Very wanted

So I have gone from unwanted to very wanted in one week.

This morning, Yang trotted into my room at 5 am asking whether I could sayang him. Of course! I left a sleeping Yu and followed Yang back to his bed. He started talking as expected. I wasn't listening much - I told him to go back to bed and I would sleep first. But then a key word hit me - WET.

Oh yes, his pants were all wet indeed! Whenever I thought he was consistently dry, he would spring a surprise, argh! It could also be the extra cup of milk coz he now wants fresh milk like Kai in addition to his formula!

Making a cute monster face while on the potty this evening

Cute monster-face or cute-monster face? :p

Anyway, strangely, I couldn't find a wet spot on the bed. Maybe it was all dried up coz I could smell it just now! (Forgot to get N to change bedsheets...) So we went to the potty where he had some more pee and changed him. The next thing I knew, Sito was holding Yu and kicking my foot - it was 6.20 am! Apparently, that was the second time Sito kicked me since Yu woke at 6 am :p

So I tried to shift Yang's head from my waist to the bed and realised he was awake. I told him I had to feed Yu. He said no. I asked him to go find N. He said ok and scurried away!

And just now at bedtime, I told Kai and Yang to go to bed first; I would join them after Yu had fallen asleep. Kai didn't say anything but Yang gave an adamant NO! He wanted me to sayang him. So ok, I tried to sit there with all three, with Yu lying on Kai's bed right next to me. The brothers were clamouring to sayang him so in short, sleep was not happening to anyone!

After some fuss here and there, Yang agreed to have N sit with him while I settled Yu. He came in a few times for sayangs and hugs though, sweet :)

When Yu was down shortly after 8 pm, I went in for my other boys. Yang wanted me to lie down so the next thing I knew, it was just past 9 pm and both boys were asleep. Thankfully, Yang had rolled off me somehow so I just got up and left.

The feeling of being wanted? Great! The stress? Tremendous! Looks like I'll be spread really thin! Hope Sito's next job will keep him in Singapore!

A fussy, wet and noisy week

For some reason, Yu has been very fussy in the past couple of weeks. I met SL for lunch on Friday - we haven't met for 20 years! But it was difficult catching up and even eating coz Yu was crying almost throughout the whole lunch! Best, SL had to help carry him so that I could eat. Sighs..

At home, it's the same. Unlike Kai who never rejected food, Yu wouldn't take milk if he wasn't hungry or sleepy. I think he was bored so I tried to entertain him. I brought out the 10 finger puppets from Kai's time. I never used them much so why not? They ended up drenched in his saliva!

Small but heavy when I wore four at one go!

Don't know if it's all the saliva or what, his poop in the past week was of a different consistency and slightly different smell. I was googling and peanut butter was the best description for this new consistency :p The frequency is also less now. In fact, he has gone without poop for two days and counting, apparently normal for breastfed babies... On the other hand, no explosive poop!

Let him dig for his own toys but I think he couldn't decide and got angry quickly

Reading in this position helps - for the first couple of reads

So I figure the only way is to alternate between staying at home and going out, changing whenever he gets fussy *.* That suits me well, thankfully, since I like to head out.

Gazing at the world outside... Not!

More like gumming the chair!!

He has been drooling a lot. And he's like a zombie, reaching out for things and stuffing them in his face like a crazed zombie!

Oooooo, look at that little mouth! Mama had to mimick him!

Yu also found his feet this week. First, he pulled each foot by the hand. Then he zoomed into his left foot and aimed his mouth at the big toe! I told Sito and his first reaction? No more kids - coz of an old wives' tale that sucking at the foot meant there would be a next baby hoho! Yup, no more kids. In any case, not accurate tale - CY's firstborn didn't eat her feet but she has two younger brothers :p

"My big toe is really yummy!"

This baby is definitely getting noisier. Just this morning, he woke at 5.20 am and started yakking away and shouting for an hour!! But Sito remained sound asleep *.*

Squawky baby!

My baby wants me again! :)

I've been consistently sending Yang to bed except for I think Saturday coz Yu was hungry. And I find that whenever I did, he woke less often at night. And when he woke, he didn't mind me too much! A couple of times, when I tried to leave the room after settling Yu, or to get water, he was not sleeping and stopped me, "No, Mama!"

A few nights, I saw him roll in bed and sat up. Last night, he cried and came to the door. I went to him and he cried out "Mama!" How my heart fluttered! He let me carry him to bed but the moment he hit the bed, he changed his mind and asked for Kakak *.* Never mind, I decided that as long as he doesn't reject me, I'll let him find her so I followed him to N's room and followed them back. While N sat next to his bed, I crawled on his bed and stayed there for a while longer after N had left.

Sitting up, still dazed

This afternoon at Mum's place, he let me carry him and sing to him until he fell asleep. As I sat there singing to him, I looked into his big eyes and felt so happy I was going to cry! So I closed my eyes to sing. When I peeked, he was drifting off to dreamland... Just now, I carried him and sang until he fell asleep too :)

We also find that he's been looking for us a bit more these days, and less for N. Sending him to bed is so powerful!

"There's skeleton inside?"

Ok, that was random haha! He asked for a massage so I did. Then I requested for the same and he found my collarbones! :p Yes, my baby, there's a skeleton inside!

In other news, he finally learnt to blow his nose instead of saying "hng!" really loudly! Ok, that was my fault for using a sound word to represent blowing of nose but I finally figured out I had to tell him to breathe out strongly to get the gunk out!

Our makan routines

We started a new breakfast routine for the older boys (obviously!) in the past two weeks - egg mayonnaise sandwich every Tuesday, ham and cheese toasted sandwich every Thursday and a hot breakfast every Saturday. But due to personal preferences, we have variations.

For example, both boys eat egg mayonnaise but Kai likes it more than Yang does. Yang would happily take a hardboiled egg instead. Once, Kai brought an extra hardboiled egg to school - he later told me he ate it but he didn't like it. Kai is also more excited about the ham and cheese sandwich. Yang had it the past Thursday and he took a very long time to finish it...

Last Saturday, we had steamed frozen buns with lotus paste. Yang ate only one. Kai didn't like it coz it wasn't red bean paste - I'm going to try red bean paste next time to see whether he will eat! Yesterday, we had scrambled eggs on toast. I had them crack an egg each - they love that! - and let them watch me cook. I used Gordon Ramsay's method.

Scrambled eggs on open toast

In the past couple of months, I've been preparing dinner menus for N so that we wouldn't be eating tau kwa or tofu some three times a week every freaking week! But it was tough to keep thinking of new dishes and varying them. So earlier this month, I punched various dishes into Excel and voila! All I need to do is to refresh to generate weekly menus! I could have made it better, e.g. no repetition within the week but I figure it's easier to do a visual scan for repetitions than to build in extra formulae. I have also started going to the market more often to pick out greens I want. Again, I don't fancy eating the same vegetables all the time..

With Yu turning six months in what, five weeks (!), I'm also getting excited about weaning him. For convenience's sake, I'll still give baby cereals but this time, I hope to give more fresh food instead. Shall think more about it in a couple more weeks...

Yu's first baby spa

And probably only? :p We decided that we would not get a package for Yu. Kai had an unlimited package and we only just managed to break even. Yang had a package of 20 sessions and it was very tiring to have to bring both boys to the baby spa whenever we could; we were also limited to where we could go on Saturdays. Now with three kids, we're so not going through the baby spa Saturdays again! But we must be fair, right? So Tuesday happened!

First, a haircut at EC House next door - $12, cheaper than $18 at baby spa! Then Yu had a poop before going into the water, phew!

Very quietly sitting on my lap, probably blur :p

"What are you doing to me..?"

Botak having his warm-up!

So cute! But why not smiling, my baby?

They have a new rule about using a handkerchief to catch saliva and protect the chin. Else, cuter!! Cutest if he would only smile!! But cuteness aside, our littlest boy was a good swimmer! Well, almost a swimmer. He could kick about and turn himself very well! I was so proud of him! :))))

"See me move!"

Let him sit up when he started to fuss

"I want to eat these colourful things!"

Ok, photos and videos taken! See, Yu, Papa and Mama brought you to baby spa too :p

Reclaiming my baby

Think it was Sunday night when Yang woke at about 3 am and cried very loudly for N who was in the toilet. He was crying right outside our room and woke everyone up. Kai complained that DiDi was very noisy. Sito thought the only way was how Kai was trained - in our bed.

So on Tuesday, I instructed N to detach herself from Yang - in the day, no need to play with him, just watch him and reach out physically when necessary; at bedtime, no rubbing his legs and no massaging. I thought we should work on detaching him from N while seeking his attachment to us. There wasn't a noticeable response from Yang in the morning when N was less chirpy than usual towards him.

In the evening, I casually asked Yang whether he wanted to sleep in my bed. He said yes, and "then you can swing me!" He remembered that I told him that I would swing him in the morning if he would sleep in my bed. Kai of course wanted in as well - this boy would take any chance to sleep in our bed! :)

I was still rocking Yu when it was 8 pm. I got the two to put heads to pillows on our bed after some jumping around. Then, Yang went, "I want to wake up!" and left the room! Then he decided to sleep in his own bed. I let N take him. Soon, I heard Yang crying for N to sayang him. I saw from the camera that N was just sitting in the dark with Yang trying to get her closer to his bed. Yang also came to find me about three times, holding a book and crying but not saying anything. I sayang-ed his crying face and told him I'd find him soon. Sito came home around then I think..

When I settled Yu on our bed, I went in and offered to turn on the light to read the book to him. He agreed and N left the room quietly with no protest from Yang. We were happily reading the book one last time when Sito came in with Kai. And suddenly, Yang wanted to find N!! Sito thought it triggered a transition, that N was supposed to come in too. I thought it could also be because he was used to me being with Kai and he with N - so sad.

I can't remember what happened next - more on my memory loss next time. But at one point, I was sitting down to watch TV with Kai and Yang. Eventually, Sito whipped out the cane to send Yang to his bed with me.

My poor baby was standing on his bed crying for a while before he put his head on my leg. Yet, he was still saying that he didn't want Mama; he wanted N :( I could only say sorry to him - sorry for being a selfish Mama who is unwilling to share his love with the helper, sorry for making him cry so much.

It was almost 10 pm when Yang fell asleep. Poor Kai went to bed late as well. When Yu woke to nurse, I moved him to his bed and slept on Kai's bed so that Sito and Kai would have more space on our bed.

At 3.30 am or so, as indicated by my Mi Band 2 awake time (!), Yu was nursing and Yang woke. He went to find N who sat in the room until he fell asleep before leaving. But he woke again soon and N sat with him until he fell asleep and left. When he woke again soon, interesting, he only moved about in his bed. Then he called out to me, "Mama, can you sayang me?" Of course! :)

I beckoned him over and he rested on my legs. It was awkward with Yu in my arms. I managed to put Yu down in his bed as gently as I could moving just my upper body. Then Yang shifted upwards. As Yu was still shifting in his bed, I had to sayang both at the same time. And then, seriously, everything had to happen at the same time - Kai came into the room with a nosebleed!

He came whining to me then rushed away to grab a piece of tissue before coming to my side, still whining. Yang refused to let me move so I asked Kai to bring me more tissue. Kai got me the whole box so I managed to pinch his nose properly. And then, he needed to pee, with me pinching his nose!! At that point, Yang decided to find N - I don't know whether I felt disappointed or relieved!!

Anyway, we all went out of the room. Yang went to find N while I pinched Kai's nose as he peed and whined about being unable to see properly coz my hand pinching his nose was blocking his view. We ended up sitting at the dining table as we needed more tissue. And Yu started crying. Yang was hovering around us so I got him to wake Sito to settle Yu.

Then all but Yang went to our room. But Yang soon came in, saying he wanted to sleep on our bed. So up he went. For five seconds! Then Kai decided he wanted to sleep in his room too. So I managed to put Yu in our bed where he usually spends the rest of his night. Then I went over to find my older boys. Yang agreed to let N go back to sleep so I sat between Kai and Yang. Kai nestled close to me while Yang slept on my legs. Finally, both fell asleep. It was close to 5 am by then. I shifted them a little so that I could go back to my bed.

This morning, Kai woke close to 7 am while Yang woke past 7 am, shouting "it's morning time!" I gave them both a little swing :)

The boys on a different swing :p

This evening was way smoother. Yang was ok for me to be with me but he had to demonstrate to me how to sayang him on his neck (like massage) and how to massage his legs (by grabbing lightly) so that I could do it for him. Eventually, we fell asleep - me first :p Yang was sleeping on my waist when Sito came home and woke me. Then Kai went in. Both slept before 9 pm today, phew!

It's too soon to hope all will go well from here but I do hope there would be no serious regression. I do realise that this means I'll be damn tired when I start work - it was almost 10 pm by the time I finished showering and settling Yu just now. Also, Sito and I can bid date night bye bye until Yang can go to bed without an adult. Ah well, anything for better sleep for both us and the kids!

Vaccination and so much love

A (relatively) new baby means going for vaccinations frequently. We just had another one on Monday for both Yu and Yang. This time, I didn't get it wrong - Yang really needed a shot!

Coz he's pretty much uncontrollable at this age, we sent Yang to school and picked him up at 10 am to go to the clinic. He talked non-stop from then - how he was going to see the doctor, describing what he was playing with, being excited about the playground...

"It's like rainbow! It's so colourfuuuul!"

But the moment he saw the doctor, he became shy and his booming voice gave way to a mousey squeak. The PD gave him a lollipop and a sticker which he held up to show me. I asked him to say "thank you" and he said it so softly. I asked him to say again loudly and after staring at the doctor for a while more, he finally used a voice louder than his usual!

I held his hands while the doctor held his left thigh and in went the needle! Yang was watching it and let out a cry - for about half a second. Then he looked up and laughed!! With a tear in his eye!! Goodness, this boy...

Then he went to sit on a chair and it was Yu's turn. "Is DiDi going to cry?" He asked the doctor who actually entertained him! Our doctor has become more chatty over the past 4.5 years... Of course Yu cried and he cried so much! He had two injections and he was so tired. After we left the room, with lots of thank-yous and byebyes from Yang, Yu continued to cry for a while more. Then he had the oral vaccine and cried some more. But he was so tired that once I stuffed him into the Caboo, he fell asleep!

Lunch was at Food for Thought nearby. He dozed off for a few seconds on the way there but we woke him with promises of playground fun. But it rained so he didn't get to go. "It's wet." He chose fish and chips and ate most of it. He finished the juice box and brownie on the way back to school - yup, we sent him back :p

And he came home with a marshmallow on a stick!

Kai came back with his work too :)

There was lots of crying over when to eat the marshmallow. Of course Kai wanted one too so I promised to give him one if he kept quiet while his brothers were trying to sleep.

Kai came back with another V Day work on the day itself - it's for everyone!

V Day was a non-event for Sito and me. I went to Jurong after a mid day nap with Yu coz nothing better to do! And I thought maybe could pick my husband up when I cabbed back but he was working and I ended up taking the train coz it was still early..

I wanted to check out the two TCM clinics in Westgate and JEM to ask about paediatric tuina but it turned out that both didn't offer that at these outlets. So I went shopping and bought sunglasses for the two big boys - Miniso is my new love!! But I still love Daiso la :)

Kai with his winning smile

Yang is irresistibly cute!

Went to Tokyu Hands to get a knife but couldn't find the one I wanted. But I saw a pack of ramen nano blocks and got it for Sito! My laogong loves ramen :)

Eventually got a knife from NTUC. Also bought bamboo chopping boards from Isetan. And I had a drink at Starbucks, sharing two tables with two Japanese girls, and nursed Yu there.

"Why do you keep taking photos?!"

That night, I went into the kids' room in response to Yu's cries and found Kai on the blanket between their beds. I managed to grab Yu but had to get Sito to move Kai so that I could put Yu back later. But before Yu was done nursing, Kai dropped off his bed again! At least this time he gave me some space to get to Yu's bed... Took a photo of him when Yu was down.

How to get him a proper bed when he keeps dropping off *.*

"Wednesday is my cute day!"

Mother helping to carry Yu in the nursing room while I put the Caboo back on

Took the opportunity to walk around AMK after lunch. Wanted to go to Sinma but Yu woke along the way and cried, probably for milk so we went back to AMK Hub nursing room. Then it was a series of shopping there before cabbing home. And then, Yu was just fussy. I tried toys and TV to limited success until it was time for his bath. Bath is always good for Yu, thankfully...

"I like this book so much I want to eat it!"

The hands can and want to push the pacifier teat into his mouth but his tongue rejects it!!

Then he refused to nurse or sleep. So we played a little before his brothers came home and then it was a lot of noise and fussing before he finally fell asleep...

Hence the gym ball in our room the next day

"Envy my upper arm muscles?"

"Love my new tummy time!"

With the gym ball, he can stay on his tummy longer. Usually on the play mat, he would whine after a short while. On the gym ball, my arms complain first :p Not sure if this has a role to play but this morning, Yu flipped to his right onto his tummy on my bed! Next, flip on a hard surface..

And I love bouncing him on it - easier way to get him to sleep! He also likes to sit on it.

Yu looks so... stately!

Papa rocked Yu to sleep today at Mum's place - with no gym ball!

I've been bribing Kai to stay quiet while his brothers sleep, especially now that Yang goes to his bed at 8 pm instead of 7.30 pm - Kai at that age was already sleeping at 8 + and Yang was showing us that he wasn't sleepy enough. One night, I told him about Narnia and the next night, he asked for the story of "the lion and the four boys", which got me stumped for a second :p Then we progressed to watching the movie trailer.

This morning, the full movie!

But we managed to watch only half of it before we had to go. Yang wasn't as interested while Kai couldn't wait for the lion to appear! Just now, Kai was asking me to tell me more of the story. He can now remember the siblings' names and has realised they were two boys and two girls :)

I remember a GP essay question on whether movie or book is better. I think they complement each other. I'm pretty sure my boys will watch movies based on books before they read the books. I hope they will go on to read the books of these movies too. I enjoyed the movie but I enjoyed the book even more!

Spare the rod and spoil the child

So much for "I'm not going to cane my babies!"

Sito handed Yang the first stroke over National Day last year. That was his only use of the cane.

In the past week plus, I have caned Kai and Yang twice each:

1a) Kai jumped off the IKEA cabinet onto Yang's bed, super scary. I've told him to stop but... So one stroke on the leg. He didn't quite see that coming but I didn't hit hard. He looked shocked. He said it hurt.

1b) Kai kept running around at dinner time despite multiple reminders. I told him that the next time he did that, there would be no reminders; I would reach straight for the cane and him. Then he forgot. I had to pretend to miss a couple of times, hitting the table leg, before hitting him gently. When he transgressed again, I pretended quite badly, hitting the floor *.* but he got it and ran back to his seat!

The playful boy who understands and fears the cane

2a) Yang threw an umbrella onto the floor very loudly. This actually didn't warrant caning but I thought, might as well remind him of the pain! So I asked him to choose one hand or I would cane both hands. He started crying but eventually gave me his right hand. I gave him a light stroke.

2b) Yang threw books at Kai this evening. I saw from my room where I was nursing Yu and came out to scold him. This boy doesn't respect his belongings and keeps hurting his brother! Again, I asked him to choose a hand. He gave me his right hand more readily now, without tears. I caned him not too hard but I told him I would use more strength next time. I think the next cane would have to be hard - he seems to no fear the cane as much this time...

The fearless boy who is difficult to discipline

Sigh, I so dread using strength to cane them :(

Love thy brothers

Kai and Yang have a love-hate relationship.

One day, they were happily holding hands to go down slides together. Another day, they were punching each other and snatching toys from each other.

Yes, Kai has gone from raising his arm but not lowering it to hitting his target. Yang, on the other hand, has never been kind - he will lower his arm once he raises it. He also often rains kicks on Kai just because....nothing! My poor Kai! But when Kai hits Yang, it's 18.2 kg vs. 13.2 kg. My poor Yang!

Both are competing to love Yu though. For now!

Yang showing his truck to Yu

Brothers in school

That was their check-in photo on Saturday. The school implemented the electronic system about the time when Yang went into infant care. But in late November, I suddenly stopped receiving the emails. The school got their vendor to investigate. I even sent an email to Yahoo. Then some time last week, I finally got their check-out emails! For one day! So I decided to just change the email address. Now I'm getting four emails a day. Plenty of cute pictures! :)

Thought I should take a picture coz very soon, they can't fit on this together...

They switched around coz Kai claimed to be the stronger one - he is :p

Their fave stopover on the way home, after the 元宵 dinner yesterday

Yang fell and scraped his knee when he followed Kai up the ledge last Sunday. Yesterday, he still wanted to go up. But it was Kai who fell this time - he didn't scrape his skin as he just stepped into the bushes instead of falling on the ledge. Today, Kai got off the ledge after two steps and Sito convinced Yang to do the same, phew!

Balancing act

I love the Harry Potter photo function on Sito's phone! Sito took one today of little Yang moving his legs front and back while enjoying his fruits and staring up and around. But I can only share a frame here..

Cute boy Yang

So cute but so naughty! Just now at bedtime, he kept blowing raspberries. It was so loud and Yu was sleeping next door. But I had to bear with it coz if I ignore all his bedtime antics, he'll go to sleep. Sure enough, he did. I thanked Kai for keeping quiet and left the room. Tomorrow, naughty boy will be having a vaccination with his little brother - I'll be on febrile fit watch this coming week!

Yu's various expressions

Yu can talk! I mean, he can make sounds for a long time but this week, he started making sounds with consonants, e.g. "ha!" when he laughed out loud and various shouting sounds. I think it's usually at this stage when I start to sing the squawky baby song :)

I didn't manage to capture his words on video. Still not often enough to warrant video standby mode. But I did capture his many expressions in the past week.

The "wth is this?! some pest?" look

Only one of the three to keep sucking on the upper lip when he unlatched!

A bit chao ah beng too :p

Super cute look!

But actually, he was having a poop...

The staring at toy look

The eating toy look

I wanted to give him our old Sophie but she broke upon a wash!

I'm still considering whether I should get a new one...

The "li kua simi" look

Mini beng now pushes one arm out of the Caboo!

The sleep-smiling face on a day when I wanted him to wake!

The "I'm grouchy but I see coz you want me to see" look

Btw, I like that photo. My dear sons, when you see my posts and wonder why Mama is often not in the photos, rest assured that I was with you when these photos were taken - I was the trigger-happy photographer.