New Kid On The Blog

31-DEC-2009:

Dominic must have felt like he was the luckiest boy in the planet because 3 days after opening all of his birthday presents, he got to open his Christmas presents! He didn't even have enough time to play with all of his birthday toys first.

Okay, so here's what we did on Christmas this year. Early morning, Dom and I headed off to church. After that, we went home to pick Emily and daddy up for lunch. After lunch, we did some groceries (because we were going to have dinner at my brother's place). We were at brother's place from 3pm till after dinner.

First of all, a present from mummy, which is a construction set.

Daddy didn't get him anything because daddy said he doesn't celebrate Christmas. Anyway, daddy didn't get him anything for his birthday either because he already got the cake, according to him.

Next, hmmmm ... what? A box of love letters? Haha! Actually, it was a shirt wrapped in a love letters box.

Ahhh ... this is more like it. :-D Another train set from my brother & wife.

# posted by Skye @ 2:53 am 0 comments

29-DEC-2009:

Dominic turned 4 last week! Boy, I feel so old myself! Anyway, we only had a simple cake-cutting ceremony at home and then the best part for him was eating the cake!

We have been back in Malaysia for almost 5 months now and Dominic seemed to have lost weight. Perhaps it is because he's taller now, which makes him look slimmer. He still weighs 15kg (I think that was his normal weight) and he is 104.5cm tall. As most of you can see, he has tanned quite a bit and you know what, he has started talking Manglish! No more posh London accent.

Four-year-old Dominic often says things that surprise us. All of a sudden he would say, I miss snow. All of a sudden he would ask, how can we bring the car back to London? He still thinks that his red bicycle is "at home" in London (actually daddy has sold it). We think that he has very good negotiation skills. He is never obedient like his cousins. We often have conversations like this:

Him: Mummy, can I drink 100 Plus?
Me: No.
Him: Why?
Me: Because it's too late now and you need to go to bed soon.
Him: At night I can't drink 100 Plus?
Me: Yes.
Him: And in the morning I can drink 100 Plus?
Me: Yes, but not first thing in the morning.
Him: My daddy drinks 100 Plus at night. Why my daddy can drink 100 Plus at night?

Or worse still ...

Him: Last time my daddy let me drink 100 Plus at night!

Dominic's favourite toy is still his train set. He likes to assemble the tracks this way and that and to create a "new design" everyday. He also likes to show off his new design. In London, he was allowed to leave his design on the floor but here, he must tidy up otherwise there won't be space to walk, plus his ma-ma mops the floor about 3 times a day. One day, he asked, Mummy can I buy more tracks? I asked him why and he said, because we're getting a big house. :-D That's right, with the new house, he can have the entire 2nd floor for his train track design.

The most common question that I've been asked these days is whether Dominic is jealous of his sister. Well, thank God the answer is no. Not at all. Not even when Emily sleeps right next to me while he has to sleep in his own bed. The initial excitement of having a sister has worn off a bit. Most of the time he just ignores her these days.

Four-year-old Dominic still wets the bed on most nights. We tried to put him back on nappies but he refused. We mentioned it to his paediatrician when we took Emily for her jab and the doctor said he wouldn't worry about it until he's 6.

Four-year-old Dominic is learning Mandarin. His daddy gives him tuition at night. Problem is, his daddy often teaches him the wrong pronunciation. At least, he now knows quite a few words already and is able to communicate with his grandma. He has also picked up a couple of Cantonese words from us, namely "fan kau" and "or si" because those are the only two things that the baby does.

My 4-year-old has just turned 4 last week but next week he will be joining the 5-year-old class in kindy. I hope he doesn't get a culture shock.

# posted by Skye @ 2:19 am 0 comments

21-DEC-2009:

Emily is 2 months old now and seems to be adjusting well to her new life. She feeds well, although rather irregularly. Sometimes she sleeps for long periods of time, way past the time she's supposed to eat. At other times, she appears to be hungry shortly after a feeding and we aren't sure if she's really hungry. However, she will happily comply if we feed her, even though we think she's really not hungry.

I prepare 2 bottles for her every morning (4oz each bottle), and according to her daddy it is "just enough". Daddy isn't sure if I should top up the bottles. Did he have to "make her finish the bottle", or did she finish the bottle on her own but probably can still drink if given more? According to daddy, "it depends". To be safe, I now prepare 3 bottles, starting from today. If she happens to drink only 2 bottles then the 3rd one can be saved for the next day. Daddy thinks she should eat more. She seems to be eating very little compared to Dom but I guess she does most of her feeding at night. She wakes up at least once during the night. Again, her schedule is irregular, sometimes only once at 5am, sometimes every 2 hours at 3am, 4am and 6am for example. Although she may not be hungry everytime she awakes but I think it is best to assume that she is.

Our diapering system is a mix of reusables and disposables. Previously, Emily was using reusable cloth nappies throughout the day (if she didn't leave the house that day) and only one disposable nappy through the night (if she didn't poo that night). I love how her skin appears to be smoother after using the cloth nappies and how I seem to be saving money by using less disposables. However, since Saimun has taken over as full time daddy, he seems to prefer disposable nappies for some reason - I suspect he doesn't like cleaning up the shit after the baby poos. Because I love the cloth nappies so much I'm keeping Emily in them throughout the night. I change her once at about 3am and once in the morning before I leave the house.

Emily often has problem falling asleep in the afternoon and this happens about every 2-3 days. During the rest of the days when she does fall asleep, she'll sleep the whole day long. It is as if she's running a 48-hour cycle, i.e easy for 48 hours and difficult the next 48 hours. Fortunately she seems to be pretty alright at night. My worst night so far is when Emily poos in her nappy and Dominic pees in his bed. I have to admit the latter happens quite often.

I think Emily recognizes my face. She smiles at me pretty often and she likes to "talk" to me. I swear that sometimes she even understands what I say.

She weighs less than Dominic did at the same age. I think she must be 4kg by now - we'll know on Saturday.

She will have her platelet count taken this Saturday. Pray to God for favourable results.

# posted by Skye @ 12:30 am 1 comments

16-DEC-2009:

My first day at Taylors College (and Saimun's first day as a full time father) went relatively well. According to MIL, father, son and daughter slept till 10am++. Saimun gave Emily a bath for the first time and scared MIL to bits. Never mind, both will get used to it.

As for me, time passed veeerrryyy slowly. First of all because I had nothing to do and secondly because I missed my darlings so much. What else can I say? It's my 3rd day today and I think I'm settling in quite well. This Friday is a public holiday and next Friday too. And then New Year's day is coming and there's also CNY to look forward to. :-)

# posted by Skye @ 11:09 pm 0 comments

7-DEC-2009:

The mother feels contented having blessed with two beautiful kids - a son and a daughter. Although the initial plan was to have 3 kids (cut down from an even earlier initial plan of 4), I am now having 2nd thoughts about another kid, after what I've been through with Emily. Yes, the labour was easy-peasy but the worries during and after pregnancy had been enough to make think twice. I will still have ITP. In my next pregnancy, chances are it will be even more severe. The baby is also very likely to be more severely affected. However, the doctor has said that it is entirely safe to have another baby. Question is whether I'll be able to bear the stress.

Either due to experience or luck, I find that being a mother of two isn't all that difficult. *GRIN* At least for now, things are rather smooth and the kids haven't yet drove me crazy. We have been out with the kids many times - for shopping, dinner or just the playground - and so far the new baby hasn't given us any inconveniences. I've even brought both the kids out for lunch and shopping (once) without Saimun and it was an enjoyable experience where Emily slept through most of the time.

I think living with the in laws helps a lot, for example not having to cook and clean the house. As if by magic, lunch and dinner are ready when I'm hungry. :-D I'm really grateful to my MIL for that. Actually, I'm ready to resume my role as "kitchen helper" but unfortunately (for MIL), I'm starting a new role next Monday.

Yes, I've found an avenue for increasing our household income. Saimun will take over the role of full-time father until February. We'll have until February to think about a permanent childcare solution. Hopefully by then, we would have moved in to our new place.

Photo taken about a week after Emily's birth:

Photo taken about a month after Emily's birth:

# posted by Skye @ 8:00 am 0 comments