2-fingers Part two

So despite our attempts to curb this habit, Jo Ern still frequently sucks her two fingers.

Remember, it's the 3rd and 4th fingers

Now it looks like Su Ern might have developed a taste for fingers also! But she likes a different set of fingers...

I think the 2nd and 3rd fingers are better

Crazy schedule

Just want to pen down my weekday schedule to remind my future self how hectic life with 2 young kids is and that yes, I did it. :)

JE: Want to chit in stroller!

SE: That's my stroller and my blanket... but I'm ok coz Mummy pao-pao me

7.15am Alarm rings. Wake up, toilet and wash up.
7.30 Go downstairs. Sterilise breastpump + bottles for SE, cut fruit and prepare breakfast for JE. Pre-dinner prep if necessary. Have my own breakfast, usually coffee and bread. Aahhhh...
8.15 Go upstairs to wake JE. Cuddle SE (this baby is a light sleeper and would be awake), dig JE from sleep and chat with her a bit so as not to appear to be rushing her
8.30 JE eats her fruit
8.40-9.00 Spoon-feed JE her breakfast, time taken depends on whether she cooperates
9am+ Rush like mad to shower, change, wear contact lenses and get myself to work in KL city centre

Hubby bathes SE. Maid would clean the house/car, water the plants, feed the fish/dog and then bathe JE. Hubby, maid and kids go off to my parents' place.

Mon, Tue and Thurs
6pm+ Work's done! Shut down, pack up, wait for the lift, walk to the carpark, pay for parking, drive home
7pm (If traffic's ok) Arrive home and put rice to cook
7.10 Pump milk for SE
7.30 Rush like mad to cut vegetables, cook, take out plates n cutlery
7.45 Rush like mad to shower, take out contacts and change
7.50 Hubby arrives home with kids and maid
7.55 Rush like mad to cook vegetables, dish out meat and rice (no, the maid can't help coz will be feeding/carrying SE)
8pm Cut JE's food into tiny pieces, feed her and eat dinner myself

Actually it is impossible for me to express milk (even shortcut to 20min approx from the usual 30mins), cook, shower and have dinner on the table within an hour. I RUN and not walk, do different things with each hand and even so... Often dinner is ready when the gang arrives only because hubby is caught in traffic and arrives home late.

The pace after dinner slows down a tad...
8.30 Finish dinner and cut fruit - bigger pieces for adults and bite-sized ones for JE
8.45 Serve fruit and prepare baby food for SE.
8.55 Feed SE. Spend time with both kids and relax, 'talking' to hubby while he watches TV
10pm Milk time for JE, followed by brush teeth time, then change to PJs
10pm+ Upstairs to bed. Breastfeed SE, unwind with JE a while and then zzzzzz. Yes, for me too. :)
3am, 5am SE wakes up for milk

Hubby watches TV. Maid has dinner, washes up, takes her shower and carries SE when done.

Wed, Fri - Hubby's drinking nights
6pm+ Work's done! Drive to parents' place to have dinner and pick up the kids
9pm+ Drive home
10pm Arrive home. Rush to wash up, take out food for next day's meal, take out frozen baby food for SE, collect laundry, JE's milk, brush teeth, PJs

Maid and me take turns carrying SE and doing other tasks. Hubby doesn't return till late.

I have absolutely no books/TV time. I AM looking forward to when SE is bigger and doesn't need to be carried all the time. Then I can also stop breastfeeding and pumping, which does take time. For now, I'm surviving. And having Jo Ern and Su Ern, I am happy. :)

JE: Jo Ern take care Chu Ern

SE: Helppp

Eating out

Now that JE enjoys going out and actually EATS food (history here), we are going out out for meals on weekends.

Fish n chips at TGIF... quite nice!

Ice-cream at Suki-ya shabu2... Yummy!

SE is a problem though. Sometimes she sleeps during the meal but more often than not, she screams wanting to be carried. OK... she's a little bigger now and can be held with one hand. Not the best of situations but can be done.

What's on Mummy's plate? Want eat

Shrimp at Bubba gump...JE: Must smile for camera

SE: What's on the chair? Want play

Last weekend we went to Sushi King and JE had a blast picking things off the moving kaiten belt. I'm looking forward to eating out more with my lil girls!

Smiling for the camera

Mummy want to take photo? OK I will smile nicely.

Smiling!

Smiling a lot a lot!

Quite nice eh? Even the 'over-smile until cannot see eyes' has its charm. OK now the big girl's turn. 

JE: OK I smile nicely also.

  

Smiling!

*aiyo always this forced smile*

With the big girl, I prefer candid shots.

What a big mouth you have, Oscar!

There. Mummy satisfied now. :)

Maidless

My maid Annie went off last week. She was sick and asked to recover at her cousin's house, promising to come back.  Well, she's not answering our calls. We're waiting for a replacement maid now. Hubby and I are more used to being maid-less since Annie would go off every two weeks. I have taken leave one day - to clean, tidy, do the laundry and prepare baby food.

Don't wanna sit and play.. want carry!

But it's been tough on little Su Ern. Annie carried and played with her a lot. So the kid screams when put down, expecting someone to come carry her. With just hubby and me, we have more tasks to do and can't carry a baby around. I carried her once when making JE's milk and almost dropped her. It was back to the playpen where she immediately started screaming. Lil kid is now hoarse from all the screaming. :(

Don't wanna sit and eat... want carry!

Oh well, maybe after this transition period, she'll get used to being by herself more. Poor kiddo.

Sleep first. Maybe when I wake up, someone will carry me

Breakfasts for JE

Had a conversation with my sis recently on what we give our kids for breakfast. For breakfast, Jo Ern has a fruit and a main, followed by a spoonful of cod liver oil. Getting her to eat the fruit is no problem, the main however, is. The main was oats with Marmite for many months before she got tired of it. I tried to replace with bread but it's VERY hard to feed her bread. She holds it in her mouth for the longest time until it's a soggy mess and then she spits it out. Sigh.  After say, 20 mins of earnest feeding, you have a few horrible-looking spat-out blobs and very little in her tummy.

Then the breakthrough came. Hubby started making super-nutritious soups (using more meat than I do for weekly meals!) and I just add some carbo to make a balanced breakfast. Noodle soups are easy to push into JE's mouth and easy for her to swallow. Now, that's what she usually gets.

Some recent breakfasts:

Starfruit with blueberries, a slice of wheat bread (she only ate half)

Grapefruit segments (sacs only, no pith) with pasta soup

Golden kiwi with mee-sua soup

Grapes with pasta soup

The fruit is also often grapes (peeled if skin is hard), dragonfruit, orange, maybe melon.  Anything that doesn't turn brown which I can prepare a bit earlier. These are for weekdays only... weekends we go out for breakfasts!

Synchronised sleeping

The small one and the smaller one fast asleep. To me, both cutie-pies. :)

And we turn to the left...