3 weeks 2 days and flipping herself over

I always knew she would be an active baby, nothing less than her brother, when she was still in my tummy. Her movements were always so "big", you could hardly miss them when she was tumbling and rumbling within. They were also frequent and long-lasting.

But I never foresee that she will be this strong. She was able to turn her head at will right from day 1. Soon after, she showed her ability to lift her head off the mat and turn it when she was on her tummy while we were "suntanning" her. Today, she took it a step further, by flipping herself over when I put her on her tummy, not once but twice!

20 mths - Blabber, Blabber, Blabber

These days, the little Prince has grown to enjoy books. It used to be, when I was reading to sister, he would insist on taking the book and just flipping or attempting his other antics on it, anything but reading. Now, he actually brings books to me to read to him, not just once but repetitively each time. Of course, he has his favourites - seems he likes Sesame Street characters most, as his 2 most frequently picked choices suggest.

He has also decided that he wants to be "better understood". It used to be, he was pretty much contented with spouting words that related to things that interested him like nene, ball, bir (bird), papa, mama , jiejie etc. However, he has gotten smarter. Saying "share" gets people to give him food and toys, "拿" when he wants to have his bowl and spoon to feed himself, when prompted he also asks people to "给", "谢谢" and more. Recently, his journey of exploring with the spoken language has exploded further. When we read to him, he will usually copy the last word of each sentence. "Ha" (house), "bah" (bug), "ah" (up), "dow" (down)....... and he knows what usually follows when people says certain words, for e.g. when jiejie said, "Ready...", he'd follow up with, "Go!" The cutest thing is, he has always been a very expressive boy, so when he speaks, it's also filled with different pitches and intonation, making it a joyful sight when you see him go.

This little rascal has grown and progressed so much, Mummy is having a tough time catching up (literally!). Luckily, he is always better behaved when he is alone with me (he knows Mummy is no push-over. Smart!). However, when there's someone around, even his jiejie, the house turns upside down, as one is a super loud-mouth, while the other Mr Destructive. When they play together, it's "BANG"!!!

As age catches up with me, sometimes I really wonder, will I be able to manage in the months to come??

Potty Training for No.2

Oh ya, it's the moment again...... but a wee tad early I guess.

My dear lil' Mr Cheeky usually signals when he is going for the big business (well, most of the time). Recently, he pointed me to the potty a couple of times in the mornings, for which he just pee-ed only. So I thought, could he be ready (though experience with the Princess taught me it was too early)? Anyway, you never know unless you try......

Here goes......

Yesterday, on the 黄道吉日 that I chose to mark this important milestone, I dug out the training pants that were his sis', told him how nice n pretty the bear appliques were. In order not to wet them, he had to let me know when he felt like peeing. Well, within the hr, both pairs, including his top was sitting in the basin, waiting to be washed.

Then I decided to put him back on diaper for his afternoon nap, as I was almost certain he would definitely wet his sarong. True enough, his diaper was quite wet after he woke. Nonetheless, I decided to give him another chance (success = saving $$$$!!!). On went his yellow Brightbot. So off he went, putting on Jiejie's dress, and then, Gong Gong said, "他的裙子湿了". That was the last training pants we had......

And so, till 3 mths later......

My Poor Hands.........

[Btw, following En's performance at United Sq, I didn't manage to catch a better video on the day of recital which was on 5 Dec, as there were more kids, and we were seated further away. This recital was different from the one staged by Utah Dance Artistes 2 years ago, as all classes involved performed to one single plot (The Little Mermaid), while the previous one followed a common theme but with individual titles. It was no doubt an entertaining night, as they managed to introduce different dance genres (ballet, hip hop, modern dance etc) into one storyline. A job well-done.]

18-mth

In 2 mths, he has progressed a great deal both emotionally and in his cognitive abilities.

He used to ignore me when I asked him for kisses, sayang etc and carried on with whatever he wanted to do or was doing even when I scolded him. These days, he kissed most of the time when requested (many times on his own initiative too :)), "choops" both his parents to sleep with him (I sleep with En, while Daddy sleeps with him after he stopped breast-feeding. But now, he always get me to sleep with him and I can only move back on the bed after he dozes off), gets jealous when we carry his cousin or show more attention to jie jie, pretends to cry or pouts when he gets scolded and wants me to carry him (just like jie jie).

And he is super-skilled at playing with the i-gadgets, Angry Bird being his favourite game. He goes "Bir Bir" when he wants to play with the game. This boy is stuck to the goggle box and he typically switches off when he is watching the programme. Sometimes, he made strange request to turn on both TV in the living room, even when he is only watching one. And he has a knack for all things BALL (anything round is a ball), even programme with balls in them, sports session in the newspaper etc. At one point, he was super attracted to the theme song of the auntie show "爱", that whenever it played on the TV, he stopped all things he was doing and climbed immediately onto the sofa to watch. This worked out to be an advantage to us, as when he refused to eat his meal, we just had to wait till the song started playing and fed him everything (or almost) within that 2 mins or so. Ya, no joke. He can finish his meal within such a short time, as his attention was so caught up he simply opened his mouth and ate whatever that was shoved. However, he has grown "smarter" now and this doesn't work anymore......

My little charmer... u are so, so cute.

The Little Mermaid Ballet Performance @United Sq

The beginning of the Year-End Holidays marked a very busy start for me. Now, I have to keep the big one entertained n cook for TWO kids instead of one (have to really squeeze my creative juice to come up with delicious, wholesome yet healthy food (minus additional seasonings, additives etc) that can satisfy the palate of the picky ones). In fact, the younger one is harder to please (is it with boys???)....

Not forgetting the Extra-Curriculum, as En is involved in this year's recital for her ballet school, this translates to more practice sessions and rehearsals. Sometimes, I have to be out from mid-day till late in the night. Many times, these sessions run consecutively for a few days and it can get very taxing and tiring for both of us. Another issue will be with the arrangement for baby-sitters as many of these sessions either stretched for too many hrs or happened to crashed with Kang's nap-time.

This performance is a prelude to her actual recital on 5 Dec and she is starring as one of the starfishes. The costumes for this performance are really colourful and pretty, albeit very, very costly too.

There was just a small glitch before she was to perform. When I just arrived at the stage where they were stationed, one of the staff came over and told me she was crying. She thought it could be due to anxiety but I was thinking that wasn't quite possible as she is EXPERIENCED. When I met the teacher, apparently it was due to something else. A little brother of one of her fellow starfishes was mimicking whatever she was doing and she got upset about it. I don't know why. Guess it's another of those kid-thingy adults can never really comprehend.

Anyway, here's some pictures and video for the day.

Meanwhile, I hope I'll be able to catch a better video of the actual day performance. Crossing my fingers..........

BPMC 2010 Graduation Concert (121110)

Has been missing many updates lately, as there was problem with my laptop's adaptor and I couldn't charge it. Finally, my new charger "returned" from US, then, I realised it was the travel adaptor that was giving trouble instead!

The day for En's kindy's Graduation Concert finally arrived (a week before school closed). This year, it was also in conjunction with their 25th anniversary, so everyone was given some souveniors (fridge magnets) after the event. Cool!

Last year (at Newton Kindy), she was chosen to be 1 of 2 presenters for her class's item, but was dropped last min (as they decided 1 is easier to manage). It was a bit of a disappointment. Nonetheless, she was given the opportunity again this time round again :).

A pity I couldn't get the camera to focus and missed the opening of her "speech". It was quite funny, as her co-presenter (coincidentally her best friend, with a love-hate relationship), tried to take the mike from her hand, while she wrestled away her attempt and told her off that there was another mike on the floor. Everyone broke into a laughter.

The title for their song cum dance item is "Make a Joyful Noise".

Till the next concert, when it's truly her turn to Graduate......

The 16 mth monster

My boy - he just turned 16 mths today.

At 13 mth, he took his first steps - delicate and careful. Within a mth, he was not just running, but also exploring ladders and such, frequently surprising me of what he is capable of, including pulling himself up a flight of steps to a loft bed!

Today, he picks his own shoes, brings people to where he can find snacks, urges others to bring him out of the house, calls his jie jie and gong gong when he feels like it, swinging himself in his sarong, wanting to feed himself, washes his hair and body, insisting on eating whatever other people eat....

However, some things never change. He is still as stubborn, wakes at night, and loves his daddy the most, despite they being separated for almost 3 mths.

I do get jealous, of cos, being the one that care for him primarily. Would you call that “缘”? Sigh, I'm glad I have my Princess.

So this is it?

Yesterday was the last day of June Holidays, it may also mark the end of my breastfeeding days.

The doctor finally decided to put me on a course of anti-biotics and steroid as my body is not responding to the regular medication. Thus, I would not be able to breastfeed boy till 1 week after I stopped taking the steroid.

I was intending to take out my pump, in case my breasts get engorged. Last evening, sometime after taking my first dose, I felt a strong letdown sensation and thought that I might need to express. However, feeling my breasts, they weren't hard/ full at all. This morning, I realised my breasts had shrunk significantly overnight, so much that they could actually fit comfortably into my pre-pregnancy bra. Did my milk glands "died" overnight?

Although my initial intention was to stop breastfeeding after boy turned 1, and I'd switched him to partial formula since he turned 10 mths, when the time finally arrives, I still feel a tinge of lost and sadness.

Just now, as he saw me pulling up my shirt, he wanted me to breastfeed him and cried when I refused (kept tugging and pulling my shirt up). Sorry, my darling boy. Mommy would have fed you if I could. Mommy's milk will be doing you more harm than good now. Meanwhile, as we go through this transitional phase, pray that we may all recover from our illness soon.

(Our last breastfeeding session - 27 June 2010, Sun morning)

Changes along the way

This is so strange......

Even though I know babies n young kids change their habits all the time, but it seems little Kang decided to schedule them all right after his birthday celebration (later than his actual birthday).

He used to be less fussy about missing naps or irregular nap times (something which was an absolute no-no for his sister since Day 1). Right on the day we held his party, he decided to "flex his muscles" and showed what he was actually capable of. He woke up in the middle of the night (which is still pretty common even after we started to introduce partial formula feeding in the night, another strange habit I presumed should have stopped if I weaned him off night-feeds) and wailed inconsolably, even refusing his favourite Daddy's attempts to carry him, waking his granddad from his sleep, again rejecting his offer to carry him and clung on to Mummy (which was definitely not his favourite character before that, only choosing me when he wanted his nene). He pushed and struggled and screamed non-stop and it took him really quite sometime before calming down. I contributed the episode to a mixture of over-tiredness, over-stimulation n a bad tummy due to all the forbidden stuff fed to him by doting uncles (hmmm, u know who u r right ;p). The following few days were difficult, when he refused his food n bottle etc... However, yesterday, during our weekly visit to my ILs, they decided to bring him for a walk during his nap time. I thought since we would be there for less than 3 hrs, I'd just keep quiet n let him catch his nap in the car. It was an absolutely BAD decision. He started grouching when we got into the car and all hell broke lose while we were approaching home. It didn't help when I removed him from his car seat, as he continued to struggle and nearly strangled me with his pushing. I had to hang on to him fervently, for fear that I dropped him while holding my umbrella in the other hand, making sure both kids were sheltered from the rain, as I make my way from the carpark to the lobby. He fell asleep soon after being dropped in his sarong - a sign of extreme tiredness. But that wasn't the end of my woes. He started grouching and wailing again after waking from his nap and refused dinner and was partially consoled when offered my breast. It didn't last. In the end, I had to bring him down for a walk before he finally settled down - a whole 2 hrs saga. At around 1+am, he woke up and duplicated the episode we had on the night of his birthday celebration!!! And finally went back to sleep ard 3am. That left me sleepless for the entire night......

Another incomprehensible act is that, he had decided to boycott the bottle after being introduced to partial formula since 2 months back. The frequency of him refusing to drink his formula has been increasing these few days and he had not taken anything from the bottle for the past 3 feeds, shaking his head whenever being offered one, and getting upset if we repeated our attempts. Suddenly, he decided he wanted to pick up signing "nene" (after simply ignoring all attempts to get him to do so for months. This boy picks on what he wants to learn n shakes his head or ignores u when u're trying to teach him something he's not interested in) and it is only to be used exclusively for Mummy's milk (he did that just now after his swimming session, when it was time for his afternoon feed).

Now, he understands quite a fair bit of what we r talking about. For e.g. when we say beat beat, he'll hit himself on his bum with his hands, when we ask him to drink water and praise him, he'll take his bottle and sip it. Of cos there are more instances.

The Mummy whom wasn't one of his first few choices when it came to playmates, all of a sudden seems to become his close pal. I believe it's probably due to the fact that he is starting to display separation anxiety. Could this be the reason he is refusing his bottles?? Maybe...... I guess my plan to slowly wean him may have to be sidelined for the time being......

Whatever the case, with the changes coming along, I have no choice but to play the bad guy again. It beats tiring myself to death and stretching my boy beyond his tolerance. Afterall, we r the ones to suffer while others simply remain blind to all that happen beyond their scope of view. Sometimes I really feel the strain of having to ferry my younglings all the way down n up every week on my own. Each way is >30mins drive n I know very well the way home will be a torture on most days. Perhaps when something bad happens along one of these trips, then will somebody be "enlightened" and show us some empathy......

去年的今天

。。。。你这小蛋蛋决定提早出来看世界。好一个凶悍的家伙！你那震耳的啼哭声，如今还在妈妈脑子里响着。

一年下来，你证明了一点--陈颖康是个名副其实的小伙子！只要醒着，你没一刻静得下来。如今会爬，会抚着家具走，更是让妈妈时时都心惊胆战。驾车、骑马、踏脚车、下床、爬桌椅。。。你无一不通。冲凉凉也像大孩子一般，直接用花洒往头上冲。吃东西，喝奶奶总是等不得，一股气把食物快速解决。破坏力更是一等一，别人建，你砸，风扇弄坏了两把。骂你、说你两句，就摔东西，还会跟人吵架，动手。看来，妈妈是不用担心你长大了会被人欺负。

小家伙呀，你怎么那么有主见？无论是吃饭，玩耍，还是往哪个方向走，你总是充满主导性，不愿依他人的意思办，说不吃就不吃，要玩什么，任谁想把它换掉，绝不是件易事，想要往西，要让你往东，恐怕要一番苦战。

妈妈可爱的小儿子，无论你多捣蛋、多调皮，妈妈都欣然接受，心里唯一不太舒服是，为什么你喜欢爸爸多过妈妈？？？

Meet-The-Parents Session

Just came back from the Princess's kindy's MTP session. True enough, there wasn't any major surprises. Ya, she's a social butterfly now and super TALKATIVE - something both teacher affirmed. Hmmmmm....

On the positive note, she's:-

1. Confident of herself, something I'd always wanted to develop (being a victim of low self-esteem myself, this trait has always been the No.1 thing I want to build-up in her).

2. Has great influence over her friends, esp. the girls = ring leader (what her form teacher said. Sounded negative, though teacher mentioned it's a compliment. Ring leader??? Like head of gang). Yes, put to good use, this can take her far in life but I reminded her it's a double-edged sword and she should always use this strength for good causes.

3. Can articulate her thoughts well.

4. One of the stronger ones in Chinese class, though she obviously prefers to converse more frequently in English (but it's very difficult to teach her to recognise English words, though we read every night. Could it be the genes???)

5. Last but not least, she eats her meals provided by the school. Sometimes she'll even ask for more. That's good, for there was a period whereby she asked to bring snacks from home but used it as a lunch replacement. Till I found out and forbade her to do it again.

Frankly speaking, I'm quite the hands-off Mom, meaning I don't study with her a lot (esp. after the arrival of No.2) nor send her for loads of enrichment to build her brains. Being a Singapore Kid is stressful enough, my belief is that she should enjoy her childhood as much as she can, while she can. Once she enters P1, that's when she'll be pushed into the inevitable fate of Studying, Studying, Studying, like all the children of our nation, just so she makes the cut and becomes a "successful" person, someone whom her family can be "proud of" (of cos the term "family" does not only include your father, mother, brother etc.), more so she can be an acceptable part of our elitist society.

She may never be the brightest, or the smartest, with tonnes of awards under her belt. But she can feed, dress, bath herself (and many more) and helps to take care of her brother sometimes. Occasionally, she came back telling me her teachers praised her for being able to clean-up the mess independently and that "Mommy has taught you well". Raised in a society of 衣来张手，饭来张口 kids, I'm glad she surpasses many in these basic life skills (although this is also very much forced by the circumstances we are in).

Darling, Mommy is PROUD of you.

Horse riding

The exciting part was when he stood on the seat of his horsie!! Didn't manage to catch it on video. Scary!

7

Now he has 7 teeth, this time discovered by Jie Jie again.

The 7th, is a Canine on his upper right gum:

4CI (2Up + 2L), 2LI (Up), 1Ca (RUp) = 7

OUCH!!! He bites oh, so frequently when I breastfeed him these days.

Why doesn't he EAT?

Or should I say, "Why doesn't he eat his normal meals"?

He used to be a good eater, finishing his food within lightning speed of 10-15 min during most meals, till a few days ago.

Since last Friday, he'd been sleeping with Ah Ma, as we are trying to sleep train him by disassociating sleep with breastfeeding. At around the same period, he started losing interest in his meals. I tried changing his food, even giving him rice instead of the usual porridge but he just wouldn't eat. Even with fruits like papaya, pears n apples, at most he'd just manage a little n simply refused to take anymore. However, he liked milk. Initially, it was just breast milk during the day n he'd only drink a little if offered formula. Now, he loved both. N "junk" - plain bread n baby biscuits.

Why? Why? Why?

Is it bcos of the changes to his sleep arrangement? Or due to teething (but he already grew 6 n hadn't been bugged by this problem before)??

Watch me drive

Get me a License!

At 10 months, the Boy can ride a horse, a tricycle and drive a car. Don't believe??

Watch this... (ahhhhhhh I can't upload the video no matter how many times I tried... gotta make do with the pics then)

Haha!! Of cos it isn't the real deal.... but he is really steady compared to his sister. These were toys she had after she past the 1 yr mark. To begin with, she needed more help and attention and she was going backward for quite a while before learning how to go forward. However, she was a much better learner when it came to signing and other cognitive related stuff. So, I guess girls and boys do develop differently?? At least for mine....

Plus 2??

From the last update, he has at least 2 more teeth popping on his upper gum (though I seemed to have seen more). En was the one who spotted the additions. So the count is :-

2LC + 2UC + 2UL (upper lateral incisors) = 6

But I really think there are 1 - 2 more visible on top......

Mummy Beware

I must say, Boys and Gals do develop differently.

Before he crosses over to being 10 mth-old, he has quite gotten the hang of cruising around, be it crawling, pulling himself to stand on furniture and walking while hanging on. This week he went a step further as he learned how to go from a crawling position to sitting upright. He has also gotten to putting tiny things like his biscuits n stickers into his mouth (Horrors of horrors! Where did he get the stickers?? From the stacker drawers, which he readily tore off, where his dear sister had painstakingly pasted and "decorated". This is also one danger spot he enjoyed pulling himself to stand).

Greedy as ever, whenever he watches people eating, he gets angry after a while, wanting to taste whatever others put into their mouth, even when he had just been fed. This boy has an adventurous attitude for food and anything at large. That spells TROUBLE, for I know there are people out there ever ready to shove him anything, including Ice Cream!!! Especially, he has a penchant for SWEET stuff, that includes sweet nothings haha. For if naughty Mummy is to raise her voice or scold him, he spares no effort letting the entire world knows by wailing as loud as his little lungs would take him, and it's not just for a while u know.

Putting his excellent motor skills aside, this rascal certainly should put in more effort on his cognitive skills. Though I had frequently signed with him "milk", "eye", "nose" etc., apparently he picks what seems more interesting only, like his “鼓掌”(clap hands) and "Bye Bye". With his “鼓掌”, he tags his own meaning and usages too. For e.g., he claps when his happy, excited, wants to be carried, sometimes when he wants milk.... The sister was the other way round, probably due to the fact that she was more focused as a baby (getting more and more distracted as she grows :().

As always, I'm looking forward to his new adventures, although it gets tougher for me to rest and sleep. But that's also where all the fun comes in, one day when they are all grown up, at least I have these memories to accompany me :).

2 + 2

Yes, he has 4 teeth in total now - All 4 center incisors are out. Strangely, the first upper incisor which popped later than the two lower incisors is growing faster. Now, it's a really funny sight with that one, single tooth clearly more visible and attention-catching than the other three. Match that with his “奸臣” (translate into hokkien for a more vivid picture of what I'm trying to paint) laughter - the "heh heh heh heh heh" gong gong laughter (which sounds presently musical, sweet and de-stressing to me) he loves making whenever he knows we're going gai gai, it never fails to bring a smile to my face.

He has gotten quite mobile by now, and DANGEROUS. Put him on the bed, before u know it, he is ready to plunge down. Once, Daddy had to dash from the loo, just in time to catch him diving off the bed. However, it was a tad too late. Although there wasn't a big "bang" but the damage was done. He grazed his head on the ground and tore his skin. That sent him wailing for quite a while (it must be really bad for he is usually quite "immune" to pain). Did he learn his lesson?? How I wish he had.... Now I can't even sleep in peace (besides his regular wakings), as he flips around so much, he's either kicking me all the time, else I'm plain worried he may fall off the bed, even with 2 pillows stacked. Put him on the floor and he aims for wires, door stopper, fan etc. What happens when jiejie n Mum need to bath? I put him in his tub (emptied n dried) with some toys and kept him in the toilet so he can see us, at the same time, I can keep an eye on him. Guess what? He toppled over. Does he still enjoy "walking"? U bet he does! And he's still as reckless, just 冲、冲、冲 and bull-doze all the way - typical commando style.

PHEW.

The boy did get on to crawling a little this week. Sometimes he'd get on his fours and lunge forward, or moving backwards without quite lifting his legs off... though it's truly getting very tiring for me, as he wanted to "walk" all the time, as long as he's awake.