All About Jesslyn

I feel guilty for I have been neglected Jesslyn in my blogs. In contrast to Jerilyn, her development seems predictable and nothing to shout about. Poor kid for taking her for granted. Nevertheless, at 8months+, she can now stand steadily with support and crawl a lot. She can pull herself up at the fridge to reach the fridge magnet. She doesnt crawl on 4s anymore but on her knees.
Jesslyn is also a wrecker like Jerilyn. Anything she touches surely end up in pieces. I get upset when they tear(or eat) the beautiful books into pieces. You see, when Jerilyn reads, Jesslyn will come snatching the book away or she will lick the corner of the book. But what can I do? If I take the books away from them, they are deprived of reading materials. If I allow access to the books, they will end up looking so bad that one will lose interest in reading. In short, I have to be more careful when they are reading.
As for her eating habits, she has more interest with food now. She will climb on to us and open her mouth wide and big for food. If I were to make my own decision, I would have given her many kinds of food (for eg ice-cream,) but Daddy doesnt allow it. When we eat out, she screams at us if we ignore her. So, to shut her mouth, I'll stick food into her mouth.
What worries me is that she doesnt sleep much during the day time. Her daily routine is wakes up at 9am. Takes 2-3 hours sleep during the day and her nights end at 10pm+. This isnt normal, is it? I am worried cuz research says that babies need sufficient sleep in order for the brain to grow healthily. Will this inhibit brain growth?
Being the 2nd child is, in a way luckier cuz they have another kid to play with and learn from. The elder is their model. Comparing Jesslyn with baby Jerilyn, Mei2 seems to be more alert and reactive. Thanks to the active Jerilyn who gives all the stimulation to Jesslyn. As for me, I think I tried harder with Jerilyn but Jesslyn and I are more attached. I am still very proud of it. Daddy? He is hopeless. He stresses that we shouldnt force our children.
Its so difficult not to mention Jerilyn. Everything seems to relate to her. Haha.... Have I done Jesslyn justice?

All in 1

Why I choose the above title for this blog is because I will sum up everything into 1 blog. Time has been flying so fast that I feel like a robot. The same routine everyday. Get up->work->back from work->take care of children->eat->sleep. However, I should not be complaining as my routines are not as boring as those 9-5 jobs and I have 2 days of half day work every week. My job routine changes every 4 months and I have breaks every semester. Moreover, I dont have to work for 10-12 hours like my husband does. Anyway, the conclusion is there are definitely advantages too living in the old age.

Back to my summary: I thought of one of my dad's favourite proverb Jack of everything, Master of None" when I saw Jerilyn pushing the plunger into the toilet bowl. She has been a mechanic, the electrical devices repairer, the helper/cleaner and now the plumber.
Secondly, from only God knows where, Jerilyn learns to put the blame on Mei2 when something goes wrong. This was what happened: She was playing with Daddy's old-fashioned shaver and as usual, the parts came off. The shaver's head was detached from the handle. Instead of trying to put them together like she usually does with other things, she leaned forward to Mei2, tried to push the parts to Jesslyn and said "Mei2, don't play. Daddy de(in Mandarin which means belonging)" repeatedly. Daddy was in the toilet. I was more amazed than angry with Jerilyn. Where/How on earth a 31 month girl learn to put the blame on others to save her butt? Is this one of those things that they learn naturally as they grow like walking and talking? The best part was when Jerilyn sneaked looks at Daddy when he came out of the bathroom. She wanted to make sure that Daddy knows that it wasnt her who play with the shaver.
Last week, she took down a thin baby mattress from her room and played slides on the stairs. I didnt noticed what she was doing until I heard "woo... woo... woo..." sounds from her. I have to admit that I was proud of her instead of being crossed with her. I wasnt worried about her safety [Well, maybe for a split second]. I am sure my parents would have had heart attacks seeing that. Anyway, I did reprimand her and that's it. End of story.
Other than that, she is more willing to brush her teeth now as I told her that her teeth is yellowish. Of course, I have to let her brush her own teeth first before she would allow me to brush for her.

Boots or Shoes?

Jerilyn can now 'reason' with you if she doesnt agree. How? She said "No, it's not boots, it's shoes" when Daddy showed her the picture of a pair of boots. If she learns something new, she says "Ohh.... videoo...."(for eg).
My daughter tends to sweat easily (as you can see from the many photos), thus have to keep her hair short. Last week, we took her to the hairdresser and it was a good thing I didnt go alone as I did the time before. I have phobia after that disastrous experience. The whole episode repeated again. She cried as if the barber was cutting her ears off. The only difference was she didnt swallow any hair this time. When it was over, she told me "Pain, pain" but instead of pointing to her hair or ear, she opened her mouth wide and large to show an invisible ulcer. In fact, since her ulcer experience, she uses that as an excuse each time she doesnt want to eat or do something.
She is learning more letters in the alphabet and numbers but then, in a very slow pace. She shuts herself off totally if she doesnt have the interest ie with numbers and alphabet. If something catches her attention, she remembers it with 2 or 3 teachings for eg, recognizes Lee Kuan Yew and naming things.

Jesslyn is learning to stand. She can pull herself up to standing position but Hubby discourages this cause it seems that it is not good for her legs. She cant stand steadily but sway back and forth vigorously. She always acknowledges her achievement with a big smile on her face. She is proud of it. I dont quite remember how early Jerilyn learned to stand and walk. Must check out my blog later.

Teething Experience

The past week had been a torturous one. First, Jerilyn had fever since last Saturday. To make things worse, she has ulcers in her mouth (She is still having them now). In the beginning, she threw tantrums every time we fed her with medicine, which was mixed in her milk. If I use spoon or syringe, she spits out. Later, she got used to the taste, thus no problem with feeding. The fever lasted more than 2 days, which I think was the longest ever.
However, we then realised that she has 2 ulcers on her tongue and 1 big ulcer on her left cheek. I gave her a chinese medicine which has to be applied on the wound. Needless to say, she didnt want it. I rewarded, reasoned, coaxed, forced, threatened etc... but only force worked. I must add that although the medicine went into her mouth (by force) but after a while, everything she had in her tummy ended up outside her mouth. I didnt pity her. It only made me more furious with her. I beat her. My parents say I have to be patient with a sick child but .... she is sick, not lost her mind! Why couldnt she listen? Why couldnt she understand that only by taking medicine will her sickness go away? Only by not crying will she not vomit? Nooo.... she just wont listen.
Because of the ulcers, she hasnt been eating much. She always say "Pain. Pain. Dont want ..." I saw that her gums are swollen too. I was worried that if this goes on, she will be stick thin. How long is this going to last? Daddy took her to the dr yesterday. Guess what the dr said? He said he cant help us and the only advice he gave was give her 2 bottles of yakult each day. When Jerilyn came home, she said "Dont want Dr."
Now, gone are the 2 small ulcers. Left 1 big ulcer. Is this the end? Nooo.... On Thursday, I found another white spot in the back of her mouth. At first I thought there is another ulcer but today, my mum told me that she is actually teething. I know now what caused the fever.
This is her 17th tooth. 3 more to go for a complete set of baby teeth. Do we have to go through this 3 more times?
One good thing out of this experience is: I have a few peace and quiet nights, enjoying a magazine and watching tv in peace.