Back to KL

Waaa...it's the end of my maternity leave already. Going back to KL and settle a few things before I start work. I'm already so used to my old room and old bed. Nothing like the comfort of home sweet home. It's so nice to wake up and have mom to help bathe for Joseph or Eliza and have breakfast ready on the table. Dad also helped to feed Eliza during mealtimes. I can even go out with hubby during weekends and leave the kids at home knowing they are in good hands.

It was hell during the first month with all the 'pantang larang' stuff. And also having a confinement lady from hell. And I don't know why during the first month, I will always have lots of arguments with my beloved mom. LOL. But come second month it will be all be rosy and I will start appreciating my parents. Then I will start becoming home sick even before I leave for KL. It happened during my first maternity leave and now it's the same feeling during my second maternity leave. Maybe it has something to do with not being allowed to wash my hair and bathe for one whole month. Believe me it can make a person real cranky.

So there, I'm really going to miss home sweet home in Malacca, my parents, my sister and my nephews (even though they irritate the crap out of me). Mommy!!!!! See, even Joseph doesn't look too happy..:P

Mooncake Festival

This year I got to celebrate the mooncake festival or mid-autumn festival in Malacca. Of course, Eliza had a blast because at least this year she's got company compared to last year where she played lantern with her parents only. This year she got to play it with my two nephews. So I just let them play while I stayed indoor most of the time eating mooncake and looking after Joseph. Hehe. So good to still be on maternity leave. P/S: Check out her slippers. Haha.

The Mak Nenek

This video was taken during my maternity leave in Malacca. Eliza's daddy was in KL and only came back to Malacca on weekends. So he would call everyday to check on us. So the little mak nenek was more than excited to get the phone and speak to her daddy. Don't you think she's quite an actor? Hehe

Big Sister

Elizabeth is now officially a big sister. She didn't really know how to react when she first saw her brother. Even referred her brother as "baby". Slowly but surely I think it began to dawn on her that this "baby" is staying for good. She needs to be reminded to call this "baby" didi.

She doesn't show hatred towards her brother but you can tell she's jealous when she wants attention and she wants it like NOW! Even though didi is crying and needs my attention. But it's not that bad. She still kisses and smell her little brother and makes funny 'geram' sounds when she touches her little brother. Watch the video below!

Joseph is baptized!

Joseph is baptized today at the St. Francis Xavier Church in Malacca, one month after his birth. Little fellow still doesn't know anything but never mind dear, mommy has pictures and this blog for you to look back.

It was much easier this time to get him baptized compared to his sister. I think it depends on the priest from different churches. Some of them are more strict. Elizabeth had to wait until she was 4 month old to get baptized. So I'm thankful that I can quickly get it done before my maternity leave was over.

It was quite a surprised to see many babies baptized on the same day because when Elizabeth was baptized, there were only two babies including Elizabeth. Joseph's god father was my cousin, William. It was nice of him to agree to be Joseph's god father on such a short notice. I was anxious that Joseph would act up in church because the church can be hot. But thankfully he was pretty good most of the time except for milk time.

So yay! If next time hubby doesn't want to go church with me when I'm old, wrinkly and wobbly, I can always count on these two to bring old mommy to church. Haha.

Full Moon

Joseph is one month old today! We had a simple celebration. Nothing fancy and loud. Just a quiet one with only family members and a few relatives. We ordered some cakes with red eggs as a gift to friends and relatives. Joseph's hair and nails were trimmed and some of it were kept. It's a chinese custom which I'm not really sure serve what purpose. Haha. We also celebrated it with lunch at a restaurant in Seremban.

As you can see, this is part of his full moon outfit. Joseph is a 3.42kg baby at birth. But as the day goes by, he sort of shrink a little. Need to pack up some pounds. Haha. The confinement lady and my mom thinks that that was because I'm feeding him too little milk. :( That's why he lost weight. But I don't think so since he seems to be weighing fine. The doctor didn't say he's underweight.

It's difficult to take a family pic with a newborn because you don't exactly know when he will feel uncomfortable or cry. I'm still getting to know him. It's also difficult to take a family pic with a constantly moving toddler too. So these are two family pics taken in a hurry burry. Please mind my flat hair. I finally get to wash it and I washed it a few times with shampoo. So it became so limp. Haha. Actually I managed to negotiate with my mom to wash my hair before the full moon at 3 weeks. And then I couldn't wash it again for a week before I reached my 'independance day'. Haha. The things a mother had to go through. Sigh.

Joseph’s Arrival

Another addition to the lil’ dahling klan. My beloved Joseph Yap Zhen Wei was born on 2nd July 2009 at 6.45AM and weighs 3.42kg. Yep, he’s been feeding on my food very well. It’s the beginning of more sleepless nights from now on. But since he’s so adorable, you are forgiven, Joseph..:)

The story of a very sick mother

I have been having flu for 2 weeks already. It was very bad and never seem to get better even after medication. It gets even worst when I go to work due to the central air conditioning. My nose will get all blocked and I can't breathe. I can't even blow out my phelgm. It was all stuck in my nose. Imagine when I have my food, I have to quickly chow down the food to take a breath before chowing down again. Like a fish gasping for air. LOL.

I felt a little better at home because I don't switch on the air conditioner. So at least I get to breathe a little bit. But still the flu didn't leave me. My medicines all finished even. Anyway, imagine going through this during pregnancy. I felt like giving up on life. LOL.

Last Thursday, to make matters worst, I was woken up in the middle of the night because of my 'dear' sister in-law, who I really don't understand up till this day why did she left the TV on with the volume quite high, lights on and also the fan was on. But she was already nicely sleeping in her room. The noise woke me up and I had to go out and check what was going on. After that, I couldn't fall back to sleep. I tossed and turned for more than 2 hours on my bed. So I had a pounding headache the next day at work. My husband told me not to go to work but I still went ahead because I had a talk to attend and my boss won't be around that day. I had to standby in the office as her assistant la. I really couldn't take it anymore come noon with the pounding headache and blocked nose. So I asked permission to leave early that day.

But being a mummy, I still had to get the bedsheets from Aussino since they're having Mid Year Sales at good bargains. I got it also because for Eliza's new bed. Her bedroom is furnished now with a white single bed that comes with a pull out trundle and a cupboard. So the mattresses needs bedsheet since I don't have single bedsheet already for years. LOL. Moreover, my little princess was getting excited exclaiming everyday, "Iyer, Elizabeth's new bed..wow...nice er." "Elizabeth's new cupboard..so nice." So I thought I had to get the sheets and let her sleep on it by that weekend and before the new baby comes.

So when I reached home I fell flat on the bed and slept until it was time to pick Eliza up from the babysitter. That's when I knew I had to see the doctor again because my eyes were all sticky and I felt like a gremlin. I went to see the mirror and was shocked that my eyes were all red and sticky with some yellowish pus. So I went to see the doctor and he said I need to be on antibiotics since my flu never recovered for so long and it has become a bacterial infection. So he thinks it has infected my eyes. He tested whether I had fever or not incase I have H1N1. Hahah. Over protective Eliza thought he was going to do something to my ear, she let out a short "ahh!" to show her disapproval. LOL.

It didn't get better the next day. I still went to Gymboree with Eliza where there's air condition. I didn't go in but I waited at the waiting area. Don't want to scare the teachers and the children with my very red eyes. I was already getting so impatient to leave when the classes ended. Went back and had a long nap. That night, Eliza got to try out her new bed with the new sheets. She likes it although she still wants me to sleep on the mattress with her. But as soon as she fell asleep, I left the room and my husband has to sleep on the trundle to accompany her. The next morning she woke up first but saw her father and cried asking for me. LOL. I had to rush in the room as soon as I can. And then the crying stops.

The flu was slightly better on Sunday. Didn't go to anywhere except send my car for repair. Rested at home but still decided not to work the next day. I really wanted to get better. My eyes were not so red already. Oh ya, when we went to see doctor on Friday, my eyes was really watery and red. So Eliza said to me, " See doctor don't cry ah?" LOL. My sister in-law went back to hometown that weekend and it was like pure heaven to me. Without her I finally can feel like I have freedom and privacy again. But she came back on Sunday night so everything was back to normal...The dinner she brought back home that my MIL prepared didn't lighten me up even.

As planned, I didn't go to work on Monday. I sent Eliza to the babysitter so that I could have a good rest at home. I slept like 4 times that day. LOL. But still managed to do some housework like doing the laundry and mopping the floor. Hehe. But still the rest was much needed and it really helped a lot I guess. I felt much better. Today I come to work without having both nose block, I could breathe while eating and I didn't feel like dying. LOL. Thank God.

Yesterday Eliza fell down the bed and onto the floor. Poor thing. My husband slept quite roughly until he left a gap between the trundle and the bed. She got a shocked and cried for me. So I had to come in the room and accompany her until she sleeps before I return back to my room. My husband didn't want me sleeping on the trundle. More uncomfortable for me as a pregnant woman.

So I must get well before Joseph comes. I must, I must! 16 more days to go!

Drama Queen

36 weeks already. Gosh, it's nearing. LOL. Getting excited and anxious. Hopefully my flu will be ok by then. It's really bad and I can't breathe. Head feels so heavy now. And I spoke too soon about my pregnancy. Now I'm having the itchiness again! So itchy! I feel like scraping the skin off at my belly. I have rashes all over it and the itchiness is killing me. It even spread to my buttocks. Arghh!

My Eliza is turning into a real drama queen. When she's in a good mood, she will be so sweet and smiley and everything won't tick her off. But once she's in a bad mood. The drama starts. LOL. Last Sunday, I had a dinner appointment with friends. The appointment was at 6.30PM. But at 5.45PM, Eliza was still sleeping. It took me some time to wake her up. This drama queen was whining on the bed, refusing to get up. After much persuasion coz I told her we are going out then she got up. But after that another drama. She saw her books and wanted to read book first. I told her we have no time for reading. I had to drag her to the potty even. She refused to urinate. After she got dressed, she wanted to read again. We told her we are going out already without her. Then she started to cry and run to us quickly. LOL.

My friend called her drama queen when they met and she started to cry. Maybe she seldom see my friends so she was a bit shy. She was so manja during dinner. Saying she was tired, sleepy, want to go home. Don't know what's keeping her away from that restaurant. She didn't even play with my friend's daughter who's the same age as her. They just said hello and goodbye to each other. LOL. Oh and even hug that's all. She didn't even want to sit in the baby chair. Sat on our laps the whole time. Asked to go to a water feature in the restaurant numerous times. She has a thing for water. LOL. But at least she went to the restroom twice with me and managed to pee. I was relieved! Didn't want any embarrassing moment in the restaurant. Although I took an extra pant just in case.

She is really my little drama queen. Everyday there's some sort of drama, big or small. Maybe girls just really wanna have fun. It's fun for her to be dramatic..hehe.

The princess and the pea

When Eliza wanted to drink water, she came to me while I was ironing and said, "I want drink water". Then I went out to the living room and told my husband, "your daughter wants to drink water but I don't know why she won't ask you but ask from me instead."

Before that she came in asking for cheese and I had to go out and tell my husband to get her cheese.

There are times when she wanted to urinate and wanted me to bring her to the potty. So when my husband heard her request, he wanted to ease my burden by offerring to take her to the potty instead. Eliza said this to him, "qu kan xi"! (go watch your show) She chased him away to continue watching his tv show instead of bringing her to the potty. Which also meant that I couldn't get away with it. Sigh.

One day she took her favourite toy dog and bear and placed them on two mug coasters. Then she told the toys, "kuai tian mm mm, yau chu qi" which translates to faster pooh pooh, want to go out. I was surprised.

One day in the middle of the night, she woke up and cried for milk. So I went to make a bottle of milk for her but when I came in the room, she started crying and said she doesn't want that bottle. Why? Because the bottle was blue, she wanted the pink bottle. So she said, "I don't want blue colour nen nen, I want pink colour nen nen!" Grrr...I had to go back to the kitchen to pour the milk into the pink coloured milk bottle for the little princess. So demanding!

This got me thinking are we spoiling her? If we don't follow her demands, she will bring the whole house down. Sometimes we really don't have a choice.

Lately, she started to have a fear of the ticking noise from my table clock in the bedroom. She demanded it to be taken away. So to bring peace to the whole world, I had to bring the clock out. And the world was at peace again. Then the next morning, I sneaked the clock back into the room but by bedtime she remembered and make a fuss by crying. So out the clock went again. Very inconvenient for us when we want to look at the time. The next day my husband brought the clock back in again and she said, "No!" So we waited for her to fall asleep and sneaked the clock back in again. But guess what? The princess and the pea woke up in the middle of the night and said, "don't want clock!" And out the clock went again. Man, I'm gonna be late for work if this goes on. I think I have to get a wall clock. One that doesn't tick loudly. But is there such a clock?

Eliza's progress

Eliza is already 2 1/2 years old. And she's gonna be a big sister soon. I hope she will take everything well and make it easier for me.

She can be extra whiny nowadays and have temper tantrums. Maybe she knows she has to share the attention with a brother in the future. So better make full use of her chances now right? One thing I'm proud of her is that she has mastered potty training already. Much earlier than my nephews. She knows how to tell when she wants to urinate and poo poo. My babysitter already gave me back all the diapers and said she doesn't need to use them even at nap time. Some nights her diaper is all dry. Maybe I can start not using diaper for her at night soon. During weekends when we go out, her diapers are also dry. Maybe I can start using training pants soon. Save a lot on diapers right?

She can also talk more although sometimes it's still hard to understand. But there is definitely an improvement. She speaks both languages english and mandarin. So her sentences can sometimes be rojak. LOL. She talks a lot but when there is strangers around, she'll talk less. Why are most children like that? Hmmm...

She still love her gymboree classes. And last Saturday, I was so proud of her because she was the only one who really participated and stood right in front of the teacher. As if waiting for praises. I can see that her face was gleaming with happiness. The joy of attending a gymboree class. LOL. And at the end of the class, when the teacher asked them to say,"bye bye to gymbo the clown", she was the only who said it. I really should have brought my camera. Of all the day to forget. Sigh. Now, I'm worried that when I'm doing my confinement, she won't have gymboree classes anymore. She will definitely miss it and asked for it. She cried buckets when we didn't take her for gymboree class one weekend. Maybe I should sign her up for kindy when I come back to work after my maternity leave.

Here are two latest pictures of Eliza.

Vainpot in her new sunnies and shoes from Auntie Alexia.

Vainpot in another new shoes from Auntie Alexia.

The picture below is not a latest picture of her. It's just a photo effect I tried on photofunia.com. You can try it too.

Welcoming Joseph's Arrival

34 weeks and 5 days pregnant. Only 37 days to go. That's what it says on my desktop ticker. Can't believe time flies so fast. And soon I'll be a mother of two. This pregnancy has been a lot easier compared to the first. Although I have morning sickness and it lasted a little longer than the first. But still I must say it was more bearable. I don't vomit everyday like the first pregnancy. My face, hands and legs are not swelling yet. Well at least not yet I hope. My first pregnancy, I looked like an elephant. LOL. I don't have bad breakouts all over my body. My bloated tummy doesn't itch. I remember I used to scratch until I resemble a monkey. I still have the same aches and pains though. But still a whole lot better and I hope this also means that the baby will be easier to handle. :)

I went for my regular check up last Saturday and my gynae told me that my baby is already 2.4kg. I was quite shocked because he was 1.9kg two weeks before. That means he went up half a kg in two weeks time. My gynae also said that he is expecting a bigger baby than the first. He tried to do a 3D scan to see the baby's face but we couldn't see much. It was hard to make out also. I could only see like somewhat a side profile of the baby's nose and his left eye. I forgot to bring my thumb drive today so I'll just post a picture of the previous scan.

Joseph at 22 weeks already showing his asset.

I can't wait to see you, Joseph but please give me an easy delivery..hehe and also please be born in July and not later than 9th July. :D

Here's the 3D scans

If you can make out this scan, you will notice part of the thigh, knee and calf on the left and the arm on the right. Very flexible baby.

Can't see the face clearly but can actually see the baby's head, left eye closed, nose and mouth. Can you see it?

This one should be easy. It's his foot.

This last scan is also part of the face if you can make out the left eye and nose.

Innocent sweetums

Last Saturday, as usual we took Eliza for her Gymboree classes. Her first class was Music class. We were late for the class and so my hubby decided to drop me first at the car park while he went around looking for a parking space. So that I can enter the class first and not wait for him. But I forgot that my socks were in the baby bag. I left the bag for my hubby to carry. You see parents need to wear socks in Gymboree. That's their rule. So I had to wait for my hubby to arrive. Eliza was already getting impatient and one of the teachers saw that we were waiting. So she brought Eliza in first. And I was so relieved and proud to see that she went in without me happily. That's a good sign she might be ready for kindergarten.

There's a girl by the name of Marissa who is turning 3 this June in her class. She's taller and bigger size than Eliza. She likes to be in the limelight and has the "cannot lose" attitude. So if someone does better than her she shows a face. Anyway, during the last session in music class, children are allowed to explore with some musical instruments which mainly consists of percussions like drums, castanets, xylophone, cymbals, triangles and etc.

So Eliza was happily playing with a xylophone when Marissa suddenly came up to her and snatch the xylophone away from her instead of sharing. Eliza followed her and wanted to play together. But she shouted "NO!" to Eliza and I felt bad for Eliza. I wanted to smack that girl real hard but I was trying to contain myself. I was telling myself if she say it another time I'm going to say something to her. Eliza wasn't frightened but she came to me saying,"wait a while ah, ok?" Isn't she so sweet? Instead of getting angry with Marissa, she decided to wait for her turn. I knew that it's no use waiting for Marissa so I distracted Eliza with other percussions.

That gave me a thought. What if Eliza gets bullied in kindergarten next time? And I won't be there to defend her? Will she be afraid to make friends ever?

Over the weekend

Over the weekend...

On Friday night, I told Lil' dahling that I'm going to take her to Gymboree just to get her to get things done. It really got her to change her pjs, brush her teeth, drink her milk but she got all excited and couldn't fall asleep. So she was terrorizing the bed and got me annoyed. I have to scold her many times until she finally co-operate.

On Saturday, she still remembers the Gymboree thingy and reminded us many times. I wonder if she would still be as enthusiastic as this come primary school. Took her for a swim in the morning and she was all excited. Took out her favourite Pooh bear swimming suit by herself and squealed all the way to the pool. When I wanted to take her out of the pool she said "go swimming!" So had to remind her about Gymboree again and then only she co-operate. She wanted to walk straight to the car in her swimming suit and float but I told her she can't go to Gymboree like that! LOL.

At Gymboree she didn't want to go back. Crying and screaming when we had to carry her out of that place. Really embarassing. I think the only child that does that. Others don't want to leave but they don't cry and scream. After a tiring day, she fell asleep while holding my hand at night on our beds.

On Easter Sunday morning, lil' dahling said "change clothes already!" This girl really is a 'kaki jalan' and my husband said she took it after me. So we went to church and she somehow knows that we are going to church because she said this in the car. "In the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit..Amen!" I was impressed.

At home before the afternoon nap, I pretended to sleep hoping that she would fall asleep soon too. I was wearing a singlet and was sleeping on my side. So I guess part of my breasts were exposed. She said "nen nen" and then poked my breast with added sound effects, "toing toing". I was trying hard not to laugh but where did she learn all this? *shaking my head*

6 months already

I'm already 6 months pregnant. And before you know it, soon baby no. 2 will arrive. I have mix feelings about this. Of course I am truly happy to have another baby but I am pretty anxious too about what the future holds. Will I be able to handle two kids? Will I be a good mother since I will have two children to pay attention? Will I even be a good wife? Will I still have time to cook? Will I have enough money to raise two kids? Any Malaysians could relate to this because it is really not cheap to raise a child.

With all those questions aside, I'm actually doing not too bad now. No more morning sickness. I get hungry easily and baby is growing fast even though some still say my belly is cute. I think I'm starting to swell too. I can see my nose is growing sideways. Haha. Oh no! I really dread for this to happen. I'll look like a pig! I won't look like me. The little one inside me is also getting stronger. Doing some acrobatics, some scratching and some kicking inside of me. I think this one's more active!

Eliza instead seems to be wanting more attention. Her bedtime is getting later and later. Very playful and wants both parents to sleep at the same time as her. She'll hold both of our hands and bring us in the room. So her father couldn't even watch any TV. Haha. And when we talk, she'll talk even louder. Makes it a little hard for us to have a decent conversation. She's getting so adorable too. She can recognize very well the one and only colour..PINK! Must be a girly girl. LOL. She will tell you, "pink colour, pink colour". Her recognition for other colours still need some brushing up. Haha. Sometimes she gets them right and sometimes she don't.

My husband is more protective now that I'm pregnant. He wants me to call when I reached home. If possible, he won't allow me to go anywhere alone or even with Eliza. I can't even bring Eliza to Gymboree by myself! But I'm not complaining, don't get me wrong. He did a sweet and touching thing the other day. I told him that I need to buy some buns for my breakfast the next morning because I have my monthly pre-natal check up the next morning. So I won't have time to eat my breakfast. He called me back a few moments later to tell me that he already bought the buns and I don't have to get them on my way back home. I was really happy and touched because at least the thought and effort was there. I told him when he came home that I was touched and he utterred, "you are my wife mar." LOL.

Here are some images and videos.

At Lake Titiwangsa. Photo was taken in February.

It was windy, so I bought this thing for her. Don't know what are they called.

She must have a go on this whenever she spots them at the mall.

Vainpot wearing sunglasses at night.

Even with fever, she still wants to have a ride. Before you scold me for being a bad mom taking her to the mall even with a fever, we had to because my in-laws were around. So we took them out for dinner.

Look like an expert but can one drive with two steering wheels?

B I R T H D A Y

I'm officially another year older. Gosh can't believe we're getting older and older. But I still feel young at heart as always..:P

This year, I received 2 bouquet of flowers from my two very dear friends. The two friends that are always so thoughtful and caring towards me. The two very consistent friends in my life. :) Without them, I think my life would be empty. They make me feel honoured and very thankful to have them as my friends.

The beautiful bouquet of flowers :)

My husband was as usual very workaholic so I didn't expect any surprise at all on that day. But he surprised me with a call while I was driving home to say that he was on the way back and suggested we eat out for dinner to celebrate my birthday. So we had a wonderful meal at a fushion restaurant. Of course Eliza tagged along. Too bad I didn't take pictures. He wanted to buy a cake but I said it's not necessary. And he still owe me my birthday present. Hahah.

My colleagues also celebrated a belated birthday for me together with my boss whose birthday also falls a few days after mine. So the mini party was a nice surprise complete with birthday cake, fried beehoon, fried chicken, some kuihs and drinks.

One of the best present this year I think is when my husband asked Eliza to sing the birthday song to me. It was so sweet and I especially love the part when she sang "Happy birthday to mommy.." I should've got it recorded. Hehe.

Thank you everyone for giving me a memorable birthday..:)

The ABC song

I decided to share some videos of Eliza singing due to sunsetrose's request. I apologize if the volume is not loud enough. When she's not on camera, believe me her voice is as loud as thunder and lightning but when I put her on camera her voice automatically becomes tiny like a mouse.

So enjoy the videos!

Happy Valentine's Day

This came as a surprised to me early today morning at 9.30a.m. I was so surprised and curious to know who send it? I was thinking it can't be my husband because sadly he's not that romantic and he feels that valentine's day is too commercialised already. I asked the delivery man whether he knows it's from whom and he said it's stated at the back but he wants me to sign the document first.

But when I saw it's from this company love.com.my, I sort of already know it's from whom. Surprised, surprised! It's from my bosom buddy, sunsetrose! Thank you so much. I'm really so touched. Never expected a valentine's gift from you. This is the first from you! I really love it. It's very cute. So thoughtful of you. I hope cupid will work extra harder on you this year..:P

Sorry I didn't get a gift for you. I'm not a hopeless romantic I guess. Anyway, would like to take this opportunity also to wish my beloved husband, daughter and friends close to my heart, HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Entering the terrible two's phase

Is there really a terrible two's phase? Must every child in the world go through that phase? Sometimes I refused to accept it that it exist. But the reality is my child is already two years old. So whether she is in the terrible two's phase, I'll let you be the judge.

Some people say that your child will be more demanding and misbehave more when you're expecting a second child. I'm not sure whether this holds true or not. But I can't remember exactly when it started, lil' dahling never fail to get up every single night and make my hours of sleep lesser and lesser. And this is not even with the second baby around yet. I don't dare to imagine if the second baby arrives. Will I get just a wink? Every night is nearly the same thing. Yesterday, she sobbed softly with intervals in between and without moving. Usually, I just stay still as a log but feel like smacking my husband when he starts moving a little. Lil' dahling will start sobbing louder once she hears movement. So, I still let her be until finally she started calling me. Mommy? Mommy? Mommy? Mommy? That's the cue for me to pick her up already from her cot. I tried negotiating with her in the wee hours of morning to let her dad pick her up instead of me since I'm pregnant now. But nope, I'm not a good negotiator it seems. It's as if her dad's hands has disease or something. She wouldn't let him touch her except me. Husband also gives up easily because he hates being disturbed from his sleep. Heloooo...who doesn't? So poor me had to pick her up. I felt the baby in me kicked me one time as I picked her up as if to say LOSER! Then it would be a different battle everyday. Either she would fall asleep at once or go on and on talking or show tantrum or demand for milk. I couldn't help laughing the other day, when she closed her eyes shut but only opened her mouth to ask for milk. She didn't get any respond from me but I was actually staring at her. She slowly opened her eyes to look at me but realized I was watching, she quickly shut her eyes and continued her acting. So I gave her milk in the end because she wouldn't stop saying those four letter words. (MILK, what were you thinking? :P) Anyway, yesterday she woke up twice! The second time was at about 5a.m. Her talking woke me up. Sounded so chirpy some more. I wouldn't sound that chirpy if I woke up twice in the wee hours of morning. She even called me up and asked me to 'sayang' her. This continued until my alarm clock rang at 5.55a.m. I went to brush my teeth and she followed me. Not long after, she informed me that she wants to do her 'business'. Lah..no wonder she woke up early.

Everyday I would be the one to pick her up from the nanny's house and nearly everyday after we've reached home, she would picked one dvd from her collection of dvds and asked me to play it for her. Usually, I would allow it because it gives me some 'me' time. She will sometimes pull me to the refrigerator and ask for ahkult (Yakult) or sheesh (cheese). Her latest craze now is drawing with her latest set of colour pencils. She'll asked for her colour pencils and paper. This latest activity doesn't really give me 'me' time because she wants you to sit beside her and draw together with her too.

Has anyone tried the time-out method? I've tried it twice. Of course I felt guilty afterwards but I didn't show it. I did the first time-out when I was in Malacca for CNY. We were suppose to take our afternoon nap but Eliza didn't went to sleep at once. She was talking, singing and banging on the headboard for about an hour. I told her to go to sleep many times until my volume got louder. When I couldn't take it anymore, I suddenly resort to the time-out method. I carried her into the toilet and locked her inside for about 45 seconds. She was wailing and banging the door the whole time. Once being released, we are not suppose to comfort our child. So I just kept my cool and explained to her why I did it. I don't know whether it went through her brain or not but she co-operated with me and really went to sleep. After that incident, I used the word "time-out" as a sort of threat to get her to co-operate.

But of course the time-out method doesn't work for long. Just when it started to "lose its appeal" I used it again like a refresher course for Eliza. LOL. She was not co-operative for many days. I had to practically beg her to come and get herself cleaned up for bedtime. It was so tiring that finally I decided to do the time-out method again. I did the same thing again and earned her co-operation once again. I told her to say sorry and she said it obediently still sobbing. I was worried she would be traumatized but this method has been used by many. Still I don't hope to use it the third time.

Going out is also a challenge. She might not want to be in her stroller all the time. Sometimes we don't even bring the stroller along. Kids will be kids. So when she sees something that catches her eye, it won't be easy to remove her from that spot. I've tried many ways of persuasion and even end up shouting. My husband even had to carry a kicking and screaming girl away from her spot. Then I discovered something which still seem to work. Which I hope will work forever. LOL. The magic words. I just say "other things". Like "come let's go see other things" or "we are going to see other things". She'll follow at once like magic! My husband couldn't get it right the first few attempts. You see, he didn't say those magic words. Once he started using it, it worked. So mothers out there, maybe you can try this next time. Wouldn't guarantee it'll work for your kid. But you can try it all the same.

Eliza was recently down with flu. So I took her to the doctors. My sister in-law accompanied me because my husband couldn't be back on time. The clinic closes at 9.30p.m. Anyway, Eliza refused to enter the clinic. Had to drag her in. She wasn't like this before. When the nurse called her name, she started crying on the top of her lungs. My sister in-law volunteered to carry her in. But she kicked and screamed. We were actually called into the waiting room so because of the commotion she had to ask us to wait outside and she'll call us in the doctor's room later. Her crying didn't stop until we enter the doctor's room. I couldn't even hear what the doctor was saying. After a quick check on Eliza with her struggling on my lap, he chased her out with my sister in-law. LOL. I finally could have a quiet time with the doctor. He said Eliza must've been extra rebellious today because her aunt was around. In other words, he said she's a lousy aunt for spoiling Eliza. LOL. I agreed because she wasn't like this before at the clinic. I hope she won't repeat this again because it's truly embarrassing with all the stares from the other parents. And you know what? While we were waiting for Eliza's medicine, another baby was crying in the doctor's room but wasn't as loud as Eliza and Eliza had the cheek to say, "Baby, ku ku" ( ku means cry in mandarin). Yeah right, you cried even worst, Eliza.

So terrible two's phase or not, as far as I hope the phase will soon be over, she is still my precious daughter. It can be a funny experience when you look back and laugh over it. Moms have to take it as a challenge and accept it. But if it is not too much to ask, can I please have my sweet angel back? :)

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Wishing a very happy and prosperous chinese new year to everyone even if you don't celebrate it. :) I was on leave for almost two weeks for the celebration. Went back to the hubby's hometown, Seremban first then only to my own hometown, Malacca. Overall it was quite a quiet CNY for me. There were less visitors and less visiting for me too. I missed the chance to meet my cousins and also my best friend because I came back to Malacca late on the 2nd day of CNY.

So yes, it was a quiet CNY which also mean less ang pow for Eliza. LOL. Back when we were young, we used to receive a lot of ang pows although the amount of money might be lesser than today. Maybe everyone is getting old. Less energetic for many rounds of visiting. Even our parents only goes visiting to a few important relatives. Anyway, put that aside, it's a good time to be just with the family. And I think I've spent most of my time watching TVB drama with my family. Haha.

CNY wouldn't be complete without pictures of Eliza. So here you are...


Eliza in her CNY outfit made by my mother in-law.


Eliza and her cousins.

A pic with their gong gong. Check out that pose.

Another CNY outfit given by my brother in-law. Don't ya think she's sexy? LOL.

The reluctant kids who can't wait to get done with the photo shooting already and hit the road.


In Malacca at last with her favourite cousin. Very cheeky smile. She cries if she couldn't see her gor gor.

Another outfit made by my mother in-law. Reminds me of my mom's 60's mini skirt-dress. Haha.

Bonus picture..:P Eliza with her collection of soft toys. It seems to get larger. Makes me tempted to get rid of some.