Before I hit 7 months old...

I can sit on my own...

I love to give you my signature ~SMILE~

I can grab toy and give it out to you...

I will scream out of a sudden whenever I like...

I enjoy my food so much...

I'm crawling and cruising on all four now... Just crawled from the bedroom towards the bathroom today for my bath as mummy simply didn't want to carry me... my knees were red though but I'm loving it~!

We have a set each!

In Po Po's house...

In Ah Mah's house...

(Hint: notice the colour of the tricycle and walker?)

Quick Update

Baby Zheng

- Enjoy solid very much nowadays, loves to have a taste on everything in his reach. Good part is he will wait for mummy to feed him though he wants it fast!
- Still exclusively on breastmilk, will mentioned "nen-nen" out of a sudden when he's sleepy or really want for the McB
- Able to half crawl, half moving like a worm to reach his destination on all four. When he wants something, he will move himself to that destination no matter how many times we change the location of the item (in short distance). A very high-determined baby.
- Easily to be distracted by sounds and voices and "kepoh" (busybody) till give up sucking his milk.
- Loves to play with Jie Jie and anyone he sees.
- Will make noise if he sees others going out from the house but not bringing him.
- In walker most of the time when he's awake.
- Sleep better and longer than before during daytime.


En En

- Love to memorised and sing nursery rhyme as loud as she could.
- Able to identify a few alphabets such as A - G, able to match the alphabet with the pictures like A is for ant and apple, etc...
- Back to sleep with mummy and Di Di and stick more to mummy already (relieved!)
- Still jeaous over the little brother as she will try to do whateven Di Di is doing which can make us laugh and says cute!
- Loves Di Di very much as she will cuddle little brother everytime she saw him up from the nap and will hold/touch Di Di's hand very frequent.
- Still act unreasonable (scream, cry,... ) especially when Di Di in the walker and hit her tri-cycle accidentally. Refuse to share her toys with Di Di.
- Very emotionable as she will cry out of a sudden when watching TV about violence or sad scenes.
- In the process fo night-time potty training (got to wake her to pee later... arrgh!)
- Act oppositely as what we told her to just to make us fruss.
- Remind us to fasten the seat belt for her in car-ride as she's not using car seat sometimes.
- Still sleep after 11pm daily... but wakes up earlier nowadays before 8am or before 10am.
- Loves story-telling time...


Mummy

- Addicted to knitting, thinking to do crocheting and sewing too.
- Finding time to online and blog, feel left out slowly from blogsphere.
- Thinking to have a clearance sales on many items at home. No action yet.
- Thinking to take pictures of so many things, especially the two cuties... why so difficult to squeeze time in?
- All in all, busy to attend both of them. Therefore, highly salute mothers with no maid and many kids!!!

So "sian"...

When I got something to blog...

No Internet connection
No free time
No laptop / PC
No favourite photos for the title
No MOOD after I got all the above ready!!!

What type of blogger am I?

Going to be 6 months ...

So happy that am able to breastfeed baby Z till six months!!! Woohoo... well, when tomorrow arrive then this is the moment!

However, officially given semi-solid to him on 14th April, 5 days before he turns six months old. He's very active nowadays as he turns and twisted continuosly when lay down on bed; "walking" and bouncing in the walker when he's not sleeping. Very busy wondering and exploring around the house or outside the house. Guess he still prefer the taste of breast milk in his rice cereal though...

The Butter Rhyme

BETTY BOTTER

Betty Botter bought some butter

But, she said, the butter's bitter,

If I put it in my batter,

It will make my batter bitter,

But a bit of better butter

That would make my batter better.

So, she bought a bit of better butter,

Better than her bitter butter,

And she put it in her batter,

And the batter is not bitter.

So, 'twas better Betty Botter

Bought a bit of better butter.

This is En En's favourite rhyme that must read out loud by mummy. Why? Coz mummy got tongue-twisted when read it faster. (Try it, you can come out with an Indian slang too) So, En En laughed out loud!!!

The Red One

En En said: " Mummy, I want to wear bra!!!"

What is mummy making for her? Definitely not a bra...

Started solid at 5 months old!

Never expect this to happen before baby Z is 6 months old but... who knows... when mummy was busy paying attention to En En, Ah Mah and Po Po couldn't wait any longer to feed this little playful boy.

Baby Z reacted very fast when someone is feeding him and he will scream in order to request more! Is it true breastfed babies are always hungry and not feeling full???

So far, we had given him sieved porridge (from Jie Jie's), banana, orange, honeydew, biscuit dipped in MILO (alamak!) ,... a lot yeah... but not everyday. Mummy will only start daily to include in his diet once he passes 19th this month.

Well, to be exact, he started his first taste of solid or semi-solid 2 weeks before 5 months old!

Together

En En said:" The yellow colour (cup) is Jie Jie, small blue colour (cup) is Di Di and the big blue one is mummy!!!

Then, she will sing:" Fly it away..." (a tune from Tweety bird's cartoon) after her bath at Po Po's home when we went back for 3 weeks holiday.

She Drinks It!!!

Mummy was very surprised this morning En En requested to taste breast milk. Mummy was pumping halfway and En En was accompanying mummy throughout the whole process because she wanted to see.

After finished pumping, mummy asked her whether she wants and she said YES! Poured abit into the small container that used to store breast milk and she took it. After that mummy asked again whether she want some more and she said YES again! But this time she pointed to the MILO tin and told mummy to add this one.

At first mummy was reluctant coz unsure whether she really means to take the breast milk otherwise we have to throw away after adding in MILO. But to mummy's surprise, SHE FINISHED ALL!!!

Funny talk about BooBies!

Since En En is not breastfed exclusively, she finds mummy breastfeed DiDi strange to her and can't even imagine how it was like except seeing DiDi "bites" mummy. Maybe that's also why she finds it uneasy to see this scene.

One day, mummy finally invited and introduced her the manual breast pump. She thought it's a toy that she can play but mummy explained and demonstrated to her saying it's a pump to get milk for DiDi. She looked at how mummy pumped out the milk and she finally realized there's really milk coming out from the breast. She was amazed and "happy" to see it.

Mummy: "Do you want mummy's nen-nen?"

En En : "Don't want!"

Mummy: "Why? Mummy got milk for you..."

En En : "Want Po Po's (milk), want Ah Mah's (milk)!"

Then, at night mummy saw En En talking to her Pooh Bear while cradle holding it.

En En: " Give Ah Pooh nen-nen!"

After that, change to lying down position pulak... She said this is how mummy feed DiDi!!!

Breastfeeding Journey

It was never an easy job for mummy... Mummy can recall the moment when Baby Zheng arrived, it was really a blessing that he is a healthy and demanding baby. This is going to be a long story starts from the failure mummy encountered when trying to breastfeed En En 3 years ago.

Lack of knowledge and support from family members is the major cause of mummy's stress and depression to breastfeed successfully with En En. Mummy never knew breastfeeding is a demand and supply cycle until mummy met with a few successful breastfed mothers from this forum. The chance of becoming a blogger also widens up mummy's network to get more information and tips from mummies blogger.

Mummy joined MMPS group thruogh Facebook and attended the monthly meeting as much as possible. Lots of experiences sharing moments and that reinforced mummy's awareness about many different ways to handling problems that may occur during breastfeeding time.

On the first day when baby Zheng was delivered, he was passed to mummy's immediately after wrapping to start suckling in order to stimulate breast milk production. Mummy was very proud and surprise that he did know how to suck! Never have this experience before with En En because didn't know that this is the first stimulation which is very important for breastfeeding.
Mummy was worried baby won't be send to mummy in every 2 hourly and thus keep reminding nurses and midwife to help sending baby to breastfeed.

During the 3-days stay in Adventist hospital, mummy was very alert to make sure baby is keep by the side most of the time. Baby Zheng is a nibble baby... he sucked for as short as 15 minutes to 3 hours... mummy was having a breastfeeding marathon with him on the first 2 days and nights. Some mothers told mummy normally babies will have 1-2 hourly interval of feeding but this is just an average as baby Zheng feed almost every half hourly! Different baby has different feeding pattern, mummy just have to observe and offer the breast even it was so tiring.

Mummy went back to hometown with baby Zheng for confinement. By Day 3, the milk already dripping like the tap water! Mummy was delighted as this means the milk will comes abundantly. Luckily the confinement lady is experienced with breastfed babies as her daughter in law was a breastfeeding mother too. Mummy was able to learn how to identify baby's poo during the early days from her.

Nipple pain - this is what mummy felt from Day 1 until Day 11!!! Definitely, this is a WARNING sign of baby's latching on problem. During the first 3 days mummy thought it is normal if nipple feels pain as it wil toughen up after baby sucks. Things went very terrible after 7 days as the pain was so severe till mummy felt scare and tensed whenever it's feeding time. Baby nursed very frequently during daytime but mummy was reluctant to offer both the breasts since they were cracked and bleeding. At that time, the confinement lady and Po Po also advised mummy to give bottle for the baby. Mummy insisted to pump and feed by spoon or cup with the help from them. (Mummy got spare milk bottle, but hide away...)

Mummy fell sick twice during the first 2 weeks of confinement because lack of proper rest. Mummy still very persistent but was very sad when both nipples were bleeding and baby was screaming for suckle! Finally, mummy sms mothers from MMPS and went to see a lactation consultant in Penang immediately.

Poor breastfeeding position led to baby's unproper latching on. Luckily with the help from Dr.Balkess, the lactation consultant, mummy was able to learn all over again on cradle hold position and side-lying position to ease the back when feeding. Mummy was very surprised with the correction on feeding positioning and checking on baby's lips (to be turned out like the mouth of a gold fish) there's no more pain!!!

Mummy had a log book to record down how many times baby was fed, how many times baby pee and poo as well as how many cups of water intake for mummy per day. This is to ensure mummy have enough fluid throughout the day to avoid dehydration from breastfeed and reminder that breast milk consist more than 80% of water. Baby had jaundice for over 2 weeks but fortunately didn't need to admit to hospital. At this moment, mummy kept on feeding baby on demand and monitoring very closely on baby's daily output. Finally by the end of third weeks old, the jaundice dissapeared.

Mummy believes breastmilk is the best for baby even mummy went through so many challenges and difficulties. It feels so rewarding to breastfeed my own baby!

Multi-lingual?

It's between adults... why? Simply because we don't want En En to know we are talking about her. She understands on whether we complain anything bad about her behaviours, habits or tricky actions,... or even when we praise her (don't want her to be too proud of herself too much)... So, we speaks:

- Mandarin - She will reply us...

- Hokkien - She understands and will react immediately...

- English - She will understand eventually but Ah Kong said it's a good training as she will learn by ears...

- Malay - She understand too, imagine she knows what our Indon maid was trying to tell her too!

Now we are back to mummy's hometown for holiday, normally we speak Mandarin at home too BUT mummy is forced to pick up and speak HAKKA!!! Well, this little girl is definitely blank with this language! Haha...

The 34 months old and the 5 months old

It's sure a long way to keep them close to each other. Especially En En, as she's still feel scare (?) and lack of security if DiDi is around and even worst if DiDi screams! We realized she doesn't like to be alone with mummy and DiDi in a room, maybe she feels she's not the main attention now or maybe she just unable to accept or adapt herself in such situation.

We have been trying... and still is... to put them together in the same room to play or sleep. En En will say either "Mummy go out (with DiDi)" when mummy is carrying DiDi or "Baby Jie Jie run away!" She can't bear the screaming of her little brother and will burst into tears if DiDi continues... Baby Z on the other hands, seldom cry out with tears but screams his lungs out. Most of the time baby Z already becomes silent BUT En En still continue for quite a long time before she can stop crying (with tears!)

Lately, mummy knows how to turn off En En's "speaker" by distracting her with stories and new stuff to play. Only one thing mummy is unable to understand is that she will be very anxious and feel uneasy whenever she know mummy is going to breastfeed baby Z. Is it because this is so different from what she has since she's a formula-fed baby till today. She just couldn't accept and will cry out loud if no one is attending her. So weird....

Otheriwse, she's one active and playful little girl with big eyes and a sweet smile!

When she is in good mood, she loves to sing. She has good memory on any rhymes or songs that we taught her even there's some pronunciation mistakes. She loves to sing:

- Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
- London Bridge is falling down
- Two Tigers (in mandarin same tune with Are you Sleeping?)
- Baa Baa Black Sheep

She even use the microphone attached to the PC and sing non-stop when mummy was chatting with aunty Jess through Skype!!!

************************************************************************************
Baby Zheng is very good at turning up from his back or flip downwards to sleep (on tummy). He's slower than En En at 5 months old last time who is able to roll and fell off from the bed!!! He's starting to recognize people and rooms as he won't feel good if we are in a strange and darker room. I think he's a sunny boy, he prefers bright places and smile or laugh very easily even there's no one talking to him! He's now loves cooing or perhaps trying to talk with us when he's in good mood.

He's very good in grabbing stuff around him AND PUT INTO THE MOUTH! Oh... he's in the walker now as he's too active being jumping and bouncing non-stop. We don't think he's tired but anyone who's holding him will sure encounter painful arms (therefore, mummy got to sling him!) He can moves front and back in the walker but most of the time will stuck in between furniture. Then, we'll hear frustrating sound from him... :)


Baby Zheng loves to be around with Jie Jie. He will smile and giggles whenever he sees Jie Jie and can't wait to jump in and play together! En En on the other hands, loves to see baby Z laughing and will imitates what he's doing or cooing together...

Lately, mummy found out he dislikes to be fed when mummy is sitting especially when he's overtired. He wants to lie down! Quite a demanding little master... hope this is not going to be forever... Planning to bring him for the 5th month injection next week and he's exactly 5 months old TODAY!

Can't stop to knit!

Currently working on a lacy baby kimono...

and a wool shorties for baby Z. Screwed up on crocheting baby booties... Hiya~

Bake... bake... bake...

Cakes or cookies?

Supposed to be muffins!

Technically error occurred... only the last 5 survived as m-u-f-f-i-n-s.

All I want is...

Mummy's attention!!!

We know why this happen, it's jealousy. She is now keen on doing what DiDi does to get attention. Mummy also try to spend as much time as possible with the "big one" together with the "small one".

Up till today, she is much more better than before and never cry or scream when DiDi is crying. But, only if DiDi's "speaker" too loud, she will continue with hers too. We still need time to overcome the sibling rivalry... :(

Flu went off... finally

Mummy was battling with flu for almost 2 weeks plus and now finally can declare for the victory! Yeah!!! Was worry that baby Z got flu from mumy too but luckily he's only discovered with a little coughing 2 days ago when mummy was getting well. That's the wonders of breastfeeding!

So, from the previous post, this is the so-called "Ang-Moh" mint. Pardon as the leaves are supposed to be all green but the one in the pic were taken out from the fridge after 2 days... therefore already layu lah... It's very big compare with the normal mint leaves that we used in cooking and it has some fur-like feeling when touching. Surprisingly, it's quite tasty as a drink after cooked with rock sugar but it also can be chewed raw. Immediate soothing for the throat irritation.

Just for a record of medication that mummy got from Dr.Zovi's prescription... in case in need for future while still breastfeeding (CHOY! CHOY! CHOY! touch wood...)

Cough - DURO-TUSS FORTE 0.3% SYRUP / PHOLCODINE

Antibitotic - AUGMENTIN 1g (amoxycillin + clavulanate potassium)

Baby Z's had flaming red "little bird" since last week but now it's under monitor and proper care with frequent changing of nappy, use lampin instead of modern cloth diapers. Visited paed and most probably the cause of it was too humid and didn't clean properly. In fact, it's just a mild case and paed only gave LACTACYD to be used in bath and nappy change. Well, sometimes he was soaking wet espcially using cloth nappies overnight... maybe need to add another layer of microfleece to wick the moisture away.

Oh... if you are new to modern cloth diapers, do drop by my diapering blog. Moment like this it always give mummy a mix feeling to use disposable and cloth diapers when you are so in love with the modern cloth nappies. No doubt disposable never gives any skin problem to both mummy's little ones but the impact of the environment... well, it's just feeling so waste to use and throw... Anyway, right now mummy needs to take more precaution at this moment for baby Z's little bird as mummy discovered there's some peeling of skin happening... Poor baby Z... Guess mummy will resume in full time cloth diapering soon.

Homemade Cream Puff

Baked these last Saturday for the babywearing gathering potluck BUT decided to blog for reminder as the first batch of the pastry was a FAILURE!!!

The two photos above is the comparison of the fail and successful pastry. I even need to drived out to Giant supermarket to get the butter to bake the second batch... luckily Giant open at 8am and baby Z was still sleeping.

The is the comparison of the first batch of the pastry batter which is too watery and abit lumpy (left) vs the second batch which is more sticky and smooth.

The end product - Pastry fills with custard filling... Absolutely YUMMY!!!

Baby Zheng is 4 months old!

The more frequent mummy trim the nail of those little fingers, that's the symbol of how fast our little one grows up everyday!

Vital

Height - 60cm

Weight - Weighed last Sunday when visit paed at Adventist Hospital was 7kg! But mummy think not realy 7kg yet but definitely more than 6.6kg already.

Diet

Exclusively on breast milk but mumy realized he is now showing interest on what we eat. He will smacks his lips and makes some sounds whenever he sees mummy is drinking or eating in front of him.

Feeding every 2 hourly, taking approximately 3-4oz of bm.

Poo poo between 7-12 days since last month and need to monitor.

Motor Skills

1. He is finally able to turn from his back to the sides and ended up on tummy.

2. He can grasp anything that he's able to reach such as the hanky, bolster and pillow.

3. He's a bouncing baby as he can't stop junping if we let him stand while carrying him.

4. He loves to suck his fingers. No particularly which finger but if possible he would love to have the whole fist inside the mouth! Sucks palms, arm or shoulder of anyone who carries him.

5. Laughes uncontrollably when we play peek-a-boo. Prefer rough actions very much while playing.

Emotion

Baby Zheng is a Happy Baby! He will smile and laugh with anyone who smile at him or play with him. He will draw anyone's attention by trying to talk to you and give you that million dollar smiling face.

Very active as he will kick and jump non-stop when we are holding him. Loves to be carried (even sleep!) and will play on his own for the most 30 minute if no one is free to entertain him provided he's full and not sleepy.

Baby Zheng can be very fierce and aggresive when it's pass his nap time and hungry. He will shout in the highest pitch he can while grasps tightly on the person who carry him. At the same time, he will start to "bite" while still shouting! It will be terrible if he has teeth later on...

Sleep

This is still a struggle for mummy and baby Zheng as mummy still in the process of training him to fall asleep on his own. Due to En En's crying on each time the little brother cries, mummy has no choice but to avoid letting baby Zheng cry too much and that's mean swinging him to sleep in a sling too! Therefore, baby Zheng already used to sleep that way, it will be another attempt to change his current sleeping habit.

The longest nap time for daytime is 30 minutes till 1 hour. Luckily he sleeps well at night except need to be fed every 2-4 hourly. At night, he will start to sleep from 10.30pm or 11.00pm till next mmorning 10.00am or 11.30am with a few feeding in between.

33 months old

Vital

Height: 92.5cm

Weight: 13.5kg

Diet

Lately, I found new love with rice but not forgetting the porridge. I prefer to sit in and take a few spoonful of rice with fish or meat when everyone is having meal at the dining table. I can't lie to Ah Mah or mummy that I'm full as Ah Mah will eventually feed me porridge later on. Ah Mah is frustrated to feed me rice as I eat too slow because rice is hard to swallow. Oh... most of the time I don't chew when people feed me.

Sometimes, I won't swallow if I don't like to eat rice or porridge. It depends on my mood. But I have supper every night in Ah Mah's room, be it the cheese stick bread or my honeycake (kuih bahulu) with milk. I still drink milk 7-8oz 3 to 4 times per day. Don't tell anyone that I still take milk before I wake up early in the morning around 5-7am or sometimes in the middle of the night if I hardly can sleep.

Daddy likes to bring me to Maxim Cake House regularly for their Gelato, a new type of ice cream which is less sweet and less creamier than normal ice-cream. I love to go there and my favourite... surprisingly is the waffle on top of the ice-cream! Speaking about ice-cream I can't forget McDonald's vanilla cone ice-cream. I will sure ask daddy to buy one whenever I see the McD's ice-cream stall when we go to Gurney Plaza.

I don't refuse plain water anymore and sometimes it' an good excuse to ask Ah Mah or mummy to get plain water, prune juice, yakult or yoghurt if I throw tantrum and want to lengthen the time for them to serve me. More choices to make now... hehehe...

Potty/Toilet Train

I won't tolerate to get into any diapers if I don't go to bed for nap or sleep. After much "advises" from Ah Mah that I must sleep on the floor if I wet the bed, I accepted the fact that I still need to wear a disposable diaper to sleep at night. Maybe I can't wake up or maybe I cried at midnight whenever asked to pee. Ah Mah scares my voice will wakes up the whole family, with no chice but to buy more disposable diapers for me. Luckily, no diapers for me when we go out kai-kai as I know daddy, mummy or Ah Mah will bring me to the toilet if I tell them I need to pee.

I still trust my red little potty at home whenever I do my big business. I don't want to use mummy's or Ah Mah's potty in the toilet, (the seated toilet) it is too big for me. My big business time is the time before I go to bed every night, provided if I don't constipated.

Feelings & Developments

1. I a now able to turn the door knob and I know how to open door!!! Hurray!!! Don't ever try to close door and leave me alone in the room as I know how to escape...

2. I am still learning to using fork and spoon together even I never success yet. But I love to play that way when at the dining table with all the "big people".

Jealousy

Sometimes, I feel not being loved when Di Di is around. Everyone's attention is him and not me. I cry alot lately and throw tantrum with no reasons in the eyes of the "big people". Ah Mah whacked my butt a few times but I just can't stop not to cry or manja. I want to be pampered like Di Di but I do not know what's missing in me... the feeling is miserable and I do not know how to express it except throwing tantrum and cry out loud.

Sometimes I want mummy, sometimes I don't want mummy but I want Ah Mah most of the times. Mummy needs to carry Di Di and I can't bear with it whenever I hear Di Di cries. I have butterflies in my tummy and I can't help but cry together with Di Di. I hardly can stop crying once get started. I know everyone dislike me when I cry but this is how I want to do to get their attention.

Whenever I see Di Di's stuff which was once belongs to me, I'll try to get back.

That's all for now, I want to follow daddy out to Youth Park to play slide and see-saw. Daddy brings me to many places nowadays and I love to go out.

Sick, sick, sick mummy...

Mummy is not the only one in the family who has flu, it started from Ah Kong during the second day of Chinese New Year. Then, it started to spread...

Mummy's condition worsen since yesterday. Non-stop coughing cause sleepless night and thus fever, sore throat all comes at once. Went to see the family doctor 2 days ago but no antibiotic was given due to mummy still breastfeed baby Zheng. Last night discovered blood in the phlegm and mummy can't bear with the counghing anymore. It's getting worse and worse. Not so sure who to turn to at this moment and therefore sms Chanel and Loh from MMPS to get help. Thanks to Chanel mentioned about visiting my gynea.

Mummy was the last patient when arrived at Adventist Hospital at 12.15pm. Today only open half day because it's a Sunday. Even Dr.Zovi is not a lactation specialist but is particularly very supportive in breastfeeding. Oh... she is the doctor who was in charge for baby Zheng delivery, she's so happy to see baby Zheng again. She told mummy all the gynea and nurses there were trained to help breastfeeding mothers. Dr.Zovi recommended mummy to take the mint leaves to sooth the sore throat and it's much better compare taking antibiotic in the futire. The mint leaves is different from the type we use for cooking, the leave is 6-7 times bigger. Mummy was touched when Dr.Zovi went back to her home to get her homegrown mint leaves for mummy! She asked mummy to plant this in a pot for future use. Will take a picture of the mint leave soon.

Mummy prays to get well soon. Hopefully, baby En and baby Zheng will be fine in the family as MIL and daddy also starts coughing now... Seriously, this is not an enjoyable Chinese New Year...

Nigthmare in the family

It's En En's crying and screaming!!!
It has been over a week this little girl cried and screamed for no particular reason. Right now, she will "tune on" her radio at least once per day for almost 1 hour... so, so irritating to the ears...

Back to what is her problem? Or perhaps what is the issues with us, the adult, who looks after her everyday? We got to see things both ways because mummy realised sometimes the problem is not from the child, it's the different perspective from adult. Mummy and Ah Mah observe and figure out how to tackle whenever En En crys for nothing. For sure, she's looking for attention and needs someone to pamper her.

Just imagine, she will cry when someone refuses her in anything, yes... just anything is good enough for her to take as a reason and start crying. Then, she will force herself to scream louder and cry longer even we are trying to distract her, sweet talk to her,... just name whatever ideas you have. Guess what she did? Cry even louder and shut both eyes!!! "Keng" or not? Exactly like small babies when they feel exhausted they will cry out loud and squint the eyes in order to shut the stimulation from outside world. Therefore, En En wishes to hear nothing and to see nothing but everyone in the family was so stress and panic! Even a small sound from Baby Zheng will cause En En to burst into tears within 3 seconds...

When she will stop? No idea... we tried the soft way - not working; the hard way - not working... she will stop when she think it's enough. The most ridiculous part is there were times whereby she stopped crying because she's thirsty and tired. She accepted water or milk with eyes closed but still awake. After finished her drinks, she started to cry again! Wah-lah!!! What does this means?? Sometimes we feel so geram and wanted to whack her butt but on the other hands, this little girl is just too funny... :)

What type of "baby" is En En now? Definitely a spoiled baby... Any ideas to handle this type of kids...

Surprise from Breastfeeding!

This photo won an Attractive Prize, from a Breasstfeeding Contest organized by MMPS Penang last month. Mummy just sent in for fun and who knows...?

What is Motherhood?

Today is a bad day for me. I should say it's a miserable day as I never really think hard about what actually is motherhood? To become a mother? To earn money to buy things for my kids and provide them with the best education, best in everything? To shower them with endless love? How?? Probably I really need to think again what motherhood is all about? Perhaps I'm not doing something that I should?

En En is now very possessive, stubborn and objects on things that we told her cannot do. She's getting difficult to handle nowadays as she won't listen to what we say and insists that she wants to do this on her own will. I feel like a fail mother because I'm totally unable to control her or coax her to be more obediant.

It started this morning when Ah Kong suddenly switch channel from En En's PHDC from Astro. In fact, the small TV of her is playing her favourite cartoons that she asked. Immediately, En En cried out loud and refused to cry and scream even Ah Kong switched back to PHDC for her. So, both TV is playing En En's programme but still she continued to cry. She screamed (purposely) for 1 hour, refused to bath, refused everyone that got near her. She's throwing a super huge tantrum today. Maybe it's her tactics to tell us that she wants to have everything in her ways, she wants to win in everyhthing. Once it's not right, we got to persuade her back. Normally, only MIL is the one who plays this role because En En only selected her (and not mummy :(... )!

Seriously, she's spoiled because everyone pampered her. I tried to talked to her, locked both of us in the room. She still didn't stop crying but only lower her voice. I tried to distract her attention, tried to make jokes, tried to hold her, tried to reason with her... all failed! See, mummy loose over here. She even rejected to be held! Ever since En En was a small baby, MIL is the person that take care of her even until today! Will this be the reason? I know fom the day she's borned, I'm going to lose her... because I never pamper her or show her my love as much as MIL. Bet you, that's why I decided not to lose the second baby and become SAHM. But then again, this makes me confuse whether it's because I spend too much time with baby Z and En En feels neglected? I admit most of the time is devoted to baby Z but once I have the time, I'll take over the tasks like bathing En En, feeding her, tell her a story or do some drawings with her. In short, spend time with her as much as I can. One thing for sure is mummy kisses is definitely lesser than MIL because I'm not brought up that way (always kiss baby type). Is this the reason too?

In my heart, my love for my two kids is the same but because I don't reveal it often so I lose over those who show and do it everyday for En En? Really don't know how and what else I can do. If there's a New Year Resolution for myself and that will definitely to be a better mother and bonding well with En En as well as baby Zheng...

Remedy??

En En likes her DiDi but there's one thing that she can't overcome. Perhaps, it's one of her characters. En En will scream when DiDi started to make noise, or even worse En En will cries non-stop if DiDi continue to cry and scream!

We thought this will be temporarily, we try to reason with En En why DiDi will cry or shout but it is unsuccessful. Then, we discovered any babies or toddlers cry will "trigger" En En into "crying mode". Any "remedy" for En En??

Funny One...

A real funny conversation of En En with Ah Mah...

Ah Mah: "Baby En can go drink nen-nen(breast milk) from mummy."

En En: "Don't want! Drink from Ah Mah!"

Ah Mah:" Ah Mah got no nen-nen, no water lah!"

En En: "Baby pour water for Ah Mah!" With action - take cup and pour plus make sound of water pouring out...

Everyone laughed out loud!!!

Show me your Tummy!!!

Huh? What?

Mummy, are you sure?? (with innocent look)

Here goes!!! TA-DAH!


Baby Z is able to grab anything (especially his shirt up up up!) very well by 2 months old. He's trying to "eat" the shirt though...

This is real fast!

But mummy is slow to blog... as it's not easy to get daddy's laptop and get a suitable time to really sit (or sleep) down to blog...

The 50 photos really arrived at doorstep within 3 days! What a truely surprise with EOE online photo printing service. All the photos look very clear and sharp, no difference if you generate them in a photo studio.

Yes is the answer if there are more photos to generate in the future with EOE. All you need to do is just upload the photos to EOE account... Oh... forgot to mention, it is free to register as a user with EOE. You can create many digital albums through the account. Automatically, you will have unlimited storage space for all your favourite photos with EOE. Definitely convenient and trustworthy to have photo service online. Give it a a try today!

Potrait of Our Cute Duo

A great start for a new year :) ... HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009!

Baby Booties

Nice or not? But not mummy's work, it's MIL. Yeah... Ah Mah is a very talented in art, crafts and needlework. Mummy feels pressure but quite glad to have someone to guide in knitting or crochet. Oh, sewing too!

Mummy is going to try out crocheting a pair of baby booties. The picture above is the pattern but exclude the embroidery. Let's see whether baby Z can wear them when it's done.

Photos to be developed...

Mummy is the person that can't stop taking pictures of our little princess but now daddy took over this role. Why? Because mummy is busy to take pictures of our little prince too! Now looking back, our princess has more than four thousands of her very own digital photos collection and our little prince has almost three hundred plus ever since he said hello to the world 2 months back.

Next is what we are more headache about - choosing photos to be printed by a photo studio. At the beginning we thought that with digital photos, we can save alot by viewing through computer screen. But in reality, the one that you carry on hand is still the best especially En En's Gong Gong who always want us to print photos of En En in hardcopy as he's carrying them in his wallet!!! Can't really tell how many trips we travel to the photos studio just to get the photos done.

Recently, mummy discover one Malaysian based online photo printing service EOE which mummy think it's way more convenient to us. This website is currently having a promotion whereby 4R print at only RM0.30 and we can get free delivery for orders above RM35.00! Wow! This is really a good chance to try out online photo printing service. We don't need to travel out to send the photo files and collect photos now.

To all the bloggers out there, this website is having a Blogger Review Program II with prizes to grab. Due to the excellent feedback for the first Blogger Review Program, EOE is having the second one with a grand prize of Olympus E-520 kit with a 14-42mm lens worth RM2499.00!

So, what are you waiting for? Hop in the crowd, write a review and find out more about this new online service.

Breastfeeding, Bottlefeeding... what say you?

Baby Z rejects so much when we tried to feed him with a bottle. Why use bottle? He's threating mummy as his pacifier and we afraid one day if mummy got emergency that is unable to bring him together (Touch Wood!!!) at least bottle is the alternative. In fact, mummy wish to work part-time again to earn some money.

With Baby Z super high pitch screaming and crying, it's really becoming a torturing to use bottle. Ah Mah said this is terrible already, how come a baby can reject bottle? Of course mummy just keep quiet as the bottle-formula concept already printed in Ah Mah's and Po Po's mind, they both think that a baby that cling and stick to mummy will be a horrible thing.

Well, this is what mummy thinks:

1. Mummy not really plan to work until baby Z is 6 months old, there's no problem to feed baby anytime.

2. Pump and feed with bottle is a double work. Mummy insists that someone else to feed him with bottle if anyone still want to suggest mummy to use bottle.

3. Mummy believes bottle is to replace the existance of mummy. Sadly said, mummy also understand this after sucessfully breastfeed. So, it's no surprise why many people still think that baby=milk=bottle.

4. Baby too cling and glue to mummy whole day which is true. Others will say this is no good. Mummy enjoys the feeling to be needed by my own baby and taking care of him daily makes mummy feels more confident about motherhood. Besides, how many years your baby will cling to you? Mummy missed the first year with En En and doesn't want to miss another time.

5. Breastfeed baby better stay at home. Who said so? With a sling, nursing wears and a nursing cover, breastfeed in public is stull possible. The only challenge is you must practise the techniques to breastfeed in discreet. Parkson in Gurney Plaza now has breastfeeding room too!

Anyhow, it is mother's choice to breastfeed or bottle-feed. There's no right or wrong but as for my case, AT THIS POINT MUMMY CHOSE TO BREASTFEED even that means has to overcome tons and tons of hurdles. There are too many reasons behind that encouraged mummy to stay firm in breastfeeding.

All in all there's only one thing that mummy feel miserable about baby Z and that's his nap time. Mummy can't always carry him to sleep and be a walking pacifier for him. His average daytime napping hours are only 2 hours! Mummy wonders whether he's not feeling full or he's been preferring to sleep in mummy's arm while sucking to his walking pacifier?

-When baby Z can sleep on his own?
-When baby Z can really drink at the breast besides nibble and suck for fun?
-When baby Z let mummy has more time spend with Jie Jie?

Mummy doesn't love me!

Huh??!! So heartache En En said that eventhough it's not in front of mummy. Ah Mah told mummy En En said that to her this morning.

This is how it got started, a conversation between Ah Mah and En En:-

Ah Mah: Baby En go sleep with mummy, ok?

En En: Don't want!

Ah Mah: Why?

En En: Mummy sleeps with DiDi...

Ah Mah: Mummy sayang baby En and DiDi... mummy sayang baby En or not?

En En: NO!

Mummy asked her again whether what Ah Mah said is true but En En just remain silent as if mummy is talking to the wall!! Is she too clever or what??

Jie Jie & Di Di

Glad to see this finally... En En likes to get close to Di Di provided that he's not screaming.

Sling Baby, Sling!

Try out babywearing... Ahem... should be calling it as sling that carry an infant or toddler with baby Zheng(Z) and still don't really understand why he loves the sling so much? He sleeps so soundly and comfortably (you will be doubt about this) at least 2 hours in the (looks) small and tight pouch or ring sling.

This is a DIY pouch sling (with batik sarong) and it's actually 1-2 inches bigger than my actual size. Still big? Yes, and everyone commented it's too small. Oh yes, if you are looking for batik sarong which is a good material for pouch sling, let me know.

Wear this and the DIY ring sling to the mall a few times and baby Z was so quiet in there. Perhaps it's mummy's smell? In fact it's Gurney Plaza and haven't really seen anyone use this... mama with sling in the south Penang PLEASE join me here!!! Everyone saw me and asked "Baby feels hot in there?" " Baby's legs comfortable or not?" Well, if only the position is incorrect. Visit Malaysian Babywearer to learn more. All my slings are DIY. Even bedsheet can be used too... haha! As long as it can be used, I'm all-okay mama.

Baby Z has problem sleeping at home, he prefers people to carry to sleep. Therefore, if he can't sleep mummy will put him into sling and bring him out after he's asleep. Mummy think it's not a good idea but still it's not a bad idea coz mummy is unable to do anything if carry baby Z all day long. Moreover, babywearer mummies told me it's another great way to lose weight eventhough the reading of the scale is still the same. *Sigh*

31 Months Old Baby En

Backdated post.

En En is now taken care by Ah Mah 24x7, mummy really miss those funny and interesting moments with her now and then.



Vital
Weigth: Should hit 13kg?
Height: Never measure so far...


Diet
- Main meal still porridge due to she refuse to chew on more solid food such as rice and vegetable. Occasionally she wants rice and egg.

- New addition food is bread and she particularly loves cinnamon rolls. She is now taking bread for tea-time and before bedtime.

- Ah Mah introduced back Ribena + glucose and she likes it. Just recently, she's been given diluted prune juice with some glucose added (to reduce the sour taste) and this really improve her constipation problem.

- Still on 7oz milk 2-3 times per day. 5-6oz diluted Yakult 2x per day.



Sleep

- Afternoon nap 1-2 hours is a must.

- Not sure why she will dance and sing in the bedroom with Ah Mah and Ah Kong as audience before she goes to bed every night. Bedtime is between 10.30pm - 1am.

- She needs her story-telling time and at least half an hour play with her toys before she really settle down.



Development

1. Understand the characters in cartoon movies. Able to memorise those funny conversation and use in her daily life's conversation with us! (mummy was quite surprise where she learn all that at the beginning)

2. Able to relate why and the reasons. She is a very understanding little girl when we tell her why she can do this and why can't she do that. (Preparation to go kindy???)

3. She is still lazy to pull her pants down when it's wee wee time. Sometimes when in emergency, she will and is able to pull up and down!

4. She knows how to press "pause" (the space bar) and "next" (the arrow keys) using daddy's laptop when watching cartoon movies and viewing photos.

5. She can sings "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" with correct pronunciation and her "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" goes like this:

Row, Row, Row your boat
Gentle la la stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily (exactly 4x!)
Life la la la dream

* La La La - don't know what she's saying

2 Months Old

Yeah!!! Mummy already breastfeed baby Zheng for 2 months... Baby Zheng is getting smarter as he refuses bottle!

Vital (taken on 2 Dec 08)

Weight: 5.1kg (from 4.43kg during 1st month checkup)

Length: 57cm

Diet

Fully on breast milk... therefore no measurement (everyone around can't stop asking how many ounce baby is taking)

Direct feed at the moment but tried to introduce bottle a few days back but he rejects.

Sleep

Not so sure whether it's the training that mummy gave, he can't sleep on his own without suckle. This is not only the problem, he still insists mummy to carry him to sleep. Luckily no need to swing or rock as long as he's in mummy's arm, he can sleep soundly but when putting down to bouncer or bed, he will wake up very soon.

So, basically night time seldom wake up unless for 2-3 feeding. Daytime nap is the most 2 hours per session and the least is 10-15 minutes before he yells for his walking pacifier!

He loves to sleep in the sling and on mummy's chest. Trying to make him sleep on tummy and hoping that he can sleep longer.

Development

1. Smiles a lot even in the middle of his feeding.

2. Able to lift up his head for a few seconds when put down on tummy. Lift his head up without any assistance when sitting on our laps.

3. Prefer to sit with back assisted than cradle hold. Prefer up-right position when we carry him.

4. Started to put his fist into the mouth and sucks.

5. He is able to use his legs to push on mummy's thigh in order to get higher when feeding on lying down position.

6. He talks alot when we talk to him and will make sounds if he doesn't see anyone around him.

7. He will close his mouth when given something else than breast milk.

8. He has a favourite entertainment for himself - looking and smiling at the slow moving ceiling fan. This can keep him free from screaming for us to carry him for 10-15 minutes.

9. He will cry before he pees and hates to be in the wet lampin. He hates nappy changing.

Baby Zheng is a sleeping problem baby as he can't really sleep for long hours during daytime. The most terrible part is he needs people to carry him once he's awake and the person who carry him cannot sit down! He will screams once there's no body movement. Only mummy can sit down because that will be his feeding time.

Baby... Anywhere?

He sleeps so soundly besides his bed...

Very messy... well, that's the room of a breastfeed mum who neglects anything even the looks herself in order to concentrate in breastfeeding. So, can you spot the baby?

Understanding Baby

En En went to Po Po's home last week while mummy stayed at home with baby Zheng. She loves to go to Po Po's place. Last night, Po Po called mummy to inform that En En's aunty (mummy's youngest sis) Mendy met an accident. Therefore, En En need to be back to Penang. Po Po also told En En about this incident that Po Po is unable to take care of En En and she has to go back as soon as possible.

So, Ah Mah and daddy drove to Alor Setar to fetch En En this morning.

Ah Mah asked En En: "Let's go to Po Po's house..."

En En replied: "Cannot! Pain, pain,... yee yee pain pain... yee yee cried. Po Po take care yee yee."

Ah Mah said: " Then let's go home with Ah Mah?"

En En replied: " Okay!"

At home, we asked En En: "En En sleep with mummy, OK?"

En En replied: "Cannot! Mummy sleep with Di Di." (means mummy take care Di Di)

We asked: "Where do En En sleep?"

En En replied: " Sleep with Ah Mah!" (yes, since baby Zheng's arrival...)

She does understand why this and that is going on around her. In other words, she starts reasoning and very soon will start debating with us.

Never give up to Suckle!

He's so determine! Taken when mummy was having bleeding nipple and he's not giving up to suckle anything that close to the mouth! He motivated mummy to get help asap!

Full Moon

Backdated post. (just yesterday.. :P)

Very traditional, isn't it? Well, it's a big day for the family. Mummy and baby Zheng went back to Penang a day before the full moon celebration.

Baby Zheng was gifted with black and thick hair when borned... the funny part is the hair always stand up no matter how we try to comb it down... (borned with Beckham's hairstyle)

Isn't he cute? ;)

So, yesterday we brought him for a hair "trimming" and this is baby Zheng new looks! Cool yah!

Looks like "Tai-Kor" or little monk?

What about En En? Thank goodness that she slowly accepts baby Zheng but still can smell the jealousy in the air. En En doesn't like it when baby Zheng cries and screams, she will be away from baby Zheng as far as possible.

This is the only photo of both of them when Ku Ku insisted to take a photo with them.

No more life to breastfeed like this!!!

Tired... tired... and tired... can't really figure out why baby Zheng's feeding pattern still like a newborn in hospital? These 2 days mummy hardly able to rest and eat peacefully as baby Zheng refuse to sleep at day time. He only wanted to suckle then nap at the breast then suckle then nap... he seems not having enough? Or tired as no proper sleep for long hours?

The most we can't stand is - his screaming... Arrgh! He screams when:
- pee
- poo
- change diaper
- need suckle
- once he opens his eyes!

Baby Zheng is a cranky baby?? Perhaps mummy needs to get some advise from lactation consultant to check on his latching on. How come he requests to suckle so often and only nap for a few minutes before next feed?? Mummy had been asked to give him bottle so that he can feels full and pacifier so that can shut his mouth.

How? Any advise?

Feeding Pattern

Hmm... guess mummy have a frequent snacker on the boobs around the clock. Baby Zheng is one aggresive and alert baby. Thank goodness that he allows mummy to have time for daily 3 main meals and a few uninterrupt hours to sleep at night.

All the while been thinking breastfeed babies will have 1-2 hours interval between feed and sleep. Well, different baby has different pattern which is definitely so true! Baby Zheng wakes up everyday right after mummy had breakfast at around 8a.m. Sometimes mummy is able to get a short nap before he wakes up. Then, start the feeding session till 11.30am or 12.30pm (mummy's lunch time). In between this 3 hours, baby Zheng never sleep and goes on feed --> pee --> feed --> poo --> feed --> ... and repeats and repeats till he sleeps. Mummy suspected that he sleeps due to tireness instead of fullness (of the tummy).

After 2-3 hours sleep, he wakes up for boobies again. The same pattern applies for the whole afternoon till 6 or 6.30pm, which is the time for mummy's dinner. Then he'll sleeps for another 2-3 hours before bedtime feeding which will last 2-3 hours too. Mummy is so tired of this frequent snacker as he will sucks for 20 minutes, then dozed off for a few minutes. By the time we thought he's sound asleep, put him down and he'll yell for the breast, oh... perhaps his walking pacifier? Mummy even can feel the boobies is producing non-stop around the clock, having slight engorgement even without feeding for 1 hour! Good news??

Luckily, both nipples already heal with slight soreness still due to baby Zheng prolong suckling. Lately, mummy discover some discomfort or... pain to be exact when baby Zheng sucks. There's no bleeding or cracked nipples but mummy is sure he's using his gum when suckling. He has the habit of curling in his lower lips even after mummy corrected him again and again. Looks like this journey is not a smooth one for us. Mummy won't give up anymore as we already went through the most terrible phase, will determine going on no matter what.

This is such a new esperience as compare to a formula-fed En En. Mummy even feels so "syiok" to see his poo poo... not even using any strength to poo! Haha! Let's see what's baby Zheng feeding pattern will be after his full moon.

Sibling Rivalry

Mummy never blog about En En reaction when she first met with her didi, baby Zheng due to breastfeeding issues. Sadly, En En doesn't like her Di Di as we can sense the jealousy from her. En En still refers herself as "Baby" and baby Zheng as "Baby Di Di".

Mummy still remember the first day En En visited mummy in hospital... there's no smile on her face. She looks weird as mummy was carrying and cuddling another small "creature". This was the first time En En saw a tiny baby and she even cried when she heard baby's crying. Next we asked her like baby Di Di or not, she said scared! The second day in hospital En En asked mummy to go home with her and baby Di Di stay in hospital. *pengsan*

En En reluctant to enter mummy's room whenever baby Di Di is and she will tells you baby Di Di is very noisy, always cry. All of us try our best to include En En with baby Zheng but she always turn and run away! Oh Gosh... maybe she's been used to be the princess of the family as she really needs time to adapt to her new role as a Jie Jie.

En En, no matter it's you or baby Di Di, mummy and daddy will give equal love to both of you. Hope that one day you will understand.

Battle of the Breast

After 14 hours of using bottle for baby Zheng, we realized that he can't forget about suckling at the breast even when he's full. In fact, this is a good sign as he's looking forward to suckle and mummy is able to see that baby Zheng mouth is sucking just like at the breast even when he's drinking from a bottle. Mummy's instinct was telling that the shorter periods baby use the bottle, the higher chance he will go back to the breast.

Mummy accepted suggestion from Loh, a member from MMPS (Mother-to-Mother Peer Support Group, look it up at Facebook!) to see Dr. Balkess in Srigim Penang immediately. Dr. Balkees is a paed and a lactation consultant, mummy only found out that she is a lactation consultant after the visit. So, that was Thursday and we quickly packed, confinement lady also following to Penang as mummy plans to stay in Penang for a few days til 4 Nov, which is an appointment checkup for baby Zheng in Adventist Hosp.

Mummy was so tensed and panic when meet when Dr.Balkees. It was mummy's feeding position that caused the soreness besides baby's latching on problem. Dr taught mummy the cradle hold and lying dowm position to feed baby Zheng and surprisingly, there's no pain at all! And fior the first time baby Zheng was able to let go the nipple after he's satisfied.

After the visit, we went home and practise the cradle and lying down position. There's still error here and there. Baby Zheng still accidentally bite on mummy but once the latch on is correct the feeding goes so well. Yet, the fear of pain is still there as mummy is still having sore nipple till today as baby Zheng sucks so long and frequent everyday. Never thought that breastfeeding will be so tiring... it's always like a battle for mummy and baby Zheng as we are trying to get the right position, the right latch since everything will seems incorrect at the first place. Baby Zheng will get so angry and cries loudly if we have to repeat again and again. Mummy always hope that tomorrow we will have more and better improvement...