. We knew our boy would not cry - not this way.

We are right. He got a hairline crack - at his tibia and not his knee cap as we had suspected.

Now we knew why his cry was so heart-wrenching. My heart sank deeper and deeper when I see his tears flow with every small movement he made. It felt like needle pricking my own flesh. I kept holding back my tears for I do not want him to see that.

After the doctor did the cast (half cast), my brave boy was already waving goodbye to the doctor. I AM SO PROUD of him.

His progress in short :

Day 1 : Trauma. He could not sleep well not to mention that it was so hard putting him to sleep. He kept saying ' There, mama, there'. It took me 2 hours to finally put him to sleep. He woke up about 3 to 4 times midnight crying. Poor him. Mama and Papa? Drenched and worned out.

Day 2 : It was a Saturday. Hubby carried him to the living room to watch TV. He was put lying down the whole day. We had to put him on his diapers again. Emotionally not stable still. When aunt and Ah-Mah came to visit, he cried again. But he let his aunt carried him and he was actually in a 'sitting' position then.

It was the worse Saturday for all of us. By night, maid left. I did not made her stay. If only she has the heart to leave and not assisting an injured boy, why keep her?

We were left to nurse for our kids by ourselves. Well, good thing is we are hands-on parents so we are ok but we were drained out and so so so fatigued and knocked out. Jung was not his normal him that day which he would doze off by 7-8pm. He screamed and cried maybe for being too tired waking up the whole evening.

Day 3: Jien could sit up and he is not that bored anymore! Reason: he is on his lap top again. But we are the one that have to keep running to him for assistance to 'click' and 'drag' the mouse. Alamak! By evening, hubby took him to the park with his stroller. He was smiling again for he could get his ice-cream from the convenient shop again. :)

Jien with his make-shift table....

Day 4: Starting to feel bored with his lap top. (well, too slow the speed!) Nonetheless, he perfected the skill to 'click' the mouse. Hahaha! We could tell that the pain somehow wears off already. So at night, we took him to our neighbourhood shopping mall. He was ok in the car on his car seat. :)



Day 5: We noticed some mild rashes and I decided to try putting off his diaper. I lifted him up this morning and put him on his potty, he could do it. So I made him wear his training pants instead. Another improvement. :)

The next X-ray and appointment with the orthopedic will be on Friday. Though doctor had mentioned that it could be 6 long weeks on the cast, we are praying that it could be earlier. Can't wait to see my boy on his feet come running towards me..!

Happy Bird

Oh yes, I am feeling great today. I am not singing like a bird but I do feel like I am flying! Like a bird!

Why? Guess.....:)

a. Hubby is great. He gave me a new mouse for my computer as a Mother's Day gift.
b. My baby Jung is progressing well, he slept well yesterday afternoon.
c. My baby Jung is sleeping well last night.
d. I had a very very good sleep last night.
e. Jien's flu is finally off!
f. Jien is drinking a LOT of water lately, that makes me a happy mom.
g. Jien started to keep his toys if instructed (by me of course)!
h. I had a great session of yoga this morning.
i. I had a slow and relaxed shower this morning.
j. Jung is a happy baby this morning, he FINALLY smiles to me!!

Pick your choice...

And the answer is

YES!! ALL of the above. :)

9th Week

Time flies. Jung is already in his 9th week after birth.

He is such a serious boy. Till today, he has not shown his smile to me, not any of us. Ha ha... I wonder if he is really a choleric... Then it will be fun later as I am more sanguine, hubby a melancholy and Jien, a phlagmatic.

His colic has somehow subsided. Thanks to 'Poh Ying Dan' - a Chinese powdery medicine that I will feed him every morning. Just a little bit. He seems calm and comfortable after taking it and will fall back to sleep after a short session of breastfeeding.

He refuses colic drops. He would hold the drops in mouth and used his tongue to push it ALL out. He would cry with top volume after that with his face turning pitch red! Crying is one thing, sometimes with all this crying, he would puke the milk out! Gosh!! So no more colic drops. Anyway, that Dan also is good for overall health, so ahhhh.....never mind la! After all, my MIL is so happy that I do feed him that.

He loves people to carrying him around. In the park especially. So whenever we find that he had problem going to sleep, we would take him down to the park. It makes us wonder what is in the house that makes him stays awake?? (sounds spooky? ;P)

Well, he feeds on ONE side of my breast only for each feeding MOST of the time. I wonder if he is lazy, or he is sleepy or my breast is SO FULL of milk and he would be FULL so FAST? Sometimes one feeding would take less than 5 mins. So with not enough hind milk, his poo poo has turned watery. God bless us that that only last for 1.5 days, he started to drink longer (though still prefer 1 breast at a time) and the texture of his poo poo also looks better now. See, a mother has to always pay attention to 'SAI'!! Yeah, that is what we do best. kakaka!!

Since he loves cuddling so much, none of us are 'hands free'. And so it makes us all so busy from the minutes he wakes up from his sleeps. He kept changing his nap pattern in the day time especially. He used to sleep for an hour or so but now it is becoming shorter and yesterday, each nap only last for about 20 mins. Just enough for us to go take a nice shower or poo poo!! And then it would be exercise time for us carrying him and walking around the house. I guess I would be so masculine with my big springy muscle to flex on my arms if this carries on!! wakaka!

All right, but one thing sweet about him is he allows me to rest longer at night. His first sleep at night can last about 4 to 5 hours!! Then 3 then 2 then 1.5 and you know that he is about to wake up already...!! haha

Each child is different and I am ever ready to take on the challenge. From the minute I was pregnant with Jung, I was ever ready to take on the responsibility to love and care for this lovely boy of mine no matter what it takes!!