Active Fetal Movement - a sign?

Active fetal movement - is it a sign for what is to come? Is it a sign of a non-sleeping baby when it arrives? Is it a sign of a baby who is hyperactive? Is it a sign of a baby who is going to be a handful (more than Jia Wen)?

I really don't remember Jia Wen being so active in the womb and I swear that this baby inside me right now has probably done like 1000M laps! I tell you, this baby kicks like no other. Moving non-stop. I think it even changes position every minute. I think it follows the clock's rotation. 1 o'clock position, 2 o'clock position, 3 o'clock position... etc... Though I can't tell where the baby's head is but all this moving isn't quite as fun as some mothers might think it is especially when you are trying very hard to fall alseep. It moves so much and so hard that I swear, if you sit close enough to me, you'll feel the vibration too. My baby is "Getting Jiggy With It". If you put a piece of jelly on my tummy, you'll see it jiggling!

I wish that I can see what my baby is up to inside, how it is moving, what sort of acrobatic stunts. How nice if we can have LIVE feed of what's happening inside there.

I trully hope that all this movements isn't a sign of an hyperactive - non-sleeping baby!

Szue Fei is feeling jiggly!

Fatherhood

Ripped this ariticle off The Star Two today.

FATHERS today are a different breed from Raymond Barone’s father, Frank, from the TV sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond. They have no qualms about helping out in the house or taking care of the baby.

First time father Yusoff Hassan took a week off work to get acquainted with his new baby. Yusoff, who works in a local bank, says some foreign banks give up to a week but his allows only three days.

“I took a few more days off to do the necessary errands, you know, like going to the National Registration Department, buying groceries and stuff like that. Now, we have a midwife to help out but I also helped to change the baby and kept my wife company when she woke up to breastfeed,” says Yusoff, 38, whose newborn son is now six weeks old.

He adds that paternity leave is important to help the family “acclimatise” to the new baby and vice versa. “Since this is my first child, I have no idea what should be done. You’re fed information from all sides and you need first-hand experience to be able to sieve through what’s needed and what’s not. The first few days are normally spent at the hospital so three days paternity leave isn’t really enough. At least a week would be good.”

Yusoff has no issues about staying home to look after his son if he has to and having to do chores like cooking and cleaning is no big deal as he maintains he’s no chauvinist.

Likewise, Eddy Wong, a branch manager for a logistics company, feels that support from the husband is essential during the first month confinement period.

“New mothers need that time to recover emotionally and physically. So it helps if the father can do his part to help settle the new baby and mother in,” says Wong, 41, whose wife just delivered their second child.

Wong took a week off to run errands and help take care of his older daughter.

“The first time round, I did some of the cooking, trained the (then) new maid and looked after my first daughter. Earlier I had taken six months off prior to the baby’s arrival to do my thesis so I was practically a househusband, taking care of my pregnant wife, and doing the household chores. Some men think looking after children is a woman’s job but that’s not true. There’s no harm switching roles and I wouldn’t mind staying home for six months again if I had to. A year, I think, would be too long,” he adds.

According to child development expert Ruth Liew, most companies don’t understand the importance of paternity leave.

“When my husband took three days off 10 years ago for my daughter’s arrival, his colleagues belittled him, saying things like, ‘My wife managed fine without me. Why do you have to be there?’ But trends are changing and men are learning to take equal share of parenthood.

“My two girls really appreciated him being around for them, and even now, they’re very close to him. I feel if you’re not there in the beginning, it’s a sign that you’re probably not going to be there (to parent) much anyway.

“The first few days are very important as that’s when you ‘fall in love’ with your baby, plant nurturing seeds and bond. Fathers also provide that extra pair of hands to help out during that crucial period. They should take the initiative and ask for paternity leave, otherwise companies won’t recognise the need for it. I think two weeks would be an appropriate time,” she says.

However, if men were to take too long to revel in newfound fatherhood, employers might not take the situation sitting down. In Britain, when it was announced that the government may be considering giving new fathers six months unpaid paternity leave, small business bodies baulked at the idea, stating loss of productivity and “administrative nightmare” as possible downsides to the proposal.

UMW Toyota Motor’s senior manager of human resources, S. Ananthan, feels that two to three days would be good enough for fathers to provide the necessary assistance, celebrate and run errands. Anything more would be a burden on the employer.

“We’ve always understood that women need maternity leave to recover. But men, who are the cause (of babies) in the first place, surely don’t need so much time,” he says in jest.

Commenting on countries that offer up to six months paternity leave, Ananthan feels that it would take time for such a practice to be accepted here, given our cultural differences.

“But if someone wants to take six months unpaid leave, it would be up to the discretion of the employer to grant leave.”

Apple Crumble

I am sitting here at Starbucks having my chocolate frappacino and a slice of their apple crumble. I think I deserve a treat, don't you think so? But the apple crumble is finishing fast - HELP, I want more! Starbucks has the best apple crumble I have ever had! Try it.

Jia Wen woke up 5 times last night. Do you think resigning from my post a her mum is too harsh?

See lah, I finish my apple crumble already!

Szue Fei is feeling crumbly, tired and not "kam-muan" (satisfied) with my apple crumble.

MC please

I need an MC (medical certificate) - just 2 days would do. All the doctor needs to write on the medical certificate - "insanity". God, please help me.

Last night, Jia Wen woke up at 0209 hours. I let her cry and call for a while before I went in and put her back to bed. I came back and it took me about 1 hour to fall back to sleep and guess what time she woke up again? 0304 hours! This cycle repeated again at about 0509 and by the time I actually fell asleep and slept through was at about 0545 hours! I had to wake up at 0730.

2 days, is all I ask for.

Szue Fei is still feeling SHITTY, exhausted, in the brink of INSANITY and still teary eyed.

0324 hours

This entry is going to change everyone's perception of me as a person and especially as a mother. Heck my husband might not speak to me for a week!

I just whacked my daughter. It was 2.30AM when I woke up for the 5th time to her calling / waking. You would probably know that we have been having problems with Jia Wen's wakefulness at nights for the past few months (perhaps 3 months already) and it has affected my sleep quite a bit. But for the past 1 week, it has been by far the worst (either that or I am getting a bit to heavy for this job)! She wakes up 5-6 times everynight either calling us at the door or crying and I've (mostly) been getting up and putting her back to bed. There was one night, she kept us awake till 3.30 AM when we left her crying at the door for more than 1 hour.

We have done EVERYTHING under the sun and from the book to overcome this problem and yet my husband thinks we haven't read enough when I told him we should just give her a few whacks. We have tried talking to her nicely, bribbing her, Supernany ways, Ferber method, and I have read all the books I have on this problem but it just won't go away.

But half an hour ago, I just couldn't take it anymore.. I went to her room, whacked and gave her a piece of my mind! For the record, I used her small bolster. I was in a verge of tears when I was "lecturing" her but held on until I left the room. The moment I came back to my bed, I started crying like a baby - loudly! Obviously Shien Wei is not around to witness his wife going bonkers.

Do I feell guilty? DUH - of course! I feel guilty for Jia Wen and I also feel guilty for the baby who is growing inside me. I haven't been a happy mother for the baby inside me which is not good. It has been tough being a mother to Jia Wen and mother to this new baby who is still inside me and I don't know how I would handle things when the new baby arrives! I am filled with resentment - God please help me.

Szue Fei is feeling SHITTY, unhappy and very teary eyed.

Ear (?) Discomfort

I told you about my recent nasal discomfort, that I have been having blocked nose so blocked that I had to sleep up-right all week. Well, the damn nose problem has more or less spread to the ear and my ears are damned now! My ears have been blocked on and off for the past 2 days and it is irritating!

It is irritating to be hearing your own footsteps, your own words, your own breathing, your own chewing! Gosh.... Help me!

Szue Fei is feeling a little out of breath, still stuffed up and slightly depressed.

A few photos I took of Jia Wen yesterday. 

Jia Wen enjoys playing with her jigsaw puzzle 

I bought her a baby doll and she loves her to bits (not). 

Nasal Discomfort - 1st, 2nd & 3rd Trimester

For the past 1 week or so, my sinus (aside from other discomfort) have been keeping me awake at nights. Last night I spent 3 quarters of my sleeping time (which wasn't much actually) sitting down leaning on the bedhead more or less up-right. My nose were congested and was hard for me to breathe and found it irritating!

My nose-block lasts the whole day but it is worse and more uncomfortable at nights.

According to the book:

Softening and thickening of the mucous membranes in the nose. Increase in blood supply to the lining of the nose due to high levels of preganancy hormones. You may wake with a blocked nose in the morning.

ARGH and today, I think my baby has its ass right on top of my bladder and is not only causing frequent urination, it's uncomfortable and a tad painful. Baby is moving a lot.

Szue Fei is feeling stuffed up.

My Bitch

I don't know about you other mums out there but we are not the only ones that go through PMS or so we call it. Kids even toddlers too go through PMS!

My daughter today was simply a B***H. She was super duper cranky and everything I seem to do for her seemed to be wrong. She cried all the time and she was super demanding. Everything from the pillow not being in the correct / comfortable angle to her hair covering her ears made her cry. She was very very difficult today. The TV being slightly too loud, she complained, the car making noises outside she complained, I talked to my sister she asked her to shut-up! I lie down like this she said cannot, I sit up she said sit another place and every single tiny thing seemed to irritate her! She shouted a lot too. And when she starts to cry, she won't even let reason with her.

I was busy cleaning the kitchen this morning and guess how many times I had to leave the kitchen to attend to her cries - I had to go out of the kitchen every 30 seconds or so just because the paper she was drawing on is slightly blown by the fan, or the pillow she was lying on is 3 degrees out of angle! She was Mummy this, mummy that non-stop!

I tell you, she was really testing my nerves. She's lucky that today I was in a good enough mood to attend to her demands but I really felt like throwing her out of the house! She's lucky I didn't even think of putting her at the corner today.

There are good days with her and there are bad days and I don't think I can take another bad day with her! I'll go insane! Between her wakefulness every single night (3-4 times on an average) for the past 3 months, her coughs and colds, her abusive days, and my non-stop kicking fetus, I'll kill myself in no time!

Szue Fei is feeling stressed out and in the verge of insanity.

Acute Bronchitis

Jia Wen was diagnosed with Acute Bronchitis yesterday after having cough since Wednesday. I was shocked when the doctor told us that she was having bronchitis and questions "where did I go wrong" started popping out. It is not like she has been coughing for a long time and her cough didn't sound serious. She started cough medication on Wednesday itself so I just left it at that.

Aside from cough, she did have off and on mild fever but she was active as usual so again I didn't think very much of it. Gave her paracetamol when she was really hot but she was still active and quite her usual self. But by Friday evening and Saturday afternoon, she just spent her day lying on the couch nodding-off every few minutes. So for sure something was wrong with her lah. She never lies on the couch if she is not sick. I actually got to sweep and mop the house and wash the carpet without her getting on my nerves. She just stayed on the couch either watching TV or sleeping. She didn't even try to come down from the couch to check whether the floor is dry like she always does. Not to mention, her diet also a bit screwed lah.

So in the afternoon, we brought her to our regular paediatrician in Puchong (she normally goes there when she is sick) which we had to wait quite a while for her turn. There were so many other kids there either sick but most of them for jabs. This clinic has 2 slides for the kids to play with and everytime Jia Wen goes there, she'll be up and down the slides but this time, she tried for 2 minutes then she gave up and came sat on my lap until she was called. Truly, she was sick.

Dr Wong heard her cough and checked her lungs and quickly told us that she's got bronchitis and immediately suggested nebulizing (breathing in vaporized medicine) along with other medications of course. Jia Wen didn't take the nebulizing thing well at all. She struggled and had to be held down in order for the nurse to administer it on her. She was crying. It wasn't a pretty sight for Shien Wei and I but it had to be done.

I think the nebulizing thing did work as after that one treatment I could hear that her phlegm was breaking up. The doctor suggested that she be nebulized again in the evening before she went to bed but since she will be closed at night, she wrote a letter for us to bring to any clinic for it to be administered. So we stayed in Puchong until after dinner when we brought her to another paediatric clinic in Puchong as well (btw, Nilai needs a Paediatrician). There were a few other clinics available to choose from but unfortunately our choice wasn't a good choice at all. We went to this "clinic" opposite I0I Mall but the moment we went in, we weren't too impressed by the physical outlook of the clinic - it was cramped and not tidy but we proceeded anyway since we thought it should be a very simple and quick procedure - to get Jia Wen nebulized. But of course as any other doc, this doc had to make a quick buck and insisted that we see him first before he agrees to administer the treatment. It was of course a reasonable request despite having the letter from Dr Wong so we went on to see the "doctor" which was the bigger mistake. The moment I walked in there with Jia Wen, I already didn't like him. He just sent out this very negative vibes about him and his whole body language was wrong. True enough, he wasn't a nice doctor at all. How the hell he became a paediatrician beats the hell out of me! He not once looked into my face when talking to me, he eyes were locked on to the computer screen in front of him and questioning Dr Wong's diagnose. He asked me what meds Dr Wong prescribed and demanded that I show it them to him even after me giving him the exact names to all the medicine. There was also a point where I felt he was questioning my parenting skills, although he didn't quite spell it out in the exact words but his whole body language showed that and his intonation suggested so. He said that nebulizing Jia Wen one more time wouldn't work at all and if I do decide on just this one, there's no point nebulizing her now anyway. The problem with what he said was that the way he said it suggested that he just wanted to make more $$$. That's what got Shien Wei and I really cheesed off and we both felt like walking off and telling him F*^# off! Basically everything about him was wrong - he wasn't friendly, he had a very bad body language and what Shien Wei and I always use the term "kwai lan". This doctor thinks that we owe him a living and he being a doctor is far more superior than us. Again, why and how he is in this line of specialty is beyond us. He should have been a pathologist!

After seeing him, we did the nebulizing thing at the same clinic since we have already paid this lousy doctor, we stayed on to do it. This time, we had to do the nebulizing thing ourselves. There were not nurses or attendants to help us with it at all. It was DIY!. Lesson learnt - never to go back to this doctor again. For more details on who this doctor is - call me!

Jia Wen is much much better today. She's been herself the whole day - playing and singing and jumping all over. I brought her to have her favourite - tosai for breakfast and she ate quite well today. I can hear that he phlegm is really breaking up and trying to come out. Although she doesn't know how to throw out her phlegm from her throat, it is coming out of her nose.

Medicines Jia Wen is on now - Dhasolone 5 ml, Ventolin 5 ml, Augmentin 3,5 ml (antibiotics) and Rhinothiol 3 ml. She's staying out of school for a while until she fully recovers.

Lesson - there are good doctors and there are bad doctors around.

Szue Fei is feeling very tired and sleepy today.

Fetal Anomaly Scan

Today was check-up day. Started the day very early and went to SJMC for a monthly routine check-up. The only difference with today's check-up was that I had a Fetal Anomaly Scan which is a more thorough ultrasound scan where a certified sonographer does a detailed scan by looking not only into the baby's exterior appearance, she looked into the internal organs as well.

This anomaly scan is to look out for any physical abnormalities that the fetus may have such kidney, diagphram, stomach, heart abnormalities. She could tell by measuring the organs whether it is in the proper shape and size. She also checked to see whether the heart is pumping correctly, etc. And by the scan, everything looked normal (according to her). Honestly, I wonder how she saw anything at all. Most of the images I loaded - if she hadn't labelled it, I wouldn't know what the heck it is supposed to be.

Baby is 3 days older in size which is pretty normal. It has 2 legs, 2 hands, spines are good, brain is there, no cleft-palate / lip. The baby was moving very actively while doing the scan but was not in a good position for a 3D-scan. I was kinda disappointed that a 3D-scan could not be done today. Hopefully next month or the coming months, I will have the opportunity. Also, the baby was a little shy - had the hands covering the face almost the whole time. The baby is currently lying down in my uterus.

Got a CD with all the images she took along with a few short clips. What I did was I combined all the short clips into one video and added sound effect (baby heartbeat) into the video too. Canggih leh. Please note that the heartbeat sound playing is not my baby's heartbeat. I had to do some technical work in order to put this video clip together. What do you think? Not bad leh.

Heart pumping blood to body and brain 

Bladder 

Kidneys 

I can't get this picture but it supposed to be a picture of the baby's nose and lips. 

Baby's heart - 2 Atriums & 2 Ventricles 

View from the top. You can see the 2 eyes and the nose. Baby is facing north west. 

My view 

Ultrasound

Jia Wen and I at Shogun, 1 Utama 

Let's go get the pink cushions mummy! 

Ikea shopper 

Were were at Ikea yesterday and we made Jia Wen part of the model kitchen. 

Yang & Seng, this picture somewhat reminds me of you boys when you were small (of course minus the pinks). Agree? 

Happy after haircut 

Watcha lookin' at? 

Brought Jia Wen to the hairdresser's last week for another haircut. 

Feeling Naked

I feel so naked, I feel so lost! I forgot to bring my handphone with me today. I left it at home and suddenly feel as though there are 100 people calling me looking for me although I know it never happens.

Gosh, I could have won the Mix.Fm's 90's at 9 or even could have now been in the running for a RM5000 shopping spree at Prada! Haiyo! Killing myself now.

See lah, can die or not without a phone?! I wonder whether my husband is looking for me?... Hhmmm.... highly doubt that.

Fetal Movement

Baby number 2 doesn't seem to ever sleep! Baby is constantly moving and it is getting a little irritating especially at nights when I try to go to sleep. Baby seems to be on the move all the time, doing what I am not too sure man but I reckon doing laps. Kicks and strokes! The the moment, the movements are mainly confined to the lower part of my tummy (panty line) near the bladder so sometimes it tickles my bladder!

People say that it is a sign of an active, non-sleepinig baby and if that's true, I am certainly not looking forward to after the baby is born.

The guilty look! She knows that Mummy is angry at her, she was very quiet in the car going to school today. (Thought this picture will tone down the indecent photos I just posted) 

My Daughter, My Misery

Please don't judge me and please don't think I haven't tried potty training my daughter. I have tried but she just isn't interested. What am I to do?

This morning, hell broke-out again! I don't need to explain what happened, the photos will explain it all. Argh! I was so angry at Jia Wen this morning, I want to banish her! Lucky for me I had my sister around to take care of the cleaning while I "attended" to Jia Wen. Smacked both her hands and gave a good lecture! If my sister weren't around, I would have really really banished Jia Wen to God knows where!

Please don't think I am a bad bad mum. I try my best - honest!

Finger painting at its best! 

Why God, Why?!!?!? 

Notice the wall! 

This is by far the worst shitty catastrophe. 

Jia Wen at 32 months

Jia Wen is almost 32 months old now and is slowly growing out of her baby-shell. She is really slowly growing to be like any other kids – learning new tricks and speaking like an adult. Her teacher in school even said that she speaks like an adult and learns things very quickly. Yes she learns and pick things up very fast and sometimes a little too fast. We as parents always want our kids to learn quickly but there are things that we don’t want them to learn so quickly. So as parents, whatever we do or say it has to be well thought before we act or say. Kids mimic adults very well and that’s what Jia Wen does well.

Lately, whenever Jia Wen plays on her own or talks to herself, she’ll go “Savin, don’t be naughty”, “Savin, come and sit down”, “Savin, don’t run”, etc. She kept on mentioning “Savin” and always in a disciplining manner. At first I thought she had an imaginary friend and wow for a 2 year old to have an imaginary friend – you can either call that a milestone or it may be a bit freaky. Then after a while I figured out who “Savin” was and what she was trying to do with “Savin”. She was actually mimicking her teacher in school trying to discipline this “Savin” boy. I found out from her teacher that Savin is a hyperactive and naughty boy in school and even the teachers have difficulties getting him to sit down quietly, hence the disciplinary instructions.

There are many ways how we try to discipline Jia Wen when she gets out of hand and most times she would end up at the corner as punishment. Thanks to our parenting skill and thanks to her mimicking skill, she sometimes punishes her toys by putting them at the corner and demanding them to stay there, exactly how we do it to her. She would go “stand quietly”, “stand at corner”, “don’t move”, “be quiet”, “stop crying”. She has done this to her ball before and I was just sitting nearby not knowing whether I should actually laugh or stop her, I ignored her actions and laughed quietly. Can you imagine, her punishing her ball and everytime she puts the ball at the corner, the ball will roll slightly away from the corner and then she’ll say “stay there” and then she’ll bring the ball back again and then she’ll say “stand quietly”, etc. It is hilarious. But this serves as a warning to parents and guardians that children mimics extremely well that it backfires sometimes.

Like all children, Jia Wen loves music and songs. She is very musically inclined – knowing who sings what songs. At the moment her favourites are Juanes, Red Hot Chillie Pepper, Russell Watson and Andrea Bocelli. An all-rounder uh? Lately, she tries to sing the songs played on the radio. She will try to follow and would get the last words correct. Whenever I am driving in the car and a familiar tune comes on, I can hear her whisper the song out. She can sing “You Raise Me Up” by Russell Watson, Westlife and Josh Groban quite well. She can sing Juanes’ “La Camisa Negra” and she would go like this, “Tengo, Tengo La -misa Nera”! Of course she also sings normal kids nursery rhymes songs and she can sing them well. She can sing ABC, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Baa Baa Black Sheep, I See The Moon, I Love You (Barney) – the whole song. There are a few other songs she learnt from school that I am not so familiar with but she sings them from time to time like “Jelly In My Spoon”, “Good Morning, good morning, nice to see your smiling face”.

She also knows how to modify songs too. Just the other day, my sister heard her sing about this spider that is webbing on one of my ceiling light. Her song went something like this:

Itsy bitsy spider, climb up the light up there
Down came the rain and washed the spider out
Out came the sun and dried the spider up
And itsy bitsy spider climbed up the light again.

As parents, you will learn from time to time when to buy this and when is the right time to get your child something you thought it wasn’t quite the right time for your child to be playing a certain type of toy. Well, I think it is time for Jia Wen to own a doll. Though Jia Wen has never been too fond of her toys and doesn’t really have one toy that she is attached to but I think she’s ready for a doll and the works. Over the past few days, she has been playing with this clown doll my mum made for her and she has been pretending that the clown is an actual baby. She brings the clown to the toilet (literally) and puts it just over the toilet bowl and makes the clown “shee-shee”. She would go like “shhhhh, sshhh….” I tell you the first time I saw this happen, I couldn’t help but to laugh but I had to do it discreetly fearing that she might think that it is wrong or it is funny. She’ll also pretend to wash the clown’s buttocks and then will put "Drapolene" at you know where and then wear diapers for the clown with some handkerchief or some cloth. Then she’ll feed the clown milk, food and sometimes medicine. She’ll put the clown to sleep and I don’t know where she gets this idea, she’ll get a small table clock and put it next to the clown and tell the clown that it is time to sleep and she’ll then sing a song to put the clown to sleep. Mind you, I don’t sing her to sleep! And after a few minutes, she’ll go “Wakie wakie clown”. So I guess it is time to get her a proper doll with napkin (diaper), milk bottle, pacifier, etc. uh? It’ll be good training for when the new baby comes too.

Jia Wen is one observant kid. She notices the least noticeable things and sounds. She sees the smallest things, things that our normal eyes don’t catch or notice. She hears the least obvious noises. Like the other day, we were eating at a food court at Alamanda and of course there were all sorts of noises around but guess what noise did she hear and asked about? There were sounds of people talking lah, there were sounds of people cooking lah, there were sounds of kids playing around, but guess what she asked about? She asked what the humming sound was – a sound that I had to actually listen out for. It was the humming sound of the concealed airconditioning and then I had to explain where the aircon was and why was it making such a noise etc. Haiyo! And if you show Jia Wen a photo, she doesn’t only notices the subject of the photo, she see what’s behind the photo. OK, she saw this pic of my sister and Hsei Di the other day and you know what she said – “Dancing Ah Ma’s house”! Indeed the picture was taken at my mum’s house. She recognized the chair the girls were sitting on and mind you, this picture was taken years before she was born and even the cushion cover and curtain behind is now different.

Jia Wen enjoys the beach very much. She asks to go to the beach almost everyday. The other day, we brought her for a picnic at Bagan Lalang with a few friends and she had a great time. If it wasn’t for her being tired and hungry, we would have stayed there forever. Thank God she got tired. She also absolutely enjoys going to the airport and going on a plane. She asks to go somewhere EVERDAY and she’s got this new travel bag that she can’t wait to use. Her next trip will be to Langkawi next month and I guess that will be her last flying trip for a while. So airport + plane + hotel + beach, how can she ask for more?

She also asks to go to USA to visit Jacqui Ee and Uncle Lars. She knows that there's snow in the States and she will say "must wear jacket there yeah? Because it is cold yeah?" Where she learnt that the States got snow, I don't know. Someone must have mentioned it to her once and she remembered. So Jacqui Ee and Uncle Lars, make sure got snow when she visits.

Jia Wen's favourite books are "Topsy & Tim Go On An Aeroplane" and "The Enormous Turnip". She knows those books so well that she can tell you the whole story and she will tell it to you like a professional storyteller. She would sit on her stool, turn her book to face her audience and tell the story accordingly. She of course learnt this from her teachers in school.

She's also slowly learning the names of her friends in school. So far I know there's Savin, Barbara, Kelvin, Pau Sian, Joyce, Man Joon. She will mention their names once in a while and will refer them to Jia Wen's friends. Quite frequently she'll come back with goodie bags from a kid who celebrated his / her birthday in school and she'll tell me whose birthday it was. Unfortunately, Jia Wen hasn't gotten to chance to celebrate her birthday with her school friends as she only started school in February this year and her coming birthday will only be in January. Her friends must be thinking this Jia Wen is one stingy girl. Sadly I don't see her celebrating her coming birthday with her friends next year either as I would be in "confinement" and Jia Wen might have to miss school for a while until I am more settled with baby number 2. But maybe I might make an acception and go celebrate it with her friends in school. That way, her friends won't think that Jia Wen is stingy or known as the girl without a birthday. I think Jia Wen would really like that.

Jia Wen also has quite an imagination and some creativity in her. She can create playthings with paper, etc. For example, the receipt print out I get from the petrol kiosk everytime I pump petrol, she'll fold it in two and since I've got a flip-phone, she'll pretend that that's her flip-phone. She even talks into the "phone" and have a decent conversation with someone. Another example is using her hard covered books as laptops. She would take one of these books and lean a part of the book against something and pretend that it is her notebook. She would even use something to pretend that is a mouse and since my mouse has a roller on the top to scroll, she would imagine that there's a roller on her "mouse" too and use her index finger to scroll. She'll pretend to type something and will ask you what pictures you want to see from the computer or what songs you want to listen from the computer. She does it very well I tell you. My brother-in-law has a notebook and everytime he's on it, he would lie on the floor propped with a few pillows and do his work. Jia Wen would do exactly the same with pillows.

The other night, Jia Wen too her really huge colouring book, stood it up and pretended that it was a bar. She pretended that there was a drink dispenser and started dispensing drinks and serving them to us. She would even warn us if the drink is very hot and will tell us to drink slowly. Where she got the idea of a bar - I do not know! At least I know my daughter has got quite an imagination and creativity. Good uh?

Oh yes, another example is making her own Babyplus. You see, I now use the Babyplus everyday and she knows that it is for the baby to listen. So she would take anything that would wrap around her waist and pretend that it is her babyplus. She normally uses her stethescope for this.

With her kitchen set, she would come around with a piece of paper and pen and take orders from us, write it down and go prepare the food for us. She'll even tell you if the dish is available or not. After preparing the food we ordered, she would come with some bowls and plates and serve us.

You know as a mum, how you with you can get another minute or two of sleep before you start your day? There are rare occasions where Jia Wen comes to our bedroom to sleep for the night and when the night is over, she’ll insist that I wake up when she wakes up. She’ll try all sorts of tricks to get me out of bed (not just awake). She’ll bring my glasses and make sure I put it on, she’ll turn on all the lights, she’ll take off my blanket, she keep saying “wakie wakie mummy”, and her latest trick is to pretend that her diaper dropped out from her pyjamas! She will say “Mummy, my diaper drop adee”. Haiyo.. sighs. Where lah she learn how to trick me?!

Jia Wen is also one temperalmental kid (hhmmm.. I wonder where she got that from) and knows how to sulk. Times where she is angry or upset with something, she would run to a corner or to the sofa, lie face down and start to sulk / cry. I know I have a bad temper but where she learnt how to sulk like this is beyond me. I definitely do not run to a corner and lie face down and sulk! Shien Wei and I ignore this action but we still wonder where she learnt this drama from. Like yesterday when I went to pick her up from school. I always go into the school and pick her up so I saw what happened yesterday. I don't know for some reason she saw me, she went straight and grabbed her bag and stormed out of the classroom towards me. Her eyes were teary. Even her teachers were shocked at what she did. She literally stormed out of the class with her bag like she was angry at something or someone. When I asked her what happened, she said "Jia Wen is sad" and when I asked why, she didn't give me a reason. I seriously don't know what happened the few seconds before I came to pick her up but my daughter can be quite a drama queen sometimes.

She is also a bossy kid and loves to pick on my sister. She would ask my sister to do things for her, take things for her and literally bully my sister for things she wants. I don't know whether it is because my sister lets her but she can really boss my sister around and when I say boss, I mean boss! She would shout at my sister and both of them would sometimes get into arguments. She does that to me and Shien Wei sometimes but I think she finds it easier to do it to my sister.

She is slowly grasping the idea of becoming a "che-che" and she knows that there's a baby growing inside my tummy. She would greet the baby good morning every morning and give the baby a hug. I encourage her to speak to the baby and we are slowly instilling the "che-che" role in her and hopefully when the baby comes we will have less problems with her assuming the actual role.

I am still thinking whether I have anymore to add to this posting and at the moment, nothing comes to mind but I bet you the moment I publish and logout, more things would just pour into my head. But then again, if I don't stop now, I'll never stop and this post will end up being boring. So till the next post about Jia Wen, keep on tuning into my humble blog for updates.

Lastly, "She Aint Heavy, She's My Daughter".

22 Weeks

I am starting to feel uncomfortable. Sleeping positions are starting to become an issue and every night before I fall asleep I would toss around several times just to get the right position - I AM ONLY 5 MONTHS PREGNANT!

Baby is kicking vigorously and seems to be kicking or moving all the time. I am not very sure whether it is due to it being a second pregnancy but the kicks and moves felt at the moment are very low - near the bladder. It is ticklish at times but most times it feels like the baby is swimming back strokes in there and maybe a relay too. It is amazing how much a baby can do in there with such limited space.

At this very second, I am feeling very tired and a little out of breath - I AM ONLY 5 MONTHS PREGNANT! Fortunately I do not feel like that everyday but when it hits, it hits real bad. I get so tired that the only thing I want to do is to just lie down and catch my breath but most of the time, with Jia Wen around she demands attention, needs to be changed, needs to be fed, needs to be played with, needs to be talked to, etc so it is quite difficult to even catch a breath or two.

But on normal days, I am fine - I try to nap in the afternoons though sometimes when Jia Wen refuses to sleep it can be torturous. She can never leave me alone and will insist that I stay awake and entertain her whims and fancies. She'll do all sorts to keep me awake and I tell you that girl can trick me into waking up too. You see, most other parents have the luxury of the TV to keep their kid entertained for at least half an hour - that doesn't work on my kid. Like today, she kept me colouring the whole afternoon and evening!

Emotionally I think I am more emotional this time round. Maybe because it is a lot harder this time than when I was pregnant with Jia Wen. Being pregnant this time is so much different from the first. Having Jia Wen to mind doesn't give me much freedom to do what I want and get the much rest I need. But then, it might just be me being selfish. Sometimes I feel like I am standing on the edge of the cliff and holding on to a thin line - again some may think I am just being selfish.

Between sending her to school 3 times a week and housewhole chores - I am pooped out. Also, for the past 1 month or so, Jia Wen has been giving us problems at night. She gets up several times at night and stands at the door crying. We have tried all the methods we know on how to make this problem go away but she's still doing it. So I get up 3-4 times every night to put her back to bed. So imagine the number of times I wake up to go to the toilet (pregnancy reasons) plus the number of times I wake up to put Jia Wen back to bed, that equals to almost no sleep at night. I might as well sit on a potty outside her room for convenience! Hahaha..

You may ask why don't I get a maid - well there are many reasons why I am still not too keen on getting a maid but the main problem I have now isn't quite something any maid can help with is it? A lot of these involves Jia Wen and to get a maid to care for her - that's not the whole idea of me being a stay-at-home-mum.

I AM ONLY 5 MONTHS PREGNANT!

Check out my new shades people! 

My sister bought Jia Wen this really cool shades from Mothercare for half price and Jia Wen absolutely loves it. She has been asking for a pair of glassess for a long time. 

Jia Wen marking papers with her dad. 

All tired and hungry! 

Szue May, Sabrina, Su Juin & Jia Wenon dry land 

Swimming in the "salty water". She loved the waves.  

Into her sand 

Modern beach enthusiast - got stool! 

Szue May, Su Juin & Jia Wen just getting started 

We recently had a picnic with a few Baha'i friends at Bagan Lalang not too far from here. Jia Wen as usual had a swell time on the beach. Enjoy the pics.