MOmmy On Call

An Eye Feast of Cuties

2010-12-03T01:16:00.017+08:00

Just a few pics of my awesome 4-some.
(Yes, I'm a proud momma..)

The big boys and their building blocks

The Sarong model

The latest Heart throb:

Cuddles

Halloween

Lots of Photos, but No Photos

2010-12-02T05:32:00.003+08:00

I have not taken enough photos to show what we've been doing.

Yes, we are back in KL.
We were in Penang for a holiday last week, while Gadget daddy was here. He had taken the week off to be with us before having to be in Korea for 2 weeks for work.

Working only with a camera phone is convenient to take shots of everything, provided you have both hands free - one to hold the phone and the other press the button.
So with my hands busy with the kids and their stuff almost all the time, I didn't take a single shot of our trip.

But I have loads of photos and short videos of them in their everyday routine.
I need to download those so you can see how they've grown... but later.
Errr... which I think would mean I don't know when .

Now I need to catch a quick snooze before my kids wake up when the sun is up.

Midnight Madness

2010-12-02T05:02:00.003+08:00

So the four have already ganged-up and done their first Dunni on me:

4am.
First, Micah cried because he's unwell. He's the last of the boys to be down with fever due to a bad sore throat. (Max and Myron had their 3 days back.) He wanted the air-con on and a blanket.
Then, Myron cried because he was disturbed or for some-other-reason-I-don't-know-what.
Myra follow suit and cried for milk.
While I was giving Myron some water to drink to calm him, Max started a nightmare, woke up and asked me why wasn't I sleeping beside him as I had promised earlier.

It's actually the first time I'm dealing with this on my own.
Usually I'm fortunate enough to have Grandma to help, at least do something for the older one, or put Myron into the sarong swing so that he will go back to sleep.

So this has been an interesting challenge.

Oh, I forgot to mention that while we are back here for this two weeks, Gadget-daddy is working in Korea.

So, Myron had some water, but continued whining sleepily cos he realised his sister is crying and that I would soon have to nurse her.
Then I gave Micah his dose of paracetamol after turning the aircon back on. Told him to either go sleep at his corner furthest from the fan, or go get his own blanket from his corner.
Fed baby girl while patting Myron back to sleep.
Finally I went and lay down beside Max for a while and covered him with a make-shift blanket (a bed-sheet, cos Myron was running around without a diaper for a few minutes after his bath, and decided to poo on my floor and then climbed up the bed and sat on the blanket.)

Actually, my days are usually not as happening as this.

The more usual dramas would be:

Having to play judge, jury and executionist for the battles between the boys, and very often they would end up on some therms on their own.

Diaper changing and feeding the girl in hiding is the other thing I do. I have to do so in hiding because she is now very easily distracted, and Myron usually would make a fuss or come and fuss about her while I'm nursing her. Either way she will not feed well and later will be a grouchy baby when she's sleepy and hungry.

I am really trying to spend as much time as I can with Myron. I want to assure him that being the younger middle kid, with 2 older brothers playing by themselves and not wanting him to disrupt their Lego-building and other battles and a baby sister who occasionally needing undivided attention, Mommy and Daddy loves him so so much and we so want him in the family. So I read with him, cuddle him, occasionally sit in front of the computer with him, and hold him while he flips through the photo album on my iPhone.

So I ended up here, blogging again, as I have done before, and how I got started, because after being woken up by the kids, I can't get back to sleep...

Let's see how tomorrow works out, I mean later today.
I know I'm gonna fall asleep with feeding baby girl. just how many times and how long each time. :P

Have a good day, y'all.

Lost In S'pore

2010-09-12T11:01:00.004+08:00

We are heading back today after a one week break.
You'll not hear from me for a while again.
Sorry.

One week was too short of a holiday, but it was also the longest week without Gadget-daddy.

It was just a lazy holiday.
Spent some time with Ee-ee, and she stayed over for a night.
Mommy did bits of shopping here and there to get some diaper and Milo supplies.
Grandma's got her own supplies to bring back: herbal tea leaves and barley.

Unfortunately for us, Myron was down with fever and tummy upset because he drank some rain water collected in the backyard for washing the porch. Yeah, our bit of recycling water.

We will be back next weekend, but it's for a friend's wedding.
I doubt that I'll have time to blog.

See you when I see you.

Round Two...

2010-09-10T01:15:00.004+08:00

I totally understand why people stop after having two kids.

It's exhausting.

I'm like going through the cycle for the second time, and while I'm really enjoying the babies and the boys, I totally won't press others to have more kids when they say two is enough.

Considering the needs of the kids (and kids these days are so much smarter and outspoken compared to when we were kids) and the cost of living expenses, I guess it's just about right that marginal increase of human population worldwide is on a decline.

So, back to having four kids:

I can't believe that I'm doing this for the second time round:
= having a 1+ toddler and a newborn;
= looking out for diaper bargains at the supermarket and buying at least 3 packs at a time;
= attracted to baby toys all over again;
= breastfeeding one and expressing for the other;
= breastfeeding on demand is so draining, that...
= I need midnight feeds myself, Milo the ever favourite;
= more than one baby crying in the night;
= blogging in the middle of the night;

Can't think of any more to list...
... and the little girl is calling for a feed.

It's tough, but I've no regrets.

It's now 4:47am.
Mommy's on call.

To Be Fair...

2010-09-08T06:30:00.008+08:00

I must also keep an update of what the boys are up to...
(hope to get this out before any of the kids wake up!)

Micah is now 6 and has registered for primary school in Singapore. His school greets you at the lobby with this!

Isn't it lovely.
No, not all school in Singapore is like this. In fact our first choice of school, which is just across the road from our apartment blocks, is totally old-schoolish and square. (This school is 1.3 km away and it's considered a bit far cos not within walking distance. That's Singapore for you.)

I also checked out the school canteen and, yes, they have food that my picky eater will eat. Phew.

Now we need to go for orientation. I'm actually looking forward to it.

We recently made our visit for the last check up on Micah's arm and it's as good as new.
We are all very thankful.

Of course this boy is still running and climbing and falling like his accident had never happened.

Current craze: Star Wars, Lego, Animal Keizer (he's hovering on this, but mommy is saying no all the time).
He would love to go to Jedi school, he said, but since it's not real, he wants to go to a Kung-Fu school next time. Well, we'll see about that. Of course I've not mentioned to him that the school he is going to has Wu-Shu as one of the co-curriculum activities. :D

Max is up to his tricks on being the funniest and cutest.

Current craze: Star Wars, Lego, Food (ever)...

To be Continued... babies stirring....

Grand Introduction

2010-09-08T05:16:00.016+08:00

Ladies and Gentlemen,

With great pleasure and delight, may I present to you,

Miss Myra Ines Foong Zhi Xin,
Born on 16th July 2010,
3.6kg and 51 cm long.

Myra in her first week:

Myra in phototherapy

Myra being sunbathed for her prolonged Jaundice

Myra in her Fullmoon Day outfit

Myra with her brothers on her Fullmoon Day

Myra at 6 weeks

She is Myra Ines Foong Zhi Xin.
Myra, the female of Myron, means fragrance (derived from myrrh),
Ines means pure and innocence in Latin,
Zhi is a plant with medicinal value, and
Xin means joy.

We pray that as she bears all these values in her name, she will be a channel of God's blessing to the people around her.

I thank God how she is so welcomed and adored by her brothers.
I was especially concern about Myron, being still such a baby himself at 16 months, but he really loves her. Every time she cries, he will run to her and want to give her a hug to comfort her. He loves to pat her all the time. Of course at other times, he is curious and would be poking at her face. We constantly have to remind him to be gentle as he gets really excited.

So here is where I'll need to go edit my profile.... again.
:)

Hello!!

2010-06-18T08:56:00.004+08:00

Hello!!

We are back in KL for the holidays.

The boys are happy about everything, even just being back in the old house and rummaging through their old treasures.

They have their grandparents to pamper them, plus uncles and an aunty. They are visting all their favourite places and parks, old hang out places and Ah Ma's house.

I'm eating at our favourite "tea shop" and coffee shops. Also meeting up with a few old friends to try to catch up with them.

The only thing is I wish I have more energy. (Yeah, I know... my constant complain.)
I wish I could be running enthusiastically with the boys at the park, etc, but No.4 is due in about 4 weeks time. It's getting harder for me to move fast. It's also very hard to climb out of bed.

Oh, in case you haven't heard, No.4 is a girl!!
Yeah, lotsa moms are so excited for me, but I think my life is going to be a bit more complicated from now.

What I mean is that a girl's make-up and needs are quite different from the boys' and we'll have to deal with different issues and some same issues differently. I doubt that she will be "easier" than the active boys we have.
And I am praying hard she will not be spoilt as she's the only girl in the house.

Gottta go for now. Having breakfast with my sis and then luch date with a girlfriend.

Pictures on the way, need to be uploaded.

My Big Drama Birthday

2010-04-07T04:30:00.001+08:00

Micah fell at the monkey-bars at the playground and broke his right arm.

That was how my birthday began the day before at 7pm, as we rushed to the hospital and only got home at 1.30am after the whole procedure was done.

Today, my older sis and I had a simple lunch, she got her girl to give me flowers!

Later Gadget daddy came back early with flowers and cake. Lovely!

We went out for dinner, Japanese! Everyone's favourire. The boys ate their ramen so well, including Myron.

It was a day treasured, remembering that the people around me are most treasured abs enjoyed.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Singapore

New of the One Unseen

2010-03-17T09:27:00.000+08:00

So I'm 21 weeks today.
More than half way along the way.

I checked with my doctor a couple of days a go, and this little bundle is doing well. All the structural development is normal. The organs are in place and the correct size at this stage.
I am Thankful.

We could not tell if it is a boy or girl cos the legs were together. But I saw a tiny foot, it's shape on the scan, and it was beautiful.

We are waiting for you, sweetheart.
Waiting to welcome you into the world and to our family.

Holiday

2010-03-17T08:33:00.004+08:00

We are back in KL for a few days for the school hols.

The first few days were spent at home as Micah was down with fever. No thanks to the hot weather. But we did manage to visit my mom a few times and our friend who came back from Canada.

The good thing about having other adults to attend to the baby and Grandma with the cooking is that I have time to do stuff with the two older ones. So we have done a few crafts and we really enjoyed them.

We still have one more new one waiting to be opened.

I also went down town to our favourite market with the best tea in town for breakfast and bought a bunch of stickers. A couple for the walls in the house for Myron and some to give to the boys' schoolmates.

Today I am suppose to head out for the best curry mee with my sisters. It's in OUG. That's also the place I want to get Myron's milk powder supply.

Tomorrow we will be g
heading back to Singapore. This time my mum is coming along.

Myron Is One!

2010-03-06T23:48:00.003+08:00

It's amazing how time flies.

Myron is One today.

To date, this baby is not walking yet, but gets all excites with a bunch of squeals and clapping his hands or just waving them like crazy when he stands up hands free. He can crawl super fast, though, and has one adventurous escape from the house by himself when grandma left the front door ajar*.

Myron is still not talking much, but he can sure call "Dad" or "Daddy" when he wants. He only call out "maa-mee" when he is terrible distress, i.e. when sleeping and being strapped onto the car seat. Anything he wants to eat is pointed at and called "mumm-mumm" and and drinks are called "naan-naan".

Myron stopped breastfeeding at 8 months due to very bad mouth sores. Since then he drinks everything out of a cup, including his milk. He actually doesn't know how to suck on a teat.

Myron now has 8 teeth, the last one just peeping out of his gum. But he can sure bite and chew. I usually have a few bruises on my arms to show for a teething baby.

Myron, taking after his older brothers, loves cars and anything with wheels. He can push a small car along holding it firmly in his hands, and he also has learnt to place one on top of a pillow and watch it slide down.

Myron also loves music. A lot of times he would sit in front of the TV just for the theme songs of the cartoons his brothers are watching and smile with glee. After that he is off to his own business of play, discoveries and destructions.

Myron is a social bug. He has been one since he could smile. HE would always look at the people around him and wait for someone to start talking to him. He would reciprocate with smiles, gurgles and reach his hands out to them.

Myron, like all not-the-first-kid, plays by himself pretty well. The only thing is we have to watch him like a hawk still because he outs everything into his mouth. He is great at chewing books and all kinds of paper, even plastics are not spared. I think of the three boys, he has the sharpest teeth and strongest jaws.

Myron is quite a foodie. By this I am measuring it against his brothers. He is one who would sit quite well by himself on the high chair if you give him a few biscuits. he would also sit down quite well for his meals, unless something exciting suddenly comes along, i.e. a cat or some kids running past him. Then he would want to give "chase". But generally feeding him is an enjoyable task.

Generally, Myron is such a happy baby, and I am so glad for him that he is. The world is a wonder to him, and he is happy to be with us.

God bless you, my beautiful darling.

Keep discovering the wonderful world God has made, including yourself.

* Grandma was with us the last two weeks, and it was just 3 days ago when it happened. She was washing the rice before cooking, so she took the rice water out to pour into some plants. She came in and had planned to go out for a second round.

All that time Myron was happily playing with a magnetic toy on the fridge. As she was heading out for round 2 to the plants, she noticed the missing baby, and frantically called out to him , searching the whole house. Then she went out to check on the stairs just a few feet from the front door, but no baby there. Second check around the house, and still no baby.

Then she walked out and found Myron standing up by the plants belonging to our neighbours, along the corridors. It was a 50-60 feet away and round the corner. When he saw grandma he smiled. I think he knew he has on up on her.

That was their adventure while Mommy was out with the two big boys on their usual run of school and all.

Photos updates on 18 March 2010, 2.38am.

A List Of Happy Vs. Stress

2010-02-23T00:08:00.004+08:00

Happy

Our new place has rooms for everyone, including guests, and the kitchen is big enough for us to take our meals in.

Our place is nicely furnished and we didn't need to buy a stick of furniture, except for a couple of fans as the boys can't take the air-con blowing through the night.

I really like our neighbourhood. Not too busy, and everything necessary is within an easy walk.

We have a home.

We have a car!! It's really a piece of peace-of-mind for moving about with 3 boys everyday. I drive them and my sister and her kids Mon-Fri, to school and back, and Gadget-daddy does all the other night and weekend outings.

I am renewing my cooking skills which were left asleep in some lost shelves of high-school days.

I can hang out with my older sister Mon-Fri while the older kids are in school.

Stress

The kids are left on their own while I'm cooking (and I only do breakfast and dinner). Sometimes I get Myron to sit on the highchair with a few biscuits while I cook dinner, but that means spoiling some of his dinner.

I really feel the loss of my quality time spent with the boys, now being crowded by chores and more chores.

I can tell my boys are bored/ lack of adult attention, because they love coming into the kitchen and driving me crazy there with their constant opening and closing of doors (fridge, microwave oven, cupboards), and fighting over everything (who's first, whose more, I-can-you-cannot), and baby Myron seems to have so little of my time compared to the two older ones when they were his age. :(

Doing Chinese homework. It especially drives Micah and I crazy.

Not stress... but I miss the old familiarities of hanging out with my other sister, having our morning routines in KL and also staking out at my mom's place whenever I needed a safe place for the boys to play while I chat with my mom.

All In Good Shape

2010-02-22T23:25:00.008+08:00

We are OK.

Sorry for the long silence.

Mil is here for a couple of weeks, so while everyone is a sleep, I am blogging in the study*.

It's like we were just thrown into a mixer and then pressed into a mold and now being baked in an oven... Considering the weather, these days, it literally does feel like an oven.

We only had a few days of rest when we got here on 29 December 2009, and then the boys started school on 3 January 2010. The first 2 weeks was tough moving around in public transport with 3 kids in tow, getting to know what's where in our neighbourhood and trying to work out caring for 3 young boys (and a big one) and keeping them happy, while doing the cooking and keeping the place clean (notice I didn't say 'neat') and safe.

BUT I am so so thankful for my older sis who is here. She is really my life-saver, a float, whole being thrown into the deep blue sea. She had already helped earlier in getting my boys into the same kindy as her girl, so registration and adjusting to their system (for me) has been fairly painless. Also, she is always reminding me of new things to look out for, i.e. Water play on certain Fridays means we must remember to put in the slippers and a towel for the kids, apart from their usual change of PE clothes.

Now we have a car, about 3 weeks ago, and so moving around is fairly less stressful. It's now Myron's turn to adjust. You see, while we were moving about in cabs, busses and trains, Myron had been safe and snug in a baby carrier, always snug close to Mommy. Now he is being strapped into a car seat and Mommy's not within his reach. So poor baby is in "carseat-bootcamp".

Where we stay is a rather new but very nice community area. There are lots of open fields and almost everyday there are some people flying kites, even night kites with blinking lights. On weekends there could easily be about a 100 of them in a field that is across the community center alone. There are quite a few more wide open fields surrounding our apartment.

Our place is actually at a pretty good locale: 10 minutes' walk to the public pool, 10 minutes' walk to the shopping mall/train station and 8 minutes' walk to the market. We are just 10 minutes drive from my sister's place which is an older and more established community area, so it's also pretty convenient when wanting more choices of eateries and shopping for household needs.

We are also glad to announce that we have a guest room that is available at any time, so if you are ever coming over to Singapore, please don't hesitate to ask, if you need a place to stay. Having said that, let me say that Availability is, of course, on a first-come-first-serve basis, unless you don't mind crashing in our living room, which has a nice couch in front of a huge plasma TV. :D

Fish Out of Water

2010-01-26T04:31:00.004+08:00

So, I had attempted to blog, but got interrupted and then forgot all about it. So here is a belated publication. - Tue, Feb 23, 2010, 0046am.

Everything seems surreal.

We are running like clockworks - getting to school, cleaning the kids, the house, doing laundry, breath.

My bearings are not in order here. I cannot comprehend time and space when my sister says a certain place is quite near with the measure of "5 bus stops away", or that it is "just behind my place" because I don't know to which direction and if it's behind or between some apartment blocks.

We are at the mall everyday: Grocery shopping! and having our lunch.

Grocery shopping and cooking.... I can't believe how there's always something I need to buy everyday: milk or bread, or eggs or noodles ... Seems we are always short of one thing or another.

Still adjusting to the new house. Eek!! it's not as children friendly as I want it to be. I want to put the water-feature (indoor fountain) outside, left by the owner. Thanks but no thanks.

Surprise: Miracle Hysterical

2009-12-28T12:27:00.002+08:00

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...

2009-12-19T04:03:00.005+08:00

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

2009-12-16T23:27:00.007+08:00

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

2009-12-01T22:24:00.003+08:00

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

2009-11-30T23:01:00.005+08:00

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

2009-11-21T07:22:00.002+08:00

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

2009-11-16T00:57:00.005+08:00

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

2009-11-10T04:03:00.007+08:00

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

2009-11-06T04:45:00.006+08:00

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

2009-10-28T22:32:00.003+08:00

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

2009-10-19T23:38:00.013+08:00

Eat

Sleep

Bath

Play

Look Innocent

An Un-Happening Day

2009-10-19T22:22:00.018+08:00

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'

2009-10-13T00:54:00.002+08:00

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

2009-10-06T20:56:00.005+08:00

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

2009-10-06T17:23:00.011+08:00

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)

2009-10-06T16:27:00.015+08:00

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

Tadpole Hunting

2009-10-02T16:29:00.007+08:00

While Myron was having a late nap, the two older boys wanted to go to the park.

Their intention was to go do some digging at the sandy area (normally used to play football by the others) but I opted one mess for another.
I suggested we go tadpole hunting instead.

It was already cloudy and the wind was rolling more clouds in, so we made as quick a trip as we could.
We walked as quickly as we could, Mommy, at least.
Of course the boys ran rather than walked quickly, and so Mommy ended up doing a speed-walk and some hollering at the same time: "Keep to the path", "Don't pick that up, it's dirty", "Look out for ants", "Look where you're going. Don't walk backwards", etc.

We surveyed some fish ponds, but it had no tadpoles.
It was also rather dangerous as the boys kept leaning over the edge. The water's murky and I hear it is quite deep.

So we headed to an abandoned fountain area (Not exactly abandoned, but rather they fountains are "out of order" or never turned on as far as we know). Here the tadpoles were an "easy pick".

So here's our "catch of the day".

Charming and Disarming

2009-10-02T16:18:00.003+08:00

A teasing smile - If you were to greet him at the door as you come in, he will flash a smile but quickly hides his face.

I-like-you smile - As you talk to him, he will stare at you with the his lips slightly agape, but you will see a smile forming there.

Delighted smile - When you play with him and tickle him, he sometimes giggles and laughs, but he will mostly give you the delighted smile where his whole face lights up and his cheeks pushes up and his eyes are in the shape of semi-circles.

But you should hear him chuckle and giggle when his big brother is making funny faces and funny noises which seems to really crack him up.
:)

State Of Mind

2009-09-30T01:19:00.006+08:00

Was writing this in an e-mail to a friend, and thought of you, my blog buddies and visitors, and thought you should be in this loop...

As you know, we will be moving to Singapore soon.
Seems like too soon... But I'm sorta not* thinking about it.

It's not that I'm that busy preparing for the move, not yet for now, but that I am trying to give more time to the three boys while I can.
I think when we are down in Singapore on our own, I'd really have a lot less time, and maybe less patience due to lack of sleep and a lot less 'me' time.

So in the day time I am either nursing Myron, or carrying him and playing with him.
Or I'd be playing with the two boys, or attending to their basic needs like getting snacks or getting them cleaned.
I also try to get them to do something 'productive' like some crafts or reading or some games that will enrich them one way or another. So all these need Mommy to be present.
Occasionally I take a snooze with Myron, when I can't keep my eyes peeled. He seems to sleep better smelling Mommy beside him. :D

In the night, when they are asleep, my Gadget-daddy is usually doing something on the computer, or we will try to catch a movie together (rent on-line from i-tunes).
Yeah, we are also trying to have a bit of "we" time before he heads down south first.

There are a few things that I am anxious about:
I am not sure if we can register the boys in time for school next year, even if it is just kindy, but it seems they are very serious about placement there.

I am also worried for Micah if he can catch up with the other kids there. Not meaning to sound "kiasu", but I know I don't want him to feel lost in class and being teased by other kids for being slow or "stupid", which of course he is not.
I know.. I know.. I am just imagining the worst.
Hahaha... but that's what I'm worried about.

Max will still be in kindy K1 so not too stressed, as it's the year they start learning to read and write etc.
Just that he might have adjustment problems about a new place and no koh-koh in the class with him.
Max is quite reserve when it comes to meeting other kids. Most of the time he is quite ok with adults.

Personally, I think I will move into D-gear.
Denial!
I already know in a time of stress my first reaction is to try to be practical and run like a robot, not daring to feel.
Because I know I will feel lost and scared of being lost (literally) and wonder if I can fix 3 meals for everyone while I still have to attend to the boys.
And to do all that and keep calm, not be in a frenzy and yelling all the time. Eeek!!

I know they will adjust faster than I, and will do fine.
Just that right now, with 2 more adults in the house, they really get a lot of things done for them, and things get done properly.
So if they were to do a bit more for themselves, as I know they would have to, I may have to cope with crazy shower time, tolerate not-so-well brushed-teeth and keep my cool while I'm uncertain if they will clean themselves properly in the toilet after a 'big' one.

The 'biggest' thing that we will have to change, I think, is that the boys will have to feed themselves.
Yes, I am talking about the 2 big boys. Right now, at home, grandpa feeds them at breakfast and Mommy feeds them at dinner.
Yes, we adults are to be blamed, because we want no mess to clean up, and we want them to eat faster and make sure the eat a substantial amount.
So when we are on our own, in a sense I know they will actually adjust, because there will be no extra hands to pamper them.

I feel like we are heading for an earthquake.
*getting goosebumps*
*nibbling my nails*

* On my mental list:
kitchen ware
dining ware
bedding
books
toys
DVDs
playpen,
clothes
bath stuff
Housekeeping - buckets, mats, washclothes,

Social-bug Baby

2009-09-29T21:51:00.001+08:00

Myron cried today when I said good-bye to him as we headed out to send his two big brothers to school.

Yes, this almost 7 month baby now knows when he is being left behind.

Of course we also had the 10 days with him all the time during the Raya break.

Myron is such a social bug, just like his first bro.
At shopping malls, or at restaurants, we would always look at people around him and smile at anyone who calls out or coo at him.

He loves being around people.
He loves the presence of another human being. Even if he is happy to be playing by himself, he would still call out for another person just to be with him.
He is not demanding that you play with him, but that you be with him.
Very "strange" and so seemingly deep in a grown-up way.

Well, it's just a few more weeks before the school holiday starts. Then he will have us all with him everyday.

Happy little baby.

p/s- His 2 upper teeth are just cutting through his gum. So this almost 7 month old has 4 teeth already. And he is still in the process of getting himself sitting up without help. Doing quite well in his progress.

Playgroup Update

2009-09-23T17:10:00.012+08:00

The party I mentioned we went for at the playgroup 2 weeks back, was this sweet little darling's.

Calista is 1!

Look at her cake, baked by Aunty Mary.

The coordinator also showed me the rest of the crafts they did for the theme of sea-creatures.

They were made with paper, foams and old newspaper.

It was also at this party that I realised hoe ready Myron is for a regular visit to the playgroup.

Of course he was fast asleep at the end of the exciting event.

Playing Catch-Up

2009-09-23T16:07:00.006+08:00

Sorry I have been so slack on updating my blog lately.

Usually I am busy in the day with the boys, and then by the time Gadget-daddy gets back he will work on the computer until it's quite late. Sometimes I sleep before he finishes. Sometimes even if I'm still awake, I will just go to bed so that I have energy for the next day.
So that's my excuse.

... and here's some update to catch up on.

Sometimes there are some funny moments, or something "profound" expressed or exclaimed by the kids, and I think this should be blogged for a record, but I never get to the computer.
(Mx: "Mom, sometimes, I am going to be as tall as you.")

Sometimes, there's a drama of some sort, and I wonder if these should be recorded as well.
(Mc: "Mom, today, I am not going to be your son anymore... blah, blah, blah.")

This morning I noticed, Myron is distinctively right-handed.

Most kids aren't as distinctive, as in they can easily be ambidextrous, or the parents may let them slowly decide which hand they are more comfortable with for writing and feeding. Some parents decide for their kids anyway.

My two older ones were asked by the adults around them to hold the spoon/ pencil/ etc. with their right hand when it eventually came to "crunch" time.

Myron can already push himself up on all fours and be like a little rocking horse. The other thing he does is that if he is already propped-up on a sitting position, he would lunge forward to grab something he wants which may be beyond his real. Oh, he is so ready to race with the big boys.

We have news from across the border.
We are re-locating.
Gadget-daddy will be down in Lion City by mid October. He will look for a place to rent and check out schools for the boys. Mean time, he would probably be bunking in with my sis.
The boys and I will be here to finish their school for the year.
I will have to find my feet/street all over again.

So I might be bumping into some of you ladies who are there.
:)
... Or we could just meet up and do a picnic with our kids. :D

Painting Transformers

2009-09-14T16:31:00.009+08:00

We got back from a party this afternoon and the boys wanted to do some painting.
You can already guess what they would want to paint with their current fad.
Transformers.

So here is Micah with his latest:
The Scorpion with all the extra weapons. There's Jazz rescuing Sam and Michaela.

He actually did this one a few days ago, Sideswipe.

Max wanted to paint Bumblebee, but insisted Mommy helped, as he wanted it to be right.
He painted the rest: Skids, Mudflap, Bulkhead (big green one) and another (?).

And what did mommy do this time with the extra paint?
She made a tray of doughnuts.
:)

Strawberry, Greentea (Max insisted) and Dark chocolate.

Eyebrow Raising

2009-09-13T23:43:00.003+08:00

I was getting ready for a shower when Micah ran in and announced, "I need to poo-poo, Mom."

So I dawdled a bit in the room, as he is usually quite fast.
Sure enough, he chirped "I'm done," just as I got all my clean clothes out of the closet.

As I washed him, he asked,
"Mom, what do you call that again? The one that only girls have."

"Err...? You mean where they shee-shee (pee) from?
Oh, man. Are we gonna hit the B&B Qs again?

"No, the other one you said."

"Oh?"
Now I am puzzled and honestly scared. I don't know what he's asking about and I'm not sure if I have the time to prepare the answer appropriately. This is like a pop quiz of life!

"What 'baby' again?

"Oh, you mean ..."

"Baby fat!
Yeah, baby fat*. Now I remember. I like that."

He chuckles as he walked out of the bathroom, leaving me laughing, shaking my head and my jelly-belly.

Yeah, only girls (moms) have them: Baby-fat.

*It was my older sis who told me of the term "baby fat". It's the fat you gain with every baby you have. He over heard me telling that to Gadget-daddy and since that, more that 4 months ago, he will now and then bring up the topic.

Myron Is 6 Months Old

2009-09-10T01:29:00.013+08:00

Time flies.
And as I look at my "cutiest ever" wriggling a little in his sleep, I can still remember how quite bit tinier he was when we brought him back from the hospital.

Myron in his first month.

Myron turned 6 months old on the 6th of September, 2009.

Myron now has 2 little teeth sticking out quite obviously on his lower gum. The teeth sprouted the week before he turned 5 months old.

He can sit quite steadily when you prop him up and he loves playing with his toys on the bed sitting up. Occasionally he does end up like humpty-dumpty on his side or the back, so Mommy usually surrounds him with pillows, so that he fall would not be too much (at 90*).

We have also started Myron on his cereals.
Grandma gave him some porridge the other day (rice porridge in ABC soup, but just gave him blended rice), but he seem to much prefer his rice cereal with Mommy's milk.

Myron is now super at calling out to be picked up when he has had enough of playing by himself. He is like a Tiramisu, calling out, "Pick me up! Pick me up!"

His favourite colour is yellow, as seen by his forever-gnawing on this piece on the astrosaucer.

(See, he has turned the toy around, because the back is yellow. Funny baby.)

His "favouritest" playmate is his big brother, Micah. He will actually coo very differently to him, something that even Mommy does not get, And Micah can make him burst into peals of laughter by just saying a single syllable word, like "stick" or "pop" or "hic".

Myron's drippy nose seemed to have stopped, and that was after another doc advised Mommy to stop taking dairy products. Seems pretty effective. But Myron is still as drooly as ever, and if we don't was up his bibs everyday, the 15+ pieces that we have is not enough to hold for the next day.

Mommy's favourite part of the day with Myron is when he wakes up in the morning. He will usually talk to himself until Mommy wakes up or greet her with a smile, or he will look around until he spots her and give a gurgle and smile.

You sure make every morning a good morning, my beautiful boy.
You are so so lovely.

Last Holiday ... Singapore

2009-09-08T23:41:00.001+08:00

Sorry, that this is such a be-lated post.

At the end of the school hols, also the Merdeka Weekend (national day), we actually made a last minute decision to go down to Singapore. And as usual, we stayed with my sister.

This time round, we visited a nice public pool in Seng Kang,
It has quite an elaborate playpool with slides, tubes and fountains.
As usual, Micah had a splash if a time, while Max had to be persuaded to stay wet a little longer than he wanted to be.

Myron took a nap while his Daddy and brothers were having fun.

We also went on the Singapore Flyer. This we targeted to get on about sunset, so when we boarded the "capsule", it was still light, but when we came out it was dark.
Look at the city's night-lights. Nice.
(I took the shots below with my camera. Gadget daddy has some really nice ones with his more sophisticated camera.)

It is always good to spend time with family, especially those we don't see enough.

The kids sure had a good time together.

Recycle Freak

2009-09-08T02:15:00.003+08:00

Occasionally one of my many panic buttons gets pushed.

This one was to go hug a tree... Well, kinda to that effect.

It was the day after we got back from Singapore.
It started with the simple thought of re-using a couple of plastic containers we had put put snacks in for the journey. When we got back, I washed the containers, packed them into a plastic bag to reuse them when I go buy snacks for the kids after school.

That's when I suddenly realised we had a ton of such containers stacked up under the kitchen counter and the giddiness began.

I matched a cover to each one of these and then packed them into two bags for the playgroup, where it would come in handy, as sometimes some moms are so generous with their snacks we get to pack their goodies home.

I also took out the boys' travelling-utensils and kept them in the car.

Now I also can refuse plastic forks and spoons from restaurants/coffeshops when I pack food for them after school.

I also carry three plastic bags in my handbag for in-case-I-decide-buy-something-at-the-supermarket. The three plastic bags are of different sizes. Easier to fold them into my handbag than to lug those reusable shopping bags that are thick and huge.

USE LESS PLASTIC.

Many Firsts on This Holiday Outing

2009-09-02T22:29:00.009+08:00

The first Saturday of the holiday we went down to KLCC's park.

It was Myron's first time to the park.

It was also the first day of the Fasting month, so we practically had the whole park to ourselves. Apart from a handful of tourists, we were about the only locals outdoor.

Then we had a little snackie at the picnic area. We packed pancakes for Micah and fishballs for Max. This is the first time I had seen so much space and so little human traffic.

It was basically our picnic day. Nice to have no worries about crowd.

And So..

2009-09-02T17:47:00.003+08:00

The school break was too fast and fun.

We were busy from day to night... at least Mommy was.

While the baby slept she attended to the boys. When the baby needed to nurse, go to the potty or be patted to nap again, the boys either amused themselves or kept the grandparents busy.

Will come back in a moment with pictures... as soon as I get the baby off my lap.

Yikes he's chewing the edge of the table...

Ooo.. Yellow

2009-08-18T01:00:00.006+08:00

The other day, while watching Myron at play, I noticed he picked at things that were yellow.

Can't quite tell if it's his favourite colour, and he still can't tell us either, but here's the little cutie in action:

"Mommy, I've separated the yellow cube from the rest.
It's actually been 'eaten' . Shhh..."

Guess which monster's coming for tea?
Cookie monster, Elmo, Zoe or Big Bird?

Big Bird.

And what would be sweeter than a "glazed moon" for dessert.

Yes, that finger lickin' good.

Happy exploring with your tastebuds, beautiful baby.

Super Soft Building Blocks

2009-08-17T01:11:00.000+08:00

Micah has been doing this for a while, maybe since he was 2... but of late he has been doing this almost every day - Building boats and bunkers and race cars with pillows and bolsters!

I am quite amazed by his creativity, but the down side, the bit that can drive all of us mad is that when they don't stack up well, he will get really frustrated and go into a crying-whining-yelling frenzy: scolding the pillows, or whoever who might accidentally knock something over.

He usually uses the bed as a base, but there were a few times he used half the living room for his huge boat, lining the edge of the boat with every pillow and cushion he could get his hands on. And the poor boy kept getting a scolding from grandpa for putting his pillow on the floor.

Well, I didn't get a photo of that elaborate boat, which had a doorway and corridor to go through to get to your cabin, but here are the ones I managed to take a snap of:

The boys, taking turns in the go-cart he made in the room.

And here is the small boat he made with the two armchairs downstairs.

Yes, Myron has already gotten into the action with his brothers.
:)

No Hot Baby, Thankful Mommy

2009-08-13T01:24:00.004+08:00

Myron had fever last week.

It was for two nights that I rubbed rice dough on him and gave him the gel pad on his head.

I find the rice-dough rub to be really effective. A friend says she usually get her kids to soak in a tub of water to help relief the warmth from the body, but I think that's just too troublesome... especially in the middle of the night. So I do the other troublesome thing, rub the body with rice dough. :D

I am just so glad he is all well now... Err... except for his drippy nose that can't seem to stop.

At least it's clear, not green.

So I am thankful.

Hair-cut Day

2009-08-12T20:43:00.000+08:00

Monday was the day we went to the hair dresser.
It was good timing as the boys have no school, and being a Monday morning, there was no crowd.

Max is the one who hates going to have a haircut.

Both the boys had a haircut before Christmas last year. It was good timing as it made them look nice during Chinese New Year.

Micah had one a month after Chinese New year, but Max skipped that.

Then in June, we took Myron for a shave, and Micah had a trim too.
Max skipped that as well.

So finally we insisted it was time he had a hair cut.
It was either to our hairdresser, Aunty Chui Lin or to the Indian Barber*,
Max chose Aunty Chui Lin.

So here are the two boys, clowning around while waiting for the hair dresser to come (we were her first customer of the day).

The boys having their shave.

After the hair cut.

And here's Myron before his shave,

... during,

... and after.

Don't they look so nice and clean?

:)

* If we had gone to the Indian barber, I would have asked for a crew cut for Max. Then he only needs to worry about another haircut like... after Christmas.

Under The Sea

2009-08-07T17:12:00.019+08:00

The Bangsar Gospel Center's playgroup's theme for this term is "Under The Sea."

The clever teachers and volunteers have come up with crafts for different sea creatures, made out of cardboard, construction paper, foams, balloon (check out the puffer fish!), plastic strings and tinfoil.

Top down, L->R:
puffer-fish, walrus, starfish, shark, whale,
turtle and jelly fish, seahorse and dolphin.

Apart from just the crafts of making the sea creatures, helping the children to identify shapes and colours, there is also a little explanation on these sea creatures. I think we moms learn so much too, and not just our kids.

Today's sea creature feature was the sea snake.

Moms making the crafts with their kids.

A boy proudly showing off his masterpiece of the day.

And here's one of the moms in action: telling the class about sea snakes.

Then we were delighted when we found sea-creatures-shaped snacks. :)

Tasted like potato chips, I thought.

A Mother's Watch

2009-08-06T05:03:00.007+08:00

Myron has a temperature.

It's not high enough to register as fever on the digital thermometer, but he is pretty warm to the touch. 37.4 was his highest reading. Grandma said he has had a fright*, but it could also be that he is just teething.

Between midnight and 4am he was moaning in his sleep quite a bit, requiring Mommy to either nurse him, or pick him up to pat him, if he refused to nurse.

4am.
Max woke up.
I think he was dreaming of transformers, because that's what he started talking about.

Apart from that, he also busied himself with buttoning and unbuttoning his pajama shirt. He sure picked a swell time for some fine-motor skill practise.

5am.
Myron had had one more feed and his temperature had obviously come down a little (obvious to the touch, sparing the sleeping baby a beep at his ear).

Max kept asking if it's morning yet and wants to start playing with his toys.

Mommy's now sitting at the computer, but keeps telling him to lie down in bed and make himself sleep, but he is still whispering to himself, quoting bits and pieces of the script from a show (I think it's Transformers).

Now, if I am to get back to sleep, I am quite certain I will find it really hard to wake up in time to get the boys ready for school...

Myron "making noise" in his sleep again...
Gotta go check on him.

Btw,
This is Myron's new teether...

And here's Myron in action:

Have a good day.

* It's a common Asian belief to say that a child who had had a fright/ traumatised to develop fever as well as nightmares, resulting in restless sleep and loss of appetite.

A Belated Post: London says Hello

2009-08-04T08:02:00.010+08:00

Last week we actually met up with an old school friend.

She has been staying in London since the time she went there to study. She then worked there a short while while waiting for her convocation, and there met her husband, and now she comes back about once a year.

She and Ee-ee were classmates, but now that we are all adults, honestly, age is really just a number that's more important to your doctors and medical insurance agents.

Anyway, (sorry, I digress) we are always happy to see her and her son, Jonathan. We ate lunch at Marco's Pizza, ordered our usual favourites and we three ladies talked non-stop, either to each other or our boys in between. It sure was a lot of chatter. :D

When Micah was a couple of months old, she was back and came to visit at my place. Since then babies and kids are always in our conversations. She has a son, but she also fosters babies.

We always enjoy meeting up with old friends, and do a quick catch up.

Here's Aunty Karen and her son Johnathan with my boys.

Catching Up Fast

2009-08-02T23:46:00.011+08:00

Myron can't seem to grow up fast enough to want to play with his brothers.

Not yet 5 months (he will be in 4 days time), and these are the things he noticed over the last week:

He has just begun to be a pro on the walker, sliding sideways to where he wants to head to and grabbing things at his height. So far he has managed to tug at the corner of the (dining) tablecloth, Mommy's baby bag on the sofa and, today, he knocked Micah's Lego-made Megatron that was resting on a low chair.

Myron has also mastered rolling over and over and over again. Now we have to make sure when he is on the bed, we have to barricade him in with pillows and bolsters, or he is sure to land on the floor.

He makes a big fuss when having to change after his bath. He wants to sit up to change, not lie down. So we have to have him lean against us, facing out, while we put on his shirt. And he will need a toy when putting on his diapers as he has to be on his back.

He already loves rough-housing with his brothers and father on the bed, especially in the morning when he is all fresh from a good night's sleep (and this usually happens while Mommy is still unable to get her body to wake up despite the ears and brain registering all the cacophony of the three little cuties having fun).

He is really great at grabbing stuff, including your nose, your hair, Gadget-daddy's glasses, the toothpaste by the sink while getting his bum washed, your cup if you are having a drink while carrying him and anything he fancies. He's a got a real strong grip.

I don't know if it's due to his cough and running nose the last few weeks, or that he has hit a plateau of his weight gain (which is quite normal for breastfed babies), Myron weighs 6.7 kg still for the last whole month.

BUT

He has sprouted 2 teeth on his lower gums.

So he joins his brothers in growing their teeth early*... much to my disappointment (I was hoping his would wait till at least he is 6 months old... but alas...). Micah also had his first 2 at 4.5 months and Max at 4 months.

Well, that explains the super-drooly bit...

And now, note to self, I have to go get him a new teething toy.

You are almost 5 months, precious baby.
We all love you so so much.

* I think the good bit about having their teeth early is that they don't seem as bothered as if they were teething at a later age. My sister complained of a very whiny and sticky son when he was teething at 1 year old.

Excursion: Fire Station

2009-08-01T20:04:00.001+08:00

Last Friday, The Play group from Bangsar Gospel Center, the boys' school and another school called Mandarin Kids, had a joined-outing to visit the fire station.

We were all asked to dress in red, just so we look like the fire engines.

They were thrilled that we got to climb up and get a really close look at the different parts of the fire engines,

... ride on the fire engine,

... and also to play with the fireman's hoses.

Sure was a fun day at "school."

Have a good week, everyone.

Night Owls

2009-07-29T03:17:00.003+08:00

Myron and I are up. He is now on my lap.

Poor baby has blocked nose and from that has also developed a cough.

So I took him down for another batch of medication, of which by now he takes without ensuing a battle. (Hmm... that Says something about his experience with meds, huh?)

While I was giving him his medicine, Mil woke up. Sine she was already holding Myron, I decided to express milk into a cup for him to drink. Sucking usually ends up with him choking due to the stuffed nose.

Good boy, Myron, that you can already drink from a "sippy" shot glass. :)
Get well soon.

Now lets try to get back to sleep.

Kids' Krazy Kuote

2009-07-27T19:45:00.008+08:00

Funny quotes from my boys today:

Micah, after playing with Myron:
Mom, when I am big enough, I want to have a trillion babies.

Max when called for Brush-teeth time:
But, mom, Transformers don't brush their teeth.

Lazy Monday

2009-07-27T14:15:00.007+08:00

I am so glad the boys' school is only Tuesday to Friday.
Sunday nights are usually a late night for us, with a visit from my mum.
So I am glad we need not rush for school the next day.

Today Gadget-daddy ook the car to work, so we are just playing at home. While the boys are playing with building blocks and their Transformer toys, Mommy is also indulging in some quiet time for herself:

Lazying in bed beside a beautiful sleeping baby,

... and getting into some reading (Finishing Ripples and will start on Thirteen Tales as soon as I can.)

By the way, Shi-Li Kow's book, Ripples, has been short-listed for the Frank O'Connor award.

Transformers

2009-07-27T11:31:00.010+08:00

We finally got to watch Transformers 2 in the cinema with the 2 big boys.

They behaved quite well.

Micah sat through the whole show, of which, 2/3 of the show he sat on Gadget-daddy's lap. I suppose it was a bit cold, but it was also for comfort and to have his questions whispered and answered.

Max sat on my lap, but also did a bit of a walking up and down the stairs by the side (we sat next to the aisle).

All in all, we enjoyed the show.

After the show, Gadget-daddy sent me back and took them to the toy shop. These are the "spoilts" they came back with:

But that did not deter Micah from constructions of other kind. In fact, Max was the one more interested in the cars, and Micah spent the whole night building a plane.

It was a great day which ended with a visit from Ah Ma, Ee-ee and Ah Ku.

Finger Lickin' Good

2009-07-25T02:03:00.009+08:00

Myron would like to tell you that he loves touching and grasping things with his perfect little hands. But besides all the discoveries, the next best thing is to put them into his mouth.

Hmm... The toy looks good, but my fingers are still the yummiest.

So they say ... slurrp.. I can't eat...mmm.. them biscuits yet, ...sluurrpp... even when strung ... ahhmmm... around my ...mmm.. neck.. Can they be as good as what I'm having now? Sluurpp...mmmm... aahhmm...

Is the right hand more yummy, or the left?
Sluurp..... hmmm... Let me see... mmm... I can't decide...

But Mommy and Daddy always tell me not to eat my hand.
Awww.. The temptation.. Ah... This is so tough...

Ok.. I think they can't see me now...

Playgroup Malaysia, Bangsar Gospel Hall : A Need To Say My Piece

2009-07-24T21:46:00.005+08:00

Update: This post was originally posted on 17 July 2009. I have changed the title so that it would be easily found when one searches for "Playgroup Malaysia" on the internet.
A special thanks to all the mums who have voiced their support for the wonderful playgroup which we have been/ are all part of.

I was shocked (appalled, aghast, angered even) when I read this "blog" about the playgroup my kids use to go to.

I know the place well, and I know the coordinator well through the four years my kids have been there.
Everything said in that blog is untrue.
On top of that, the person who started this "blog"* obviously did it with out of malice and with intent to slander.

(AArgh! ... Ok... Let me be cool about this and tell you the TRUTH about this place without)

This group has been running for years by the same coordinator. And I know of friends whose kids were there and are now in their pre-teens and they would be shock if they read the lies on that site.

Here is what I and the mums at the group would tell you about the playgroup.

# The person in charge is a fully qualified Montessori teacher. There are three full-time teachers and at least three regular volunteers who have a number of years of experience handling children of ages 0-6 in this place. The coordinator is always gentle and never raises her voice. She is always encouraging and never insistent. (In fact, when she came across this blog, she was so troubled by it, and then was apologetic to have called and troubled me regarding this: She, not really into blogging and surfing the net, wanted to know how to go about contacting the person to seek some explanation, which was impossible anyway.)

# The teachers and volunteers are really dedicated. The teachers and volunteers are moms themselves. I once volunteered to be involved and was called in for a planning meeting. We planned a theme for the term and then down to who is to do what for each playgroup meet. Most of the time the coordinator will step in to fill in all the gaps herself, should one of us not be able to make it, even at the last minute.

# Should you choose to join the group, you are given a list of guidelines to make the place comfortable for everyone, and every child. There is even a list of suggestions of what kind of snacks to bring should you volunteer to be on duty to be sure that it's nutritious for the kids. (I really found that so helpful, especially when it's your first time bringing a snack. On top of that I'm not the serious cooking-baking type. Hahaha)

# Moms are usually invited to be involved in taking a session so that they have a place to explore their talents, and also to bring the snack of the day. The key word is invited. Some moms have confessed they have stage-fright and were never forced to do a session, while some were happy to do more than one a term. Some mom's would be happy just being on the snack duty roster. (When I am on snack duty I bring what I know my kids would eat. Hehehe..)

# Should you be in the group and your child has some behavioral problem, she normally shares about how she would address certain problems with the child And this she does in private with the mom so as not to make that mom nor others feel uncomfortable. But some moms are really open and we discuss on coping with certain issues with our growing child.

# Should you choose to join the group, you pay a fee for a term (for three months), which is really nominal. We have never been asked to pay for any of the materials for crafts, even when we used some really expensive stuff, like glass paint and magnets discs. We were never asked to fork out anything when we discover new toys brought in at the start of a new term. The coordinator once brought a mini slide in from her own home even!

# There are always new people coming to visit or joining in the group simply by word of mouth, and sometimes there is even a waiting list (when I frist brought Micah, he was almost 2, but because of the crowd, she asked very kindly if I would mind coming to the younger group first until some of the children "graduated" to pre-school). Most of us are Malaysians, but we also have quite a few who hold foreign passports, who are PRs in Malaysia. (Here I have tasted food from quite a few countries, and also learnt interesting things about their cultures and homeland.)

# Some of us moms choose to celebrate our child's birthdays there because it is a place we have come to belong.

Micah celebrated his 2nd birthday at the playgroup.

# The year end Christmas party is always a big bash, by sheer number of moms and their kids, and sometimes even the fathers and grandmas and granddads come too. The goody-bag for the kids always amazes me, and the array of food at the party, pot-luck style, is amazing. Some moms are so kind that even when they can't make it for the party, they still volunteer to send the food for the rest of us to enjoy.

# The playgroup does a special Mother's Day celebration for the mums every year, strictly for mums only, so that we have a couple of hours to relax and enjoy our food and chit-chats without having to fuss or worry about our little darlings. And this is free of charge even! (They have even asked me to bring my mom and my mil!! So generous of them.)

I think the playgroup we go to really is great. In fact, so may times I have wished that I drive an MPV, if not a bus, so that I could bring moms and their kids from my neighbourhood for this enriching and bonding time together.

Now I'm just waiting for Myron to be a little better from his cough before I bring him in.

*Come on. How can you call this blog "Malaysia Playgroup" when there are no other entrees on any other playgroups (good, bad, location, programmes, etc) and there are no updates whatsoever. There isn't even an option to post a comment or to contact the author of the blog, who has remained anonymous.

"New" Toys For Everyone!

2009-07-23T21:28:00.002+08:00

We haven't bought the boys any Transformer toys, even though they have been eying on a few different characters. But they are quite good, and have said they will wait for their birthdays and Christmas. (Makes me want to run out right now and get them, and hide them till.. tomorrow?!)

So, today, they got their Transformer toys themselves:

Made out of Lego, Micah made (L->R) "Starscream" for mommy, "Bumblebee" for his brother and "Interrogator Barricade" for himself.
(Quite clever, isn't he?)

Meanwhile, Myron has been busy in his Astrosaucer, Thanks to Aunty Minni, who gave it to him even before he was born!

He also has been busy on a walker with the "Hey Diddle-diddle"* toy strapped onto it.

The "Hey Diddle-diddle" also gets to get some fresh air coz it also gets strapped onto a stroller.

Like they say,
A kid just can't have too many a toy.

* The "Hey Diddle-diddle" toy was a gift from a few lecturers from HELP College when I had Micah. That was 5 years ago! I was working as a student counsellor then.

Funny Max

2009-07-22T22:06:00.001+08:00

Max made us laugh the other day.

First, he acted a little fishy when he came down the stairs with his hands behind his back. I asked him what he was hiding, and he sheepishly showed me a diaper he had taken out from Myron's bag of diapers.

After questioning his intention, I smiled, struggling to not giggle, and got him an "empty"* diaper.

And this was what his "bright idea" was:

Max, you are so funny and so cute!
Love you, darling.

* The "empty" diaper was introduced by an aunt who pulled out the filling of a used diaper (the valcro strap kind, and not poo-ed on of course), washed it and then uses it as a cover for holding up cloth nappies. safer and more convenient than a safety pin!

Clicking The Kids

2009-07-21T03:37:00.008+08:00

Here are some shots of my three darlings together.

They do this now and then, but most of the time Mommy's without a camera. I finally decided these precious moments should not go unrecorded.

Free play on the bed:

Posing for the camera.

Ramblings Before Bed

2009-07-21T03:23:00.003+08:00

I had a headache this evening.
I mean a real physical-pain headache, and not the kind your kids give you sometimes.
I don't usually get a headache, and I can't remember when I had one the last time.

I can't tell if it's from the running around the whole half a day,
or a lack of sleep,
or that I'm finally having my first menstruation 4 months after giving birth,
or that I had cleaned up Max's puke in the car, after taking it to a car wash (which did a shoddy job and totally did nothing to clean out the puke). Is it the bending over for a long time in puke fume or the disinfectant?

Fell asleep with the two older boys after telling them their bedtime story, while Myron was sleeping in grandma's room. Don't know when Gadget-daddy got back from his games, but he woke me up when grandma brought Myron in, and that was at 1am. Now I am done with the bits of left over of the day - done ironing.

Tomorrow: school.

Taiping In 24 Hours

2009-07-14T02:44:00.013+08:00

The last trip we went up to see my grandma, to see her for the last time, was evenful enough of a holiday for my boys.

The first thing we did when we arrived at Taiping was to grab lunch before heading to see my grandma. By the time we were done sitting and chatting with her and other relatives, plus getting the boys showered, it was dinner time.

We stayed at my aunt's place, which rendered me little sleep as I suddenly got myself in a spot of a tiny sleeping spot with my 3 boys on a double bed. It was also a sleepless night for me as the boys took turn waking and asking for more space to get comfortable in. The next morning, the two older ones woke up at 7am and played in my aunt's garden while I slept in with Myron till 9am. After breakfast, we went around town.

We were driving around the lake gardens when we I thought, the boys should finally, after so many trips to Taiping, join me and a whole of of other people, from many generations before, to take a ride on their slide in the playground. THE slide have been there for more than 40 years, my aunt recalls, as she went around town with us while her kids were in school.

They have changed all the other parts of the playground, upgraded every few years, but these wonderful enormous slides have been here ever since the days my father courted my mom on his Vespa scooters.

We also stopped by a stone dinosaur to take some shots (this is at another part of the lake gardens). One of my brothers has a photo on the back of this rock dino too, when he was about Micah's age.

It was also here that we spotted some monkeys on the trees. We did not wait for them to come down to see if we have food on us. They are known to be pretty fierce when it come to getting food out of people, and have often "robbed" picnickers.

And finally, as we rounded back towards town, we made an unplanned stop at the museum. All because of this plane on display outside that caught our attention.

L->R: Ee-poh (my aunt), Ah Ma, Micah, Max, Myron, Grandma.

Unfortunately the inside was under repair and only one section of natural history was opened. Still, that was good enough for my boys to look at stuffed wild animals and also some crocs and snake skeletons.

The thing about Taiping is that time almost stands still in this small town. All the sights above, we did them in 2 hours on the morning before heading back to KL. After all that we had a western set-lunch (only RM8.60 each, complete with soup and a scoop of ice-cream for dessert and tea/coffee) at a cozy restaurant.

On the way back, we made a couple of toilet breaks. On one, at the Tg. Malim stop, the boys asked to go have a look at a police motorcycle parked at the side and got a treat!!

Their "boss" (a very high ranking office out with all his stars and colours on display) was very friendly* and actually carried my boys onto the bike and told me to take a photo.

Despite the grave intention of our visit to Taiping this round, it was still good fun for the boys.
In a day, so much can happen.

*This confirmed what Mommy had been saying all the time, that you need not fear the police if you do not break the laws. Micah so excited that the policemen were so "friendly" that he wanted to "visit" the army trucks next. (The police were actually escorting a fleet of army truck, which looked like they were transporting some weapons and explosives. There were parked along the emergency lanes of the highway just beside the rest stop.)
Mommy had to say no to his request.

Goodbye, Grandma

2009-07-11T15:04:00.005+08:00

Thank you for all your comments and well wishes. I have not replied because the updates would let you know what's going on.

My grandma passes away this morning about 11.30am.
My mom called to inform me as I was heading out to buy something.

Grandma actually gave birth to 10 babies, 3 boys and 7 girls. But due to a hard life, she gave away three of her babies. Only one was acknowledge as this one was given as a favour to a relative who wanted another child, but could not conceive after many years.

Grandma was widowed more than 10 years ago.
Today, she leaves behind 7 children,
30 grand children and 27 great grand children.

She was holding on to her last breaths, waiting for her youngest son to see her. He finally did visit her on Friday night. This morning she passed on.

I am glad I took my boys up to see her one last time.
When we were there and I heard that this uncle would come see her, I somehow sensed that even if I planned another trip this coming week, we might not make it to see her again.

When we were there, I was glad my boys were not afraid of her. They climbed on to her bed and played and sang around her, while my aunt fussed, asking if she wanted a drink. Then we brought Myron to her. The latest addition to her great grand children.

Be at peace, grandma.
All your children have come to see you before you move on.
In your own ways you have done all you could, you have done your best, to care for your hildren and your children's children.

Under Currents - Updates

2009-07-08T01:12:00.004+08:00

Turns out that the little bumps/blisters on Myron's feet are actually ants bites.
Phew. What a relief.

Yes, I am so So glad Gadget-daddy was right, and that I need not have panicked and got all worried for nothing.

So tomorrow we will be off to see my grandma.
I hope she will wait for us.

When We were kids, my older sister and I would go to Taiping a few days ahead of our parents with a relative and stay with our grandma, my mom's mom. We would have three cousins (children of my first uncle) if not more (children of other aunts and uncle sent to be cared by grandma full time for a few months if not years) staying with grandma and we played all the time: Hop-scotch, hide-and-seek were our favourite.

We would sleep on an elevated wooden platform, all the kids in a row, with a pillow and a blanket. At certain seasons there would be a huge mosquio net hung across the platform. I remembered the one we had was pink, and it made me think of candyfloss. Usually we all would chat and laugh until grandma comes in to turn off the lights and then we would settle to sleep one by one. Grandma slept on the edge of the platform.

Every morning she would serve us a cup of coffee, with sugar, but no milk, and we would have to wait for breakfast to be bought back from the market. My uncle's wife usually did that for us. Lunch was usually plaine rice porridge with a fried egg each. We added soy sauce and pepper to taste. Dinner was a little more lavish, with a meat dish and vegetables. I remembered her steamed mince pork was my favourite.

Grandma's family lived simple lives. They had no TV, no refrigerator, and no telephone for the longest time. I remembered my mother had to call a neighbour's house and she would holler over the fence and grandma would hurry over. Sometimes my mom would put the phone down first and call again in a minute to save on outstation-calls charges.

It was at her place I had a first hand experience of bathing by a well (getting water out with a bucket at the end of a string requires real skill, I discovered) and using a real outhouse, bucket toilet (tandas tong!!). The later probably gave me constipation for the years to come because I would try not to go as long as I could. It was really too disgusting to describe.

------

Ah... so many stories to tell... but will have to wait till I come back in a couple of days' time.
Now off to bed for I will be driving that 3 hour journey up north.

Under Currents

2009-07-07T19:56:00.005+08:00

I'm in a frazzle.
I feel being swept under by a huge river.

Myron showed 3 little bumps on his feet this evening.
Gadget-daddy says don't panic. Don't be so negative.
I have booked a place at the doc's.
Going off soon to have it looked at.
My greatest fear: Hand-foot-mouth.

I was packing half way this evening.
I had called my mom and asked her to call my aunt in Taiping.
My grandma is dying. She would be 90 this year.
I had wanted to bring the boys to see their great-grandma for one last time.
Been thinking a lot about her the last few days.
She has not eaten for three weeks and now just sleeps all the time.
I am anxious: will we make it before it's too late?

Gotta go to the doctor's now.

Myron's Biscotti Bash

2009-07-05T23:26:00.001+08:00

Myron is four months old!!

Well, tomorrow, actually, but we did a special four month old celebration for him.

There's this thing the Chinese do that is suppose to stop the babies from drooling (not like I actually believe in it, but this was more for the fun of it) which I had written before regarding Chinese Droology here.

Myron, Mommy has been singing this to you because you have been drooling a lot lately:

"Super drooly,
Darling baby,
Big, big eyes.

Super drooly,
Darling baby,
Cutie pie.

Super baby,
Darling drooly,
...Oh, I'm confused."

Anyway, here are some of the shots for the No-More-Drool celebration.
(and let's see if you'll actually droll less after this, though I seriously doubt it, as it did not work for Max either. Haha.)

It was the stringing of the biscuits,

Followered by the mouth-wiping ceremony,

(The ceremony was started by the two grandmas,
followed by Ee-ee, Ah Ku, Mom and Dad, and the the two older boys.)

and then dinner after that.

Myron with Mah-mah at the restaurant.

Happy four Months old, Beautiful Boy!!

Lotus Bonus Day

2009-07-03T22:53:00.000+08:00

The boys had two specials today.

On the way to school, we picked up Ee-ee and Ah Ma. We had an errand to run.

As in habit, Max always asks for a surprise after school. But he insisted today that he did not want food, he wanted a toy*.

After we dropped the boys at school, and Gadget-daddy at Midvalley, we ran the errand and then headed for a special breakfast at Lotus Restaurant, at Jalan Gasing.

Ah Ma declared it was the best Indian breakfast she had had in ages.

Special Tea, Bathura (in the basket) and Rava Thosai

After that we picked the boys up and then Gadget-daddy from Midvalley on the way back.

Gadget-daddy informed us of some cars at display, but we decicded we better head home first as Myron would be waiting for Mommy.

Later in the evening we made a special trip just for the boys to have a look at the cars at display:
4 Lotus in a row!!

Just look at the thrill the boys had!

Despite the jam we had coming out of the parking, I'd say the trip was worth it.
:)

* This is the day I congratulated myslef for buying the boys something else other than a car, and I did not even step into atoy shop. Instead I found these wonderful floor puzzles at MPH.

The boys really love them.

Labeling

2009-07-01T03:40:00.003+08:00

Hello, my blog buddies and friends.

In case you have not noticed, I am now labeling my posts.

In fact, I am going backwards to start putting labels on my old posts.

Going backwards to label is hard work.
Ok, not exactly that difficult, but it's tedious.

And I think I should go to bed now.
Made it to 100 posts backwards since 3 nights ago.
Will soon have it displayed on the side bar.

Good night for now.

Lovely Surprises.

2009-06-27T01:51:00.008+08:00

Today Micah came up with a jasmine from our backyard and shouted, "happy Mother's day!"

Daddy said, "I like that, guys. You guys celebrate Mothers' day everyday."

Max did the same thing later when he found the same flower, took it from where I had placed it by my bed, and also gave it to me declaring "happy Valentine's day!"

At any time, whenever they get hold of some flowers, real or fake, they will always come up to me and say, "Happy valentine's day!" or "Happy Birthday!" or "Happy Mother's day!"

Once, while grandma was clearing some of her mini fan palm, the boys gathered up a bunch and ran up to me and yelled, "happy Valentine's day!", in the middle of January. That was a real surprise. Real pleasure.

So from my two boys, I have received more flowers in the last 2 years than I have in all the years I've been with Gadget-daddy. Guess they are making up for all the flowers I'd missed, eh? *wink*

These boys are like mommy, we love surprises and we love to surprise.

Many times, when we have gone out without the boys, or with just one of them, the one at home will usually hide behind the curtain and jump out yelling, "surprise" when we step into the house. They are so funny.

It's so great to be your Mommy, you guys.
I love the way your hearts are so big and so free to love.
You are so wonderful!

Masterpieces

2009-06-26T21:35:00.000+08:00

The boys came out of school proudly showing their masterpieces to their parents and Ee-ee.

Materials used: 2 toilet paper centers, 1 kitchen towel center, half a styrofoam cup, plastic boards and paint.

Thank you, teachers of Cornerstone Kindy. You are so brilliant and creative!
I'm so glad my boys have teachers like you.

Later they played with the planes the whole afternoon until another car ride out.

Now I am thinking of how I can hang them up to make it look like they are flying... but the boys probably still want to play with them.

Father's Day

2009-06-24T03:02:00.011+08:00

We had two celebrations for Father's Day this year.

My sister and her family were in town until Saturday, so she planned a surprise Father's Day celebration for her husband and mine.

We had dinner and care at Tony Romas.

While waiting for the food to arrive, the kids had some fun with the doodle-sheet.

Earlier, the boys had brought back their craft for Father's Day from school. It actually comes with a picture stand. Gadget-daddy was impressed with their drawings.

Portrait of "My Dad and I" from Micah and Max.

On Sunday night, we went out for dinner again. This time it was a dinner with Grandpa, Grandma and suk-suk (Uncle on the father's side, the father's younger brother/ cousin brother).

The main dish(es) were 2 types of crabs. We also had ribs marinated and stir-fried in stout, a steam fish and toufu.

And it seems to be more and more a practice that Mommy's too busy with the boys, feeding them, when the food arrives that no photos of the delicious dinner as proof. But we all had a good time, and for Mommy, the most important part was that the boys ate well too.

Whatever the celebration maybe, when you have young kids, they tend to be in the limelight.
:)

Myron:3.5 Months

2009-06-23T23:48:00.021+08:00

Myron is now three and a half months.

It's been an exciting addition to our family since Myron came along.
For all of us, we are busier than we could ever imagine, with this little cutie to attend to.

He is on his way achieving turning over from lying on his back to his belly.
When propped up on an adult pillow, he does it in no time.
When he is flat on the bed, he is just almost there.

His favourite song is the ABC, but we also sing all kinds of song to him. Sometimes we just hum something we just make up along the way while rocking and patting him to sleep.

For some development and stimulation, Mommy pasted these pictures by the corner of the bed.

It seems, rbw, red-black-white. are the colors that causes something to be switched on in their brain.

These are the two toys he loves to play with right now:

The soft dolphin and the Hey Diddle-diddle.

Other times, especially while nursing he would be playing with his ear, the handkerchief or mummy's shirt.

He is a really happy baby. He loves to talk back to you when you talk to him, and when you sing the ABC, he will giggle every time you pause at the end of a line.

Like father, like son, Myron also is drawn to gadget-daddy's gadgets.
Hmmm... What are they looking at on daddy's iPhone?
Myron's eyes are glued to the screen.

He always look at the direction of where his two brothers are playing and he will start waving his arms and kicking his legs in the air. Bet he can't wait to be able to run off and join them at play.

He started "eating" his hand about a month back.
Sometimes you can really hear the slurping sound. Are you hands so delicious?

He rarely cries unless he is really sleepy but not put to the breast or not being rocked and patted.

He also cries when he needs to be burped. This is because he is afraid that he might vomit.
He is quite prone to vomiting after a feed. Hence he knows that awful feeling of something coming up the gut and usually wails to be lifted upright.
Clever, isn't he?

He sometimes cries very terribly in his sleep, but it's a good thing it's less frequent now. This I'm certain is because of nightmares from all the needles he'd experienced while having his prolonged jaundice.
Poor darling.

Of late, we noticed that he is starting to be more particular about strangers and strange places.

The other day, when some of his grandaunts came to visit, he cried when one of them spoke to him. He first purse his lower lip, then burst into a wail. He was consoled when grandma took him away from the "stranger".
He also cried the other day when we went into a coffee shop for lunch. He looked around the place and then pursed his lower lip and then cried. He was only consoled when Grandma handed him to Mommy. In Mommy's arms, he sobbed for a moment and then was perfectly calmed down. Isn't he too young to be doing this?

Everyone loves this beautiful boy.

Myron, you are so precious to us.
Everyday we give thanks to the Almighty for such a gift as lovely as you.

Can't Juggle Three...

2009-06-20T01:57:00.008+08:00

I can't juggle three balls, my boys already knew.
Mommy can only do two and even that she can't keep it up for more than a minute. Sometimes less than 10 seconds.

Similarly, it looks like she can't handle three boys.

Well, it's really the age gap.

The first 2 are a year and half apart, so they are basically in the same age range. They both do all the same things, except the first one has his skill a little more refined, while the other is coming along slowly but surely.

Myron is just a gap away.
And the gap right now seems to be a pretty big one.
All this little cutie does is feed, sleep and poop.
Actually, he is starting to demand a bit more attention, and specifically, attention from Mommy.

Myron is refusing being fed by grandma still, and his persistence gets stronger everyday. I am sure if it were not for the fact that there's this terrible A(H1N1) bug going around, plus news of hand-foot-mouth in the area near the boys' school, Grandma would have brought the baby out with us everyday.

And so they battle everyday when it comes to feeding time. According to Grandma, he refuses to sleep sometimes too, forcing her to carry him and try to entertain him for the 4 hours Mommy is out with the two koh-kohs.

So Mommy has been accused to having "abandoned" the baby on days when she takes the boys out extra long, i.e. dropping by Ah Ma's house after school.

Oh, but how could a Mommy forget a cutie with a face like this?

Just be patient a little longer, darling.
Soon, soon, when the weather is a little better and the world seems a little less threatening. We will spend endless days together, and your brothers will be showing you off to every one they meet too!

I can already imagine the things we would do, darling, Myron, while your brothers have to be in school. Yes, we would be having fun!!
:D

Breath In... Breath Out...

2009-06-17T02:14:00.014+08:00

The reason why I have not blogged is because it is completely exhausting having to run around with 4 kids, and sometimes including a little latch-on pumpkin.

The last week we were completely swarmed with my sister's visit.

We went out everyday, sometimes half a day, sometimes a full day.
Sometimes she ends up in my place the whole day, and sometimes we end up being in Ah MA's house the whole day.

Most of the time I was just too busy to even think of taking photos,
but here's one of the days we went out, to our favourite hang-out place, The National Science Center.

They had a special exhibit of "Animal Mechanicals"

mechanical platypus

mechanical giraffe and mechanical grasshopper

We also had other amusements,
like turtle racing

and fun with camouflage cloaks.

This was just a fraction of what we did.

We also visited the special "Survival" exhibit at the Science Center. It was more of computer generated stuff, very high tech, not much of a sensory encounter. The kids enjoyed the computer games, but we had a lot of explaining to do about the environment.

The we did the usual of playing in the ball-pool room and then continually telling the kids it's time to go.

It took us half an hour to finally get to the car.

It's always exciting and draining at the same time handing the dynamics of four pre-schoolers in a group.

*Phew*

Drama: Mommy To The Rescue

2009-06-16T23:32:00.003+08:00

In the bed room, Gadget-daddy was already snoring from a very busy 3-day trip to Singapore. Mom was nursing the baby who keeps opening his eyes whenever Mommy talks, despite being terribly sleepy. Micah and Max were playing on the floor with a bit of a racket.

Micah: Mom, I have two problems. Can you help me?

Mom: What is it?

Micah: One, I lost a tyre for my car, the white one*. Two, I lost the car I built, the one Tua Ku (big uncle from your mom's side) gave me for my birthday last time.

Mom: Well, ok... but I have three problems.

Micah: Well, what is it?

Mom: One, I need to get Myron to sleep. Two, I need to take my dinner. And three, I have to solve your two problems.

Micah: OH. Ok, Mom. I will go try look for my car first.

Mom done nursing Myron and moves him to a more comfortable spot after burping him. I found the lost tyre under Myron (how did it get there you wonder).

Mom: Micah, here I found the lost tyre to your car.

Micah: Oh, Thanks, Mom.

Mom goes downstairs to check through two toy boxes, but no trace of what was wanted. She sits down to eat her dinner. It's already 10pm.
Micah got Max and Grandpa to look through all the possible spots upstairs for the constructed car. But they could not find it.
Mom had a flash of revelation.

Mom: Micah, did you look in the blue box?

Micah: I did already, Mom. It's not there.

Mom goes upstairs, her right hand peppered with rice and sambal (it was nasi lemak for dinner). She sees the blue box emptied out in the playroom and she headed there, but knew she was looking for the wanted car in the guest room, flicked on the light and fished the toy from a basket of toys behind a mattress that was leaning against the wall.

It was almost as if she was the one who had kept the car, but it was actually Micah who had hidden it from his brother a few weeks ago. Mom had seen it a couple of weeks back when she was looking for something else in that room.

Mom: Here, Micah. I found it.

Micah: Thanks, mom. Now all my problems are solved.

Micah goes downstairs, looks trough a manual and declares:
Mom, I have a problem again. I don't know how to build this harvester.

Mom: Tomorrow, Micah. I'm getting ready for bed now. You are not going to school** tomorrow, so you have the whole morning to do it.

Micah: But, Mom, I have to do this now. I have no time tomorrow. I have so much work to do tomorrow.

Mom (bewildered): So much work? What work do you have to do?

Micah: I have to sweep and mop the floor...

Mom: "Sweep and mop the floor"?!! What floor?

Micah: Errm.. I mean I have a lot of work to do. I have to ride my new scooter (Birthday present from Tua-Ee, big aunty on Mom's side), and check all my toys....

Mom (suppressing her giggles): Micah, there will be time for you to do all your work tomorrow. I'm going up now. I need to send Max to school tomorrow. Good night.

Micah goes off to bug Grandpa while Mom goes up to get a very sleepy Max ready for bed. Eventually Micah comes up to bed.
It was almost twelve by then.

---- Lights Out ----

* The car was a birthday present from his very special friend who had moved to another country. The present arrived earlier today by mail, much to the thrill of everyone at home.

**We were at the doctor's today because Micah has been coughing the last two days. He was diagnosed with a lung infection, with mucus in his lungs. Now he is on 3 different medication and will probably stay home the rest of the week.

Actually...

2009-06-10T23:36:00.006+08:00

Actually, ...
I want to do a post to record Micah's milestone for his 5th birthday... but I am rather tired. Even to blog, I think of it many many times before finally get myself to sit here, just unloading my brain off whatever that's there.

Myron has been completely spoilt having had Mommy at his "goo"s and "gaa"s for the last week that he really only wants to nurse and sleep and sleep and nurse. This is both draining and sleep-mode setting.

Actually, ...
I also had a half written poem on my draft. Wanted to surprise hubby for our anniversary, but it's not moving anywhere just yet.
Another belated post to come.

Actually, ....
I wanted to post up pictures of our trip to Phuket, but just thinking of all the time it takes to upload the photos... already feel a yawn coming...

So today I asked Gadget-daddy if he was going to blog about our trip, and he said yes. Yet I know he has other things on his to-do list that is of higher priority...
So guess that's gonna come along later too.

At the beach, Chalong Bay.

At the beach, Coral Island

At the beach at our hotel

Actually,...
I took some photos of my boys playing in the garden today. They were so funny declaring it was our car's birthday (of course not. Just pretend, ok, mom?) and they strew flowers all over the hood. Of course I had to give them a good scrub after that as they were on all fours scooping dried bougainvilleas from under tha plants in the porch. They are so funny.

I am now torn between sleeping right after this or if I should attempt to read a bit more of The Last Chinese Chef. Very tempting...
Might open the book then fall asleep on it...

Good night, my blog buddies...
*yaaawn*

Update: 12:27am.
Reading while uploading some photos to this post.
Guess that worked out well. Looks like I'll be reading a bit more then.
:)

3 Announcements:

2009-06-08T01:15:00.007+08:00

Micah turned 5 on June 2nd.

We love you so much, precious boy. You were the most amazing surprise from God.
Yes, I believe every child is a gift from God.

June 2nd was also our
8th wedding anniversary.

We actually share the same dates, same year with 2 other couples whom we have been friends with many years.

One is my good friend from University Malaya, who was my course mate for 4 years, my roommate for 2.5 years, and then we did our MA together and she stayed with my family for 1.5 years. We screamed when we found out tha we were getting married on the same day. Unfortunately we were in different towns. She was 2 hours away from us, so we did not get to attend each others' wedding.

The other is a couple we have known for a good while, and they and I worked in the same office space for 3 years. Now the wife is one of my boys' kindy teacher, and both their kids, the same age as my two older boys are best buddies in school.
:)

Myron turned 3 months on June 6th.

Myron is now trying do a flip (roll-over) from lying on his back to being on his tummy.
Because we usually prop him up on an adult pillow, he is using gravity as his ever faithful,
never-fail assistant.

Myron has also started drooling 2 days ago.
Now Mommy is a little nervous, watching to see when is he going to sprout his first tooth/teeth. His two older brothers started teething at 4.5 months and 4 months.

Sorry, MIA

2009-06-08T00:23:00.007+08:00

Hey, all.

Sorry I pulled a Houdini on you.

We had actually planned a holiday sometime back, but with all the madness of Micah's party and the costume party, I was just too tired to blog at the end of the day to let you know that we would be away. We were here:

Phuket, Thailand

Also, during some of my nights, while Gadget-daddy was busy doing some audio/visual editing, I took the chance to start reading this book,

and now I want to finish it fast because I want to start reading this book again!!

Thanks, Ee-ee for handing me both the books, TLCC on loan and T as a gift.

So I will come back and fill you in on our holiday a little later.

Right now, we are all beat.

My other sis and her 2 kids are back, so the next few days would mean more outings, lunch/dinner out. But most of the time it'll be more like,
"The circus is in Ah Ma's house!!"

Another Sleepless Night

2009-05-30T00:59:00.009+08:00

There was this other boy who had his birthday celebrated in school today, the last day of school.

The Momma of the boy is super zealous and decided that it would be a dress-up/costume party. But she only informed us on Wednesday, the day before Micah's party.

So I decided to do first things first.

Only yesterday, after Micah's party, I set to work on the boys' costume.

Earlier the boys had said to me that they wanted to be knights in shining armors (Thanks to Mickey Mouse Club House and Sir Goofsalot).

And of course I could only do anything properly, i.e. with no interruptions, after the boys are asleep.

So work began at 12am.

And I only finished at 3.30am.

Sword and shield.
(Oops! Forgot to take photos of the "helmet")

The boys were happily surprised by what "magic" Mommy performed while they were asleep. But Micah got it right when he said, "It's a lot of work, isn't it, Mom?"

It sure was, but I also enjoyed it...somewhat therapeutic to me.
Now I'm dozing off while waiting for the photos to load...
Zzzz...

The boys and their costume in the morning.

The boys at the party.

Have a good holiday, everyone!!

Micah's Party At School

2009-05-30T00:24:00.010+08:00

Well, thank you all for your well wishes. The party was better than I expected.

After the last post, I actually remembered where I had kept the stack of photos, so we did the "Sun-walk" in a chaotically organised way. Me looking like I have it all planned, but nervous like up on a tight-rope walking for the first time.

Items and photos used for the "Sun-walk".

Grandma and Myron were witnesses to the walk and the whole event too.

Grandma holding Myron.

There was too much food, because we had specially ordered pizza for a friend dropping in for the party (not a school friend, but one of Micah's favourites and long time friend), but they could not make it last minute.

Micah blowing out the candles on his cake,

with the help of Max.

Then, before Micah was allowed to open any of his presents, he had to hand out the goody-bags. We persuaded him to hang on a little longer to open it at home, as the teachers also wanted to head home and close the school.

10 things in the goody-bag.

In all our excitement, we actually forgot to bring home the boys' school bags and only discovered them "missing" this morning when we arrived at school (I usually leave their schoolbags in the car as they do not have homework. The only thing they carry in their bags are a change of clothes in case of any accidents, and for Micah, a set of toothbrush and toothpaste).

It was a good and busy day.

Thanks, everyone, for your lovely gifts.
:)

Head Spinning

2009-05-28T00:28:00.006+08:00

Micah's party is tomorrow....
I am not ready...
The goody-bags are already in school.
Got the drinks into the school fridge.
The cake has already been ordered.
Got Ee-ee to make a pasta.
Got mil to help fry some nuggets tomorrow morning.
But I can't find that stack of photos i got printed at the shop last year that has the boys' photos from the time Max was born...
Maaan! I'm in a mess...
Maybe don't do the "sun-walk"*...
Maybe do a pass-the-parcel game... then I'll have to prepare the game and some prizes...
Maybe play duck-duck-goose...
Maybe....
Arrrgh! Didn't get to pre-order the pizza before their closing time.
Must call tomorrow...
Must pick up the cake tomorrow.
Must remember to bring camera.
Must remember to ask one of the teachers to handle that for me. I'd be too busy trying to get my act together.
Myron and Mil will be there...hope baby can hold back needing a feed till food time.
Hufff.... think I need a drink...
Maybe a back rub... "Gadget-daddy...?"
....

* The "Sun-walk" was suggested by the teacher : walk around a pretend sun to talk about Micah's growth and his loves at different years, one round representing one year. Suppose to bring photos and some items. Like a show-and tell.

Why Witches Eat Babies

2009-05-26T01:12:00.007+08:00

If you can't recall, or don't know it, it's the Hansel and Gretel fairytale that has the witch in the gingerbread house that was fattening Hansel up so that she could bake him in an oven.

Anyway,
Quite a few (ladies, not witches) have expressed how they want to sink their teeth into this baby, and here is why:

Myron, 2 months and 3 weeks.

Micah also likes to blow raspberries on his "fatty legs", which I thought look like dinner rolls!!

The other thing I have noticed the last couple of weeks that his eyelashes has grown. Now they are long and becoming more lush like his other 2 brothers.

(Btw, I read somewhere that long eye lashes is a dominant gene, so if one of the parent has it, you can be assured all the kids will have them. :D)

Have a good week, my friends.

Busy Free Nights

2009-05-25T00:17:00.012+08:00

I have been busy most of my free night.
Free nights would mean nights that I've not yet crashed with the boys... especially nursing the baby in bed. Oh, that is so comfortable I am usually woken up by Gadget-daddy some time later to burp the baby, who is also asleep and, most of the time, then won't burp.

But this is what I have been busy with, making goody-bags.

This is in preparation for Micah's birthday party in school some time this week.
We are celebrating it a little early just before the school closes for the holidays.
We have invited another friend (not a schoolmate) along, and Myron will also be at the party!!

Anyway,

I have made the bags for the kids (collected some free wrappers over a few weeks, bought the ribbons), but have all the stuff to put them in. Will wait until the night before, as some of the foodstuff might attract ants.

But I have the goody-bags for the teachers ready. :)
I actually added a few more things after I took the shots. Too lazy to take some more pictures.

Oh, I so love putting a goody-bag together.
I love surprising the kids and see the thrill on their faces when they pull something they especially like out of the bags.

That's the goody part for me.
:)

Oh, and last weekend, Micah and Max helped me make the invitations.

We sure had a lot of fun too. The only "set back" for the boys (but a relief for me) was that there were only that many students in the school. The boys wish there were more fun to be had, but I am glad we could tidy up sooner than expected. Hahaha..

Of course I also had to hand-write each invitation with a crayon so that took up some of my free nights too.

Think I will be all excited and anxious as the day draws near. thinking of the food and how and when to bring them in and how to do this thing called a "sun-walk" as instructed by the teacher (see the teachers instruct the parents too. :P)...

Will keep you posted.

Cluck Cluck Hic Hic

2009-05-19T23:35:00.008+08:00

Myron is usually very chatty when awake.
He loves to have anyone talk to him, and he will "talk" back.
He is already showing signs of an extrovert, like his first brother.

Myron at 2 months old

That was what I wanted to put up for record, but he seemed totally curious about the camera that's in his face when I tried recording his coo-ing and gurgling. So what you see is actually just
half of the noise he usually makes.

Sink, No Sync

2009-05-17T02:11:00.007+08:00

This weekend, we are all out of sync and sinking.
Gadget-Daddy left for Singapore on Friday, leaving our weekend in some subtle kind of chaos.

Out of Sync.
It all started with a text message from my older sister in Singapore on Friday morning.
We had planned for this trip for more than 2 weeks and they boys had been really excited. Up to the very last minute, my younger sister and I were putting together a party pack for the 4 kids to celebrate Xue Han's birthday. I had also stayed up to 2 am on Thursday night packing stuff and filling the immigration card. We were all so so ready to go.
Friday morning, got the boys up for breakfast and changed and suddenly I saw the message from my sis saying her daughter has fever and cough. "You might want to reconsider bringing your kids."

The 4 cousins, CNY 2008

So the drama began with the boys crying, still wanting to go, but cannot go without Mommy and Mommy can't go because Myron has no food source except Mommy and he cannot risk being exposed to some germs/virus because he is too young. We spent two hours talking to the boys, bargaining, etc. (plus having to deal with anxious Grandma motherhen-ing around us all). Finally, Max decided he was going to go anyway* and so we packed his clothes from our suitcase (which was already in the car boot since the night before) into a small bag and handed his passport to his father, who was, actually, totally serious about taking him along, as he believed he could handle him "by himself" (besides there being other adults around, but they are not exactly counted as they are not from our home).

So we Max went off with Gadget-daddy in the car.
Our secret back-up plan was that Max be left at my mum's house when Gadget-daddy goes to pick her up for the trip. (She was getting a lift to go down Singapore to make rice-dumpling for my sister. We had also planned this weeks before.) I will then go pick Max up from there a little later, using grandpa's car, and send Ee-ee to work too.
Of course Gadget-daddy was seriously planning to take Max, as I'd said, but my sister called from Singapore, and again said her daughter is quite sick and we'll just have to wait for 2 more weeks for the school break before we get to see them. So I called Gadget-daddy that we'd have to use the back-up plan (Plan B? C? Oh, I can't keep track).

The whole time after Gadget-daddy left the house with Max, I was getting an ear-full from Grandma about how rash and silly we were letting the little boy go with his father alone. So when I finally told her that we are going to pick Max up from my mom's, Grandma was all too eager to follow along, as if she needs to see that Max still here for herself, asap. Unfortunately for her, Grandpa had left the house for his morning jog (couldn't stand the drama enfolding at that time) without any house keys. So she had to stay home with Myron after all, and that set us back like a whole hour "behind schedule" as it took her time to change, going out to try to look for Grandpa, and then me having to express milk for Myron**.

Micah loves taking photos with baby Myron.

So I finally left with Micah to go get Max and Ee-ee and headed off to a usual hang-out mall. We headed for the pasta place, and were obviously their first customer for the day (who eats pizza/ pasta at 11am?). But the pasta was not made right (they over-cooked the sauce, but we did not complain) and then one of the boys had a toilet accident because he was too buzy playing and did not mention the need for the toilet (which was like 200m away) till it was too late. So we ended up having to buy pants because we had used grandpa's car and there are no extra clothes for them there.

Finally Ee-ee went to work and we headed home.

Sinking in pee.
I was reading Toddlerdaddy's post on potty training his four-year-old and thought, "Yes, we should be making more effort night potty-training our almost 5 who like to have a bottle of milk (another thing to wean of soon) just before bed."

So for the past four days, Micah was doing well, as he goes to bed about 9.30 pm, and then we will wake him up to go to the toilet about 12am before we end our day. Then mommy will get him to go the the toilet again about 6am after the baby feeds. We have been so proud of ourselves for the whole week. Then after Gadget-daddy left on Friday morning, that night, Mommy*** fell asleep with the boys and was woken up at 3 am by Max (who had been sleeping without diapers for about 2 months now) crying that his pants was wet. He was actually sleeping on my bed. Then I looked and saw that the other one had also wet his bed. So, exactly, like Toddlerdaddy, I had to peel off pee-clad boys in the middle of the night.

All these might have just slip from being blogged about if the same incident as last night did not JUST happen (and I had changed the sheets this morning, and will have to do so again tomorrow). After changing the boys I was lying in bed and thinking about blogging this, and thought, Oh, if only there are wires I could hook up to my brain and get the computer to jot down my thought... Then the picture of a cyborg came to mind and it was just too freaky. So I had better just do what I want to do.

Oh, Can't wait for Gadget-daddy to be home tomorrow evening.

Now I am ready to feed the baby.

* Part of the drama/problem was because we made the mistake in saying we will take the boys to school, since they are up and dressed, but you know that's just "Preposterous!" that was to them as they were suppose to go for a holiday to see their beloved cousins and not school. After all, we had told them the day before that it was the "last day of school." And Max is just the least keen kindy-goer any kid could be.

** If you're wondering why I did not just strap Myron in a carseat, which we do have, and bring him along, Well, it would have given grandma another bout of high blood pressure as she is always worried about babies crying and then they might vomit and then choke in their vomit. Plus, it poses too much a danger as it might also distract the driver and cause an accident. Plus we have the other 2 kids in the car... *sigh* I am not worried, really, but I know she will be at her wits end thinking of me alone with 3 boys in the car on my way back. I listen to the old folks too much. If I had insisted on leaving with Myron, I know she would have chosen to come along and leave poor grandpa standing for hours at the front of our gate.

*** Besides the fact that we had had a dramatic morning that started at 7am, and that I did not sleep till 2.30 am the night before, I never realised how much I have been pushing my body to work for me around my 4 guys. So the only reason I usually stay up till 12am is because then I can have some time with Gadget-daddy, usually involving some adult conversations, like reporting what the boys did the whole day from my side, and some ranting from either/both sides. Occasionally we watch a bit of a movie and I am also, quite often, required to go rummage and whip something out of the kitchen.

Mother's Day

2009-05-16T15:43:00.002+08:00

A belated post:
Mother's Day was a week ago.

The boys brought this back for me from school as gifts for Mother's day.

They painted the pot themselves. The teachers supplied the plants.
I really love these pots.

Thank you, my darlings.

As for the family event:
We went our for dinner at Madam Kuan's in Midvalley.
The dinner honoured 3 moms:
myself, my mom and Mom-in-law.

Gadget-daddy made us all happy with delicious fish-head curry and so much food we had to pack some home. The fried chicken wings were mouth-watering too.
(Sorry, no photo to show as I was too buzy feeding my 2 older boys and scooping food for my mom and m-i-l who was carrying Myron in a sling.)

Hope all you mums had a good Mother's day.

A Clever Candy

2009-05-08T04:05:00.005+08:00

I saw this crazy game over at Tina's blog and, as if I had nothing better to do at 4am, and after my cup of hot Milo, I just had to amuse myself.

All you have to do follow the instructions below, which will amazingly reveal your age without me even asking you using chocolate math!

Go ahead have a go and see! ....

AGE REVEALER CHOCOLATE MATH GAME

It takes less than a minute.
Work this out as you read...

1. First of all, pick the number of times a week that you would like to have chocolate (more than once but less than 10)

2. Multiply this number by 2 (just to be bold)

3. Add 5

4. Multiply it by 50 -- I'll wait while you get the calculator

5. If you have already had your birthday this year add 1759...
If you haven't, add 1758.

6. Now subtract the four digit year that you were born.

You should have a three digit number

The first digit of this was your original number
(I.e.., how many times you want to have chocolate each week).

The next two numbers are…..

YOUR AGE! (Oh Yes It Is!)

****

Did that freak you out or what!?
I'm sure someone with a good math brain can figure the trick behind this (tell only if you desperately need to bust this kind of "nonsense"), but for the rest of us it's just freaky and funny.
Let me know what you think in comments if you played along :)

p/s- Mmm... makes me feel like another cup of Milo now.

Happy Birthday Xue Han!

2009-05-06T06:31:00.006+08:00

This little boy turns two today.

He is Micah, Max and Myron's cousin brother who lives in Lion City (Singapore).

We love you, cutie.
We will be seeing you soon to celebrate your birthday with you.
Micah and Max can't wait to give you your presents and have you open them.
Myron will be making his first journey out of Malaysia. Oh, so exciting for the boys!!
So exciting for all of us.

Xue Han,
May you continue to grow in wellness and excellence.
May there be many milestone markers.
May you continue to bring joy to the people around you.
May there be many more to come.

God bless you and keep you.

I Can Only Imagine

2009-05-03T02:32:00.009+08:00

My dear friend,

I bumped into you the other day and we talked as we walked to your car.

I can only imagine your pain.
I cannot say I know because that would be untrue.
I am not going through the grief you have to wrestle with every day, every night.
The pain that comes like spasms sporadically throughout the day.
Spasms that paralyzes you.

I can only imagine your pain.
I can only imagine how hard it is to sit in front of the computer wanting to blog, to keep a record so you will not forget.
You sit staring blankly at the screen, your fingers occasionally touching the keys at the key board, but most of the time your hands fell heavy and limp.

I can only imagine...
You sitting like a block of wood, unmoving.
But your brain is in a frenzy,
Like a whirlwind, spinning around in a kind of madness.
Time is being rewound and fast-forwarded.
Flashes of places and events.
Voices requesting, squealing, crying, protesting, repeating new words;
Conversations recalled,
How favourite songs were sung each time.
But everything is held by the one same golden strand -
Your beautiful boy.
Your beautiful beautiful boy.

I can only imagine...
You sitting quiet and still,
but your eyes occasionally lights up,
then dims,
then the tears begin to fall.

I can only imagine...
The emotions come like a tidal wave that breaks the dam.
The happy and joyous mixed with the pain of grief and loss.
Regrets. Gladness. The unbearable emptiness.
The tears can't seems to stop.
The pain has no end.

I can only imagine...
You crying as silently as you can, but as much as you can.
Then you crawl into bed to try to rest... or
Then you wash your face and put on a brave front to face the world.

But I can somewhat understand.
Though I cannot grasp the greatness of your pain, I have a hint,
For I, too, have lost a love one before,
But it cannot be compared.
Each heart knows only its own joy and pain.
The rest of us,
We can only imagine.

Here's remembering you and your family:
(Photo extracted from your blog)

The Lariche family at home on Christmas morning last year (2007),
Jien's second and last Christmas with us

Everyone's So Jealous

2009-05-02T23:08:00.002+08:00

This is really a post of appreciation, though it'll make many eyes green with envy.

My sister has been declared the wonderful sister and the wonderful aunt by the many moms in the playgroup.

She helps bake cakes and cookies and make pasta for me and my boys.
She did this for the playgroup too when it was actually my turn to bring the snack - made my boys' favourite pasta so that they would eat well.
At one point when the boys were into soups, she would make all kinds of yummy soup for them, especially the butternut pumpkin soup.
She generously buys gifts for the boys, especially books on cars and trains and trucks.
She thinks of them constantly, and there are just all kinds of goodies that she will get for them, if she thinks it'll not indulge them too much, but she does indulge them - just not too much (by her standard).

Because she works near the boys' school, she accompanies me send and pick the boys up :
4 hands are better than 2 when you have to take 2 boys - make sure they have their shoes on - and their bags out of the car, occasionally to have to cross the street, and up the stairs.
On mornings we do not detour to pick her up on the way to school, either on of the boys will ask, "Mum, aren't we picking up Ee-ee*?"

Once, while I was having my confinement, Gadget-daddy was tied up in a meeting, so Ee-ee was called to help out at the emergency: She had to pick the boys up after school and keep them safe and entertained for about 30 minutes before their father could get to them. She took them to a classy cafe for pasta and cake! Our protest is that we could not keep up with her treats should the boys ask for it and think it's a regular affair. *gasp*

Then last night, Gadget-daddy and I went for a friend's engagement party. To find some relief for mil, who would have to handle the baby, we got Ee-ee to come in to play with the boys. She took them to the park, got them showered after that, made sure they took their dinner, gave them a treat and got them to sleep by the time we got back about 10.30pm.

The boys love to sit with Ee-ee during meal times.
You get fed and entertained with a story too.

More recent:
Before Myron was born, she had already bought him 4 sets of clothes.
She also bought me 2 preggy blouses then.
A few days ago she bought me another 2. She knows it's hard to go shopping with my tag-a-long's.

Thank you, Ee-ee for loving us so much and making the world a better place.
You are indeed wonderful to us.
Everyone's so jealous. *wink*

P.S -Thanks too for the conversations we have every morning while the boys are at school: The gossips, the news, the "intellectual discourse" and psychoanalysis of the people around us. It's so good to talk to another adult. Keeps me sane. ;)

* In the Chinese language, in all the different dialects spoken, very specific titles are given to relatives, which will indicate if you are a male/female, from mum's /dad's side, and if you are older/ younger to the parent, sometimes indicating your position in the number of siblings. It also indicates which generation you belong to.
Ee-ee is your aunt on your mother's side, and usually is younger to your mum. If there are a few aunts, they will be indicated by number. Cousins to your parents are address by their name tied to their title.

Bottles' A-Busted

2009-04-30T00:21:00.006+08:00

Myron is putting up a battle.
A battle with his grandma.
Actually, a battle with the bottles.

I take the 2 older ones to school every morning, Tuesday to Friday, and leave Myron with my mil. I leave him at home to give him a bit more time from exposure to the pollution in a bustling part of our city. I also leave him at home because I want to train him to drink from the bottle (I express) but it is slowly showing to be a plan heading towards failure.

The baby is complaining more and more each time he is given the bottle. Today, after two weeks of fighting with the bottle, mil was desperate. Myron was actually fed with a syringe.

The reason for this practise is because Max was fully breastfed at the breast for 3 years. He now refuses any kind of milk other than a u.h.t. chocolate milk. Of course we are concern for his lack of intake of calcium and other nutrients in milk, although he is eating well. Anyway, my intent was to have Myron continue drinking milk after I wean him.

We shall see how this all turns out eventually.

Micah and Max
with some of their classmates.

Some Excuses and Some Updates

2009-04-29T23:08:00.007+08:00

Hey, Judy.
Your SMS made me realise how long I have not posted.
Thanks.

It's a tough time getting on with blogging these days because:
1. the connection is so slow it's exasperating;

2. I am tired by the end of the day and usually fall asleep while getting the two older boys into bed and have to snuggle in bed with them, resulting in Mommy falling asleep with them, if not before them;

3. Nursing Myron in a lying position induces slumber;

4. Breastfeeding is so draining I feel tired and in need of protein in-take almost all the time - I even think of having a rack of ribs in the middle of the night;

5. Gadget-daddy is doing some podcast and is hogging the room, and we are all too tired to do anything else after that but climb into bed.

Anyway..

Myron's been growing well.
In fact, to a certain point I feel he is growing too fast.
Thank you all for your prayers, thoughts and well-wishes.

We have not gone back to the doctors for further check-up, but he is now pink and no more yellow. The last we check, Myron is 5kg and about 57cm.

He has outgrown this pajamas.

He now engages you with his coos and gurgles and makes all kinds of facial expressions. Maybe it's just gas (so some scientists say), but he sure warms our hearts as he smiles a lot.

And he is constantly cuddled and kissed by his brothers, especially Micah.

This baby is just so lovely to cuddle.

Diarrhoea and Child Growth

2009-04-22T00:06:00.005+08:00

Thanks Judy for this in your e-mail.

My friend sent this link about treating diarrhoea in her e-mail and I thought this is really useful for us who have young kids and are constantly caring and worrying about them.

Just to "cut and paste" parts of the story to summerise :

When someone gets diarrhoea, sometimes the solution is so easy, we wonder why anyone has to suffer.

The secret is in rice water.

My mother knew about it. When Dr Albert Winsemius came to Singapore many years ago for a farewell and thank you dinner in his honour, he brought along his wife Aly and his granddaughter, Jolijn. Both women came down with very bad gastroenteritis.. They saw the doctor who gave them medication. It was slow to work.

Mother boiled some rice in lots of water and went to their hotel with two 1.5L bottles of rice water.

Never heard of this cure before. To my surprise, it worked, and they were even able to go out for dinner the next day. Both were exclaiming how the rice water did the trick of making them well again.

It is rice water and not rice, that does the trick. I have found it effective again and again. You take a handful of rice and boil it in a large saucepan with lots of water. Like three or four large glasses. Then you cool that and drink the water.
If you are in a hurry to relieve the ailing person, take the saucepan off the fire and dunk it in a frying pan or basin of cool water with ice cubes if necessary.

This gives the patient a chance to drink the rice water sooner and cure himself or herself sooner.

When drinking the rice water, make sure there is lots of it. You have to tell the patient that enough water must go in to line your guts from throat to other end, all 10 to 12 metres of it. If you take rice, it stays in the stomach. If you take broth, some of it may go into the small intestine.

But if you take rice water, it will carry rice grains to every inch of your small and large intestine to the end where the problem is.

We always say "Eat rice".
Now we can also tell others, "Drink rice."
:)
Have a good week.