Yik Yak Till The Cows Came Home

This hip and trendy mummy already updated her blog about our coffee meeting last Friday. If you read about it, all the contents are 100% true!! I tell you, the moment we stepped into Starbucks until we left, the whole place was resounding with our laughter. I think I saw a few dirty glares but aiyah, thick-skinned a bit lor. Afterall we only get together once in a blue moon so must cakap habis habis.

Wen is a really funny gal and although this is only our 3rd time meeting up, I feel like I have known her for years! When I got home, I told VT that now, I'm closer to my blogger friends than those I've known from school because we share so many things in common, the biggest of which is, our kids. We understand how difficult it is to juggle work and family, and we lend a helping hand wherever possible.

Wen - so when shall we meet up again? *wink*

Rose & Butterfly Awards

Thanks, Ginie for remembering me when you were giving out all these awards!

Almost HFMD

The Hand, Foot, Mouth Disease or HFMD in short, is characterised by a low-grade fever, ulcers/blisters in the mouth and on the hands and feet. On Sunday, Bryan was slowly burning up. He was still his active self during the day, but by night, I knew something was definitely amiss when he didn't finish his oh-so-beloved milk. Typically, he can sapu 9ozs with no problems but this time, he stopped at the 5ozs mark despite rejecting his dinner earlier.

I brought him the paed on Monday and he warned me that it could be HFMD after discovering an ulcer in his mouth. Oh dear, dear dear! Immediately I called up Sasha whom I remembered Jayden had HFMD a few months back. She advised me to stock up on all the soft food so I'd rushed to Mercato over lunch to get them.

Bryan's fever did not go away on Tuesday but neither did it go pass 38 degrees C. It just kept hovering at 37.7 to 37.8 C. It was quite a nuisance. The poor boy was losing his appetite and I worked hard in ensuring that he at least, had sufficient fluids. Somehow it was a struggle also trying to get him to take Para when usually, he would ask for it! Perhaps it was the ulcer bothering him.

Finally last night, the fever broke as he sweated quite a bit when he was asleep (at 7pm, mind you, having not napped during the day). Thank God it was not HFMD. I suspect it was probably a very tough strain of virus.

Now, both VT and I are sick as well- same symptoms: low-grade fever, sore throat and guess what, an ulcer in the mouth! I can now only pray that Brandon doesn't catch this bug from us!!!

Brandon is 3 Months Old

Another month has gone by. My little baby turns 3 months old today.

Weight: 6.6kg
Milk Intake: 5 ozs every 3 to 4 hours

Sleep: Sleeps by 7pm, waking up at midnight and 4-5am for feeds.

Brandon loves to smile and coo when spoken to, especially by his kor kor. He is quite happy to be left alone. At the moment, Brandon is at the stage of examining his own hands. He turns grumpy in the evening so we have been relying a lot on the Fisher Price rocker to keep him happy.

I think he is progressing well physically though I am a tad worried that when put on his tummy, he doesn't quite know how to lift his head up as yet. He is contented lying down and sucking on his fists! Lazy baby, perhaps?

Our Raya Weekend

A quick synopsis of what we did over the long weekend.

Wednesday (1st day of Raya)
Made a quick visit to Sasha and little Justin in the morning (bright and early – was there just before 9am!); Met up with my god-daughter’s family and another colleague’s family at Marche, The Curve for lunch

Thursday
Hung out at my parents’ place for a while, lazy day

Friday
I went to work while VT took care of the kids, but halfway thru parked Bryan with my MIL.

Saturday
Bloggers gathering at Jazz’s place over lunch where I was late with the curry chicken - finally met Chin Nee for the 1st time;
For dinner, Lok Lok at my parents (yes, we literally had a lok lok van parked in my parents’ porch – great fun, too bad forget to take a photo!) to skaligus celebrate the October and November babies birthdays

Sunday
Hosted a small lunch for a friend who was visiting from Melbourne. Caught up with friends whom we had not seen in more than 5 years!

Most, if not all, of our gatherings happen over lunchtime since Brandon is usually asleep before 7pm these days. So for dinners, I’ll usually whip up something simple that everyone enjoys. I find it more relaxing to eat at home instead of having to pack the whole house when we go out.

By the way, you'll soon notice that my posts will have more photos cos I brought myself a simple point-and-shoot camera :)

To All The Super Mums

Remember how I wrote about being grateful? Well, admitedly I have not been all that grateful of late. I have been very irritatable and short-fused, often lamenting to poor VT about how tired (although I don't do the night shifts!) and short-changed I felt about being tied down with 2 kids. Thing is, most of my friends and colleagues have full time nannies leaving them with lots of time to do their own stuff hence amongst them, I'm probably the most hands-on mum. Hence my complains.

But looking around the blogsphere, I realised that I am nothing compared to all the super mums out there. In addition to caring for their kiddos, they-

scrapbook
cook, bake AND bento
are big in photography
are full time mums

You know who you are!! I really salute and respect you. You guys put me to shame really. And after reading Rachel's post, I should really be grateful (and quit whining over the small stuff) for having 2 beautiful and healthy children.

Mama, Go Out

That is what Bryan says to me these days whenever he wants to do something naughty without me being around to scold or reprimand him. Examples: climb out the couch to play with the light switches/air-con remote control, dig his nose. If I ignore him, he will hold my hand and lead me into the kitchen, and then he keeps making sure that I stay put! I find that as Bryan gets older, he is full of mischief. It is very endearing although sometimes his tantrums can really drive you up the wall.

Bryan is generally a good kid and other than being (over)active, he takes reasoning most of the time. He loves his little di-di to bits – never failing to talk to Brandon, kissing him, holding his hand, stroking his body to sayang and even playing Peek-a-Boo with him. There was once when he even tried to soothe the screaming baby by saying, “Don’t cry, baby”. It brought tears to my eyes. In response, Brandon looks adoringly at his kor kor whenever Bryan talks to him. I can only pray that they will continue to love each other as they grow up. Isn’t that every parents wish?


P/S: Thanks for the well wishes following this incident – it turned out to be a minor gash on his head. All recovered now though scar is still visible. I reckon I need to bubble-wrap that boy of mine!

A Close Call

Bryan gave us another heart attack this evening. He tripped over his own feet in excitement of seeing why his di di was crying, and in the event, fell down and hit his head against the edge of the door frame. There was some blood which thank goodness, stopped in 2 minutes. He was also behaving like normal and was active after that - as if nothing happened! Throughout the night, we tried to apply cold compress and some Savlon on the wound but he would not let us. So when he was asleep, VT and I crept next to him with a small torchlight to get a closer look of the wound. It is a small gash though it looked quite deep. We used a cotton bud to apply some antiseptic cream on it.

Aiyah....this boy is way too active for his own sake. I thought that we had to take him to the A&E again, it would be too traumatic for him so decided to stay put and see how he progresses. I've set my alarm clock for 4am to check his temperature.

I am praying tonight that it is only a cut and nothing more serious.

An Unforgettable Toilet Tale

I'd thought I will try to win a toilet training seat from KittyCat for Bryan, especially since we're beginning to toilet-train him.

Now, I used to enjoy my moments in the toilet. Eventhough I finish my "big business" in less than 3 minutes (I eat lots of fruits and veg mah!), I will take this opportunity to catch up on my reading - newspapers, magazines, books - uninterrupted and peaceful. VT will be taking care of Bryan so I don't have to worry about his where-abouts (both husband and son, ho ho!). So even after I've finished, I will continue to mull on the throne for another 15mins, enjoying my solidatary moments. But since Brandon arrived, this luxury is gone. VT will be taking care of Brandon and only has one other eye on Bryan who is extremely prone to accidents of all sorts. I have to quickly finish my business and rush out.

One morning, I was with Bryan at home alone. And I really had to GO. So I gave Bryan some biscuits and turned on Fun Song Factory to amuse him while I went to relieve myself. Seconds later, I heard Bryan calling out for me and I called back to let him know that I was in the loo. I could see Bryan running towards the toilet where I was finishing up and flushing the john. I tried to stop him from coming in since the floor was wet from being washed earlier. Turned out that he didn't need much persuasion, because the moment he was by the toilet door, he took a good sniff, shuddered and ran away!!!

Looks like indeed Mama had too much roughage!!!

Brandon @ 2 Months

The past 2 months were probably the quickest 2 months that went by. Brandon turns 2 months tomorrow, and I'll be back in the rat race. I'd brought Brandon for his compulsory vaccination yesterday since it was a public holiday for PJ and VT was around.

Brandon....

... weighs 5.65kg, up from 4.35kg last month

... is able to follow objects from left to right

... responds quickly to sound, turning his head towards it

... loves to smile and coo in the morning when spoken to

... fusses terribly from 3pm onwards till bedtime

... loves to fall asleep when being carried upright

...doesn't cry - he screams!

I suppose time will go by even quicker when I return to work and another routine sets in.

Brandon, be a good boy when mama is at work ok? Mama loves you!