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!

New Addition - Baby Ying

The girls just love to take their own sweet time, don't they?

Baby Ying's delivery was a planned one, as contrary to her siblings who both decided to make their way out when they hit 38.5 weeks, she simply refused to make her entry, even when it got really cramped in Mummy's tummy, and Mummy was practically finding it a chore and pain sleeping. Perhaps, being frequently squashed and squeezed, coupled with all the noise even with the insulation, she decided it was safer to stay within. So, it was decided she should be hurried out on 9 Sep 2011, and we should report early at 7am in the morning at the Delivery Suite (just 2 days short of her EDD).

With every delivery, the time taken should be shorten right? At least that was what happened when Kang came along (approximately 6 hrs vs En's >12 hrs). Alas, this theory was totally taken apart, when she proved that she must beat her sister in the competition to resist leaving the comforts of Mummy's womb. And she certainly didn't do too badly. I would say she more or less evened the record.

Schedule of events:-

Slightly before 7am: Reported at Delivery Suite.

Ard 9am: Inexperienced Doc came in, took hell of a long time and a great deal of PAIN, did 2 blotched-up needle insertion on both my hands (which is still bruised after > 1 week), before announcing he would get his senior to do the job - faster, lesser pain and most importantly EFFECTIVE!

937am: Here comes the glucose drip.

1245pm: Dr JT broke the water bag. Oxytoxin followed soon after.

2pm: Started epidural.

Ard 430pm: Doc came in to check. Approximately 4cm dilated. Still not ready. He mentioned it'd be fast once it crossed 5cm.

718pm: Finally, OUT!

Within a span of 2+ years, much has changed at KKH. Now, they encouraged bonding by placing naked baby (san diapers) on Mummy's body right after wiping her clean. Mummy and Baby will then remain together in the Delivery Suite for about an hour before moving to the ward, where Baby will be moved to the Nursery. That was when dear Baby Ying decided to poo, letting Mummy touched her first pot of "gold". Another obvious change was in the renovation. The ward must have been updated recently to the likes of a 5-star hotel. What greeted me was a huge 40" (or 46") LED/ LCD tv. The decor exuded a luxurious and cozy feel. Best of all, for the accompanying Daddy, he didn't have to squeeze into the not-that-big wooden, make-shift "sofa bed" anymore. It had been upgraded to a larger leather-like day bed type of settee.

However, I certainly hope this will be my last stay there......

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??

十大生孩子的理由

1。这是人生的必经阶段 -- 毕了业，找份工作，然后赶搭婚姻列车，接下来当然是升格当父母lor。

2。生一个来玩玩，因为别人的很cute。

3。什么是condom？结果......

4。人家有，我哪里可以没有？Singaporean kiasu mah......

5。政府给bonus leh， 不拿白不拿。

6。哇！通货膨胀那么厉害，生个孩子，下半辈子就靠他了！

7。天理循环，人家生我，我生别人，这样人类才不会绝种嘛。

8。阿爸、阿妈要，就生一个给他们lor。

9。新年才可以回本！！

10。就是喜欢小孩，愿意无私为他们付出，用心教育这些小生命，并期盼他们茁壮成长，将来成为负责任、有爱心，贡献于社会的人。

政府应该鼓励哪一类的家长？还是来者不拒，只要充得那数字，管他是好竽、滥竽。结果推出的措施，只注重于一时的成效，缺乏针对性，或长远的考量。

If you do not even know your target audience, how are you to achieve the desired results?

妈妈的新年愿望

关关难过，关关过。

今年，要抱着比以往更积极的态度，相信“天将降大任于斯人也，必先苦其心志，劳其筋骨，饿其体肤，空乏其身，行指乱其所为，所以动心忍性，曾益其所不能。”——《孟子。告子下》

所以，尤先向阿咪学习，今年的座右铭既是：-

把吃苦当吃补

要修身，必先养性。有太多缺点需改进，能丢的就丢，丢不掉就设法收敛：-

1。各人有各人造化，避免做无谓比较，珍惜属于自己的福气。

2。活得更自信，别太在意他人怎么想、怎么看。重要的是，问心无愧。

3。让心情更平和，无论对人、对事，尽量能不发作，就不发作。

4。常提醒自己，清洗脑袋，把不好的记忆刷，刷，刷，全都扫出去，留下美好、值得珍藏的东西。

5。少管闲事。别人家的事，干我屁事？？！！！何苦如此动怒，既伤神，又伤身。神经病！

老天爷，新任务，我接下了！

言尽于此，希望接下来的日子，能更努力经营好我的人生。

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.