Ah Kong and Ah Mah went to Kuantan

...and we all got T-shirts! All the grandkids that is, except for Su Ern. Photos would have looked nicer if everyone wore their T-shirt and DIDN'T MOVE... but with small kids, what to do?

Erin still sleeping, Jensen struggling to get away

With Erin. Jensen changed out of Kuantan T-shirt but still struggling

That's my maid Lina in the first pic. Jo Ern refers to her as "Jo Ern kakak". One more month before she goes home for good. I'm keeping my fingers crossed her successor will at least have a decent rapport with Jo Ern. 

Smile?

Su Ern, smile for Mummy ok?

Just a teensy smile?

Almost there, come on... 

Yes, clever girl!

YESSS!

Heh. She IS smiling but not for the camera.  Loving my baby girl!

No more worm

Gave Jo Ern her first ever dose of Zentel last Saturday. It's for deworming but my hope was to increase her appetite. Apparently that's a common side-effect. Little Jensen who hadn't been eating well was grabbing pumpkin at dinner after his dose.


First obstacle was getting her to take the thing. This kid doesn't like most food and is wary of new ones. Told her Jensen likes it, prepped her up and... yes! She liked it! Asked for more 'med-chen' too haha. I went to bed happily thinking of catering for her ravenous appetite the next day.


Sunday breakfast... 'Bread not nice! No want!'  Err ok maybe effect has yet to set in.
Lunch... 'No want mee hoon! WaaaaaAAA!'  Ok I think this isn't working.
Afternoon Milo... 'Nooo!'  Confirmed not getting my desired effect.
Sunday dinner...*shakes head violently refusing rice*   Bahh!

Ah well. At least any worms there are gone now! Overall her food intake isn't too bad as the maid usually manages to feed her using a combination of coaxing, distracting and downright sneaking of the spoon into her mouth.

Not hungry, thanks. I'll just play with my hat

'Chimming'!

After about a month of hassling hubby, we finally took Jo Ern swimming. Did she like it? Let's see...

Water! Mummy, this is sooo fun!

Bubbles! Papa, this is sooo fun!

Oo let me get my hands on the slides

Take a pic of me! This is sooo fun!

She didn't like it, she LOVED it! And has been asking to go 'chimming' since. :)

Next time we exchange ok? I take SE and you take JE

We really should come more often. We have been paying the club subscription without even setting foot in it for the last 2 years. Hubby, how about less TV and more swimming??

Leave almost over

My maternity leave is over this week. Time to start earning my keep again, heh.

This round of leave has been relaxing compared to my first! Jo Ern would bawl whenever put down. I was rushing through eating, brushing my teeth, combing my hair, sitting on the throne, having showers, EVERYTHING. And of course the more I rushed, the more I dropped things, got my foot stuck in my underwear, tangled the comb in my hair etc. More haste less speed indeed. But how to do anything at a leisurely pace with baby bawling away at the top of her lungs?

Taking care of Su Ern has definitely been easier. She sleeps a lot and lies quietly by herself for some time when awake. Having a maid also helps - she takes care of JE mostly, but of course is free to take SE sometimes.

I was determined this time not to 'waste' my leave. Now to tabulate my 'achievements':
1. Tried out 10 new recipes on my to-do list. Not all good but at least can cross them off the super-long list.
2. Baked 6 times and found two keeper recipes
3. Went out for dinner and many breakfasts with hubby and JE
4. 3d2n in Genting with hubby, JE and SE
5. Went for Erin's birthday, MIL's birthday and father's day lunches with hubby, JE, SE and maid
6. Went to the mall a few times with the whole gang again

3-6 are considered achievements as with JE I mostly stayed at home.

And these two are of course my biggest achievement!

JE: Jo Ern cha-yang Chu Ern

The one thing I didn't do was lose my pregnancy weight. It wasn't actually an official goal coz with JE I didn't do anything yet was back in shape once my leave was over. Now I have 1.5kg to go. Arggh.

2-month update

Doc poked me and I'm not happy

Weight: 4.86 kg

Rotavirus: Happily taken

Panadol: Happily taken

DTP: Taken with huge scream

There wasn't a 1-month update as we didn't keep the appointment with the paedi. Second child syndrome, heh. For one thing, Su Ern looked fine. For another, we weren't impressed by the paedi assigned by the hospital - she didn't check under SE's clothes the previous visit. Two more visits for jabs and then we move to the paedi near our house (who doesn't stock combo vaccines for these jabs).

Sleep-wise, looks like SE is taking after JE. She has been sleeping for 6-7 hours straight at night. Last night I fed her before 11pm. When I woke up at 6am she still hadn't woken up for milk. If this goes on she'll be sleeping through the night very soon!

SE's measurements are fine. My only concern is that she tends to nurse for only short periods of time. Last night after her 7-hour sleep, she again nursed a short while before drifting off to sleep again. Hmm surely she can't be getting enough milk? Maybe she's actually losing weight gained earlier while she was on EBM instead of direct feeding? Ah well, my maternity leave ends next week so she'll be partially on EBM, which has the advantage of being measurable.

Shall not complain too long, time for a nap 

Who?

Now what shall I ask Mummy...

Jo Ern's books include the typical kiddie ones showing pictures of various objects. She asks "What this?" and "This one?" which are expected and to which I can confidently answer, "This is a shirt" or "This is a train". But this girl also keeps asking questions like "Who(se) shirt?" and "Who put train there?".

Err how to answer those?? Sometimes I say "Somebody's shirt/somebody put there". But that doesn't seem too educational as she'd say "This one shirt. This one somebody shirt" the next time she gets to that picture. So now, thinking she might want to know whether it's a shirt for a man/lady/kid, I go "Uncle's shirt". And quickly move on before she asks which uncle!

She also points to, say, a bus and says:
JE: This one bus
Me: Yes, bus
JE: Who inside bus?
Me: Errr... Got people inside the bus
JE: Mummy yook! People wear hat (pointing to a man with a hat)

Hope I'm going the right way with this!

Blow bubble with kakak

Today we will blow bubbles

I can catch one on my stick

My maid Lina isn't staying beyond her 2-year contract. She is happy here, wants to stay and even offered half her earnings to her mother. Her family is poor but they're adamant that she goes back to Cambodia. And all the money in the world isn't moving them. Sigh.

Might be beginner's luck but my first maid has worked out very well indeed. She is on the go from morning to night. She knows where things are, where things should be kept, what should be done and when. Most important to me, she looks after Jo Ern well and has obvious affection for her. She is an extension of my anxious-new-mom self and would report in detail on Jo Ern's day at my parents' place.

But kakak can blow really big bubbles!

Kakak, blow beeeeeg one

I'm rather worried how Jo Ern would take the loss of her 'kakak'. Although Jo Ern is close to me, Lina is the one who spends the most time with her. I don't want to take the test of whom she prefers! Lina feeds her, plays with her, cleans her up, handles her various moods. I'd initially intended to take care of Jo Ern myself while Lina takes on household chores. But she would come to take Jo Ern after chores and I got lazy... was definitely more pleasant to read, surf or watch TV while someone else takes care of the kid! *felt bit guilty then but still doing it* 

Two more months of the care-free life for me.

Genting trip 13

We were at Genting last weekend. First trip for Su Ern! We got a suite AGAIN... though hubby's losses at the casino was enough to pay for both nights. :(  OK I shall not dwell on things beyond my control.

So this complimentary stay was for the annual durian buffet. For me, that has turned out to be a checkpoint of sorts. Hubby and I have gone for that as a childless couple, then with Jo Ern in my tummy, then when JE was 3 months, next when JE was 1y plus. Now, JE is two and Su Ern is here!

JE didn't want any durian and SE didn't have any either

SE got lots of attention. Guess not many kids this young are taken to Genting or anywhere else. Hubby did voice reservations about taking her anywhere, with particular ominous mention of germs. But I am determined not to fritter away my maternity leave sitting at home. Fingers crossed no germs were picked up, heh.

What's it like travelling with a 2yo and a newborn? Not too bad this trip. Still, there were times when both needed diaper changes and both needed to be fed. Hubby changed SE and got lots of poo on the bed. I'd lost touch with how to clean JE up after a poo. Sat her on the toilet and used the bidet. When I carried her over to the bed, realised there was still lots of poo at the front. So I sat her in the sink heh. Luckily we didn't have to deal with the poo-stained sheets!

Feeding was a challenge - if I feed SE first, JE has to wait too long. If I feed JE first, SE will be bawling away. And feeding JE is still a hit-and-miss affair. After preparing the milk/food, you need to feed her while chatting away about this and that. Otherwise there is a high chance she will announce'No waannn' and then it will be a real challenge getting her to eat. (Since hubby's idea of feeding is to stare at the TV while holding out the spoon in her general direction, he wasn't much help.)

Bedtime was thankfully ok. Decided on the order of SE/me/JE/hubby. SE was fine on the edge of the bed since she can't turn yet. Had to separate her from the big sis coz JE moves A LOT in her sleep. The second morning hubby went out early and I left the two girls together while I went to the bathroom. I came back to see this:

Zzzzzzz

It's just JE moving in her sleep and ending up there, but they do look so close. :)