Surprise: Miracle Hysterical

On Christmas morning I got a message that wished me a Miracle for this Christmas.

I went to the bathroom, took out the test kit, did a little tinkle and saw our Miracle:






Happy. Very happy...
But...
I am not ready for this....
EEeeps!!

Anyway, Happy New Year.

Thank You, and A String of...

Thank you, my faithful readers and blog buddies for still coming in and commenting when I have been slacking so much. You really made my day. :)

So my string of excuses for not blogging, and to apologise profusely for not visiting your blogs,
(not that long a string) is that...

I am usually exhausted by the time night comes, having to give all my energy and attention to 3 boys throughout the day.
Honestly, having 2 is really comfortable and 3 is stretching your body and brain. But I am glad for the stretch.
I suppose it's just that some time is needed to adjust to the extra demands... like 3 years?!! Hahaha...

I think part of my coping mechanism to all the stress of change and emotional turmoil is to be quiet and curl up like a snail in its shell. I tend to want to sleep more, or maybe I feel the need more for my time. So in between attending to the boys, when I need a toilet break or before I shower, I actually sneak some time to tweet, or read other people's tweets (confession of how twitter is pinching time from my blogging). Of course I am actually looking out for Gadget-daddy's tweets. ;D

I also just realised why I blog less even though I wake up more often to feed Myron in the nights. It's because feeding Myron in the night requires me to make milk and feed him from a cup, now that he has refuse to nurse directly. That's actually really more tiring.

Also, he is a snuggle bunny boy. After a feed, he will roll about in bed whimpering until he is snug right beside me. So I have to lie down with him until he is in deep sleep. Usually, by that time I too would be in deep sleep. somehow, today I managed to be pretty awake.
:D

So without any more delays, Let me come "visit" you.
:)

Have a good weekend.

Myron is 9.5 Months

Myron is now nine and a half months.

He is showing his true character, which proves to be a persistent and insistent boy.

Of the three boys, I think he is the fiercest.

Maybe it's because his brothers are at this stage of development too, so Myron is fast learning to demand for his share of the toys and Mommy's attention.

When Mommy is around, he is a happy baby. When mommy is not around, he is a quiet baby, who will willingly take his naps. When Mommy comes home, he will usually greet mommy with a wail when she gets home because she seemed to have abandoned him.

But when he gets into her arms, he actually gives her a pat on her back, as she pat him on his back. It's like a secret language saying, "I love you so much".

Myron now has 6 teeth, four on top and two on the bottom. He is still very drooly and puts everything into his mouth. Sometimes when he is very sleepy he would want to bite on something, usually Mommy's finger, for some kind of comfort and then falls asleep.

Myron has also learnt to blow sloppy raspberries on us. The thing is, when he puts his mouth on you, it's really scary, because you don't know if it's gonna be a tickley sloppy raspberry or a painful nip between his teeth.

Myron is now crawling like crazy. He loves to be on the ground and he can climb up the stairs all the way from downstairs to our room. He can craw over barriers, and seems to love going through an obstacle course on the bed/sofa, so he cannot be left alone at all. He easily pulls himself up to a standing position and can cruise a little. He is still in the process of mastering climbing off the bed legs first.

His favourite foods is rice with fish. And he actually knows if it's good fish or not. He also gets some chicken and mince meat occasionally. He takes his rice cereals in the morning and on the road he needs his Baby Bites. He actually loves going out, but he really does not like the confine spaces of a car. In fact, if the car is rather crowded, he would be the first to scream out.

Although he can't quite talk yet, he can move you to the direction he wants you to go by pushing his body forward "that way". This is especially "effective" when you're carrying him.

His favourite colour is still yellow.

He loves toys with wheels.

He loves his bath books and cloth books.

He loves the nursery rhymes sung by Gracie Lou (a filler every Monday to Friday at 4.25, after Little Einsteins on Playhouse Disney).

He loves snuggling his sleeping brother in the morning to wake them up.

I took him out for a stroll today, and noticed that he loves looking out cats and birds. He also loves ladybugs, and loves the "Ladybug" rhyme. He loves watching a butterfly flutter by and would want to catch a spider with his tiny fingers if he was allowed.

He is still very much a social bug and would watch people and respond when they say hello. He loves watching older children play and will get really excited, waving all hands and legs, to want to be part of any excitement.

This little darling is growing.

This little darling is growing well.

This little darling is growing so fast.

Everybody loves you, Myron.

Deep Roots

I am so no good at change.
I am so happy with my happy routines of hanging out with my kids and my family, doing the same ole, same ole.
My kind of happy unhappening day....

Now I am struggling.
Mental preoccupation would be scenes of all sorts of what-if's:

How to get to school with 3 boys, baby in tow, before we get our car?
What to cook for breakfast everyday? Dinner? Lunch could be simple...
How much time should I spend with my sister and her kids before we hit "familiarity breeds contempt"?
How much mess can I cope with on a daily basis if the boys are left with less adult supervision (while I attend to the baby)?
How often can I take them out on my own... will I be brave enough even just to go down to the park near our block without yelling at them to stay close to me...and have no accidents.
Will I still have time and energy left to blog?
Doctor for the kids and ourselves?

Then there's the packing...
(I'll spare you...)

Then there are certain issues with the government, i.e. getting a change/transfer of driving license, green card, etc.

I am afraid to start packing because I feel like if I were to start putting things in boxes, I will still have to fish some things out before the move...
making a list mentally...
But will be more certain after we check out the place for real this coming trip.

Official move, when gadget-daddy rents a car/van to transport the stuff:
After Christmas.

Mean time we'll be doing a bit of a shuttling up and down the highway, and across the Causeway.

Penang Holiday

We went up to Penang to see my brother's baby and to celebrate his fullmoon...

But this Jee-kor, second aunty on the father's side, is so terrible:
She forgot to bring the camera along with her the 2 times she visited over the weekend, so no cute baby photo yet.

But here are the shots I managed to get of our journey going up...


(I assure you, I took the shots when we were not moving.)
Mom sat in front with me to keep me company and keep me awake as I was yawning some parts of the journey.
She bought me sweet potato chips and 100plus!
Thank you, Ah Ma.


And the day we were at the sea.
It was Myron's first time at the sea side.




And the best thing I ate in the whole trip was the Duck mee-shua at Pulau Tikus' morning market. It's at the corner coffee shop opposite the police station.


They must have gotten some publicity before and welcomed my snapping of their stall.
They double boil the soup before it goes into the noodle!


It was a great trip with the mpv like this.



(We rented from Hertz and they really gave us a good deal.)

So glad all went well.

Journey to the North

We are renting an MPV and I have not driven anything bigger than our Honda city for the last 6 years.

We are going up to Penang to see my brother's baby and doing the fullmoon celebration.

I wonder if I have packed enough or over packed.

Hope I did not forget anything vital.

No need passport.

Myron calling. gotta go.

In Limbo and Feeling It

Tomorrow we will be saying good-bye to our faithful Honda City which has been with us since we started the journey of expecting baby no.1 and has seen us through the last 6 years.

It has brought home our 3 babies from the hospital when they arrived in this world.
It has brought us home safe from the many trips we made out station to Taiping, Penang, Singapore, Melacca, Port Dickson, Johor and Kuantan.

It has made a run for us every day, be it for an errand near by, or to school and back, or a trip out station.

We will have to cope with one car, borrow in-law's car, for the next 7 weeks or so.
Then, when we are more settled in Singapore, we will be getting a car there (have some procedures to go through). Just can't do without wheels after being so used to having them.

Plus it's just too crazy to be taking public transport with 3 kids, who at any time might...
A) want to go to the bathroom,
B) fall asleep on the journey,
C) need a snack on the way
D) is sick or cranky or both.

I can't imagine also to be

D) watching all 3 getting on-off the bus/train/cab,
E) + need to carry some stuff, i.e. stroller/ shopping/ groceries/picnic basket;
F) + pay the fares;
G) + deal with the crowd and their stares, rude comments, etc.

You can imagine all the possible crazy combination of scenarios of the above,
so we are getting a car.
Besides all the possible madness of the above, the waiting for public transport, standing at bus stops, cab stands and train stations is just to dangerous for 3 little monkeys with just one mama gorilla.

So, today, when Gadget-daddy was driving us to have dinner with Ah Ma and Ee-ee, we felt nostalgic.
Another phase of our lives is coming to pass and we can already the start of the change of scenes.
It started with getting the boys registered for school just a few days back, but more clearly now, with the giving up of our car.

I am feeling it's all so surreal.
Part of me is feeling anxious about adjusting to the changes, and the the things need to be done.
The other part, the self-defense part, is blocking out feelings of uncertainties, not imagining worse-case-scenarios, not imagining ...

I feel like I'm in those old movies where there's not much CGI and the character in a falling motion but the background is a warped black-and-white spinning wheel.

School is almost out for the boys.
Then we'll just be hanging around for a while, with some plans for travelling up to Penang for my brother's baby's Fullmoon, and maybe one down to Singapore when we get the key to our place. Must go check our the place and then plan the stuff/ how much stuff to bring down...

So we are moving.
For Real!
Eeek!

To Sleep Or Not To Sleep

Was up expressing milk for Myron at 2.55am*.
Came back to bed with the sleeping baby at about 3.30am.

Now I am still awake.

Was watching my babies sleep...
Hugged each one of them a but while I whispered,
"Mummy and Daddy love you so much."
For the littlest one on my bed, I smelled him and watched him the most.




In the midst of many thoughts... two people.
My father, whose 8th Anniversary was on 8th November,
And Matthew's 1st that was on 31 Oct.
They are still missed so much by their loved ones.

Yes, and missing Gadget-daddy.
2 weeks away is really just too long for us all.
Max mentioned today, "I wish Daddy was back, Mom."
Looking forward to his being back this weekend.

Ok. Should get some rest.
Taking the boys to school in a few hours' time.
Wish I have more time to go blog-hopping... :P


Goodnight.




*Myron has decided he does not want to nurse directly anymore. Every time I put him to the breast he will either turn away or bite me. Looks like we will just go until I can't produce enough milk to be expressed. So this baby might break my good record of breastfeeding beyond 12 months. *sigh*.
Now breastfeeding is extra troublesome as it involves 2 people. In his sleepy-hungry mode, he want to be held. So while drinking from his cup or waiting for more milk, Grandma has to carry him. *sigh*

Grandma's To The Rescue

This Mommy's crazy.

We have been given the birthday invitation like weeks before, but she could not decide if they should go. Gadget-daddy's priority, so we were waiting to have him confirm his schedule.

Then a new addition to the family arrived in Penang, 2 weeks ahead of schedule. We wondered when to make the trip to see the baby boy. date finally set, and we are going for the party this weekend.

Theme: Safari.

So last minute (hmmm... I seem to run into these with my kids quite a bit), I went to the mall to get some materials, nice leopard prints, and got Ah-Ma to sew a costume for both the boys. If only I knew how to work the sewing machine...

So I cut out the costume and Ah-Mah did the sewing. Think the boys will look savagely cool in them!!



Thanks, Ah Mah!! You sure dote on your grandkids.
:D


-----------

Myron has some viral infection that causes sores that look like ulcers in his mouth and has spread to his face.
This has been for about a week now, and it's really taking a long time to heal.

So Myron looks like he has 2 pimples on his cute face and aspot on his neck, thanks to the endless drooling. Because of the sores in his mouth, he has also refused to nurse directly. Hence a feeding session becomes a 2 person job sometimes. Mommy, moomy the cow expressing milk and Mil feeding with a cup... And this happens even like at 3am, which is why I am up.
Then this evening, Myron ran a fever.
Mil did her usual dough-rub for him.

I really don't know how such super moms like Mott and Lia do it, especially when the boys are/were young like mine. *Salute*

Whenever anyone asks how I manage 3 boys, well, I say that it's with the help of my in-laws.


Thank you, Mah-mah, for going through all the growing pains with me for these 3 precious darlings.

Time Out

I don't mean the time we went out, but oh, I need a time out!!

We were in Sinapore last weekend to spend some time with Gadget-daddy, but travelling with 3 kids is so tiring! We didn't even do anything adventurous this time...at least Myron and I didn't.
We stayed home on the day Gadget-daddy took the 2 older boys swimming and my sister's family went too. My mum and I and Myron stayed back so that he could get some shut eye while my mom and I prepared a bak-kut-teh dinner for a friend visiting that night.

Anyway, since coming back, I have been joining the kids at their bed-time, well, a little after them, but just feel so worn-out through the day.

Could be that Myron is now exhibiting the teething blues - refusing to nurse but crying more frequently though the day and night.

Could be the constant playing referee and judge and jury for the two older boys, and also monitor them at homework time...

Could be the lack of help with the boys in the night, now that their daddy is in another country.

Could be the anxiety about getting a car there and getting the boys registered on time for school... and how to move stuff down, when and how much of what....

I am so ready to sleep...
*yawn*


p/s- will come back and update this with some pix.
Just can't get myself to go get my camera right now. *yawn*

All In A Baby's Day's Work

Eat




Sleep




Bath

Play




Look Innocent

An Un-Happening Day

Had lunch with my sister, mom and the two older boys at their favourite pasta place.
We got there first and when my sister came up to our table I told her, "We are very boring people. We are having the usual."
The boys will have their penne carbonara and the adults will do another pasta and a bread.

That says a lot about kids wanting and needing their routine.
... And we get sucked into it too.


On the way back, just the two boys in the back seat and me driving, I giggled to myself listening to them play and talk.

Doing a tug-of-war with Myron's inchworm:

Max: Koh-koh, why do you always want to win?!
Micah: Actually I was trying not to win, I wanted to be second. But my arm is just too strong.
*
*
*
Micah: I know the trick to win. You make the other people laugh.
(Told a joke that made his brother roll and then cheered that he won.)



In the evening, before bed:
We were playing through some pf the photos from my iPhoto album and there were quite a few that Max could not tell if the baby in the picture was himself or Myron. Hahaha... That's how much the boys all look alike!

Guess which one's who?
(No prize but you'll have a surprise when you check the answer at the bottom of this post.)



I have been a "kiasu" mom the last 2 weeks and asked Micah's teacher for homework.
I actually felt he needed to start a new routine before he starts school next year.
So he has been doing 2 pages of homework every day.
Most of the time he needs a lot of encouragement and assurance.
But I have come to realise his reading skill is better than he believes.


Last week, for a treat, Mommy bought the boys a surprise.
Now it's just sitting in the shelves.
The boys are more interested in the recently made movies, asking only for certain scenes which has their favourite characters and awesome fighting parts.
Boys.

Myron is now 7.5 months old.
He is starting to crawl and practicing standing.
He is also climbing over obstacles.
The safe places for him now are inside the play-pen, on the walker or on the astro-saucer.




When we all go out, this is how we look like in the back seat.



And the 2 big boys just ove entertaining their baby brother.
:)


Three boys are a handful... of fun!!

Thanks for dropping by.
Have a good week.


p/s- All the guess who's who of the baby photos:
They are all Max!

2 Halves Of A 'Pinang'

Gadget-daddy has already left for Singapore.

I was feeling like we were being separated for the first time, like when he went to finish his studies in UK... more than 15 years ago.

This morning, after breakfast, I lay in bed for a little while to moap.
Then got ready to go out. Took the 3 boys and mil out for a no-reason-trip.
But we ended up in McD for lunch and had quite a fun time (sent mil and Myron back first as baby was asleep and mil sleepy).

So it doesn't get easier through the years. Even with all his early jet-setting days, the many months in US and the last long term away, Jakarta... Seems like it's something I can't get use to.

Well, some things are a little better... or worse. The boys are here to keep me company, and keep me busy.
They sometimes forget and ask when Daddy will be home (as in what time today) so that he can help them with some Transformer toy.
Then Micah will ask why can't we just stay in Malaysia, as he will miss his grandparents.

Today, for their bedtime story, I told them an old story that Gadget-daddy had made up when I was expecting no.2.
...
...
...

Ok... shall spare you.
Will go hit the hay now.
Boys have school tomorrow.
Counting the days to this weekend.

Good night.

Sandwiched

Why the two boys are not allowed to sleep with their baby brother:

One night, Mommy took the baby to the boys' bed because one wanted to sleep beside Myron and the other beside Mommy.

All finally asleep, so Mommy went for a quick shower.






When she came out of the bathroom 3 minutes later....


The baby was so sleepy that he didn't seem to notice he had become his brother's bolster.
:D

Mid-Autumn Festival 2009

Mid-Autumn Festival is often called Lantern festival or the Mooncake festival.
That's because, oh, so obvious, that this is the time we light up lanterns and give mooncakes to each other (normally among family members and close friends).

The last few years we have been celebrating Lantern/Mooncake festival at Ah Ma's house. So the usual, we light up paper lanterns and hand them on a plant by the garden.

Grandma and the three boys standing in front of paper lanterns hung on a tree.
Micah and Max are holding the lanterns, shape of the lotus flower, they made in school.

We also light candles on the wall that's between her and her neighbour.

Micah and Max lighting candles.
Supervised by Ee-ee.

And here's a shot of some of the traditional Lantern/Mooncake Festival treats.

Clockwise: Chinese tea, red eggs, baby yams, brown sugar (to dip the yams in), mooncake,
and "ngau-kok" (meaning bull's horns in Cantonese.
It's actually a root, but you eat it like a nut,
boiled, and then crack the shell to get to the white center).

It's Myron's first Lantern festival and it sure was fascinating for him to see all the lights.

Myron and grandma, holding a fish lantern.

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, everyone.

p/s- We are still eating the mooncakes my mother gave.

Myron is Seven (months)

I can't believe how time flies.

As much we would like things to be in slow-mo, we are also always cheering new achievements for our babies.



To date, Myron is still pretty much about 7.4 kg. Seems like this is his plateau weight before the next spurt. And he is about 64cm in length/height.



He has now mastered sitting up on his own, though he must have the space to do it (go reverse a little on all four and then push his body upwards to a sitting position. He has been at this for about 2 weeks now.)



He is trying to move on his all four, after having been on all four for a month and rocking back and forth like a rocking horse.


So this adventurous boy has taken to lunging forward, propelling his whole upper body through space, and very possibly to the edge of the "flat earth" called bed. He can no longer be left alone on the bed, even if it's barricaded on all sides because he could actually "jump" over the pillows and bolsters.



Myron has now 4 teeth. His upper two front teeth cut through the gum about a week back. He seems to love grinding his teeth together. Must be the new sensation and sound that is fascinating to him. But if you let him pick up a finger from you and put it into his mouth, he is like a terrapin that bites and won't let go till he has a piece chewed off from you!



Myron loves his cereals, rice with a tad of brown rice cereals mixed into Mommy's milk. Sometimes he will be fed with a spoon, but sometimes Grandma will just let him drink the cereal out of a shot glass to make the feeding process faster.

He now also an expert at grabbing things off you: gadget-daddy's glasses, the iPod from his brother, your cup from your hand if it's within reach, and anything that he sees on you, and then it goes straight into his mouth.



You're growing so well, baby.
And everyone loves you