A Nose Drama and The Last Straw

A Nose Drama...

10pm and I was making noodles for the boys.

They had an early dinner today as Gadget-daddy had a dinner appointment. So by 7pm the boys were done eating Grandma's delicious chicken rice. They played, read books, played some more, watched a few music videos on Cbeebies and then Max declared he needed "something", meaning something to eat.

After feeding the two boys supper, at the dining table and also in the kitchen (half way through they decided they wanted to "race" on the new kitchen mat - non-slip), I was in the kitchen washing up. Max was in Grandma's room with Grandma, and Micah was playing by himself while Grandpa watched TV. As I finished, I heard Micah crying and wailing and saying something between his terrified sobs.

He walked into the kitchen, "I put something in my nose. Waaah..."
Mommy on her toes. "What? What is it? Let me see?"
"Something. Something there." More terrified crying.
Grandpa started scolding. Grandma came and asked him to blow his nose while I looked for a torch light in the kitchen.
"Blow your nose. Again. Again."
"Waaah. Now they have to operate me. Waaah!"
I carried up a stool in the kitchen and looked up his nose.
Nothing.
"What is it?"

Everyone was talking at the same time, more like panic shouting:
"What is it? How does it look like? Was it the magnet? (No) Was it a tooth pick end? (No)"
"You silly boy. How could you do that?!"
"What happened to koh-koh?"
"Koh-koh, why? Why?"
"What is it? Tell me what is it. Where did you get it?"
"It's gold and flat."

Duh???! I looked at the table where he was playing before and there was nothing there that had anything gold and flat. They were all his trains and cars. Nothing. Gold and flat didn't make sense.

In the midst of the chaos I started laughing. I could not help it. This was just so classic.
In a flash I remembered LM Alcott's Little Women and Jo March who put a pebble up her nose and suffered for a week before she got her mother to call the doctor.

Finally I got him to sit on the bean bag.
"Come, let me see. Stop crying. Breath slowly, so I can see."
It calmed him a bit. But he kept repeating that they will have to operate on him to get the thing out.

He blew his nose so many times. Nothing came out.
My conclusion is that it'd have gone through his nose passage and hopefully down to the stomach through the throat.

Grandma explained to him that that was possible, that he could "pooed" it out. So He settled into drinking his milk. Then he kept blowing his nose until he finally fell asleep in his swing.

We will take him to the doctors tomorrow.


...and The Last Straw

It was in the midst of all the chaos, just as Grandma was stepping towards Micah that she too witnessed my very restrained frustration.

While Micah was crying in great dismay, I was trying to get him settled down the bean bag. That was when it happened. In the midst of scolding, Grandpa pushed his head from the back in anger. It's the kind like how I've seen school teachers do to boys sometimes while I was doing my Pre-U in a boys' school.

That was the last straw. I had always tried to undo a lot of negative stuff from him in relation to my kids, and it's really hard telling the boys all the time that their grandparents love them while I grit my teeth in the way he interacts with them. (Yeah, this is the certain adult that is so hard to be under the same roof with.) So I told him off...in Cantonese, because I did not want the boys to know what I was saying. I made sure he saw the killer look in my eyes though. Grandma then came and told him off too.

That was the last straw that broke this camel's back, more like muzzle! All this while I have really tried to be as polite and respectful as I could (yeah, my parents brought me up well, with lots of Chinese culture's values), but I just could not hold my tongue this time. Usually if he annoys me with senseless complains I'd just answer with a "mmm" just to acknowledge that I'd heard him. I know if I was to say more I'd be rude, to say the least. So I bite my tongue. Today I decided that my son did not need that "knock on the head" as he was already traumatised and I believe has learnt his lesson. That was just too much.

Now the thorn on my side is revealed to all...

*sigh*

Guess I'll try to cool off while ironing.
Good night.

Not yet

I went back to the doctors for a check up in the afternoon while the boys napped.

All seems OK under the scan and was advised to wait for 3 months before we try for another baby. We had hoped to get started immediately, trying to time one for Gadget-daddy's birthday present next year ;) but looks like it might be my birthday present instead. :)

When I got home the boys were up. Micah greeted me with,
"So, mum, is the baby a boy or a girl?"
"No baby, yet, darling. The doctor said tot wait a little while more."
"Max, No baby yet."
Max echoed, "No baby yet?"
Mommy replied, "No. Not yet."
Max, tugging at me hand, "Come Mommy, come on."

I was then invited to play with them.

No baby yet.

Eventful Day

At last, the nail-nibbling day arrived for me.

(Sorry this is so late. The internet connection was down over the weekend, so I could just do it now.)

It all started with Gadget-daddy asking, "So what do you want to do for your birthday?" And I thought meeting up with my blog-buddies would be great. He teased and said sorry he could not fly people in from Australia, Canada and the US. ;)

So I had to be selective. I knew I couldn't manage anything meaningful if the crowd was too big. So the "natural selection" was for families that I've come to know "pretty" well, and it so happened that 2 out of the main 3 bloggers and their kids I want to meet already know Gadget-daddy. I felt altogether comfortable and safe, if that is of any concern. Too bad "a gift from god" could not make it, but Mummy-yeoh, who first told me they would be out-station could come instead, so that was great.

So here's what we did...

We arrived a little earlier to get the place ready. A great disappointment was that they were washing the pond at the water park so we could not hang out at my initial plan. Plus, I had wanted the bring the huge market umbrella we have, but it could not fit into the car! (So smart of me...or I just thought you could stuff even an elephant into Gadget-daddy's car trunk!)

Met at the butterflies enclosure, and took the early ones around while waiting for 2 other families to arrive. I had thought we'd go to the bunnies next, but Gadget-daddy said to go in. So we sew the aquariums and then basically broke into 2 groups for the benefit of the kids. 3 families hung our mostly at the 2-4 room, while the other 2 families were at the 4-6 room.

All the while, Gadget-daddy was out hunting for KFC for our lunch. Finally he got them and we all haded back to the outdoors for our picnic lunch. Gadget-daddy had set up all the stuff in the two shaded seating areas available when we arrived. We fed the children first, then a couple of Mommies had to act as DBKL* as usual. Then the party packs were given out so that the kids could have some things to amuse them while the adults chatted a little.

It was only while we were eating that I managed to get the families introduced and what's their blog called. (On the way back, Gadget-daddy congratulated me for having organised a bloggers meeting. Face-to-face apparently is a biggie... Really?)

We brought alphabet pasts in ABC soup for the kids, potato salad and sandwiches and bought fried chicken. Soft drink and some water was most needed for a pretty hot afternoon. We had brought the birthday cake, but after all the hours outdoors, I thought it was best to leave that out. Dobn't even dare to look if the cake had become goo. (Checked a couple of times it there was any smudge marks on the box from inside.)


Soon, we all packed up, said our good-byes. The sky told of rain on its way. As my friends leave one by one, I felt a little sad. To Ann and Angelia, I felt like I actually did not get to chat as much as I had wanted to, as we all had to attend to our kids. (But at least maybe now we can think of smaller meet-ups and sit and chat more.) But I was really glad to see my boys and Jlow's family getting on so well. Of course they already know Angelia's boys and they just want to do all the boys' stuff together. It was also good to have Mummy-yeoh and family with us, to see a bit more of you guys apart from the Sundays at church. :)

Max fell asleep on the way back and Micah a little while after we arrived home.

Anyway, back home, the first thing I did was to put the cake back into the freezer. It took me hours to sort out the 2 huge baskets of stuff. Before I finished, Max cried for a feed and he quickly put a sleeping spell on me. I fell asleep only to wake up almost an hour later and finished clearing all evidences of a great outing.


Later my mom, sister and brother came over for a visit. We decided to sing the birthday song. I was a bit apprehensive taking the cake out... and...

My cake came out intact after all!


So we did have the cake after all. :)

What a wonderful day. Thanks, you guys for the lovely gifts.



Mummy-yeoh and family gave the therapy session of a sun-catchers painting set.
ann made the loveliest birthday card.
Thanks too, for the book vouchers. Great idea from a gift from god.
Lotsa goodies to munch (Thanks, ann and angelia) while my mind devours on John Clare's poems (Thanks Daddee Yah!).

Then my brother-in-law and wife gave a lovely potted plant. It now sits on our dining table, and will do so until we have not enough space for more people to sit for a meal. I suppose then it would go out to the porch.

What a wonderful day. Thank you, my friends.
Thank you, God, for family and friends.


p/s- I really enjoyed preparing the party packs. For the moms and dads it was easy, as in I knew what I wanted to get you guys. The kids were a little trickier, because some things were limited, so I try to give same stuff to siblings so that there'll be minimal squabbles at home. For the little lady, the only little lady with us, it was easiest. :)

---------- Daddy's gift pack---------------------- Mommy's gift pack

* DBKL - Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur, is our city hall and one of their main jobs is to look into waste management. When we say you are the DBKL, normally it means you clean up the platter so that food is not wasted.

Making A Fuss For Once

It's my Birthday.
Not today...but close.

I have always kept this day low key. Not that I am embarrassed or anything like that, but I guess, I have always preferred the company of a few and can chat deep and long. Hence, I normally celebrate my birthday through a week or over two weekends!

But I am one who actually love surprises. Last year Gadget-daddy surprised me with flowers! Wow! That's a big deal. I can count with one hand how many times that has happened! :D

Even on my 21 birthday,... my parents usually leave it to us to plan what we want to do and support us in that. Well, my 21st birthday turned out an incidental date with Gadget-daddy, then Gadget-pal. He wanted to get a friend from Kuantan to have dinner with us. She was studying in UM and staying in the hostel then, but somehow he could not contact her. So it was dinner for 2. ;)

This year, I had decided to make a fuss. This is really the biggest thing I've done for myself.
Really. I have planned a party for 10 adults, including Gadget-daddy and myself, and 8 kids!
The last big thing I did for myself was a lunch in Shakeys on my 14th birthday with my classmates, maybe 12 of us... We then headed to my place to hang out, and one of the girls actually learnt how to ride a bicycle at my place! It was a great day.

Up coming event, I have planned a simple picnic lunch, at our (the boys and I) second favourite hang-out place. I hope all will be well. I have a few surprises up my sleeves (did I mention I love surprises? :D) and I just can't wait for tomorrow... Ok, later today.

Packed some stuff into the car and gotta wake up early to make the sandwiches and potato salad.

Looking forward to finally meeting some of my blog buddies. :)

I feel really excited, like going for a holiday, like meeting a pen-pal, like cyberspace touching down on earth.

Interestingly, all who are gathering tomorrow have one common strand, and that's not just being on my blog-buddy list, but that all who are meeting tomorrow are actually Gadget-daddy's friends before you became mine. Another interesting thing is that all of you have worked with Gadget-daddy before. All except for one family, but that Mummy has known him long before working life even! Even longer than I have known Gadget-daddy!

Thanks, G-d darling. If it weren't for you and getting my blog started, I'd have a pretty boring and vegetating life. I would have no life of my own, but now I have a bunch of friends who "chat" with me and listen to me at any time of the day, or night.

My sanity and my happiness is restored. :)

See you tomorrow, my friends.
Good night.

Camping Indoors

This is the other thing my boys like to do in our room.

"Mommy/ Daddy, please built me a tent, " Micah would call out while we are busy on the computer, or after doing something else together.
"Build tent!" Max would echo.

So this is how the tent look like from outside:



And this is the tent inside.


To make the tent:
1. Stack up pillows 2-3 feet from the bed-head.
2. Stuff a blanket behind the bed-head and pull it over stacked pillows.
* Option: if you have more pillows, you can put two stacks at an angle and lay a bolster across. Then you have a "back door", as the boys call it. That's the opening space you see in the picture above. The main entrane is actually on the right side.

Again, there had been a lot of pretend play, i.e.
"Come in! Lets hide from the bear!"
"It's raining... but we are safe."
"We are baby tigers. This is our nest. Rnouw!"

Max, again, would ask Mommy to join him inside.

Mommy: Ok. I'll come in. (Lies down, resting on her elbows, and sticks her head in.)
Max: No come in, Mommy. feet too.
Mommy: There's no space, Max. See... (Points all around to show him there is actually no more space.)
Max: OK. Want nan-nan now.
Mommy: here? but it's so hot under the covers.
Max: nan-nan now. Baby kitty wants nan-nan now, ok? Meew..meeww...
Mommy: OK.. (changes position. Now she looks like the lady in a box in a magic show about to be sawed into two.)

The only thing that can sometimes be exhausting is when they boys love to jump on the tent and "crash" it and ask you to build it again. The worst part of the crashing is that it'll be done by one boy, leaving the other screaming and then when you've fixed it, the other one now crashes it in "revenge". So it then becomes a tent crashing competition...

Tiring. Not so much the building and rebuilding of the tent,
but the coaxing and scolding and shouting and nagging and reasoning.
Emotionally exhausting.

I Am That Woman!

I have told this incident many times, and it came up again when I met my friend for lunch on Monday.
Yes, a deep impact was made by this:

Two years ago, at a supermarket in a shopping mall:

I was standing behind this lady who had a bunch of groceries. While she was paying the cashier, I noticed a boy, maybe about 5 rolling on the floor, just beyond our paying counter. I noticed she was stealing glances at him and concluded he must be her son, and I thought, ...

"How could she just let him do that? Why doesn't she do something?"


Then some time last year, Jusco:

I usually put the boys on the shopping trolley so that we don't have to run after them at the supermarket. When we were leaving, Grandma pushed the trolley with the boys out first while I queued to pay for our stuff. While the cashier was attending to me, I was appalled at hat I saw next. And it came straight to me:

I am That woman!
My boys were rolling and laughing on the floor and grandma was giggling in embarrassment.
In Cantonese, she said, "What to do? They refused to stay on the trolley."

I quickly and quietly paid for my stuff, and then with a smile told the boys, "Come on. Let go."

Now I know why That woman did not do anything.
I understand perfectly now...

Motherhood struck a very deep and different chord in me.

Updates On the Potty

Max is now doing very well without diapers, but Mommy and grandma are still not confident enough to take him out without diapers.

So far he has been able to go to the toilet on his own. Well, the advantage of being a boy is that he can pee standing, so it is actually quite hassle-free in a sense. Usually he'll announce that he needs to "shee-shee" and then pulls off his pants, runs to the toilet and pee by the drain-hole (an adult will have to help him wash his feet and the pee into the drain-hole) and then comes back to have us help him into his pants again.

Today he decided not to use the potty for poo-poo-ing. Micah has been sitting on the toilet bowl for a while now, balancing himself by perching like a bird, holding to the side of the seat. Max now want to do it like his brother because he is now "big boy a-dee". So, for better or for worse, we might have to bear with his insisting on sitting on the toilet. Better, because then we don't have to deal with washing a potty, worse because we will have to make sure he does not slip into the toilet or fall should he decide he wants to jump of the toilet.

Actually, the "big-boy a-dee" (big boy already) came about because of Mommy. He has grown. Well, both the boys have grown quite a bit, and so of late I have been putting Max into Micah's Pajamas at night. Some of Micah's shirts in the daytime too. At first, understandably, Max would ask if I was dressing him in his brother's clothes, to which I would say, "Yes." Then he asks, "Why?" and Mommy says, " Well, because you're a big boy already and you can now fit into koh-koh's clothes. Koh-koh's also big already and can't fit into these anymore." And he echoes, "Max big boy a-dee?" Mommy affirms, "Yes, Max is a big boy already."

Back to potty training: I think Max can hold his bladder than his brother, actually. There had been a few occasions he had woken up with a dry diaper in the morning, whereas Micah had insisted that he is sure to wet himself in bed at night. I guess if they are to already know their biological signals, we should just trust them on it. But still need to try to help get them off diapers at night.

So is there some technique into dealing with this?
I can't imagine f they still need to be in diapers at night at age 6 or 7!!

Roller-Coaster On My Mind...

It's a happy preoccupation... but I feel it's slowly going to mount to a kind of nervousness .

It's what I want to do, but time is not on my side, especially with Max being more sticky recovering from a running nose and me having a sore throat (Just starting to get drugged today for the the next 4 days. Doctor's order.)

I'm happy planning, imagining, trying to picture certain scenarios...

Then I get nervous with all the "what if's":
What if it rains?
What if there's a sudden crowd at that certain location this weekend?
Should we change venue?
What if...

Oh, must start preparing the boys mentally on meeting new friends.

Oh, gotta start on some handcrafts now that the boys are fast asleep and I'd had an hour's nap.

Excited, anxious... butterflies in my stomach...

Feels like I'm planning for a trip overseas.
It's that kind of excitement and nervousness.
A Roller-coaster ride within.

(Breath.... breath.)


p/s- Must resist temptation to venture into other people's blog... for tonight at least.
No time. No time.