18th February 2011-Euan Weaning

Euan has been showing signs of wanting to eat our food for weeks now. Initially, I was really adamant to wait till 6 months, but upon seeing his' longing for food face', trying to grab our plates and doing his munching and sucking motions, I gave in at 4 1/2 months. Actually I did try to a week or two back with a sample pack of rice cereal with FRUITS which was abit sourish, and he didn't like the taste of it ( i didn't have any plain ones). Today I fed him propper plain rice cereal mixed with warm water to a smooth consistency. He smiled widely upon the first spoon. I think in total he managed to keep down 2 spoonful. Good enough.

Moving on to Tobey. On the way to school today he asked me "Mummy, why have FIVE Tobeys in my school!?Why Why WHy???" Yup there are FIVE of them. All in the same CLASSROOM! So much for trying to name our kid something "uncommon" back in 2007. I just told him I don't know why. Maybe because his name is such a nice name :P

Chinese New Year 2011- Picture update

SK took a few days off. We went up to Birmingham to visit the brother-in-law to celebrate.

Here's Tobey standing beside a stationary "dragon" in Wing Wah restaurant

Euan first time on a high chair- not ready yet :P

Found frozen durian!!!!! from Wing Yip chinese supermarket. I was beyond happy.

Bunked at the BIL's apartment. I really like the floor to ceiling windows.

My men.

A friend gave Tobey a lantern. He thought it's simply a colourful paperback to store his toys! We lighted it up for him...

He and daddy went out to the back garden for 5 minutes with the pretty lantern...cold...brrrr!

My cousin went back to Malaysia for CNY and came back with THESE little treasures from home :) Thanks to my mum and auntie for these lovely munchies :))

I finally bought a rug to create some kind of segregation (TV area and bookshelves area) to my long-ish lounge.

The Brothers

Tobey- Ever cheerful and friendly, Euan- Ever serious and reserved. Their personalities couldn't be anymore different. Only thing in common, they absolutely love and adore each other.

Euan at 16 weeks & Tobey at 3 years 7 months

My darling Euan smiles alot nowadays. His hobby is finger sucking. I remember Tobey didn't take to soothing himself by doing so, although at that time we encouraged it so that he can use that to fall back to sleep in the middle of the night. He preferred the pacifier. Euan on the other hand couldn't take the pacifier. It triggered his gagging reflex when I tried introducing it to him. I guess because he doesn't take the bottle at all. At a luncheon yesterday, a French mummy friend of mine was kind of 'disapprove' of me letting Euan do so, saying that it'll become the hardest habit to break and so on. But seriously, how do you stop a baby from sucking his own fingers??? I am quite relaxed about it to be honest. It's a small matter in the grand scheme of things. YUP. totally different from the first baby. Not that I am adopting a 'tidak apa' attitude towards my second one, it's just that I know what to worry and what's not worth worrying about. I've learnt that they grow up at a blink of an eye, so it's most important to enjoy them as much as possible, rather than worrying about why is he not drinking from a cup yet, or flipping to his side yet, etc. Like SK said, "Have you met a healthy baby that grew up not knowing how to walk ?" (Edit: I misquoted him, it's actually "Have you met an adult who is still crawling?")

Euan recognises us now. He cries when someone he's not seen before carries him. He loves us to carry him about and hates to be put down on his bouncer/cot/bed, unless it's nap time. He loves going out. When we put him in his winter jacket, he gets all excited! He naps two 30 mins naps and one 2 hours nap during the day. His night time sleep commences from 9pm to 9am. He still wakes up for feeds, especially so last week, I think it was his 3rd month growth spurt. He's showing alot of intrest in solids. Whenever he sees anyone eating, he would do his 'munching' mouth movement. I will definitely wait till month 6 to introduce him any solid. It'll be rice cereal followed by chinese rice porridge with added vege/meat/fish one at a time as I slowly introduce them to his diet. This time I will forgo western style of steam and mash vege, etc. Easier and tastier. I can't believe he's in his 4th month already. Time really flew by. Here are several pics taken today :)




My darling Tobey has started his swimming lessons this month. His lessons are being held at the hotel's indoor pool behind my house (1.3 m throughout). It's just 5 minutes walk. But I still drive as it's still too cold for him to walk now after a swim. I just dry him and bundle him into the car after his lesson. He takes his shower when he reaches home, rather than doing it in the hotel changing rooms. He's being taught by his instructor Jeremy together with another student Lian. (not Liam, but Lian). I think he enjoyed himself, although at one point when Jeremy let go of him so that he can learn to float on his own, he started to protest and wanted to get off the pool ;)

He can write his own name now and started writing it on everything he owns(like his cupboard!!!) until we stopped him.His current favourite TV programme is the Octonauts. He's started to venture into really spicy food. Kept saying things like "Hot noodle that one, more please". Still loves school 3 hours a day. When I asked him whether he wants to sta 6 hours on some days (so that I don't have to do the school runs on some days , as he has 15 hours a week free schooling) he said "No , it's too long mummy". My son is truly a creature of routine and loves his home comforts. Oh well, maybe later :)) Here are few pics during him during his swimming lessons.

3 months old Euan

We didn't gel his hair. It's naturally curl-up into a stylish point at the top. His forehead still smells fab!

Hello 2011!!!

Since I last posted, Euan has grown up alot. He'll be 3 months old in a few days time and is due for his 3rd month immunisation jab on the same day. This little baby still is very sweet and considerate. He has taken to sucking his own fingers to comfort himself. During the night, he comforts himself back to sleep and only cry for feed if he really have to. Very thoughtful baby hahaha! He recognises faces and ask to be picked up in his own way. During bath time, you can ask him to kick the water and he would proudly do so with a big toothless grin on his face. These few days, it's as if he just noticed his tiny toes. He would wiggle them and move his feet in circular movement whilst watching intently. I guess his feet are always covered by his sleepsuit, hence he never knew. Euan adores his daddy and Tobey. He loves watching them play from a corner and would not take his eyes off them and their toys.

Euan watching daddy and Tobey playing Wii. These pictures were taken on the 5/12. When Euan was 2 months old. Will load up his recent pics soon.

See how he happily joined in the gang

Learning from his big brother

*** Warning- Long winded posting below***

December hasn't been a good month for us health wise.

It started with SK accidentally shut the door on Tobey's left ring finger on the 7th of Dec. We rushed him to A&E and his finger was x-rayed. It had a hairline fracture at the very tip. They bandaged him up and put him on a course of antibiotic to avoid any infection. We kept him home from pre-school but he still went to perform in his nativity play on the 9th as he had been practicing really hard for it. As he's a sheep for the play, he's suppose to take off his t-shirt before putting on his costume. He refused and wouldn't let his teacher take it off for fear that it might hurt his bandaged finger.

my darling with his injured finger

He got really bored midway

Posing with something we won in the raffles draw

We took him for further 3 check-ups. It's all healed now, but the boy still insist on having a bandage on until his new nail grows back. Whenever he accidentally pull off the bandage he would cry out of fear, as if his finger fell off. Silly bunny.

On the 19th, Tobey started to have a flu. For the next few days he had mild temperature at night and that followed by a terrible cough for a couple more days. Other than being snotty and very lethargic, he was well in himself, as in he still as active as usual. We wanted to bring to go to the church service on the eve of Christmas, but since he's still not completely well, we didn't. When he got better, except for a lingering cough, SK and Euan fell ill with the same virus on Christmas day! Both of them were being hit REALLY hard by this strain. SK was literally bed-ridden for a few days. It was so heart-breaking seeing them being so weak! I weren't so worried about SK, but was quite panicky for Euan. He was just 12 weeks old. I didn't want to leave any stone unturned and was ultra alert of the symptomsor changes. For the first 3 nights, I took him to see the out- of- hours doctors. The doctor on the first night even offered him antibiotics! I stopped after 24 hours as it did not take effect( after seeking approval from a doctor first of course) and I was then pretty sure it was a viral flu. Antibiotics would not help. I don't understand how can a doctor just put his finger in the air and simply prescribe antibiotic to such a small infant. On the second night, he vomited one of his feeds. The second out-of-hours doctor said it's just a very bad flu. Just treat him with calpol(children paracetamol) and neurofen (children ibuprofen) at home and let the virus run it's course. On the third night, his cough was getting so bad that it again triggered his gag system and he vomited twice. I was so anxious and thankfully the third out-of-hours doctor wrote us a letter and referred him to be seen by the paediatrician immediately. Euan was being examined thoroughly for the next couple of hours (wee hours of the morning till 5 am). I told them that my concern is his hacking cough that is so bad that it's causing his body to jerk and gag. He is being diagnosed as having Bronchiolitis. Apparently, this virus affects mostly babies between 3-6 months during the winter months. they have been seeing so many babies this winter down with the same virus. The symptoms are mainly coughing, accompanied by mild fever for the first few days. The coughing is the only way the babies use to clear their airway of mucus. Since babies aren't able to spit out phlegm like adults, they just retain it longer until it's being expelled in their diapers. The severity of the symptoms peaks at day 3 then it stays bad for 4 days and gets gradually better in the next 3-4 days. There's nothing the doctors could prescribe him. We were just instructed to keep him hydrated and temperature down. I think he turned the corner and started to get better on day 7, except for the irritating cough. Again, I took him to the our local Cambourne paediatric doctor to be checked out again, just to make sure he hasn't got any secondary infection such as a sore throat. He was alright. She told me that almost all of Cambourne babies are down with this virus this winter, it just went around the village. Great. Today is day 10 and he's 95% back to himself. There's still this stupid damn cough that appears a few times in a day. Oh, hubby's purchase of a vaporiser is worth every penny. It humidified Euan's room and help loosen his mucus from his nose and airway, hence made his breathing easier and gave him better sleep. And to think that I actually objected to this purchase a few months back. Sigh.

SK is also almost back to his usual self. He's alright, except that he felt cheated of his Christmas holidays. 8 days were used up to nurse this virus off system. I think before next winter break, I would try to keep Tobey off school for a few days. Really don't want any of us to spend another Christmas being sick.

As for me, I am just so glad that my 3 sweethearts are ok now. I only managed to go to the sales twice. But didn't managed to get anything for myself both times. However, I did quite good on the internet shopping front. Breastfeeding shrinked me a little, so I dug out many pairs of jeans which were banished to the top of the cupboard and suddenly have new clothes to wear..hehe.

To family and friends, here's wishing you good health and lots of love in 2011.

Euan at 8 weeks old

He smiles more now. Unlike Tobey who as as a baby was more generous with smiles, Euan is more mysterious and always looks as if he's pondering about the meaning of life, hence making his smiles more golden ;) He gurgles alot though.

At his six weeks check he weighed 5.8kgs, at 90th percentile and height at 75th percentile. So now, 2 weeks later he should weight more than a kg more. He takes a few naps a day and starts his night sleep at around 8pm. Will wake up every 2 hours for feed. However, from 12 midnight to7/8 am, he wakes up only once (on most nights).That's the saving grace for me. He is still exclusively breastfed.

We woke up to 5cm depth of snow this November morning. We walked to school today, so that Tobey can make snowballs and footprints on the snow on the way there. Today was his dress rehearsal for his nativity play (on the 9th Dec).. We ended getting him TWO sheep costumes (long story). SK took leave just to attend his firstborn very first play :)

He's enjoying pre-school alot. Few weeks back, SK went for his development meeting with his key worker. The only concern the teachers have is how he's not intrested in playing games on the school's computer. Here's why;

I've also been lugging the kids to do school visits , in preparation of choosing the most suitable school for Tobey's reception in 2011.

More pics

Euan at 7 weeks old

Tobey practicing his school play

Almost 3 1/2 years old Tobey

Family picture

Euan at 5 weeks old

He's rounder now with all the breastmilk he's been getting...hehehe.. He's currently having a growth spurt , where he wants milk, alot of milk almost every hour at times. He has very strong neck and can turn his head left and right to look at things. He's attracted to anything red and will stare at that item for a long time. He's aware of his brother Tobey alot. When Tobey is playing near him, Euan will gaze at him and his eyes will follow him wherever he goes. Tobey on the other hand is becoming very protective of his little brother. Whenever Euan cries he will say "Don't worry Euan, Big Brother Tobey is here!". He will always be very happy to see Euan after school. It's very heartwarming for me to see that they are starting to bond a little. Euan is also more aware of daddy now...probably wondering who is this man that looks so much like him ;P

Life for me after my parents went home (thank you papa and mummy for all the help and putting up with my hormonal mood swings )has been HECTIC! Basically, from the time I wake up at around 8 am it's go go go! Bath Euan and myself, feed Euan, eat breakfast with Tobey, house chores, feed Euan again, send Tobey to pre-school (he eats lunch at school), grocery shopping, feed Euan, put him down for a nap, cook dinner, pick Tobey up from pre-school, give Tobey his snack, finishing up preparing dinner and somemore housework, bath Tobey and give him his dinner....and on and on. After the initial hormonal weeks, now things are more settled, and admidst all the tiredness, I am actually very happy to look after this little family of mine :)

Updates on Tobey: (this is typed up very fast as Euan is currently tugging on SK's t-shirt, looking for a feed)

Tobey is growing up into a very boyish boy. His current favourite cartoon hero is no longer Firemand Sam, but Sportacus from the show Lazytown. He will do his Sportacus moves and can be persuaded to eat something that he doesn't want to eat just by saying "Sportacus eats this too". He loves school and is known as the one that gives the biggest smiles to the teachers. I love hearing about his school day on our walk back from school. He tells me that his favourite teacher are Mrs. Robot (Roberts) and Mrs. Garrrrrick (Garrick) and how he played "chasing" and "fighting" with Mitchell and Asher for example. He also pretends to be Luke skywalker from Star Wars alot (as he plays Lego Star Wars on Wii everynight with daddy-which is Darth Vader). He has light sabers (which actually lights up in different colours) and would spar like his character from the game. Tobey can recite his A-Z but can't recognise all the characters on paper yet. He still loves us to read to him and is learning to write his name. He loves playing Lego and stickle bricks, constructing bridges, buildings, cars, birthday cakes, etc., making up scenarios as he plays with them. So much more to update on my big boy, will do so when I find more time. Just want to say that I am very proud of him.

Got to go now.Bye.

Euan Wong

Delivered naturally on the 5th October 2010, weighing 8lbs 2oz. Our hearts are bursting with immense joy. Tobey is over the moon too :))

The waiting game

A few more weeks before my due date. I have been feeling really heavy and 'pressed down' whenever I move about. My bladder is the size of a teabag, so each glass of water I consume equals to three loo trips..haha! In the day time, I still carry on as usual as possible. Grocery shopping, play dates, birthday parties, getting the house ready for the arrival of our second one, etc. In the evenings, I would spend my time researching on the pros and cons of Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC), which I am leaning towards now.

I just want to be able to deliver naturally, and be in and out of the hospital without having to stay in the hospital for 3 nights all on my own with a newborn after another Cesarean. After all the intensive head pounding research, I've decided to wait till 41 weeks. If I go into natural delivery by then, then good. Let's just hope the integrity of my stitches from 3 years back is good enough. Statistically, there's 0.35% chance of a rupture happening. There's also a chance of things going awfully wrong in a Cesarean or even a natural birth. Child birth is a risky business, period. If this is another late baby and exceeds the 41 weeks mark, I will go for another section. Under no circumstances I will be artificially induced again. No to epidural too during a VBAC (who knows, I might just turn around and beg the doctor for one when the time comes, we'll see..haha!).

Tobey has been behaving rather weird lately. Most of the time, he's the good boy he is. But, there are times when he shouts at us when he doesn't get his ways. At times he would resort to crying. Just a few minutes ago, he spat at me when I told him not to disturb his daddy who's taking a much needed nap.I noticed that these unacceptable behaviours happen more when his daddy is around. Maybe because he felt that daddy will always be on his side when he's up to no good. Me and SK (although we have slightly different method in disciplining), we try to discuss about it and stand united when confronting him. Our method is to 'nip it in the bud' each time firmly. I know it's called the 'Terrible Three' and all that, but apart of me wonder whether it's anything to do with the impending arrival of his baby brother. We do talk to him about his brother off and on. Telling him that we'll need to carry his brother because he won't know how to walk yet when he's out, about how his brother would cry alot as he won't know how to speak yet as he's not a big boy like him and so on. He's quite careful in not to jump on my tummy, sings to the baby and whenever I bump myself he would asked "Is baby brother alright?". Sometimes he would ask questions like "Does my baby brother like dark? It must be dark in mummy's tummy." Which is quite sweet :)

Anyhow, I am quite calm and prepared for the delivery (being the second time around). All I can do now is just to pray that everything to be alright.

Several pics I forgot to include in the previous post.

These are the sweetest plums ever! They are from our plum tree in the back garden. Tobey and I polished the whole plate off. SK just get to see the picture as he's adamant that he does not like plums. Tobey even ate the skin. He never liked fruit skin. Now we are waiting for the apples to get bigger and ripen. Hopefully, they are just as juicy and sweet :)
This is an indoor beach in a mall. They just poured huge quantity of soft sand onto floor and threw in a whole bunch of beach toys for the kids and set up beach loungers for parents to sit on. It was fab !
Father and son with their Legos. This is their favourite after dinner game (other than Star Wars in Wii). They would conjure up different scenarios which makes me laugh. For example, SK would build a private car park with gates. Tobey will have to pay SK some money to park his fire engine in SK's exclusive car park for a few minutes. Or there will be fire in the FIRE STATION, and the driver of the cement mixer truck would put out the flame with his mini fire extinguisher..hehehe.

Double rainbow seen outside, from Tobey's bedroom.

Pic updates

It's been a summer of

...funfair

...ice-cream

...baking

...fun days with friends

...first fruits from the garden trees

We are hosting two language students from China for 3 weeks. It's been an amazing experience learning about their culture. Tobey is getting used to all the attention and like them to bits.


Also, today was my lucky day. I finally found THE poster for the empty wall in my living room. I've considered many options when we first moved in, but nothing really stood out, so this has been put on hold for a looooong time. For this one, once I saw it, I knew it's the right one. It's a subtle oil painting of a landscape with colours which both me and SK found so soothing.