March 13, 2010 - Posted by Julie - 10 Comments
I never thought I could do this and complete the mission successfully. 
It is a date to remember that finally Jonathan boy is off his favourite pacifier (or peh peh he would call it being the first syllabus “pa”).
Two weeks ago, on a Saturday night that was 27/3/2010, Darling initiated the mission which I was doubting if we could sustain. It was a tough night for Jonathan boy. Initially, he asked for his peh peh with his manja voice as usual but his request was rejected by us. Then he started to whine, then cried, then thrown tantrum by rolling on the bed, kicking here and there. We kept telling him ”no more peh peh“, “Jonathan big boy already”, “peh peh for baby only”, “peh peh shame shame” but he still can’t accept it. After sometime, he drifted into dreamland with tears. Oh, my poor boy. In the middle of the night, he woke up once to look for his peh peh and cried when he can’t find them.
The second night, he went to bed without any fuss as he was too tired because he didn’t take his afternoon nap. Phew……we thought tonight is an easy night. Who knows, it was Chap Goh Mei! He was awaken by the firecrackers and it turned an easy night into a horrible night. He cried so terriblely as though having a bad dream.
The following nights, Darling was on night shift. I warned him that if I couldn’t bear with Jonathan’s act, I’ll give in. (Guess I am not as firm as him or not as patience as him) I was praying hard that Jonathan won’t give me a hard time each night. Hehe….he was very co-operative indeed. Few nights in the beginning, he requested for his peh peh and I kept telling him “no more peh peh“, “Jonathan big boy already”, “peh peh for baby only”, “peh peh shame shame”. It was really a brainwashing session. He didn’t cry or throw tantrum but just whine a little. I gave him his milk bottle or water bottle with teat to soothe himself.
One week gone. Occasionally he still ask for it. He nearly wanted to pull out the toy pacifier from one of the doll. The following week, he began to understand and accept it. He never asked for his peh peh anymore. We browsed through the photos in my camera and when he sees himself with pacifier, he said, “Jonathan shame shame”. When we asked him if he still wants peh peh, he said, “Peh peh for baby.”
Many asked me before this, when would I want to wean him off from pacifier. I couldn’t gave an answer because I was afraid to see him “suffer”. If you ask me now, how to do it, I can only share with you what we had been through. It really depends on your child, how you handle the situation and perseverance is very important. Some parents had to perform tricks (like cutting off the pacifier in front of the kid), some kids need to be encouraged with some “bribe”, and like my son, I think he just need to be brain-washed. 
(Now I’m wondering if he will easily get influenced by others when he grows up. Hmmm…..)
Not forgetting, all credit goes to Darling, for being a very supportive husband and a firm Daddy. And also Jonathan boy for being a very understanding and well-behaved boy.
March 8, 2010 - Posted by Julie - 14 Comments
My body began to change since CNY. Nose growing bigger, legs getting more swollen, getting lazier and restless, and the worst is acne! Blame it to the burning hot weather. A bath suppose to be refreshing but ended to be like just came out from a hot spring. Night should be breezing cool but it was the warmest part of the day. Because of that, I had acne all over my body.
Now I just can’t wait for my confinement. Thinking of all those delicious food and 2 months leave. Hope I can get to enjoy my two months maternity leave with minimal disruption from the office and without any annoying calls from my boss and colleagues. They make it seems that their phone directory only has my number and only I can answer or resolve their issue and only I have the access to the information they want! This is the problem when you do not have someone as your back-up that knows the A – Z of your work.
How is the little one doing? Oh…last week’s scan showed that she refuses to turn her head down!
Doc: Come back next week and if she is still not turning, we will have to schedule for a Caesarean.
Me: So soon? My EDD is 25th. Can’t we wait till there are signs of labour?
Doc: No…by then we have to go for emergency Caesarean.
Me: *Keep quiet. Disappointed*
Since then, I had been praying harder and talking much more to baby. I’m not afraid of C-sect but just want to experience natural birth since I had gone through C-sect the previous time.
Got most of the necessary stuff packed for baby, myself and Jonathan. This time will be having my confinement in hometown and Jonathan will be tagging along. Not too sure if I can cope with the traveling in such condition and having to take care of the baby at the same time.
* Update (one week later): Praise the Lord! Little one is very obedient. She turned!! What a relieved. So now, we just have to wait, wait and wait for signs of labour.
February 26, 2010 - Posted by Julie - 11 Comments
When your child starts to speak and understand, does he/she mixed words up or get confused? Jonathan boy mixed up the “me” and “you” pronouns.
I used to say: “Come boy, Mommy carry you.”
When he wants me to carry him, he would say: “Mommy, carry you, please.”
***********
I would ask him: “Jonathan boy, Mommy make milk for you, ok?”
When he wants milk, he says: “Mommy, make milk you.” (Notice too that the “for” is missing here)
When he made this mistake, I would stare at him with a smile. He can read my expression and then corrected himself. But suprisingly he won’t get the “I” and “You” or “Me” and “I” mixed up. He knows when to use them.
Such as: “Daddy, I want egg.” and “Daddy, you want egg?”
“Give me.” and “I want.” instead of “Me want.”
I try to use nouns and names when speaking to him but often forget ’cause we are so used to using pronouns in our daily adult conversation. Nevertheless, it’s so cute sometimes when you hear the mistakes they made.
February 10, 2010 - Posted by Julie - 13 Comments
Left: Taken yesterday, Right: Taken one year ago.
See how much Jonathan boy has grown. He is now well-trained to say, “Gong Xi, Gong Xi, ang pow please…” But only in front of Mommy. Shy boy it seems. Sigh….
Anyway, wishing everyone a good year ahead and safe journey for those who are traveling. Take care and don’t fall sick. Cheers!
February 7, 2010 - Posted by Jonathan - 5 Comments
… I see no picture displayed on the TV because I accidentally pressed invalid channel.
… the remote control is out of battery.
… my remote control car refuse to move on its own.
… the arms of my Ultraman dislocated.
… my shoe has a “buaya” mouth.
… I don’t hear any sound from my computer while playing games or watching my favourite VCD.
…there is no light shining from the torch light.
Many more mishaps happened due to my naughtiness curiosity at this age but Daddy got all that fixed. That’s not all.
…Mommy sees a lizard. She will be screaming, “Darling! Come and catch this lizard away.”
…I see baby cockroaches running inside the car. I’ll scream, “Daddy, catch!”
Isn’t my Daddy great? And I shall now call him Handy Daddy. Hooray!
February 4, 2010 - Posted by Julie - 9 Comments
Visited my gynae yesterday at week 33. The scan a little upsetting me. Oh no, don’t worry…little one is doing fine. Still kicking and squirming actively in mommy’s tummy.
The scan revealed 2 things.
1. #2 gonna be a much smaller baby compare to Jonathan whose birthweight was 3.99kg. She is about 1.6kg now (normal weight is about 2kg) and doctor estimated her birthweight to be nothing more than 3kg. I suspected this earlier from the size of my tummy that doesn’t seems like an 7+ months preggar. I received same comments from people around me. Comparing to my previous pregnancy, it is like I’m just in my 6 months.
Told my eldest sis about it and this was what she said: “You sleep more then baby will grow. My youngest girl is the biggest among her siblings because I slept well. Sis W (my 3rd sis) got all big babies because she slept like a pig.”
LOL! I’m not hoping for a big baby but just about the right size so that she will be much easier to care for. Any suggestion on how to increase the little one’s weight? My doc already warned me not to overeat on CNY.
2. Baby’s position is head up right now. No wonder I was getting all the squirming and kicking around my lower belly. Praying hard now that she will decide to turn down when the time comes.
January 22, 2010 - Posted by Julie - 10 Comments
Received a bouquet of 12 roses from Darling. He never fails to make me happy by wasting money. But I never get him anything in return. Guy is always at the losing end.
January 18, 2010 - Posted by Julie - 22 Comments
Yeah, I think I should be in week 30 now. Really lost count for this pregnancy. I think it’s the second child syndrome and I feel so bad when I come to think of it. I seldom talk to her, read to her, play music for her and connecting her with Daddy. Even, I started late in taking Spirulina and Calrich. These are Elken products and I took it when I was pregnant with Jonathan. You can really see the goodness in Jonathan that he has good immune system and strong bones.
Pregnant with Jonathan is a lot different from this pregnancy. Different symptoms. The heartburn this time round was worst. Until now, I still can’t enjoy my food because it always got stuck in my throat. I crave for sweet stuff especially canned lychee or rambutans and sea coconut. In my first trimester, I craved for coffee which was something I dislike. Funny eh… I think I can’t take milk because I feel awful after that.
Different in size too! The tummy this time was rounder and smaller. My 7 months tummy looks like 6 months tummy of the previous pregnancy. Some aunties say I got a neat tummy and it is definitely a baby girl tummy.
The previous pregnancy, my feet started to swell at 6 months. My gynae always commented on this everytime I went for my routine check. This pregnancy, although my feet has grown bigger but not swollen yet.
Similarity? ICE! I can’t live without ice. I know, I know it is not good but can you see my suffering? Another similarity is in the baby’s characteristic. This little one is as active as Jonathan. Squirming here and there, telling Mommy that she’s lively.
There is one on-going experiment. I’m taking soya bean milk (with white sugar) almost daily because Jonathan has dark complexion from dunno-who-gene. And not forgetting bird nest…it really make the baby’s skin soft and smooth.
Aunty-Next-Door took some of this preggie shots for me during Christmas. It was an unplanned session and so you can see I look quite messy.
January 7, 2010 - Posted by Julie - 7 Comments
Part I – Christmas celebration with Darling’s family (click on the photo below for more photos)
Part II – Christmas celebration with my family (click on the photo below for more photos)
January 3, 2010 - Posted by Julie - 9 Comments
There gone my 2 weeks of annual leave. Thinking of having to go back to work tomorrow really make me sick, but I can never get really sick enough to warrant for a medical leave. I wonder why some people could love their job or employer so much until they look forward to working the next day. I am not saying that I am working for a lousy employer. I have an employer that pays me well with above average benefits. He gave me fair increment and good bonuses so far for the last 4 years. Well of course that was also because I am a good performer each year.
Wrong job? Nope. I graduated and work in this field for the past 10 years. No regret.
I guess it is the people that I am working with. They think that I am the most important person who holds all the information where nobody else can access. It is as though in their directory, they only see my contact number but no one else. I can hardly take a day off without receiving calls from the office. You see, certain things can be delayed until I am back. Certain puzzle can be solved if they independantly take the initiative to find out how. Certain reports can be requested from me earlier without waiting till the final minute. I have to sacrifice my sleep just to be early in the office to get the last minute request done. At times, I have to stay up in the office to after 8pm for meetings/discussions. All these frustrated me. But being a responsible employee, I still obey and get those things done.
I can’t accomodate to these so flexiblely nowadays compared to years ago because I have a husband who is waiting to kiss me goodbye before he leaves for night shift work and a son at home who is waiting to call me “Mommy”. Soon I will have a baby waiting to suckle my engorged breast. Where is the work-life balanced?
I told my mom recently of my intention to leave after I’ve delivered, either to be a SAHM or find a less stressful and time consuming job like a receptionist or clerk. She, knowing the amount of bonuses I received each year, with her dollar sign eye ball, says, ”Are you sure you want to leave and for-go the many months bonus you can receive?”
Sigh…it’s all about money. Why should there be an existence of money in human life which then created so much problems…crime, theft, bribery. How or where can I find peace and happiness at the work place?
