Contented and Happy
Posted on May 15, 2008
I had not dared blog about this earlier, becoz I didn’t want to jinx it. But, tonight I got a sign that everything will be alright from now on.
Few weeks ago, I was complaining about No.3 and how much he screamed the place down. To be honest, he did scream in his first 5-6 weeks of his life. I tell you, it was the most stressful time I had. Everyone around me felt the stress and avoided me like a plague. I felt horrible…but what to do? No mom likes to hear their lil bubs cry like they were dying!
Anyway, it was really when he turned 6 weeks, he was much more manageable and I have to say, now, he’s a dream! He sleeps so much…..that I wonder if it’s good for him to sleep so much! Hahahaha..sleep too little cannot, sleep too much ALSO cannot!! Why am I so hard to please?
Anyway, he’s so cute..because when he’s finished with his McBoobies, he’d pull off, give me the “Righteo…time to pop me back to bed” look. Sometimes, I’d miss this signal and ‘force’ him to drink some more, coz the McBoobies got too much milk…he’d push back and give me a yell….as if to say, “OOI! BODOH KA U! PUT ME TO BED!!!!!”
Plus, I’ve also learned that sometimes when he does cry in the middle of his naps, it’s not wise to get him. Just let him continue crying, because he’s actually doing it in his sleep! A couple of times, I made this mistake and he was super cranky after that. When I leave him alone and only ‘wake’ him up for his feeds, he’s happy.
Just how much does he sleep?
From 8am-10am, 11.30am-2.30pm, 3.30pm-5pm, 7pm-10.30pm, 11.30pm-2.30am, 3.30am-6.30am …so that’s about 16hours!
16hours out of 24hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OMG! First time I calculated this! NVM la… I’m happy he’s happy sleeping. He’s not complaining anymore. But I’ll never forget the first 6 weeks…wah..that was terrible! But well worthed it!
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Rejected!
Posted on May 12, 2008
I’m so dead!
No.3 is rejecting his bottle of EBM everynight! By giving him a bottle of EBM from Day 10, I was assured of the amount he took, hence he woke up only once a night.
Now…he has a sudden dislike of latex nipples and prefers the real ones instead! He literally screams at the sight of it! Since when did babies get so clever at 2months?
Haiz…so cham la me…I keep looking at the 4 oz of wasted precious milk…and tell him not to waste it..but does he listen??? No..he just screams at me, and gives me a pissy look!
4 oz of precious liquid gold……..4 oz….. 4 oz….
I want to pengsan la. Today, I’ll only try 1 oz, I don’t think I can take anymore of wasted precious liquid gold!
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» Filed Under Parenting | 8 Comments
Product Review : Mia Reading Edutainment Software Game
Posted on May 3, 2008
Isn’t she just cute? My second son got hold of the CD cover and just could not let go of it. It was quite tattered by the time I got hold of it. Well-loved.
That being said, my first son (5 years old) and I went on an interactive learning adventure with Mia and the Bugaboo Bugs, developed by Kutoka Interactive. It is basically for kids from 5 - 9. We went through all twelve activity games and adventure. Each activity game has 4 levels of difficulty allowing an older child who has attained some reading skills to play.
I have to say that some were quite tough for him as it required some reading comprehension, but there were certain games where he was quite competent, namely
The Bubble Blast (Word letter association),
Rhyming Circuits (Matching of similar sounding words),
The Guards’ Test (identifying function, verb, tense, plural, singular),
Dominoes (matching upper and lower case letters) and
Write & Spell (word recognition) .
The other activity games were a little harder for him to understand as there were fairly long instructions and he has very limited attention span. This made it difficult for him to sit it through. He just wanted to start the game straight away.
As such, I feel these activities require a parent to be present or at the very least, the child must have already attained a basic reading skill.
Then moving on to the adventure…that was a toughie! Even I had trouble locating some things that Mia was supposed to find! But we managed to sit through it and complete it. At times when my kid was stuck, all he had to do was click on Mia’s face for hints and tips.
This interactive educational software is definitely a good value investment for any parent who wants to help their child improve their reading skills. You’d have to have patience to sit it through with your child and most importantly, have to encourage them to do it by themselves. Only help them if they are really stuck.
My son had a lot of fun playing all these games, and I was surprised that his reading comprehension level was higher than I thought. We now are going to the higher level of activity and this has proved to be challenging for him. But he enjoys the challenge and I’m glad that he doesn’t give up easily!
So, big thumbs up to Mia and the Bugaboo bugs!
Where can you find it? Why…at the Kutoka online boutique of course! They have other educational software available as well….. I might just check them all out soon. 
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What I REALLY want to do on Mother’s Day
Posted on May 3, 2008
This wonderful person, Vien, who so happens to be a mum 
gave me this question.
Seriously, I never celebrated Mother’s Day. I personally find it a little too commercial, after all, if our kids truly appreciate mums, they should celebrate it everyday. HA HA..of course, tall order.
I have no wishes, except for this.
I really want all the lil kids who aren’t feeling well to get better so that their mums can relax abit on that day.
That’s my wish.
SO! I’d like to pass this lovely wish to
Wahh…all “S’s”….hmmmmm… ;-).
To get the ball rolling, read here to find out more on what these mums like to do, and add urs to the list..and pass it on!!!!
Mumsgather on What I REALLY want to do on Mother’s Day
Vien on Not to lift a finger on Mother’s Day
Mott on All lil kids who aren’t feeling too good to heal
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» Filed Under Meme | 4 Comments
The Dream Team
Posted on May 2, 2008
My hub, Mr.T has a big dream. He once told his mother to give him another brother. Instead, he got a sister. He didn’t stop dreaming. When he met me, he told me, he wanted four children. It didn’t matter to him what gender they would be, as long as there were four.
I gave him three. Three boys. Now, he has big plans on creating a dream team, for soccer and basketball. I have relatives here with similiar aged boys, and he has already roped them in to his dream team.
With boys and sports…..comes heaps of dirty clothes, muddy fingers, knees and faces. Let’s not forget shoes.
I am constantly telling my boys to wash their mucky fingers when they’ve done playing outside in the garden.
Until I got this….The Huggies Clean Team.
The hand soap you see on the left, actually has a 20sec timer. Yup folks…when the light stops flashing, it means, the soaping stops as well. It helps because sometimes, they would pump out the soap and immediately, wash instead of soaping their hands thoroughly. So, this 20sec flashing timer shows them that they have to soap and scrub their hands properly before rinsing off. I personally love the smell..ha ha!
My No.2 had a ball with the foam hand cleanser, he was so engrossed with the flashing lights that he continued soaping his lil digits, till I had to tell him to rinse!!! He constantly looks forward to washing his hands, and tells me whenever he has dirtied his fingers (even if they aren’t).
Overall, I find the Huggies’ Hands Soap quite pleasant smelling, but the bottle pump is a little too hard for lil digits to hold and pump.
Moving on to the Huggies’ Shampoo. Unfortunately, No.2 had a lot of problems with the picture of the snake. The moment he saw the snake, he shouted, “SNAKE! SSSSS!! I don’t want that!!!!”. So, it was hard for me to use it on him. However, I managed to wash No.1’s hair with it. Surprisingly, with its’ fruity smell, he seemed quite pleased with it. He normally hates anything that has a fragrance. It did its’ job well and he had a fun time, squirting the liquids out.
Overall, the shampoo is what I would buy, but I wish there was a bigger bottle, that way, I would not have the need to replenish it all the time.
Now, with toilet training my second child, these flushables wipes are really really handy. I’ve been using the normal toilet paper and sometimes, it is quite hard to wipe his poo-poo effectively because the toilet paper is dry. When I wet the toilet paper, it becomes too wet and becomes lumpy, again making it difficult to wipe. But with this Flushable moist wipes…a life saver for me. I only have one little issue with it, too few wipes in this box! I hope to see a larger number of wipes per box in the supermarket next time.
Having Huggies’ Clean Team to clean my Dream Team has been great! I’m quite a Huggies Fan, already, and I would buy these products if they appeared on the supermarket shelves.
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“Love is Free”
Posted on April 12, 2008
This song was written for the survivors of Hurricane Katrina. This is one of the reasons why I like Sheryl Crow. When she creates music, it’s not just about hitting the No.1 spot, it’s about what she feels, how she feels about people she loves, and the earth she loves.
I remember when I was in school, her song “All I wanna do” (is have some fun) came out, I had it in my mind all the time. It was simple, but fun! How I wish my life is as easy as it was then.
But motherhood has certainly changed all that. Sheryl also sings about it, her adopted child, her new beginnings and endings. In fact, there are live interviews and exclusive performances by Soundcheck for those of you who want to find out more.
Her free-spiritness and outspoken personality shines in her music and this new album “Detours” will definitely appeal to many many many men and women out there.
You will also be able to check out other artists or bands like Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz or Simple Plan at Soundcheck.
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Curtains, Blinds or Shades
Posted on April 10, 2008
I know once we get our new home, one thing that’s been on the back of my mind is, which I’d rather have - curtains, blinds or shades. One of the things I have to factor in, when it comes to choosing, is that the Australian Sun is very very very strong. I find that I really need to look for something that will completely block out the heat and the rays.
My main problem is there is just so many types to consider! There are the roll-up blinds, the horizontal window blinds, the fabric vertical blinds, the roman shades or just so simple roller shades.
Looking through the array of blinds available, I’d have to say, I really like the simple roller shades. I just wonder if there are such shades that are combined with the Silverscreen backing, the one where there is an aluminium backing which wards off glare, heat and block off damaging UV rays. Although on the outside, it might just look like we stuck aluminium foil on our windows, but I have to say, if it will reduce the overall temperature in the house, I’ll all for it!
I think I’m the kind of person that prefers function than aesthetics! Sigh…still a long way to go tho’. I still have to find out the measurements of each window. Must say tho, if I can get these blinds with a nice discount, I really don’t mind putting them up myself. After all, if Martha Stewart can do it, why can’t I?
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» Filed Under Home & Garden | 1 Comment
Earth-y Day
Posted on March 31, 2008
Not sure if Earth Day has passed…but nevertheless, always never too late to do something about it.
Truth be told, as I wrote in SAHM’s post on this, when I was younger, I was very vocal about this whole “save the earth, save the animals, save the planet” rah-rah-rah thing. I even joined rallies, became trees…and hugged trees while I was in Uni. Yes, those young, carefree, dangerous days….
HA!
Now……. I only switch off those lights when I’m not in the room, or switch off appliances when not using, only because I want to save…. COST! But, if it means that I’m actually saving the earth…good on me, eh? 
Hee hee… plus, I’m not using plastic bags when grocery shopping, because the supermarkets here, made such colourful reusable shopping bags (I have purple, red, green, blue, pink, black, etc)..that I HAD to buy and therefore, might as well use them! So…..save the landfill some rubbish there, eh?
Good on me..pats on my back. Thank you thank you thank you. Yes….mott has no shame.
Thanks to Constance the Almanac Queen, for tagging me.
For this, I tag SAHM…becoz I commented in her post about it. Hee hee…
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» Filed Under tags, Mixed Nuts | 2 Comments
The Approach
Posted on March 22, 2008
“NGAH! NGAH! NGAH!!!!!!!!”
That’s how my No.3 screams..and scream he did, the entire ward down. On the 2nd day of his arrival, he sure knows how to make an entrance and makes sure everyone hears about it.
Anyway, this is what happened at 11ish pm…
Midwife M walks in….
MW M: DO YOU KNOW YOUR BABY IS KEEPING EVERYONE UP?
Me : Err…yea, I’m trying to settle him.
MW M : He doesn’t sound like he’s being settled! He’s disturbing everyone’s sleep.
Me : Ya ya…I’m trying my best. I think he’s got a stuffy nose and finding it hard to breathe/suckle.
MW M : Well, you cannot do it here, you have to go to the nursery, because it’s NOT FAIR to the other moms.
Me : Ok ok…I will . At this point, I felt quite down, tired and like total shit.
MW M : You know you shouldn’t wake everyone up with your crying baby you know! Blah blah blah…
Me : crying inside already..so tired. I also wanna sleep leh…
While at the nursery…Midwife A approaches ..
MW A : How’s it going?
Me : Ah… he won’t settle..
MW A : Oh? Ok..I’ll teach you a way that will help both of you get some sleep k?
Me : Ah? Ok…But, what if he still won’t settle?
MW A: Ah, well, we’ll have to try, this isn’t a hotel you know! Let’s get u back to bed.
Me : K…
MW A : Lie down, take off ur shirt, let him suckle you in bed k. I’ll just position him nicely, so that both of u will be comfortable.
We get into our positions…and lo behold, the lil guy does keep quiet and eventually does sleep peacefully.
So did I. After No.3’s screaming episode, Vietnamese Mafia’s baby started. WAKAKAKAKAAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAAK!!!
So… let me tell you Midwife M was from Malaysia and Midwife A was Aussie.
It’s all in the approach I tell you. They both were telling me the same thing “settle ur bb”, but they did it, so differently. After that, I was really tulan with the MW M, as I felt she was too curt. But, because of my long stay there, I could see that was HER approach to handling the patients. She was like that to everyone. But after my encounter with her, she was a lot kinder and she helped get the mucus out of No.3’s nose very efficiently.
But I just wished she wasn’t sooooooooo fierce! That being said, quite a lot of nurses are quite fierce!
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» Filed Under Mixed Nuts | 15 Comments
The stay..
Posted on March 20, 2008
My hospital stay was somewhat interesting. It being a post delivery suite, I didn’t think that I would get anything out of it, except for crying babies and moms with the biggest panda eyes (along with their joey pouches!).
But, next to my bed (being a public patient, I had to share with 3 other beds), was the Russian Mafia. Opposite my bed was the Vietnamese Mafia, and the one next to hers was Hawaii-Five-0.
Russian Mafia was a 19 year old girl…yes, 19…who was regarded somewhat a hero in her family’s eyes, for giving birth at such a young age. Everyday, her big family would gather round and sing russian songs and talk in russian, very excitedly. Her first night was scary to her, becoz..understandably, her baby was very low weight, and losing weight rapidly. The midwives had to force whatever milk/colustrum in her very big boobies to give it to the lil one. She cried all by herself, at night. Of course, I was unable to comfort her, as I was practically stuck on my bed, after my c-section. Poor girl. But, in those 7 days she was there, she managed to boost up her milk production and she gained more confidence as the midwives taught her everything on how to handle her lil one. She’s damn lucky that she has quite a placid lil one..unlike mine who SCREAMED THE ENTIRE WARD DOWN, EVERY NIGHT!
The Vietnamese Mafia was a really interesting story. When she came in, only her brother was with her. She spoke very lil English and the midwives had problems communicating with her. Her brother changed the bb’s nappies, etc. In fact, the entire time she was there….no other women visited her. Only men. Anyway, she told the midwife “Make milk. Baby hungry”. The midwife was practically berating her for not breastfeeding. Very different culture here! She kept telling Ms. V-Mafia the benefits of b’feeding..but as she didn’t understand, all she repeated was, “Make milk. Baby hungry”. HA HA HA..finally the midwife gave up and helped make formula for the baby.
Hawaii Five-O was the best…why? She had two other lil boys, who were the cutest and cheekiest lil curly haired boys in the world! She had loads of family members popping by, but they were the most considerate of them all. They spoke in very low voices…and from what I picked out, they were very religious. Very sweet lady… and very handsome hubby..heh heh heh….
I tell ya… I really didn’t think I’d strike up conversations with other mums there (not like the first time I delivered)…but I did…and so many stories came up! It was quite a ‘fun’ stay at the hospital and while I won’t want to go back..it was certainly a good rest. I really got to rest..I didn’t have to worry about my boys at all.
Ah…there’s another story about the midwives. Ha ha..have to wait abit first…so sleepy now.
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» Filed Under Mixed Nuts | 5 Comments
