Welcome 2013

I did not start well in year 2012. First my car was badly damage being hot from behind. Then not soon after that the very same car got stolen while I had only 6 more installments to go. I guess I have no fate with this car. But during the year I got a freelance job on accounting. Though its only few months but I got some extra pocket money from it. And then out of my plan, I ended up back to work full time again for the second half of the year. So in overall, if I did not lose my car, I would say year 2012 is not a bad year.

Year 2013, Lynn finally enters Primary 1. When I was young, my mom was a house wife. I remember me and my brother never attended any tuition, my mom would guide us on our school works until secondary school. So naturally I wanted to play the same role to my kids. With much longer school hours in primary school as compared to kindergarten, I do not welcome the idea putting Lynn at those day care centre. I prefer I myself spend the before school hours with her. Which means that I can't work full time anymore.

When I accepted my current full time job, I had been very honest with the boss that I would quit and switched to do freelance when school reopen in 2013. Becoming a stay-at-home mom when Lynn enters Primary 1 is always my plan. But then I thought - why can't I go to work while Lynn is at school in the afternoon? I would say that I feel very blessed that my boss allows me to work only half day. Though my pay is cut by half but at least I still get some income and at the same time I get to look after Lynn myself. To me, it worth the sacrifice. As for Hao, he would still be full day at kindy as before.

So every day after sending Lynn to school in the afternoon, I go to work. Then I would leave at 5.30pm sharp, to go pick up Hao and rush back to pick up Lynn who finish school at 6.20pm. Though its very rush for me, but nothing can beat my smiling face when I see Lynn's face lighten up upon seeing me picking her up after school. To overcome the heavy traffic outside the school, usually I would park my car at the furthest about 100m away and walk her to the school. Honestly, I enjoy those moments holding hand walking side by side. Even Hao also enjoys walking with me go pick up his jie Jie after school. This helps keep all of us in happy mood, which means they will annoy me less, and get scolded less, which is a good thing. :)

So far I enjoy working half day and spending the rest of the time with the kids. I consider this as a good start for year 2013 and hope more good things to come. :)

Toilet training - Completed!

Hao is toilet trained since 2 years old + and since then he's off diaper during day time. But at night I still let him wear diaper to sleep. Occasionally he would tell me he did not want to wear diaper to sleep. But most of the time his diaper was full in the morning, so I thought he's not ready for it yet. It's not very easy to toilet train him. I could never imagine how am I going to train him go diaper-less at night. But I told myself to worry about it later.

About 2 months ago, during one of the night Hao woke me up from sleep, telling me he wanted to go toilet. I was surprised but I woke up anyway. I helped him to take off his diaper, switched on the light of the toilet for him. And after he was done, I put back the diaper on him and he went back to sleep after that. It happened twice in a week. Then I also noticed that in the morning when i checked his diaper, most of the time it was dry!

After monitoring for about one week plus, with dry diaper on every morning, I told myself that he's ready to go diaper-less at night. So I told him, that he's big boy now, no need to wear diaper to sleep. And asked him to wake me up when he wants to go toilet at night (he would like me to switch on the light for him). So from that day onwards, Hao no more wear diaper to sleep at night. Even when we went to Ipoh during Hari Raya break, I let him go diaper-less too and he would wake up himself to go toilet.

It's been about 2 months already, so far he has wet his bed twice. Most of the time he sleeps through the night. If he needs to go toilet he will wake me up. I'm glad that finally I don't have to spend money on getting diaper now. I remember when I tried yo get Lynn go diaper-less at night last time, I would wake her up in the middle of the night to go toilet. And I did it for quite a while. Thus I never thought of to let him go diaper-less at night can be such easy and hassle free! Well done, Hao!

Hao at 2 years 8 months old

My "good"+"nottie"+"fatty"+"sexy" boy!

And.I.just.can't.stop.loving.him

99.9% of those who has met him personally will say this "Wah, he looks like angmoh."

This boy of mine, unlike me, hb and his sister, all three of us our hair color is very black, but this boy has blonde hair! His hair is fine and smooth also, made me so jealous! He also has rosy pink cheek. Hb said if I comb his hair very neat, he really looks like an angmoh boy!

I think boy is really a boy. Hao likes to jump around, run around and climb around. And he still likes to be carried, always ask me to carry him.

Beginning of this year, he has stopped using milk bottle totally. At home I never give him milk bottle. Since 18 months when I started to give him fresh milk, he's always been using the cup to drink. Only at child care he will use milk bottle. However at child care, all children at age 3 will not be given milk bottle. So now I can throw his milk bottle away. :) I also have stopped bf him 4 months ago. So he is fully on fresh milk now. 

Hao is an easy child especially when come to food. He's not very choosy, as long as the food is easy for him to chew, he will wallop everything. This boy can really eat. As long as there is food still available on the table, he won't stop asking for it. As he is not a very talkative child, he pays full attention on his food. He can finish half bowl of rice, plus the meat and vegetables so it's about one full bowl of food. Sometimes he will still ask for more. Not much change on his preference on food. He still loves butter, cheese, bread, rice, yogurt, ice cream and biscuit. But I notice he does not like jelly. He's gaining weight, getting bigger in size, rounder face, and almost going to have double chin. Sometimes I like to tease him "fatty boy". Hahahaha! He looks so sexy if I let him wear shorts that very short and fit. And I like to pat his buttock. LOL! So sometimes I call him "sexy" boy. :) The last time I weight him few months back, he's about 15kg. Can't remember what his height is though. It should be between 90-100cm, but I can't remember the exact number.

Hao has very different character as compared to Lynn, but they have common thing too - stubborn. And Hao is the more stubborn one. Being hard on him usually does not work very well with him. I have to be soft to him, and persuade him until he's willing to corporate with me. Sometimes I walk away and return to persuade him 5-10 minutes later, and sometimes I need to repeat this several times before he gives in. Sometimes I use Lynn to trick him as he likes to imitate the sister. Playing ignore is not that effective to him as compared to Lynn.

Hao still pretty much a cry baby at this stage, which annoy hb very much. This maybe also related to he cannot express himself very well yet. His speech development maybe slower than his peer. Sometimes we could not grab what he's talking about too. And he's also not a talkative child. Many times I have to encourage him to speak up and answer me. On the opposite, Lynn is talking too much. Hao can speak English, Mandarin and little Cantonese.

Besides can eat by himself, Hao can wear and take off the shoe by himself, wear the clothes by himself with some assist, can take off and wear the pants by himself, know when need to go toilet, willing to sleep by himself without me (together with Lynn on the same room). When I shower him, he started to show sign want to shower by himself. He would like to apply the shampoo to his hair himself, and will ask for body shampoo for his body too. However he will give up quite easily. Like he wants to button by himself, but after a short while (like one minute or maybe less) if he still can't, he will give up and tell me "I can't" and want me to button for him. Maybe he's the last born; he is less initiative and give up easily. He's a child who needs lots of encouragement. Or maybe he is too well taken care by Lynn, until we have to ask Lynn to stop doing things for him, let him learn to do by himself. Because sometimes Hao will get annoyed with Lynn on helping him also. Not sure what's in his mind, but recently lots of time he rejects Lynn helping him, he wants me instead.

This boy, despite Lynn always share food with him, always share the toys with him, lots of time he refuse to share his food, and share the toy with her. He even not willing to share his food with me! I'm still working hard on this part.

Hao is a very friendly child, especially to adult. Sometimes I think he's too friendly. When we go to the regular shop to buy groceries, even though it is his first time meeting the Bangladesh or Pakistan workers there, he won't be shy to greet them, or even go hug them! *FAINT* Sometimes I feel so worry that he may follow any stranger to go home. However, he scares of crowd. When we go shopping mall, seeing lots of people walking around, Hao always ask me to carry him as if he panic seeing so many people.

Hao is going to be 3 years old in 4 months time. I won't say he's giving me a "terrific 2" or "terrible 2". He's not a 100% good boy all the time. But I won't say he's very naughty also. There are times that I do get mad at him, but there also lots of times that he made me smile. He gives me a totally new challenge. Not sure why, I get less irritated with Hao. Of course I will be firm with him when I need to. I treat both children equally. I love both of them. 

p/s: Boy I really wish you can learn sharing and be more loving to your sister!

(Ops, did not realize such a long post. Did not feel like I have so much to talk or write about. >.< )

Hao @ 2 years old

At 2 years old, Hao is still not talking that much. However he can understand us very well, and able to communicate with us very well even just using single word: -

drink - he wants to drink
(wa)ter - want to drink water
juice - want to drink juice
(yo)gurt - asking for yogurt in the fridge
(vita)gen - asking for vitagen in the fridge
eat - tells us that he wants to eat
blood - one day, not sure how he got his finger cut and it was bleeding. he showed me his finger and said "blood"
pain - tell and show me which part is pain
ball
(bis)curt - one of his favorite food. :)
throw
want
don't want
drop - not sure why he likes to take off his shoe in the car. When we ask him why, he said "drop" and pointing at his shoe.
(thunder)storm - when it rains heavily, he will point to outside the house and said "storm"
scare - he is scare of lightning
bread
(car)ry - ask for carry
shoe
up
down
(mor)ning
night night - our sleep time ritual - good night kiss
gai gai - going out
more - asking for more food.
bag
car
bu(s)
(bols)ter - asking for his bolster before going to bed
book - want to read book
milk - refer to fresh milk that we give him
nen-nen - want me to nurse him
bye bye
pant - want me to wear the pant for him after potty time
(mu)sic - want us to turn on the radio while we are traveling inside the car
wet
(un)cle
(aun)ty
(ice) cream
"fan" - 饭 rice in Cantonese - he will call us to eat rice during meal time
"dan dan" - 蛋 egg ins Cantonese. All food to him is "dan dan". Hahaha.
"bao" - 抱 carry in Mandarin. But he seldom say this.
"chuan" - 穿 wear in Mandarin. He was asking me to wear his pant for him. I only heard him saying this once.

Those in bracket means he's not pronouncing it but he means that word. It's like a guessing game. But so far me and hb can guess what he's trying to say. Even Lynn also can understand him very well. Most of the words he speaks are in English. He also can call all family members, in Cantonese. Despite he's not speaking much Mandarin or Cantonese, he can understand us very well as we speak to him in both Mandarin and English. My parents speak to him in Cantonese. Child care is using English as the medium. When I read books to Lynn, he will follow me pronounce those words that I read out loud for them.

As for his diet, I would say he has big appetite. See him eating is a happy thing; you will feel that he really enjoys eating the food served to him. ^_^ He can eat more than Lynn, almost same serving as a young adult. So taking him to buffet is definitely worth it. LOL! He loves milk, cheese, rice, and noodle; basically he's taking almost all food that is being served. He eats vegetable and meat too, as long as it is soft and not difficult to chew. He does not like food that is too sweet. Despite eating a lot, he will stop eating if he's full. Dining out is very easy for me now as he will eat by himself. I just need to serve the food to his bowl.

I'm still nursing him, not so much as a meal but more for the minerals and the antibody from me. From 1 serving of fresh milk in the afternoon, I have increased to 3 servings a day for him - morning, afternoon and night. Basically whatever Lynn is eating, he wants a share too. At first I was worry if he will reject bm after taking fresh milk. So I serve the fresh milk in normal cup for him (I never give him milk bottle at home). But he's still asking bm from me in the morning and before going to sleep. Looking for comfort? Maybe; but the bm still tastes good. :)

Hao is an easy baby and I believe the extended breastfeeding does play a part of it (I breastfed Lynn up to 10 months only). I love looking at him when I am nursing him. Sometimes he will look me back with his eyes full of love. Then both of us will smile at each other. I did not get to do this much with Lynn because Lynn has this comfort sucking habit. She just sucks to fall off to her dreamland so most of the time she sucked with eyes closed. I also carry Hao more than Lynn. Last time due to pregnancy and Hao was still a baby; I did not carry Lynn as much. In fact, I almost stop carrying Lynn after Hao was born as I carry Hao most of the time. Hb will carry Lynn instead. I actually miss carrying Lynn when she was a baby. Soon one day he won't ask for carry anymore. Due to this, I seldom reject Hao whenever he asks for carry. Sometimes hb thinks I carry him too much. Hao is very much attached to me. In fact, both kids very much attached to me. Hb says Hao is a mommy boy. Everything - mommy. Hahaha! Well, if mommy boy = easy baby, those effort spent on bf is definitely worth it. :)

At 2 years old, Hao no longer just plays by himself. I can see both Lynn and Hao enjoys playing with each other. From not-so-like the sister, I can see now Hao is getting closer and have better relationship with Lynn. In the past, whenever Lynn rests her hand on the arm rest of the booster seat, sure Hao will complain about it. But he's not complaining now. He also more willing to let Lynn holds his hand. Why the change? Lynn always gets food for Hao. She serves him milk, she will ask me for yogurt and vitagen and always get one for Hao too. Whatever she's eating, she will surely get a share for Hao. As for toys, sometimes they will still fight about it. It depends what toy it is. Both of them love playing on my bed. Jumping around, playing somersault. But usually I don't let them playing somersault on my bed, worrying they will fall down. They can play on Lynn's mattress which is on the floor.

I have a tough time dealing with Lynn when she was at the Terrible 2 stage. As for Hao now, I wish it will be a Terrific 2 not Terrible 2! Hehe greedy me. ^_^

Hao's height at 2 years old - About 86cm

Hao's weight at 2 years old - About 12kg

Lynn @ 4 years old

Lynn's birthday is just a small celebration with the family members from both side. We went to a restaurant serving western food some where nearby our house.


Lynn @ 4 years old
1. Getting easier to talk/communicate with her. But she still likes to make me "nag" a lot. Whenever I ask her to do something, for example brush her teeth, go take bath, keep her books etc. She likes playing a deaf ear with me, always want me to repeat myself many many times. Sometimes until hb also get annoyed and scolded her.

2. Very slow in doing things. For example she can take a good 15-20 minutes to brush her teeth, in which 10 minutes is spent on looking at the mirror and play talking by herself there, and another 5 minutes playing with the water.

3. Ever since I bought a Barney DVD for her, she can glu to it every weekend. No more Little MJ fans ever since Barney DVD come into the house.

4. A cheeky child? Love to bully her brother. Love to make her brother shout loudly. Love to make her brother cries. Love to take away the things from her brother's hand......

5. Although she likes to bully her brother Hao, but she also likes to take care of him. She will share all her food with him. Each time she asks food from me she will sure get some for her brother. But just not the books and the toys. (Until I have to declare those books are mine!) Likewise for Hao - he will also share the food with Lynn but not the toys. :(

6. Still prefer meat than vegetables. But manage to persuade her to take more vegetables especially when she sees other kids are taking vegetable too.

7. Still likes to talk a lot. On the way home after picking up the kids, she will be talking non-stop in the car. Tell me this la that la, or play loudly in the car with Hao. Or if not singing, making noise in the car. She's a noisy kid.

8. Very clumsy and don't take good care of her belonging. She spoil the rail of one of the drawer (until today I still can't figure how she did it), not to mention the toys and those craft she done in the school. Once come home.... within few days gone case.

9. Although she's diaperless at night, accidents do happen.

10. Still sucking thumb! Grrr.... but I found a way how to make her suck less. Still trying to get rid of that completely. I told her, if I see her sucking thumb, then next day no yogurt or vitagen (she loves them and every morning she will ask for it). I said it and I practice it. So after one time, she really make her effort not to suck her thumb.

11. Ever since I introduce sand art to her, she loves it very much.

12. Like to pretend play she's a teacher.... like to "lecture" others, telling others cannot do this cannot do that. She even told us she wants to be a teacher! Is it because she was born on Teacher's Day? *shrug*

13. Instead of being shy, now she will pose for me when I take her picture, give me her sweet sweet smile. ^_^

14. Love books. Love to read books. Love me or hb reads books for her.

15. Every Saturday and Sunday, she will surely ask me this question "Mama, today gai-gai?" And then when I bring her out, she will keep on telling me "Mama I like this" "Mama I want this", asking me to buy things for her. I hate to say "No" to her, but I can't be just buy anything that she asks for. The last one I told her "If you be a good girl, don't make mama tells you to do this do that, sayang didi, I will take you come back here to get it for you." And that keep her mouth shut. But of course if she well behave, I will surely and happily bring her back to the shop to buy what she wants for her.

16. Will open the fridge and take the food to eat without asking. Some more will take for her brother too. Bad example!!! :(

17. Last but not least, Lynn weight at 4 years old is 16kg, and 107 cm tall.

Feeds himself

All these while whenever we are eating together I have to delay taking my food as I have to feed Hao first (kids always cannot wait for their food!). Not anymore. At 20 months old, Hao can feed himself now. I did not train him on purpose. But about some time back I noticed he wants to hold the spoon and feed himself. So I scooped the food and place it on his bowl, he would take the spoon and feed himself. He tried to scoop the food himself too but with no much success. Oh yes, unlike Lynn, Hao is a clean eater. He won’t mess up the place very much. 

Recently I noticed he is getting better in scooping the food using the spoon. Last Sunday, I let him eats the rice by himself. He scooped the rice slowly, and then brought the food to his mouth carefully. He repeated this again and again until he finished all the rice in his bowl. What surprised me most is he did it without wasting much food! There is little rice on the table and the floor. He dropped some on his pant but he picked up that rice and eats too. So it was an easy cleaning! Totally opposite of Lynn! But what actually made me happy most is Hao can eat by himself! Lynn can eat by herself before her reaching 2 years old. As Hao is a less independent child compared to Lynn, I was actually expecting he can do this much later. So I am very happy with his achievement. Now I can enjoy my food together with everyone (of course still keeping an eye on Hao) during meal time! ^_^

Concentrate on scooping the rice with the spoon. Had to remind him to turn over his spoon. :)

Bringing the food to his mouth. Trying his best not to drop the food.

Mission complete! Yum yum!

Stay dry at night (Part 2)

Have you ever heard of cannot talk how good your child is? Else he/she will "hear" it and become the opposite? I'm not the type that pantang this pantang that, but it happens quite a number of times already so I tend to be more careful now. I'm sure you guys are very smart and know what I'm going to write... so I don't have to spell it out very clearly. Also not sure if this is still early to tell, but keep my fingers crossed. :D

In July, I talked about Lynn started go diaper-less at night. Since about 2-3 weeks back, I stop waking up Lynn in the middle of the night to ask her to go toilet. Why? This is because when I woke her up, she refused to go toilet! She will tell me she went to toilet already and she just wants to continue sleeping. Previously, I will insist she has to go, because if not very high chance she will wet her bed. And if she wet her bed, in the morning I will tease her.


Me: Eee... Lynn chou chou (smelly).

Lynn: Then mama wash the bed sheet... no more chou chou
Wah so smart, know to tell me to wash bed sheet some more.

Me: Er... don't want to wash the bed sheet. Let you chou chou. Mama asks you to go toilet, you don't want. So now chou chou.

Lynn: Mama wash the bed sheet la.
Begging me some more, hahaha!

Me: No. Lynn should go toilet and not wet the bed, make the bed chou chou.
Insist to her that I'm not going to wash the bed sheet just because she wet the bed.


Not sure if this works? Or she really has grown up? Or could be both? Since 2-3 weeks back, when she refused to go toilet, I let her be. And guess what? No chou chou in the morning! For the next few days, I continued to wake her up but she always gives me same answer "I go toilet already" and refused to go. And the next morning, same thing! And first thing after she wake up, she will visit the toilet. :) So since then, I stop waking her up in the middle of the night. She can have better sleep through the night too.

Am I happy? Of course! Except her bad habit of picky eating and thumb sucking, she's easy. Never thought I can complete the night toilet training in about half year time. Any tips? Not much. I do give her rewards when she keeps the bed dry for a period of time and that make her happy. But one thing for sure is I consistently wake her up every night to go toilet. And consistently tell her that, must pee in the toilet and not on the bed, and don't pee when sleeping. I hope next time when it's Hao's turn... it is also as smooth as Lynn. *Keep my fingers crossed*

Stay dry at night

Since young, Lynn demonstrates a desire for independence and shows an interest in imitating adult's habits. She started eating by herself at one and half years old. She learn to button and un-button her shirts. She learn to wear shoe herself. She can pull her clothes up and down herself before 2 years old. By two years old, she was fully potty trained during day time. She knows when she needs to go to the toilet. The only time where she still needs to wear diaper, is when she goes to bed at night. Besides the potty train is initiates from us, the rest is she wants to learn them by herself.

Recently, Lynn refuse to wear diaper at night. When we changed diaper for her, she will said she does not want. So I was thinking, is she ready to go diaper less at night? It started one night, hubby let her not wearing diaper to sleep. Surprisingly, she stay dry throughout the night. I was so amazed. The following night, we let her not wearing diaper to sleep too. And she wet the bed that night. So means the night before was just lucky?

She continue to refuse wearing diaper at night. Not too sure what's the reason, whether is wearing diaper making her not comfortable. Anyway, we let her be. And I told her that if she does not want to wear diaper, she has to go to the toilet when mommy wake her up in the middle of the night and she agreed. So starting from that day, I wake her up in the middle of the night to go toilet.

First night when I woke her up to go toilet, guess what? She cried. And after she came out from the toilet, she told me she wanted to wear diaper and insisted on wearing the diaper. Kids! Hahahaha. But the following night, when I get ready her to go to bed, she refused to wear diaper to sleep! Hehehe. So she continues not wearing diaper to sleep, and I continue waking her up every night to go toilet. Each time after she went to the toilet (despite she was making fuss about it), I will praise her. Each morning, if she did not wet the bed, I will praise her too. But even if she wet the bed, I won't scold her but will gently remind her she suppose to go toilet. So now, I don't have much problem getting her to go toilet at night. She will also listen to me, to go toilet right before she goes to bed.

It's almost 2 weeks she does not wear diaper to sleep at night. Sometimes she wet the bed before I woke her up. Sometimes she stays dry until morning without the mid night toilet call. So it depends what time she sleeps and how much water she has taken before going to bed. It also happened once that she woke up herself in the middle of the night to go toilet. I'm not sure if this is consider as successful toilet training? But I'm definitely very happy with her progress. Dare not to say too loud, but I feel easy actually as the initiation is from her.

Lynn - never stop surprise us with her urge to learn new things and trying to be independent. And since the initiation is from her, make the training and learning process become much easier and more effective. And she feels motivated too.

This is what I learn: -
1. Do not force the child to learn. Look for the signs of readiness. We can test if they are ready for it.
2. No one is perfect at first try. If the child cannot do it, don't scold or blame them. Instead, encourage them to continue trying. Learning is a process, is not an overnight thing.
3. If the child shows signs of readiness, we should move on with the child and not holding back just because the child may create mess. No one is born without the need to learn.
4. Praise the child even though it's just a small achievement. Let the child feel motivated and proud of herself.

Now, I'm waiting for the day when I do not need to wake her up in the middle of the night to go toilet. :)

Hao’s birthday celebration

We did a big celebration when Lynn was 1 year old, but this time round for Hao, we decided to hold just a simple celebration within the family members. I booked a private room in a Chinese restaurant, with karaoke facility. Simple, and yet fun and happy. The food was good. Since we had the whole room, the kids get to run around playing with the balloons. Hao was very happy. Laughing all the time. He even try to sing along with us! Lol He was so cute with those cooing sounds. :D Aww… I’m going to miss him as a baby. Lynn was very good girl too. Eating by herself. No throwing tantrum. Everyone, including the kids were having a good time.

The birthday boy was showing cheeky look. :)

Hao loves the balloon so much! Keep on playing and chasing the balloon on the floor. :)

Yummy durian cake sponsored by my SIL. Everyone loves it!

Lynn want to sing too! She snatched away the mic from me. :P

Hao at 1 year old

• Weight: 8.8kg
• Height: 77cm
  
• Have 6 teeth – 4 upper teeth and 2 bottom teeth.
• Can stand and walk with support.
• Crawl and cruising around very well.
• Crawl up and down the staircase.
• Could say mum-mum, nen-nen, Mama, Papa, I also heard something like jie jie before, and last night hubby heard him saying ball while he was playing a ball.
• Has been eating a lot. 1 bowl is no longer enough for him.
• Cant wait for food. Will not give me a peace when we are eating even though I had fed him with his porridge or milk earlier.
• Prefer more plain food. Not in favour of something very sweet.
• Likes people sing to him. Whenever he’s making noise, if you start singing he will stop and look at you attentively. Sometimes he will even clap his hand for you. :D

Hao @ 8 months

Time flies. Hao is already 8 months old. Again, his weight has not been increasing much for the past 2 months. He is now weighted at 8kg . This is his progress so far: -

• Know how to wave bye bye. However only as when he likes it.
• Can sit still quite steady for quite some time. So now when we dine out, I can put him on the high chair.
• Can crawl quite well and for quite a long distance.
• Know how to kneel.
• Know how to change from a sitting position to crawling position.
• When he catch something, he will play with it using both hands instead of putting it directly into his mouth.
• Like to grab things. Whenever he saw something catch his eyes, he will think of ways to reach it.
• His latest favourite toy is no other than my mobile phone.
• Will make sounds of ba ba ba ba..., wa wa wa..., aaa... Will hear him saying mama... mama... ONLY when he cries looking for me for milk. Latest favourite word is da da da..., de de de...
• Having Nestle Honey wheat cereal with breast milk and brown rice powder in the late morning. And taking porridge in the evening. Prefer salty taste than sweet.
• Getting more distracted easily when being nursed and thus making the breastfeeding time becoming slightly longer.
• Would like to play for quite some time before going to bed at night pushing his bed time from 10pm to around 11pm. 
• No sign of teething yet.
• Like to get hold of things and pull himself up. Probably going to stand up very soon.

Hao @ 7 months

Hao in his happy smiling face

Started Hao with baby cereal with he was 6 months old. So far after 2-3 weeks of feeding, Hao started not showing interest in taking the cereal anymore. Instead of open his mouth wide for the food, he started to use his tongue to push out the food, keeping his mouth closed etc. So I have to keep trying to figure out his taste and his preference.

Started feeding him with the porridge during the CNY. So far so good. He was able to finish up to half bowl of the porridge. I noticed that he preferred the more watery type of the porridge.

No change on his milk intake. Still the same amount every 2 hours. In fact the babysitter said nowadays Hao took longer time to finish the milk.

Other than able to crawl, Hao still not able to sit unaided by himself yet though he prefers to sit rather than lying down. During bathing, he no longer splashing the water with his hands and kicking with his legs. Instead both his hands will grab at both sides of the baby bath tub tightly, as if he will fall down at anytime. He still like jumping and dancing at your laps whenever we hold him in upright position. He can move around with the walker and like to reach out for things to grab. However he would not like to sit long time in the walker. After about 20 minutes, he will start to make noise requested to be picked up. His stranger anxiety level still unpredictable. Sometimes he is OK with new people around and sometimes he will not and show the crying face.

As for his weight, as expected not gaining much. However I think as long as he is healthy, eat well, sleep well and grow well, I think the weight gain should not be an issue.

Weight: 8kg

CNY gift - Crawl

Date: 27 January 2009

On the 2nd day of the CNY, we went back visiting my parents. During dinner time, I put Hao on the floor. If he's not hungry or looking for me, normally he is OK to play by himself. So we can enjoy our dinner. After the dinner, I was sitting down on the floor together with Hao. Suddenly something catch his eyes and I saw that he was attempting to crawl towards the object that caught his attention and grabbed it. Normally instead of moving forward, he will eventually push himself backwards and thus become further from his target. However this time, to my surprise I saw that he was really lifting his leg up,  placed it in front, and pushing his body to move forward instead of backward. I was so happy and glad that I witnessed his very first successful attempt of crawling. (Last time Lynn first crawl in the babysitter house while we were at work. So we did not manage to witness her first successful attempt to crawl.) It was just 2 more days away for Hao to turn 7 months old.

Those of you who has been reading my blog, will know that Hao had a fractured femur when he was 2 months old. No medical treatment was being given to him, as he was still a baby. The doctors believe babies have very strong self healing power. So eventually Hao will be alright. For the past 5 months, Hao had been going back to the hospital for the follow-up appointment, to check the progress of the fractured femur. From the last x-ray taken at early January, showing that fractured bone was fully recovered and Hao does not need to go back to the hospital anymore. With his first successful attempt to crawl, I feel relief to see his growth is normal despite the fractured femur about half year ago. Cheers!

Hao @ 6th months

Brought Hao for his monthly check-up on Thursday. Wow, the clinic was fully pack with crowd. I was at the queue number 70! Double the number that I normally take. The check-up for the babies is on every Thursday. So happen the past 2 Thursday was holiday (Christmas day and New Year day), so that's why it was so crowded.

No jap for 6th month check-up. Just normal routine of weight, height measure and checking on his growth. Well, out of my expectation, Hao did not put on much weight for the past 1 month. When I carry him, I can feel he's heavier now. So I thought he should have put on quite a bit of weight. Surprisingly he has only gained 200g last month. Other than that, he was more active nowadays during day time. Sleep less when he is with us (the babysitter said he's still sleeping quite a lot there), does not like to lie down that much, will ask to be picked up, not each time after poo-poo he will cry (we even found on few occasion, he poo-poo in the middle of the night and sleep through the night. So his buttock become red red the next morning). We try not to put on the booties/socks for him, but his foot is feeling cold. So we has no choice. He's trying to crawl, but not successfully moving forward, instead moving backwards most of the time. He will move around by rolling, flipping, turning left right to go to another place. When we put him standing on our lap, he will be jumping up and down happily with smiling face. Whenever he saw something put in front of him, he will grab it and put into his mouth. He is still having his milk 2 hourly, 4 1/2 oz per feed. His last feeding time is around 10pm and his first feed (for the past 1 month) is about 7am. Occasionally he will wake up in the middle of the night to ask for milk. He has developed a habit of want to have milk before he sleep when I'm around. In babysitter's house, he will ask for the sarong instead. Overall, he's getting more and more active, and making lots of noise nowadays. :)

• Weight: 7.7kg
• Height: 69cm

Hao @ 5.5 months

Time flies. Zhe Hao is 5.5 months now. I still can remember very clearly the moment he come out from my stomach in the hospital, the confinement months, how he asked for milk every half to 1 hour, it just seems like not too long ago. However now soon 2 more weeks he will turn 6 months old. Well, though I have been very much looking forward for him to turn 6 months old to start the semi solids (that means I can get to feel a bit relief as once he started the solids he will need less milk, so I don't need to feel so stress not being able to express enough for him during the workdays), but I do wish to have more breastfeed moments with him. He is a very special baby to me. He is different from his sister Lynn, very much different. Sometimes I do feel sorry that I don't spend enough time with him due to the hectic work schedule. I probably give more attention to Lynn when she was still a baby. However back then we don't have another toddler to take care of.

Hao does not gained much weight in the past 1 month. The babysitter always complain me giving too little milk for him. However I don't think so as Hao is on 2 hourly feeding schedule. She cant always compare him to a baby taking formula milk.

First time Hao has some fever after taking his last dose of the 6-in-1 jap. Combined with the flu that he got from his sister earlier on, Hao is rather fussy according to the babysitter. She complained about Lynn spread over the flu to him. To me, falling sick is rather normal and common if one person in the family get sick, the others will fall sick too. Hao took 2 days to recover from the fever. But still have some flu and I heard he started coughing too (sure I will get blamed again from the babysitter next Mon on this).

Weight: 7.5kg

Stranger anxiety - Part 2

It was a busy weekend last week. We have few outings during the weekend. First it was Lynn's first performance (will write a separate post on this) on Friday afternoon. Then Saturday we were attending my friend's wedding dinner reception. On Monday we went out for shopping with my Mother-in-law. For all these outings, we brought Hao and Lynn along, hoping Hao will improve on his stranger anxiety emotion after meeting more people.

My mother followed us to Lynn's school performance. Just few days before that, Hao refused to be carried by my mom. He was crying all the time. So on Friday, my mom become smarter. She talked to him, played with him while in the car to the Wisma Tun Sambanthan where the performance was held. We can hear Hao laughing all the time happily playing with my mom. So she has no problem carrying him on Friday. :)

On Saturday, we brought both Lynn and Hao to the wedding dinner reception. Hao took a short nap after having his milk, woke up 1 hour later by the noisy environment. My friends tried to carry him. Well, they are smart too. They talked to him before carrying him. Again, Hao did not cry while being carried by my friends. He smiled a lot that night too. :)

Similarly on Monday, Hao smiled and laughed a lot playing with my mother-in-law. We are very happy to see some improvement in Hao. At least, he wont be just only clingy to us. :)

As for Lynn, in fact after she has grown up, she become more shy in front of stranger, or people that she seldom meet.

Stranger anxiety

Zhe Hao is now 5 months old. And seems like he is started to show signs of stranger anxiety. Unlikes his sister, Zhe Hao is less outgoing. And also due to always need to work late, during weekend we tend to stay at home most of the time. Very seldom we will go out, the most is to buy food only. We do take Zhe Hao along if we are dining out. Other than that, Zhe Hao has been staying home most of the time.

Few weeks back we brought the kids along to meet up with my MIL, my bro-in-law and my sis-in-law. Zhe Hao cries when any of them trying to carry him. Last night I brought Hao back to my parents house. Just 2 weeks he did not see them, yet he cries when my parents trying to carry him, while me and hubby were having our dinner. *Sigh*

I wouldn't want Hao to become more clingy to us. We would prefer him to be more sociable. Whenever there is a chance, we will try to bring him along so that he will get used to see new faces. Coming weekend we will be attending my friend's wedding dinner. Hopefully everything will be going on well.

Lynn @ 2.5 years old

Since Lynn turns 2 years old, I can feel that she has grown a lot. Here are the milestone she has made so far: -

• Able to wear shoe by herself
• Able to eat by herself using spoon
• No diaper during daytime. When we go out, she will tell me if she needs to go toilet
• Able to wear clothes by herself
• Able to take off and wear pant/skirt by herself
• Know how to make her own milk
• Go to bed by herself

Besides that, she also likes to sing and dance. Sometimes she will surprise us with her singing and dancing. She is an active child. She likes to jump and run. She will play with her little brother and acting like a big sister. :p Well, of course sometimes when she will feel jealous over her little brother. To get our attention, she will cry loudly (which made us become so mad!). She still have to learn to share things with her little brother. She is still very much want to sit on the stroller when we go out and said it is hers. We have to persuade her to let Hao use the stroller. Good thing she listens to us.

In overall, she is a good girl (as long as she is not crying). I know she is still very much want our attention a lot. I will give as much as I can.

Lynn, papa and mama love u!


Weight: 12.5kg
Height: 98cm

Another milestone achieved

This is a backdated post.

Date: 24 November 2008

As usual, I went to pick up Zhe Hao after work. However this week will be exceptional early as we have to pick up Lynn from the child care center too. Usually it's my father to go pick up Lynn on his way back home from work. But this week my parents have gone for holiday, so we have to pick up Lynn ourselves.

Usually there is no parking space available at the babysitter's house, so we do not normally stop by for long. Just pick up the boy and then we will leave. But since I was early, I had to wait for the babysitter to change Hao into his pyjamas. The babysitter told me that Hao now can hold the milk bottle by himself. What? Did I hear it wrongly? Zhe Hao can hold milk bottle by himself approaching 5 months old?! Wuahahaha... though I have guessed that for quite a while (Hao used to put his hand on my chest while I feed him in lying down position, just like the position of holding milk bottle) but I never expect he really did it. Well done, Hao!

Roll over

Finally Hao able to roll over his whole body on the day he turns 4 months old! I told myself that I'm going to mark down this memorable date. I did not mark down a lots of Lynn's milestone in the past. Then I regret that I did not note down all those memorable date. All just in my mind but I have limited memory too and it will fade away when the time pass. I can vaguely remember Lynn able to roll over when she was 4 months old too. Now with this blog, I can note down the kid's milestone and achievements easily. :)

Before Hao's leg was injured, he likes to sleep lying on his tummy. Ever since his fractured leg, I did not put him lying on his tummy as the position is not so good for the leg. Recently when I tried to put him to lie on tummy, he will complain about it. Hehe however now after he can roll over, he always roll himself to sleep either side way, or fully roll over his body to sleep on his tummy.