Little Prima donna

My new maid Annie is doting on Su Ern. She'd run to SE at her first whimper. She's carrying SE a lot, singing to her, rocking her to sleep, clapping and talking/cooing to her too. And little SE is lapping it all up! In fact, she transformed into a prima donna in ONE day! She screams indignantly the moment you try to put her down.

Where's Aunty? I want to be carried. And I need some entertainment

I sleep now after being carried, with rocking and singing. 

Good times are here! Heh heh heh

I'm worried that SE is getting used to this top-notch treatment! Annie is good but she's only temp for a month as my selected maid isn't available yet. She has indicated that she won't be staying - after working in childless households for a decade, must be a culture shock dealing with noisy kids. Will see how things go.

Toilet training

(This post on toilet training is overdue by 2 months... had to give way for more urgent matters!)

For JE, development of skills doesn't follow a smooth curve. There would be no signs she can do something, then suddenly she'll make A LOT of progress. This happened when she started to creep, then crawl, walk and talk. Toilet training is following the same pattern - from showing no signs of readiness, suddenly she was able to notify the need to pee/poo almost all the time. And she would take her pants and diapers off by herself too!

Ahem... a little privacy for me please Mummy?

The curve for this particular skill isn't going straight though. She's back to doing her business in the diaper at the moment. Have to be patient, especially now that we're transitioning to a new maid.

My jottings Sept 2012

1. I restarted work on 18 July after maternity leave. That morning, I heard that my new assignment was to start the very next day. Rats, was hoping to relax for a while! Fortunately delays occurred and that project has yet to start. After a month of not doing much, I was assigned to help out on another project. It has been 2 weeks and I'm needed maybe 30% of the day. Heh. Enjoying the easy life and hoping this continues.

The little girl

2. Breastfeeding SE is going fine. From experience I know how to express a little more. No more let-down problems and obsessed counting of EBM ounces! I'm only worried that finding the time to express would be tough on a time-stressed project. I HAVE resolved to take things easier. JE was exclusively on breastmilk for 15 months. After that started supplementing with formula. Turned off the 'tap' when she was 1.5 yo, mainly as I got pregnant with SE and it became painful to nurse. I want Su Ern to benefit from breastmilk too but if I cannot pump at work, I will supplement with formula without fretting (much).

3. My schedule is super-packed again. Before driving to work I have to prep dinner, nurse SE, get her milk in correct portions ready for her day, sterilise and get breast pump/bottles ready for MY day. Work ends at 6pm. If traffic is not too bad, I reach home slightly before 7pm. Then I rush to cook rice and cut vegetables, go pump for half an hour, come out again to cook the meat dish. Rush upstairs to shower and then come down to cook the vegetables. Luckily hubby often gets caught in traffic and arrives with kids+maid about 7.45-8pm. Some days I'm late and hubby is early and I literally RUN trying to get dinner ready.

4. It happened with JE and now again with SE. When baby is just 3 months old, boom, my period returns! Aiksss. Can't I have more time without this hassle??  Breastfeeding moms shouldn't start so soon! OK la this is a minor rant. Although I'm not having any more babies, what matters is my reproductive system worked the two times I wanted it to.

5. What else...I'm actually below my pre-pregnancy weight now. Err how come my tummy is still big?? Can't quite fit into my pre-pregnancy work pants yet!

The big girl (pic taken before her fall)

6. On to more recent events, just had a weekend without a maid. Arggh we absolutely need one at the mo! At her age, JE will often drop and spill things. While I clean up one mess, she's off creating another. She also climbs up and down and needs constant supervision. She wants/needs attention whether she's eating, playing, poo-ing, bathing... ok that's basically ALL THE TIME except when she's sleeping! SE somehow will scream for attention right when things are extra busy. And of course she needs feeding every 2 hours or so. Our new maid starts work tomorrow, hopefully she will work out well.

Bye-bye kakak

Kakak go home ok? Jo Ern be good girl ok.

I teared up and had to walk away. Lina came when Jo Ern was 4 months old. Initially we didn't need her much. Household chores were manageable (albeit with a low standard of cleanliness!), I was breastfeeding Jo Ern, hubby cleaned her, cooking was something I chose to do myself. Lina would come and take JE off my hands once her chores were done. I didn't like that initially since I'd planned to take care of JE by myself, but eventually loved having more 'me' time!

Now that Lina has been part of our lives the last 2 years, I feel sad that she is going. I'm used to coming downstairs in the morning to her going about her chores. Being single, JE is the first child she has looked after and she mirrored my new-mother self. She'd report to me on JE's day at my parents' house while I was away working. I'd tell her what JE did when she wasn't around. We'd delight in JE's antics, be proud when she developed new skills, cluck when naughty traits showed.

To JE, Lina was someone who did everything for her - fed her, patted her to sleep, cleaned her up, carried her around, played with her. Although JE is close to me, sometimes she'd say 'I want kakak!' instead.  

Earlier in the day...
Lina: Kakak go home ok?
JE: NO!
Lina: Kakak have to go
JE: Bye bye ka-kaaak (in a sweet voice)
Then...
JE: Kakak go home ay-yi (already), Jo Ern CALL kakak. Then kakak come.

Oh well. I guess that at her age, she'll forget her kakak rather quickly.

I think Lina's going back to Cambodia to get married though she wouldn't admit it. I'm glad she was around at recent critical events to oversee things - when Su Ern was born, when I went back to work, when JE had her bad fall. I'm going to miss her, both for her work and her company.

We let her choose what she wanted to eat for dinner on her last day, and she picked BBQ plaza.

Ahmm a lot be-cause I like this place

(NB: It is now 5.45am. Hubby has just taken Lina to the airport. I'm posting this now as I'm afraid I won't have time tomorrow... taking care of 2 kids without a maid!)

Visit to the dentist

Yes we went. Twice actually, the first to get into queue and the second after they called to say it was almost our turn.  Yes we waited half an hour even so. Yes we paid, RM25. Yes Jo Ern was called into the dentist's room. BUT, she wouldn't open her mouth AT ALL!! The dentist tried. She asked me to sit on the chair with Jo Ern on my lap, talked to her nicely, brought a mirror for her to look into, said we were only going to count her teeth. All the while JE was screaming (with jaw clenched hehe), arching her back and kicking violently.

I'd wanted a dentist to check the damage from her fall. Also if there is any infection. She still can't bite using her front teeth. I did prepare her a bit for the visit beforehand too, saying a doctor was going to check her teeth, check only. Sigghhh. What to do.

As for the gash on her chin, looks like it WILL be a scar. Sigh, this is like getting a scratch on a brand new car. Well, at two years old, Jo Ern IS a brand new human. I should be positive and focus on how wonderful it is to have this human in my life in the first place. But I am upset. :(

Anything wrong, Mummy?

Ah Kong's birthday

Everybody smile! OK, please just look at the camera

We wanted something a little grand for my father's 70th birthday. So we booked an 8-course dinner at Dynasty Dragon. We had a big table in a private room, which was nice.  We could all sit together for once and the kids could run around without us worrying where they were.

The food was a little different from standard wedding fare. The piglet combo-ed with a garlicky chicken, the Indon-style dancing fish had a Thai-style sauce, the prawns were deep-fried with shimeiji mushrooms. Overall it was pretty yummy.

Jo Ern had her bad fall before the dinner and little Jensen got fever after the dinner. But everyone enjoyed themselves AT the dinner! Happy birthday to Papa/Ah Kong!

And the grandkid tally is 6 this year with the addition of baby Su Ern. :)

NB: I was busy feeding Su Ern at photo time... my sister's blog has better pics.

3.5 month update

Time for a post on little Su Ern. Poor lil kid keeps getting sidelined! Better post something on her first. Took her for her 3-month jab and Rotavirus last weekend.

Weight: 5.82kg
(almost 1kg up from 1.5 months ago. For the the same period, Jo Ern went up only 200g, aiyo.)

While she looks chubby enough, weight-wise she's slightly below the average curve. Paedi said not to worry though.

How long am I? Check me, check me.

You call this a hat? I don't like it.

She smiles a lot now! If someone talks to her, she just smiles and smiles.

She still sleeps a lot. She usually wakes up, has milk, sleeps again immediately and repeats the whole day AND NIGHT. And therefore, she's rather easy to look after. She has grabbed the best-behaved grandkid award at Ah Mah and Ah Kong's place (award previously held by Jo Ern and later taken over by Erin).

This is nice, Mummy