Pics update

I am sure you guys are here just for the goods, here you gaw......

He semi-seats now

Smiles/chuckles at his brother's jokes every day

He explores through his mouth, rather than fingers. Those golden fingers are reserved for the mouth too.

Big brother Tobey is fine too...a few weeks back he can swim by himself on the back...It's more like floating to me. He's very proud of himself nevertheless. He's into stickers now. Daddy indulged his new hobby by getting him Star Wars sticker book. I've been spending ages with him completing the pages with the correct stickers. Now I know about Anakin, The Imprerial Trooper,Chewbacca and Padme Amidala as if I grew up with them. He's been trying to read more too. SK attended another meeting with his key worker yesterday. Quoting Mrs. Garrick: "It's such a change to see a boy that is happy and independent all the time".

Also, (just so that I remember this episode, as this is not the usual virus) during the end of his half-term holidays, he was down with Hand, Foot and Mouth (not to be confused with Foot and Mouth from the Pigs. This is a common childhood illness according to the medics here). Mild fever for the first night and then ulcers in his mouth. (He's been having a very bad habit of putting things in his mouth again, for some strange unknown reason. Maybe he's trying to copy Euan. Probably got the germs from there). This is a very contagious illness, hence I kept him home from school and also away from Euan as much as possible. Eating and drinking brought him to tears for two days. All he could take in was yogurt drinks. He even said NO to ICE-CREAM. Sometimes he would ask for his favourite food, only to cry after the first bite, as he had forgotten about the ulcers. He lost so much of weight. No more rosy cheeks (that is like his 'health-o-meter'). On Day 3 I forced SK to get something from the GP to relieve the pain so that he can eat, else I'll die of heartbreak. GP gave us this spray to numb the ulcers before meals. Also an anti-viral for the thrush on his tongue. Those medication were God sent. Tobey could eat and hence got much better. He completely recovered on day 5. After a good talk with him about germs and how it got to him, he now know not to put his fingers or toys in his mouth. Also to not KISS his school friends!!! ( I caught him doing that one day and was gobsmacked). Only kiss your parents and Euan!

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 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 :))

Baby Number Two

First scan at Hinchingbrooke Hospital Treatment Centre

Yup I am 3 1/2 months pregnant with Tobey's bro/sis :)

Although I have been through all these before, for me, this baby is entirely different from Tobey. It's a new life altogether. Today we went for the first scan. I was moved beyond words when I saw my little baby inside of me. After making sure that he/she has got 2 arms and 2 legs, the next thing I noticed was how sharp his/her nose is. Tobey had my button nose in his first scan pictures (he still has the cutest button nose). I guess this baby has SK's nose.

The first month of pregnancy was smooth sailing. I was telling my friends how I might have escaped from suffering any morning sickness this time around. With Tobey I had a few weeks of morning (2 hours each day max) nausea. I remember vividly munching on vinegar and salt rice cakes on the way to work. I spoke too soon obviously. Month 2 and 3 was torturous. Most days, I suffered from mild nausea ALL DAY LONG.I couldn't even vomit to relief it. I couldn't eat well, but if I was hungry, the nausea got worse. So I had to force food into my system for my sake and the baby's health. The sight and smell of certain food can really set me off. First it was chicken -on-bone (same case when I was carrying Tobey), then it was pork, then fish, then cheese...etc. At one point, I could only tolerate toasted bread with tomato sauce! Cooking for Tobey and SK was like an out-of-body experience. I did it without passion and just like a robot. MSG in outside food didn't agree with me as well. I suddenly found the smell of anchovies repulsive! I love food and my love for eating is common knowledge to everyone I know. So having such a 'touch-and-go' relationship with food genuinely saddened me. I couldn't even stand my usual favourite laundry detergent of Lavender and Camomile. I got tired easily and slept alot more. Long story short, I was at one of my lowest point in my life. The only thing that can relieve my morning sickness was a walk in the fresh open air. Unfortunately during those months, UK was suffering the coldest winter in 30 years. So a slow walk in the park was out of the equation. It was more like sticking my head out an open window for several minutes a time.

AAAAAnyways, every cloud has a silver lining...Spring came 2 weeks ago, a months late, but it came at the tail end of my morning sickness period. Most of my nausea went away along with the cold. I started vegetable gardening, took Tobey out for walks in parks, cycling and to the playgrounds, hanging my laundry on the washing line, visiting friends for lunch dates and sometimes just ate lunch in the back garden. Simple pleasures that 5 months a year of winter robbed from us. I hate winter. I really do. Snow no longer hold that magical feel to it and has no more 'wow factor' for me anymore. Snow is more like a massive inconvenience to our lives here, which centres alot on being outdoors. I lost count of the number of times my car skidded on frozen roads. When the sun came back, my appetite and energy returned too. I cooked up a storm. Portugese Curry Devil, Mango Rojak , Hokkien Mee, Wonton Mee, Prawn mee...it was such a relief.

I can't wait to hold this baby in my arms in September. I pray daily that this baby will be healthy and well-formed. We discussed for centuries before decided to have another child. Especially when it's just the both of us caring for both children in this foreign land. No maid, no relatives, no easily available yummy food (plus in a huge variety) to turn too when we don't feel like cooking for a week, no cheap childcare, the list goes on. All we hope is for he/she and Tobey will look out for one another in life and can be pillars of support and strength to each other. Especially when we are not around anymore (we'll be travelling the world! Woo Hoo!).

Two is our magic number.