Yu's food adventures

Yu has gone on a little food adventure... I think it was National Day when he had lots of blueberry bits - I sneakily took some from Yang's fruit bowl for Yu :p And he loved it! So now he's having blueberries after dinner every day.

But one evening, I took a bit of dragon fruit from one of their fruit bowls for Yu, and I had a huge pink mess of a zombie baby to deal with! Luckily, the pink stain washes off easily.

"Mama, I just ate some brains..."

Yu also went to the coffee shop for the first time, and had to use a big spoon to eat his dinner coz this mama didn't bring a little spoon :p

Still contented!

I started giving him porridge for dinner on a daily basis two weeks ago. We started with just a little bit of broccoli porridge, with the occasional fish if his brothers were having fish. No stock coz he seemed to like it bland. And we struck gold. We had two weeks of broccoli porridge. Last Saturday, we added carrot and he took it. So this week, it's been broccoli and carrot porridge with the occasional fish. Gotta think of something else next week!

"But my fave is baby biscuit!"

"See, I'm so happy eating it!"

I love it that he's eating more solids now. He's still drinking milk though sometimes in school, he had less than usual coz of both timing and lots of bland porridge. Even so, I'm running low on my frozen stash - this morning, I found four bags in the freezer :( I brought formula to school yesterday but they didn't give him coz there was a lot of frozen milk. Today, they gave him a bottle in the morning and he took it.

Sighs, I was hoping I could last until he turns one! But pumping is such a chore and I was so busy that I couldn't pump long. In fact, I didn't pump for two evenings this month! So my supply is dropping steadily... I think I'll gradually reduce pumping. Last Saturday, I even used the Haakaa instead of the dual pump already. This is one slippery slope... But I'll continue to latch..

Here's us - may we continue on this breastfeeding journey for a little while more!

Because they are cute

Is it me or do parents get cutified by their kids?

Sunday evening, I couldn't help just lying there to stare at Kai as he watched YouTube. Such a perfect oval face. Such lovely 白里透红 skin. Such round though small cheeks. Such delicate eyebrows for a boy.

See?

And Yang too. Such a perfect round face with chubby cheeks. Such a cute pouty mouth. One morning, very early morning, I came in after settling Yu to stare at my sleeping boy, hands behind his head and breathing ever so gently.

See again?

Even Yu on one of the most difficult nights could snatch my heart away. He was refusing to sleep at 2 or 3 am, and I was so frustrated and needed to pee so much that I dumped him on Sito. On my way in, the boy put his little head on my shoulder and rub his face into me, as if to tell me that he was tired but needed just that little more sayang-ing...

Cannot stop staring at this boy

And of course the moment they turn rogue, they aren't cute anymore!

Or maybe they still are...

Kids 1 vs. Mama 0.

Happy National Day and 10 months to Yu!

This National Day, we stayed in to watch the Parade with a simple dinner. I used to do that growing up - for some years, Mother cooked yummy fried rice and made teh to go with it :) It was fun watching the planes on TV and then hear and see one from our window. Kai even tried to sing the Anthem! Not sure how much the boys took in though but it was a start. I know Kai was looking out for Chan Mali Chan but we didn't hear it before we went in to settle for the evening.

Mum got them matching outfits which they wore to school yesterday. Today, Kai and Yang wore their Merlion shirts while the rest of us just wore red, and we were not the only family doing that :)

Raffles, Farquhar and Crawfurd?! Hoho!

Posing at the Botanic Gardens MRT station while transiting to Downtown Line

We went to Hillion for lunch and to check out the construction. It looks almost ready! We cannot wait for TOP! But Kai said the child care centre looked ugly, hoho! I just hope they get a place there!

And today, Yu also turns 10 months :) And he also fell off the bed for the third time in as many months :( This time, I dozed off and found him on Sito's side, lying on his side and crying :(

He started scratching his head a lot in the past couple of weeks. Dr Google has no definite answer. But it is likely due to tiredness. Tonight, he slept through his brothers' transit into the room. Hope he continues to improve... Sleep aside, more on him in pictures!

I love how he held on to the bay window and tried to stoop down to reach for toys. Most times, he ended up kneeling. I don't remember his brothers doing that!

He can get up and down very easily now

And he crawls super well

Practising his fine motor skills on Gerber puffs - when his brothers hadn't got to them first!

Very much more interactive - he laughed whenever I pretended to eat his food

And when I sang, he clapped! So sweet, haha! He can do a lot with his hands. I taught him to wave a big hi and wave bye. Today, when Dad said bye to him, he paused and raised his hand to wave bye - I was so happy!

We think he entered a new stage during his nebulisation weekend - he's no longer content with staying in the carrier; he must be walked around! And today, I found that he seemed to prefer being carried free hand - that sucks, hoho!

He is really good at calling me :) Sometimes he says nai nai too - not the person but the milk! Am thinking of introducing him to formula soon coz I'm running low on my freezer stash and I'm paranoid that he wouldn't take formula! This is one picky boy - he has two teeth now but eats very little. Hope he can eat/drink more soon. Stay chubby!

Three boys sleeping in their room

Took a picture of the kids' room on Saturday coz I was thinking of letting Yu sleep in there again. But it was a short Saturday morning coz we went to ICA to collect their passports, and N was going to Batam that evening so I forgot about it.

Also a last shot of the playmat

Yes, the good old playmat is pretty much dead. The button holding the roof together broke free of one of the arches a few weeks ago. N stitched it back but it came off again. And over the weekend, I found that one of the hooks for the toys was broken, leaving a sharp edge, but the hook itself could not be removed from the arch. Took it out of the kids' room just now, in case Yu decided to put his mouth to it!

So just now, instead of nursing Yu in my bed, I went to his bed. He looked a little lost, like, why are we here? But it was a good day - he woke at 3 pm so was tired by dinner time. I nursed him and he dozed off. I was surprised that I was able to put him down on the bed with just one try. And then I got to spend some time with his brothers!

Watched them play in my room

First, I showed them the camera footage and explained to them that if Yu cried, I would go over while they stayed here to play, and that when we went over later, they had to be quiet. Then I watched them play a while.

And then I got greedy and decided to shower - save some time! :p But this Yang refused to let me go! After many no's, he finally let me shower but with him watching *.* Halfway through, he slammed the door and left, argh...

We had lots of fun today. First, we read the latest popular book from Chengzhu, of a goat and a sheep crossing a river. Then we re-enacted the scene at the foot of the bed, which makes a nice passageway acting like a bridge.

And then it was time for massage. I had to go get the little stingray toy from the other room. Instead of letting them draw or find the stingray, I turned my back to them and threw it back. Yang got it! So massage massage massage... And there was a fair bit of horsing around before I settled them in bed to watch an old video of Yang. They loved it! Kai thought Yang was so cute while Yang thought he looked like Yu - I told him it was coz they're brothers :)

After a few more videos of themselves, we cuddled in bed for a while, playing round and round the garden. And just as we hid under the duvet, somehow Yang looked out and saw Papa! I didn't even hear the door open!

By then it was time for bed so we went over. To keep them quiet, especially Yang, I decided to stay with them until Yang slept. But Yu woke and cried for mama so I nursed him. Yang fell asleep during that short time. After settling Yu, I chatted with Kai a little before leaving.

But before I could open up my laptop, Yu woke again! Managed to settle him quickly and I've been here since. Sito just said that he couldn't remember the last time we had our laptops in bed, with the light on. And neither could I! I wonder how long this would last - not in matters of days but hours haha! Will probably bring Yu back if I can't settle him easily later. But to have our room back while we're awake is really great :)

Just checked the camera and look! Haha!

The brothers sliding down, weeee!

It has been an uneventful week - good! But they've each hit a milestone, or "milestone"...

Kai took a shower on his own this evening, supervised by me. Took a bit of nagging for him to cover every spot with soap. When I checked, only the top of his head was a little soapy - almost there! But this boy is like his father when it comes to towelling off - his standard for "dry" is very different from mine!

Yang is his cute self as usual, even when he was crying outside his Chengzhu class. Yes, for some inexplicable reason, he started crying these two weeks! I told him 可爱没有用，还是得进去！And at Mum's place, he pulled a chair over and told me he's cute *.*

Yu had his first slide yesterday - on me! I tried to let him slide but his clothes weren't facilitative so I slid with him instead :) And today, he managed to slide down the little slide at Chengzhu!

1, 2, 3 - go!

First babies

I told Kai about our first baby just now.

Kai was saying that he didn't like Yang coz he was a "dumb dumb" and he liked Yu coz he was so cute, cuter than Yang. And he wanted to wake at night to quietly carry Yang outside!

Fast forward a little. Yang was outside with Sito while I was in bed with Kai. Told him he's special as my first baby. And somehow he asked something like, "am I your first baby?" Well, since he asked... I said there was a baby before him but baby didn't have a heartbeat. He asked where baby was. I said heaven. He didn't understand of course. I had to explain that baby had died and so went to heaven.

"Did he walk there?" He asked, using his fingers to climb up imaginary stairs. So cute :)

I told him I didn't even know whether it was a he or a she, baby being so tiny. And we launched into a lengthy comparison of sizes, baby to thumb, baby to little toe...

He also asked whether he was the first baby then. Yes, he's the first baby I held :)

Towards the end, I said that I was very sad when baby was no more and that all my babies were precious. After a little pause, he said something like, "Ok, since you say that, I won't carry Yang out."

I don't think he totally got it but the last line was enough :)

Reposting this photo for the look they exchanged

A little break

After many weeks of working late into the night and Yu's recent illness, I was so tired that I wasn't focusing my eyesight - unless I was reading, I usually saw things in a blur coz even keeping my eyes open was taking effort. And this happened:

mf: I'm not feeling too good. Think I'm ill...
Kai: You need to rest... Go sleep!
mf: But Yu always wakes up at night.. Maybe you could help me..? *what was I thinking?!* No, you should sleep too..
Kai: But when Yu wakes, he wants your nai nai *hand on my chest* I cannot help...

The next day...
Kai: How do you feel today?

I was wondering if I might be ill enough to take MC today but nope. Then last night, I saw an email that a key meeting next week was postponed so I decided to take leave today since there would be time to work on my item next week. I happened to have an action learning group discussion thing today that I didn't really want to miss so I took half day.

And it was good!

I wanted to leave at noon to pump but I thought I would stay until another colleague got there just to say hi but the pizza also arrived so they asked me to stay. I ended up having a rather nice chat with them before coming home to pump.

I didn't quite plan what I wanted to do but starting with a massage sounded tempting so that was what I did. Went to Natureland downstairs and was lucky to get a slot on the spot! The room is small and dark but sufficient. There's a sign in broken English that basically says they're a proper spa :p The paper underwear was actually comfortable! It might even be more comfortable than the 15yo underwear that I wore today, haha!

Got a PRC lady who wasn't smiling but who had a friendly and soothing voice when she spoke, which wasn't a lot, which was what I wanted. And she was strong. The hour was focused on my head, back and legs. The head included the ears - very interesting! And painful coz she was strong, but not unbearable. In fact, I like it; I thought it helped my shoulders.

The style is more TCM than Swedish so even my bones were hurting and making noise. Plus, she was so strong. Ya, I know I said it already but she was really strong and she was small! She said it might hurt for a couple more days and yes, I'm feeling my back as I type. Before I forget, her name is Sydney.

My next stop was to refuel at Each A Cup :p I hadn't decided where next but I vaguely knew that it was probably Vivocity rather than Jurong or Bishan. Anyway, it was easy - just sat in the train until it wouldn't go anymore!

I was torn between Daiso and Giant... In the end I checked out swimwear at Giant first. All black, bleah. Bought underwear for Kai instead; his bum is growing...! Then it was Daiso. After getting what I wanted, I just wandered the aisles randomly. It felt soooo good! All the little treasures. All the ideas. I can't wait to move house! Also popped into a few stores here and there, like Uniqlo but nothing caught my fancy. Bought some food stuff from Giant and the food hall, and came home to pump before going to get some bread for the older boys' morning tea tomorrow.

I realise it was some time since I spent time on myself like this. No fixed plans. Just walk and see things. When it was time to fetch the kids this evening, I felt that I could handle it! Need more of such breaks :)