Updates on Peanut & Ciku

Lack of sleep, caring for a baby and toddler and unreliable broadband connection makes it really hard for me to update my blog. Most times im so tired that i cant even string a sentence together much to the annoyance of my husband.

Anyhow, i dont want my children's milestones to slip by without me jotting them down, so here they go:

Ciku and potty training has been going very very well. She goes without a diaper during the day, alerts us whenever she needs to go to the loo. There have been accidents, bt very minor ones. Im glad that we werent in a rush to start it, cos it makes such a difference to train a toddler when they're ready.

Peanut's been driving me less crazy, bt he can still go hours without sleeping during the day. The wonderful thing is that he loves to chat, smile and coo. Sometimes he'd be mid-way in a feed and he'll look at me and he'll catch my eye and start a conversation. His utter adorableness rejuvenates my weary body!

Ciku loves Peanut still, kissing his hand, head, face; giving him a squeeze here and there whenever she feels like it. Besides dropping a figurine on his face many weeks ago, the worst thing that she's done, in my opinion was to use her thumb to press down on his fontanelle (soft spot on skull)!!! I was screaming cos that to me is the scariest place on a baby. You can see it throbbing with each heartbeat and i keep imagining that Indiana Jones movie, Temple of Doom, i think, where he was served up monkey heads (the top portion being cut open and brain exposed). Major yucks!

It's 5pm and i need to squeeze in a nap before peanut gets up from his. Hope to blog again soon!

Peanut - 7+wks

4.3kg (as of a wk ago)
Loves to use his mother as a pacifier and can scream for hours when not appeased. This morning he cried from 2.30-5.30am! Im so tired! I hope to find a pacifier that he'll take to. Please wish me luck!

Peanut's 4 weeks old

Peanut's reached his fourth week of life and is starting to fill out nicely. He's no longer the little tiny bag of bones, he, in fact, has a double chin! Seeing him grow on breast milk really does make all the sleepless nights worthwhile. I think of BM as being the building blocks of his whole being.

He's no longer the baby that sleeps hours on end, no siree bob! He wakes up every 2 hours and sometimes 1 1/2 hours demanding a feed. However, he's developed a peculiarity whereby he demands a milkless breast to suckle on before gng to sleep. When none can be had, he'll cry like he's being tortured. Last night he was at it from 9pm - 1am. I was so exhausted...the neighbours must wonder what i do to the poor child. With ciku they hardly knew that there was a young baby in the house. This boy makes it known that he's in the house and that he's KING!

Im tired.

Been watching tons of TV including all those birthing stories. Saw a woman get an epidural and all the tools they use for a C-section. I am sooooo thankful that i've never had to resort to those things so far cos i was absolutely petrified by what i saw!!!! Scary, scary stuff.

Im also bored out of my mind. I have another month left before i go back to work and i wish i could go shopping n check stuff out, bt it's a hassle to do so with a young baby & i do not want to subject him to the germs that are out there. He has only had one shot, so those are things i worry about. *sigh*

Peanut's in the house!

My kids like to surprise their parents and the world. Peanut arrived just as i was sighing with relief that i hit week 37 without a hitch, which meant that i had a full term baby. The day was marked with bouts of false labour (i think) which felt like period cramps. I remember telling m that my bits felt funny (couldnt share that on FB or anyone that day), and at night i had the same sort of sensations.

Hubs, ciku and i got home at 9.30pm where i was still having weird crampy feelings. At 11.30pm thats when the cramps got more intense and i was timing them. They were 5mins in between, bt my water hadnt broken and i had no show. Hubs called the hospital to ask whether i should come in or not and they said that it was up to us. That to me meant that nothing serious was going on, so we waited it out. I went to the bathroom to do a #2 like a million times or smthng, not realizing that my system was cleaning itself out for the biggest event of the year! By 12am+ i was having super crazy painful cramps which scared the bejeebers out of ciku. The poor dear was wondering wut kinda sakit perut her mummy was having. I told hubs that we had to go to hospital. Called my parents to come and get ciku. We left the house at 1.30am. I was a crazy woman in the car...i was breathing heavily, groaning, and at the final roundabout close to hosp my water broke. Hubs drove me to emergency where they wheeled me off to the labour ward.

I couldnt really communicate at that point, i guess i was in the final stages of labour then. The midwife or whoever it was tried to get me to change into the hospital gown, but i was like, nah-ah! I lay on the bed, they put the oxygen/gas mask on me and tried to delay my pushing the baby out. It seems that the baby was distressed. The gas really helped to calm me down and and 16mins later i gave birth to Peanut. It was so much easier than with ciku, though. My body worked with me this time, instead of against me...my body was bearing down and it was basically on auto pilot. with ciku all my body did was to be full dilated. Alhamdulillah that i've so far been granted fairly fast deliveries.

Things happened so fast that hubby left my handbag in the house, so there were no first pics of my little baby :( Not only that, my appointment card and moolah were also not on us, so he had to go home around 2am+ and he came back around 4.

I had to wait a really long time for Peanut to be sent to me. I think he only came at around 10am that morning or so. I couldnt sleep until i saw him again, as much as i should have rested. The head nurse in the nursery recognized us and made a comment to how quick i had the second one. The age gap's 2yrs 3 months, so it's not too small a gap, me thinks.

Everything was fast this time around, baby and i were discharged after 1 day, so there went enjoying the great hospital food.

Once we were home everything was a mess cos we hadn't planned for an early delivery & the mid wife came on Monday night. Having the mid wife around was strange. Im not used to strangers staying in with me, but we adjusted for 2 weeks. Mak Jang fed me and took care of the baby. I found it hard to let go cos i was so used to taking care of my own baby the first time around, bt after a while it was nice not to have to do certain things (like cleaning poop).

Preps

I've packed my overnight bag! All my stuff is in a very uncool shoulder bag...hope i have everything cos i seem to have forgotten the things i used the first time around. Im also looking forward to the confinement lady. Spoke to her yesterday and she sounded really nice...i guess hearing her kedah accent was comforting too for some reason.

3-4 weeks to go and there's still stuff that needs to be purchased. Hubs has to work this weekend which throws a damper on all the plans we've had, including buying a new bed for the downstairs room for confinement lady/maid. We havent even had the handy man over to install water heater upstairs and to fix stuff up! How?? MIL reminded me how it was so last minute the first time around (ciku came almost 2 weeks early and everyone had to chip in to get the house in order before the Queen and her baby came home). While we're at it, i guess we should have pest control over too...sigh.

Gawd...is it the nasi lemak that's making my eyes go blurry n want to shut?? If yes, im going to stick to having cereal every single morning!!

Quickies

Im on week 36 with the bubba, and i think i've been going on n on about how i havent put on so much weight this time around etc, but something's changed!!! Since last month, i've been putting on 3kg a month!!!! Im massive and i feel Ugh Lee. Caught hubs looking at me the other day...not sure wut he was seeing...

So, baby's 2.25kg right now and looking like he's doing fine. I pray that i'll have a regular delivery and that my baby is healthy. Amin.

Another thing to worry bout now is how to help my toddler adjust to changes. Already she's reclaimed her cot, blankets, baby toys and the playpen. Im reading the Gina Ford book (contented toddler and baby) and it sounds pretty complicated (one must set routines to be followed etc). Some people dont even prepare, so i dont know how far im gng to go with following Gina Ford's tips. Im so bad with routine...maybe it's cos im a bumbum. Another thing, it sounds like it's really hard to manage 2 kids!!!

Spartan Raya

There will be no kampung raya for us this year due to several factors. My mood's fluctuated from moping to wanting to make raya work for ciku. This would be her first raya where she really is a little person who can understand stuff, so i want it to be meaningful for her.

For those who know me, they'd know just how important balik kpg is. It's never about me, bt about making the lonely old folks up north happy. They wait all year for ppl to go back, and with them being aged, we just dont know how long they'll be around for.

Raya morning for me every year had been about rushing to go off for Raya prayers. We'd head out to Masjid Al Bukhary (after my tok passed away, we stopped going to masjid Dakwah). The cemetery where my grandparents are buried is within the mosque grounds, so we'd head over there to recite some doas after. The mosque and the cemetery have been designed really well, and it's clean with places to wash your feet when you're done.

After thats done, we'd head to my father's side where breakfast would be served. Traditionally, there was ketupat with kuah kacang and perut, and ketupat palas to be eaten with rendang. I'd normally change from baju kurung into something fancier and we'd have the beraya ceremony with everyone in the living room and a photo session.

As soon as thats done, my mother and i would race off to her side of the family which is a street away. Things are less structured there, but my tok chik n chu need a lot of help with preparations so that's what we'd do. They live in a beautiful traditional 1/2 brick, 1/2 wood house which has been a symbol of home to me for as long as i can remember. Lots of relos normally make their way to this house, which is why i love being there.

I wonder what will happen to this home once my grandaunties pass...i dread the day the house will become empty, cos it's never ever been empty! My great grandparents built the house and lived in it with their 8 children and helpers. The house used to be a bustling paradise with every child having a role to play. My tok was a princess, so she didnt cook all that much bt her speciality was fruit acar. Chu handled finances, chik cooked the main meals and tok ndak made the kuihs for tea and did the shopping. She used to always take a beca.

Those were the good old days. Now the house only has 3 occupants - Abang, Cik n Chu. I hope i'll get to see them after i deliver...

So for now im gng to have to figure out how to make this KL raya work. Wish me luck!

Ciku, 25months, 3wks

So the little girl with fabulous eating habits is now turning into a willful 2 year old who will spit out her carrots, chicken and whatever else she doesnt feel like chewing! She's also turned away from her morning breakfast of wholesome oats! I dont know what she had this morning, but i know that yesterday morning her breakfast was a bread and cheese toastie.

Some recent gems:

• Ciku was shown a pix of her and another 2 yr old, with the difference being that the other kid is 1 head shorter than she is.
  

ciku: "baby!!"

Daddy: "No, that's not a baby, that little boy is your age."

ciku: "how old?"

• Ciku saw dad wearing a hat in house before leaving in the morning. By the time they got into car, daddy had taken it off.

ciku: "Daddy, why not wearing hat?"

Quack, Quack

Butt feels huge, and waddling from 1 place to another exhausts me! I was out of breath just walking up the stairs!! Am i unfit, overweight, wuts going on??

These days im also a walking zombie. The office is on a warpath with anyone that comes to work late, so i've been dutifully dragging myself out of bed, having a 3min shower, getting dressed in 2mins, feeding the cats, and saying bye to my dear ciku (this alone can be a 10min affair). By the time i reach work, im blearry eyed and starving cos i dont have time to fix myself breakie.

Ciku's also pushing all our buttons. Im pretty sure she senses that her life's going to be upside down pretty soon, so there are lots of tears for lots of petty reasons. It's just not in me to raise my voice or be abusive, so i try to talk her through her issues or distract her.

Last night Oma introduced her to painting and she was so happy about it that she was willing to stay over at Oma's for the night.
Daddy: Bye ciku, mummy and daddy are going home now.
Ciku: Bye mummy, daddy. Miya paint!

She was SO upset about having to stop the activity that she cried and even hit daddy (thats a rarity, me thinks).

Hopefully we'll get to paint this weekend. She's also showing promise as a sportswoman, playing tennis with her masak-masak set pans and an imaginary ball.

As for baby B, he's been very active, and sometimes i think i feel his heartbeat when i put my palm to my tummy. Hubby n i seem to have found a name for him, but we'll see...Nowadays we talk to ciku a lot about her adik, and she seems to be able to understand. I hope adik wont bully his kakak.

My weekend summarized

Baby B - The ultrasound shows him to be a healthy baby, growing at the rate that he should be, though it's starting to look a little cramped where he lives. I've put on 2.2kg!! woohoooo!!! The extra durian consumption etc havent made much of a dent on my weight! We viewed him from a couple of angles, and this time around, his nose looks a little round, like ciku's...hahahaha...i really wonder what he'll look like.

On Sunday i got to have a glorious and well deserved nap! We had a long day, which for me started at 7.48 to pop laundry into the machine and to go grocery shopping with mumsy. Got back and we were heading out to visit family friends who came in from Singapore. By the end of that rendezvous i was soo tired, and totally grateful to mumsy for letting me sleep for 2 hours!

As for Gramps, he knows im not a friend anymore. I spray him with water to keep him at bay, so he knows his place.

Bought a book im looking forward to reading - The golden notebook by Doris Lessing. Looking forward to reading it after The End of the Affair by Graham Greene. Having trouble reading that book before bed cos ciku's so distracting!! It's one of those books that has meaning in like every single line and i really want to pay attention! Will i be reduced to fluff as my bedtime book?

Money - it's slipping through my fingers like sand. We're supposed to save up for the hospital bill, a maid and a confinement lady! I hope it'll work itself out. Amin.

Gramps

Gramps bit my foot yesterday for the first time ever after i had put food into his bowl. That cat's one arrogant fool, and i just dont get it. We feed him with caution cos he has this thing, where once food's put into his yellow bowl, he'll take a swipe at you. I've fed him enough to know his next moves and have managed to avoid them, but yesterday was different. I wasnt paying any attention when i felt pain on my foot. Looking down, i saw Gramps taking a bite out of my foot!! In return i hit him on the head with a cat plate. I didnt feed him this morning...(i guess hubs would)...how do you teach a stray to be grateful?

Tomorrow's my checkup. Hope everything's ok cos im still small as everyone says. Ciku did a great job of massaging vitamin e on my tummy last night. She even spoke to the bump! Oh, and an update on her, on Weds, that girl counted to 13!

Week 26 - Baby B & Ciku updates

It seems that im losing my knees to water retention 8 weeks earlier than i did with ciku!! My feet are getting bigger and they arent fitting into the crocs anymore. Last night wore Hub's slippers to my parents' and ciku cried unhappily that, "Mummy wear daddy's shoes!".

Oh, and i look preggers now, like the hidung kembang bit n all. It sucks, but what to do...

Ciku's been acting up as well, i dont know what's going on, whether it's the terrible 2s or the impending baby, but she's fierce! She's now a screamer, squealer, thrower etc, and im getting so tired that i let her get away with making a mess. I cant wait for Hub's work schedule to get back on track cos i think this is the 2nd or 3rd week that i've been handling Ciku on my own at night, and im just soooo exhausted.

The mess she gets up to:
1) playing with cat food whilst using her masak2 toys.
2) preventing luna and wiley from eating.
3) removing all her barbie stickers from her notebook and sticking them on the floor or dinning table.
4) removing all her flashcards from the box n throwing them around.
5) grabbing books from the bookshelf, and stacking them on the upside down stool.

She's also blew me away the other night, cos after dropping 1 segment of her beloved mangosteen on the floor, as the next one was offered her, she said, "Mummy don't drop. On the floor, yucky yucky!".

We're also really lucky that she isnt a picky eater, cos she eats just about anything. Last weekend i accidentally made her risotto with tomatoes and squid. She loved it so much that she ate n ate until she had "stomach ache" (was stuffed). She's adventurous with food and loves her leafy veg. Anything green is a friend, Alhamdulillah.

My 2cents...

So i finally get to see the video that landed NI into jail, and all i can say is, Luna & Ariel dont disappoint even without any clothes on. They're both beautiful creatures enjoying some excercise in the comfort of their hotel room. I personally dont see it as a crime. An errosion of moral values, sure, but what two people do in private is really nobody's business. Yes, they've supposedly led their fans down with these vids etc, bt they were made for private viewing. Behind closed doors, a celebrity does not owe society anything. Ariel's an artist, judge him by what he does on stage, and not his personal life. That goes for LM too, who's purported to be in jail.

My little wonder

Ciku accidentally kicks daddy's pillow to the floor.

Mummy: Oh oh!
Ciku: What should we dooo?

Mummy pauses in amazement having never heard this phrase.

Mummy: Let's pick the pillow off of the floor.
Ciku: What should we dooo?

:)

Freaky things that can happen in pregnancy - Obsession

Im normally a sane and level headed person. The last time i went absolutely nuts over actors/singers was when i was a teen, but it seems that my teenage years are making a comeback with my current obsession being a certain Nazriel Irham (?), otherwise known as Ariel from Peterpan!! I've actually managed to cleanse him off my system for a day, so im a little apprehensive about writing about him in case i go nuts again. Don't ask me how and why it started, but after watching Peterpan music videos and listening to their music, i've grown to enjoy their songs and i think Ariel is super super talented. Some say Ariel looks like my hubs and i can see the similarity, so i dont know whether that's got anything to do with how i feel. Ariel sounds great, looks hot, writes amazing songs and is the star of 32 raunchy videos. Last week i was totally in pain over his imprisonment over the videos. There's a note he supposedly wrote and guess wut his handwriting looks like hub's!

Anyway, i hope my obsession wanes, cos it's really tiring to hear Peterpan music in my sleep. I wish Ariel well...i hope he gets out of prison and perhaps he could move to Malaysia...hahaha! Btw, i've watched videos of his divorce proceedings from Sarah Amalia, clips of him with his daughter Alea, interviews of him talking bout Luna...it's all sheer craziness, seriously! This is so not me...so friends, bear with me while i go through this crazy time in my life. Ariel, you rock, and i dont care how yesterday you and your former band are!!

Ciku, aged 23months 3 weeks

Ciku's been caught saying things like:

1) Miya love mummy la!
2) Mummy: Miya, come here please...
Miya pauses for 3 seconds, then responds with, "ok!"

It's really fun to watch her analyse her thoughts or process questions. You can see her eyes look away as she tries to figure out how to respond to something like, "Miya, why did you cry just now?" "miya cry mummy go bathroom." She's rather clingy now, and there have been reports that she starts 'misbehaving' when im around. Hubs says it's cos i indulge her, and of course i'd beg to differ!! I do let her do a lot of things, but there are always limitations. Generally with me, she's allowed to explore and make a mess, as long as it gets cleaned up in the end (by her).

Now that we're expecting #2, we have to start working on how to stop her from clinging onto me since my main focus later on would be with #2. It's not helping that im her favourite person right now. She wont even let hubs read her a story at night! I guess she'll have to do more fun activities with daddy.

Her current favourite book is Olivia helps out with Christmas. She calls the book, "oi-ya". Another favourite is Alice & Aristotle, otherwise known as "anachuli".

She loves climbing on furniture, moving her own furniture (plastic chairs) all over the house! She definitely takes after me and Oma when it comes to strength. Why rely on others when we can do things on our own? :) The cats have also been rather kind to her. Yesterday i caught her lifting Luna off her floor by the tail!! I actually had to smack her on her arm for her to let go of Luna. Well, my tough girl just gritted her teeth and diverted my attention elsewhere. My fingers were stinging from the smack and she just moved on to the next thing!

Boy oh Boy!

Week 20 - Last week went for a check up cos i was peeing too frequently, and i saw a little something between the baby's legs before Dr. LFO could get to telling me :) Unfortunately, hubs wasnt around to share the thrill of knowing that insyallah, ciku's going to get a brother!

The naming process is going to be fun since hubby and i both have some very different perspectives on this. I hope that we'll choose a good name for him.

My eating habits are still really tame compared to when i had ciku, though i may put on more weight than normal cos cheese has crept back as a breakfast favourite! Cheese is pretty evil for ppl who need to watch their weight...

As for Ciku, she'll be 2 soon, and she has grown so much! This morning i started combing her hair as she sat at her table to read, and she said, "Dont disturb Miya!". When she was done reading, she looked at me and said, "ok," like you can disturb me now mummy. Yesterday when hubs drove her to Oma's house she said, "Miya drive Daddy car?" Ciku never fails to amaze her daddy & mummy!

Week 18 - Baby B updates

I still eat ice cream, but i've gone off nasi lemak! It happened one fateful weekend when i had nasi lemak for breakfast, and then again for dinner cos my mum told me that the best nasi lemak in the world could be found at this particular restaurant. So that's it, no more NL for me. I dont think i eat as much as i used to with Ciku...for the past 2 weeks i've been big on orange juice, so there's a carton at home and at work.

My belly feels small and round, and i find that i waddle already. I havent had any outrageous dreams for a while now, and maybe it's due to the fact that i still get up to go to the loo often.

It feels kinda weird not to be stuffing my face with something, bt i just dont feel like it!
The last check-up i had was 2 weeks ago, and the baby was stretching it's legs. Unfortunately, it did not reveal it's gender to us :)

Baby B

im in my 15th week with bub #2. I've stopped feeling nauseous, bt at night i wake up way too many times to pee. Yesterday, i peed before leaving the house, but the minute i arrived my destination (5mins away), i needed to go again!

Bub #2 is making me do things like:
1) Eat too much ice cream
2) Drink cold drinks ( i normally HATE cold drinks, but now only ice cubes n ice water will do)
3) Be hungry all the time
4) Crave for nasi lemak bungkus (served in plates will NOT do)
5) Want noodles/pasta for dinner vs rice. Im totally off rice for dinner and malay food is unappetizing, though i can eat it).
6) Get emotional. Watching Discovery Home & Health doesnt help. I cry over almost everything on that channel, and i cried watching American Idol (pathetic).

Things to be concerned about are H1N1. Being in the high risk category cos of the pregnancy is scary!

Weaning - Days 4, 5 & 6

I can safely say that Ciku's been weaned off her go-to-sleep feed! Days 4-6 were a cinch! On day 4, she fell asleep at 10.30!! She decides for herself when she's had enough of the books and rolls around the whole bed to find a comfy position. Normally Daddy's never in bed when we are, except for last night, so she had a biiiig problem with having him in the way. She ended up pushing him out of the way and fell asleep when he made way for her :)

Weaning - Day 3

This is proving to be easier than i imagined (fingers crossed, touch wood etc)!! Last night was a breeze compared to the other nights. I think Ciku fell asleep between 12am-12.30am. I read about 4 books, then she decided that she was too tired, turned around and fell asleep! She slept right through the night and woke up at 7.40am.

I dont know wuts wrong with me cos again, i could have had great sleep, but woke up at 6.40 and couldnt go back to sleep! Ended up having some big dream on my extended family and Tok Chak's big house.

Weaning - Day 2

The weaning process has taken a twist! It seems that ciku now expects to be read to sleep, which means mummy reading her a book over n over n over again!!!! I had warned hubs to prepare himself for a night of tears, bt there were none. Ciku didnt expect to get boo at all, but instead kept choosing book after book for us to read to her. She fell asleep at 12.30am, while daddy fell asleep wayyyy earlier! Hmph! Thought he could read to her all night instead!

I did give boo to her at 2.30am, and as production has stopped (i think), she kept switching boobs like every 10 seconds!

Cant wait to be 'boo' free!!

The arduous process of weaning

Inspired by Munirah's process of weaning her son off night feeds (feeding to sleep), i decided to kick off Day1 with ciku last night. I dont know wut hit me, but i just felt that yesterday was the day when i'd begin the 5 day programme. I figured that i wasnt going to put up with 4 straight years of sleep deprivation, and that i had to deal with the problem once n for all. I've been putting off weaning ciku cos it's so convenient to fall asleep as ciku suckles on me, and to pull up my shirt whenever she needs me in the middle of the night.

Im a wreck from last night - physically and emotionally. This morning ciku woke up before i went to work, so i was hugging n kissing her and telling her that i loved her cos i felt so darn guilty for depriving her off boo last night. She seemed absolutely fine, so i dont know whether she remembered just how much she cried last night. We were in bed at 10.30pm and finally slept at 1.30...so that makes it 3 hours of me reading all 5 of her favourite books:

1) Huckle's good manners
2) The hungry little caterpillar
3) Peter and Jane have fun
4) My best friends
5) Topsy n Time little lost rabbit.

Ciku refused to fall asleep without boo, so instead, she made me read those books over n over again. In between, i had to comfort her, i tried to get her to sleep by carrying her, singing songs. She cried for Opa, "Call Opaaaaaaaa!" That was at 12.08am. At 1am, she cried, "See Oma & Opaaaaaaa!" Every time she alluded to wanting boo, i'd tell her that "mummy's boo ouch," which it actually was. At 1.15am i was very near to lifting up my top already cos she was crying so broken heartedly, but whilst reading Topsy and Tim, she fell asleep!! She was so tired that she slept all the way through, and i gave her boo when it was morning.

I should've slept well, but i didnt. I hope i'll be prepared for tonight...denying my child is such a heartbreaking thing to do, and it's not her fault that she's been enjoying the comfort of boo before bed for the past 21 months :(

Ciku's vocab update

Banana - "Nana Tamish" (bananas in pyjamas)
Pak Su - "Pak Pu"
Luna - "Nuna"
Maryam - "mayam"
Juice

Sentences:
"Mia tired"
"Ee thaaaat?" (what's that, who's that)
"Mia eat tatarice"
"Mia feeeet!" (when Luna bites her feet)
"Oma's frend"
"Eet mummy" (sit mummy)
"Mummy cooking"
"Put chili, garlic" (when someone's cooking, she describes the cooking process)
"Daddy look. Mummy hold Mia. Mia go stairs" (Look daddy, mummy's helping me up the stairs).

Chicken pox it is!

We took Ciku to the clinic on Saturday where Dr Lam confirmed our suspicion that Ciku has chicken pox. Daddy's never had it, and mummy is 8 weeks along, so this comes at a risky time. However, Dr Lam said that since i've had the pox before, the baby and i should be immune, and as for daddy, he opted to take a shot that would make the pox milder should he get it. Luckily Ciku had the pox shot at 1, so her current outbreak is relatively mild and not overly itchy.

Sudden Fever

I dont know what's up with Ciku, but she suddenly developed a high fever on Wednesday. It's now Friday and she has these raised spots on her skin with liquid in them. Wednesday night i stayed up to keep her cool, wiping her with a damp cloth every now and then. Thursday night, she had her fever again, but she managed to go to sleep after a dose of paracetamol, but she woke up at 2am and started scratching every scar/bite she already has. She ended up asking, "Light mummy", and that was the beginning of keeping mummy awake until 4.30 in the morning! I was reading the Hungry Little Caterpillar at 3!! This is when i noticed the spots, then i started worrying cos im pregnant and i shouldnt be exposed to children with fevers, let alone spots! Oma called today to say that she's got even more spots. Im so worried and wondering what it is...could it be chicken pox, dengue, measles? I'll have to take Ciku to the doc after work, alone cos Oma and Opa have to go to the airport and Daddy has to work late :(

Mummy's little elf

One of the things that makes me so geram and proud of my little Ciku is that she's a really polite little toddler. It just bowls me over when she says, in her petah way, "Tat you, mummy" or "Tat you, Oma", "peeeash" and "sowy". Another thing that she does really well too is putting away her toys before starting something else. At times you have to remind her, but the best moments are when she surprises me by having put everything away, just when i thought she hadnt. The above photo shows how she put her Little Tikes characters away. I wasnt even expecting it, i was soooo proud!

Breastfeeding is the most natural thing to do, NOT?

There's one thing im very passionate about when it comes to motherhood, and that's breastfeeding. Not only is it best for baby, but the bond derived from having a baby nestle close to you as he feeds is simple amazing. Bottle fed babies and their mothers are missing out on a lot! What's been boggling my mind is why breastfeeding has become such an alien thing for mothers to do. A lot of people around me, from relatives to friends are all having trouble breastfeeding. Most times i dont want to interfere cos the more i know the more frustrated i get by their sheer ignorance and lack of drive. A relo recently complained that she didnt have much milk (she had given birth 2 days prior), and they had already bought formula to supplement the baby's feed. The thing is, no mother has a litre of milk hanging from her boobies right after birth. It's about supply and demand, and in the initial stages there is no milk, there's only colostrum! I am by no means an expert on this subject matter, but i do read, and im still breastfeeding my 19month old. A friend told me that her baby doesnt want to breastfeed because the nurses at the hospital had introduced the baby to the bottle. The poor little thing is only 4 weeks old! This is another thing that peeves me...incompetent nurses! When you're at the mercy of nurses in hospital, know your rights and know what's best for baby!!! When i was told that Ciku had to be fed formula in order for the treatment for jaundice to be effective, i asked the nurses how they would feed her. The nurses said that they could bottle feed or use a teaspoon. Knowing that babies can get confused between a bottle teat and a mummy's nipple, i opted for the latter, and i know for a fact that the nurses complied cos later on Ciku was a pro when fed with a spoon. For future mothers out there, do read up, cos where there's a will, there's a way! Think about it, why would you want to feed your precious bundle a concoction of milk powder, corn starch, palm oil and other things, when there's mother's milk that's not just nutritious but can also prevent babies from catching the flu, colds etc? Breastfeeding has so many benefits, and it really is the best gift you can give your child. These benefits include; lowered risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), increased intelligence, decreased likelihood of contracting middle ear infections, cold, and flu bugs, decreased risk of some cancers such as childhood leukemia, lower risk of childhood onset diabetes, decreased risk of asthma and eczema, decreased dental problems, decreased risk of obesity later in life, and decreased risk of developing psychological disorders. Breastfeeding also provides health benefits for the mother. It assists the uterus in returning to its pre-pregnancy size and reduces post-partum bleeding, as well as assisting the mother in returning to her pre-pregnancy weight. Breastfeeding also reduces the risk of breast cancer later in life. (Source: wikipedia).

My Ciku is 19months old!

My baby is inching closer and closer 24months, that milestone which will mean no more boo, and the fact that another year has gone by!!

Right now her pronounciation has become quite good. Bird is no longer "bard", and Mammy has been replaced with "mummy". It never fails to amaze me just how much she's progressing and developing. She can now tell me what sounds animals make, such as a lion, cat, dog, bird, duck. She's also been playing with a wooden puzzle with pegs in it. It's a really good one by Melissa & Doug because it has 4 basic farm animals, horse, cow, pig and sheep with their respective babies. Right now we've taught her that the little ones are baby horses, cows, pigs and sheep, but i guess in time we can give them their proper names.

Ciku's now also extremely attached to both me and hubs. When i go get her, she'll always ask for daddy, followed by 'Yaya'...yaya, you know who you are. At night she'll only settle down when daddy gets home, and that's proving tiring on me.

Have i already said that she knows the words, soup and soap? She loves washing her hands and tasty soup always gets a, "MORE" from her.

Plan Toys

Yesterday evening, husband and i discovered the world of Plan Toys and we're in love! Im totally loving their vision:

"We create toys that inspire children's imagination as well as promote their physical and intellectual development. We're also proving that it is possible to maintain superior quality standards while steadfastly following a path of environmental and social responsibility."

Not only are they responsible makers of children's toys, but the toys are wonderful!! For more information, please visit them at http://www.plantoys.com/

PS i love wooden toys!!

Evil MMR booster shot

Ciku had her MMR shot last Monday evening. She's normally good with all her shots, with just a mild fever, if any. However, with this booster shot, it took 2 days to manifest itself into an outright vomit fest! It was scary and sad, seeing Ciku throw up everything she tries to eat or drink. She started throwing everything up from Wednesday evening, all the way to Thursday morning. I had to take EL to take care of her. Daddy did too, thank goodness. The worst part was that she even threw up in her sleep! I'd have to clean her up and comfort her cos she'd get really upset.

I was up with her all night, bt sleep came at around 5.30am -8am. I gave her breastmilk all the while since it's easily disgestible. Ciku's ok now, Alhamdulillah. I kinda think that she's quite bratty now, maybe cos we were very flexible on her while she was ill!

The pix above is of Ciku at the clinic. She got really worried when she spotted the doctor across the hall cos he's the one that administers all her shots!

Ciku's Stats

A trip to her paediatrician has resulted in us knowing that Ciku is:

Weight: 12.4kg

Height: 89cm

She is in the top percentile of babies her age, and has been since she was a wee bub! However, she was of average height and weight at birth (3.05kg, 38cm).

Vocab update

Ciku's vocab's still growing. Here's the list as of today:

1) TV - Weewee

2) Eye

3) Nose

4) Mouth

5) Hand

6) Feet

7) Head - Ed

8) Hair - Air

9) Pasta - Ta ta

10) Juice

11) egg

12) bread

13) Mummy - Mammy

14) Tok Wan - Wan

15) Amma

16) Horse

17) Egg

18) Helicopter -

19) Truck

20) Bus

21) Bike

22) Wiley - why-yee

23) Banana - Na na

24) Pak Su - Su

25) Susu - Sooo

26) Butterfly - fly

27) Maryam - ya ya

28) Bag

Ciku also has a habit of introducing her parents to strangers. The cute thing is when she asks us to change the channels, she'll either say "Weewee" or "More".

18 months and counting!

Ciku turned 1 1/2 two days ago, and boy can you see the changes as she makes her way into toddlerhood! She's a very cheeky little thing and has started to test her boundaries in every situation. Until recently she was shouting her 'PEEEEESH' (please), 'MORE', and 'BOOOO's, but that changed when Oma showed us that all we needed to do was to give her an example of how to say things. She's now back to being sweet and polite....when she feels like it!

My little book worm is currently 11kg, wears diaper size XL, as well as clothing for 2 to 3 year olds.

Seeing that Ciku's now such a big girl, it's also time to start thinking about having another addition to the family. Im in the midst of psyching myself up for it. I hope i'll have an easy time delivering...it'd be so weird if i had a relatively easy time with Ciku, then have something complicated happen for #2. Good luck to me!