Cute Quotations

Since young, Jerilyn knows to pinch her nose when she does a big business. Not long ago, she not only pinched her nose as she pooped, she also shoved(not physically) us away. She said "Mummy. Dont come here. Go away." It's cute the way she waved her hands vigorously, signally me to go away as if she is emitting poisonous gas.
Other times were:
when Daddy wanted to bathe her (because Mummy was not feeling very well) and she chased him out of the shower. She said "No. No. No. Daddy. Go out. Kai Lin ... myself." That day, she bathed herself. I am doubtful how clean it was.
when she had a nightmare and was wailing terribly. She screamed "Book... Mattress... Book... Book" and kicked. Didnt know what she wants. Daddy gave her book... She pushed it away but when he took away, she bawled louder. Anyway, when she calmed down, she said "Daddy. Go away."(not in a rude way but another way of telling her dad that she was ok and he could go to bed). Very cute.
when I carried her up to the sink to wash her hands. She said "Mummy. Dont touch(my hands). Dont disturb me." Though she does wash her own hands usually but she has never used these words.

Walking

Just 3 weeks ago, Jesslyn had started to learn walking and was taking 4-5 steps on her own. Now at 12m2w old, she has mastered walking. She can squat/sit down and then stand back up again, and she even walks backward. When we go shopping, she walks while gripping my hand. She doesnt fall as often as Jerilyn did. This is attributed to the fact that Jerilyn tip-toes while Jesslyn only tip-toes to reach the unreachable for instance doorknob. When she does the famous Baby Bop's Hop Hop Hop dance, she tip-toes as she sings "Hoc Hoc Hoc".

Jesslyn

Walking is a breeze for Jesslyn. She can toddle from 1 end of the room to another(my bedroom) but sometimes, Jerilyn intersepts her just to hug her and say "Love you too" as if Jesslyn said it first.

Jesslyn has learnt many things from her sister. Some of them are:
1. pushes people she doesnt like. Most often her own sister
2. says 'bu yau' when she is dissatisfied with something
3. imitates actions. She plays house and cooksing
3. beats and says 'da'(beat in Mandarin)

Jesslyn pushes her sister away when:
1. Jerilyn tries to hold her hands to walk with her or to play 'Ring-O-Ring O Roses'
2. Jerilyn hugs her
3. Jerilyn takes her things. Jesslyn will even beat her.

Jesslyn's Fav. Activity

Yes. climbing up and down the stairs is her favourite activity. As she cant walk down on her own yet, she usually stands on the 1st step and calls out to us. Once we are there, we have to hold out our hand to her and guide her down slowly. She is like the empress in China and we are the slaves.

Jessly's 1st Birthday Party

I would describe this birthday party as 1 stone kills 2 birds. My purpose of having this party is not only to celebrate Jesslyn's birthday but a gathering with the Loo family. Since the family tree expanded, we hardly meet until recently. Jesslyn's birthday is another fantastic opportunity to get every1 together. Everything was good except for the birthday cake which was a big disappointment. Not only is it too sweet and dry but the design was not what I expected (It was pre-ordered based on brochure). Secret Recipe's birthday cakes are nothing like its cheese cakes.
Back to Jesslyn, at 1 year old,
1. she could walk >< 9 steps independently.
2. she is very 'wei-siek'. As I am not a control freak, I practically give her all the sinful food(in small amount). She will climb on you for more and scolds and beats but she is not entertained.
3. some of the words she uses are: Daddy, bu-yau, mei-you, dog, Po-po
4. she loves to hang around at the staircase. Sometimes, she just sits there, swinging her legs. When she goes up or down the stairs, she tries to use her soles and not her knees.
5. she still picks and puts things into her mouth. However, some exposure to germs wont hurt her. It could even be good for children to boost their immune system. After all, she had fever once. No flu, no cough, no cold. No problem.
6. she sways to music. Unlike her sister who stomps and dances vigorously to music.
7. she is very 'manja'. She likes to lean against us. She understands 'sayang' by leaning her head against ours

Peek-a-boo

A picture speaks a thousand words. Kinda lazy to blog much nowadays.

They go crazy playing hide and seek. What you see here is actually half the normal craziness and noisiness. This is what you get when you put 2 girls together. With 2 boys, They will wrestle and punch each other until 1 cries. Wonder how is it like to put a boy and a girl together.

Imaginative Girl

Children are highly imaginative beings. Other than the pretend games such as cooking, driving, play house, enjoying sumptuous meals etc... Jerilyn surprised me with what she sees in things. For example
1. She drew an oblong and told me its a cucumber. After that, she added a dot and said "It's a whale" which actually did resemble a whale.
2. There were a few times when she was pooing in her potty when she called out to me excitedly "Mummy, see! Snake. See... snake.." She bent over to peep into her potty. It took me a while to understand that she was referring to her poops which looked like a snake. There were also times when she saw ice-cream shaped like poops.
3. She used to associate owls with her dad(probably because CH has got big round eyes). As she grew older, she imagined seeing things on the tree and one of the thing she saw was Daddy. Now, she says "Don't climb up the tree, Daddy" as she stares at the shadow of a spinning fan on the wall.

Home Saloon

The recent haircut at home. It was Jesslyn's second haircut. She was 11 monts. The reason we had her hair cut at home is because there is not much to trim anyway. Btw, guess who is the cameraman?

Imitating Animal Sounds

One of the activities both of them enjoy doing together.

WH- Questions

I cant recall when Jerilyn started using Wh- Questions but I remember it started with Who(which means What) is this? to What is this?. Now, she bombards us with questions of What,Why, Where and Who? Examples are:
What happened? What are you doing? What have you done? Why turn off/on the fan? Why close the door? What's wrong with the bicycle? Where is ...? etc..
She also uses Tag Questions and questions with auxiliary verb:
Shall we ...? Do you want ...? etc..

During one of her bedtime story sessions, she asked her dad "What is this?" pointing at a picture in the book. Her dad answered nonchalantly "Which one?" Her answer was "This one! You forget? This is a sponge. Hiya you!" He was dumbstrucked. We exchanged glances and I snickered.

Naming Family Members

This video was actually recorded about half a year ago but I was not sure if I should share with family and friends. Why? When my sis watched it, her first comment was "Why are you so fierce with her? How come you didnt praise her at all? Children must be praised." My defence is "I was too engrossed with the recording that I had forgotten all about praising."
Of course, I do praise her (very often) and I try to make learning fun most of the time. However, when her attention begins to wander, that's when my tone turns authoritarian. Is this an educationist's habit? Do most if not all teachers have the same tone?
Despite all these, I think she is doing quite well in learning the language. Her only problem is that she needs more exposure to English speaking environment. Although we speak to her in English, she doesnt hear us communicate in that language. All of us converse in Cantonese. This has caused her to catch up Chinese/Mandarin faster than English nowadays. Her ability to speak BM is at about 30words.

In Their Slumber

Moving Away

Hubby and I have discussed a couple of times what is going to happen if we leave the kids in their room. How long can they stay? Will they play til they drop off? Will they be frightened? Will Jerilyn bully Jesslyn? Will Jerilyn kick or even toss a blanket overn Mei2 accidentally in the middle of the night? To find out the answers, we have done a few experiements and below are the results:
1st time: Jesslyn cried the moment we closed the door on her and we had to welcome them back in to our room.
2nd & 3rd time: We moved their mattress, pillows, bolsters and blankets. They played for a good 10 minutes in the 'fan only' room and we felt guilty of enjoying the air-conditioned room while the 2 poor things were drenched with sweat. So, we welcomed them back into our room.
4th time: Jerilyn went alone. She kept going back and forth between our room and hers; first to take the pillow, then, the bolster, followed by the blanket. [Not that we don't want to help her take the things but we enjoy watching her knocking on our door, calling out "Daddy, bolster" and then, dragging those things into her room]. After that, we heard her going down to get milk. She was obedient enough to go back into her room but again, Daddy pitied her because she was wet with sweat.
5th time: It just happened this afternoon. This is how it happened: She was crying because Daddy spanked her. (Daddy couldnt tolerate her sitting on the staircase with her legs hanging over the railing). So, Daddy asked her to sleep in her room if she continued crying and she did as she was told with her little bolster in hand. She came back to get pillow, (adult) bolster and blanket (we thought why the hell she needs a blanket on her humid Saturday afternoon as she usually pushes it away during the nights in our air-conditioned room). At one point, we purposely locked the room. When it was opened, she asked annoyingly "Why lock the door?", which made me laugh. I anticipated her to return again with another excuse to sleep in our room but No!! When I checked on her 10 minutes later, she was soundly sleeping with the blanket covered up to her waist and her hair was wet.
My conclusion is: My girl is one more step away from us! Sob! Sob!

Learning To walk

This is how Jesslyn learns to walk nowadays. She has no problem following the momentum and speed while pushing the vehicle. She is a steadier walker than Jerilyn was. This is probably due to the fact that Jerilyn tip-toed instead of walking on her soles.

She can also crouch numerous times(>10 times) as she play hide and seek. Her favourite hiding place is behind the coffee table and the sofa. Any sign of encouragement from us makes her crouch over and over again. When she is up, she gives you that "I am here" look - cute.

With Jerilyn, my in-law bought one of those tinkling bracelet for us to know where she wandered. I always thought that it is not necessary and causes noise pollution. However, I think I have to ask my in-law to get 1 for Jesslyn. One fine day, while I was busy typing, the maid was cleaning in the kitchen and Jerilyn was watching television, Jesslyn had wandered off on her own. I thought she was with the maid and the maid thought the baby was safely with me. After cleaning, the maid looked for Jesslyn and she was nowhere to be seen. We heard sounds from the 1st floor and only then did we realise that she had climbed all the way up on her own and was sitting in the middle of the 2nd living room. Thank God nothing happened to her while she climbed up.

Teaching Values

Sometimes I feel that I am a lousy teacher, esp to my kids. When I teach, I expected Jerilyn to be obedient and do as I say. But my daughter being perverse and restless, she just wont sit and read. After reading with me for 2 minutes, she says "Mummy, you read." and she walks away. If she gets bored of drawing or playing, she says "Mummy, you draw/play." Yesterday, I was clicking on the mouse as the video ran and she said "Mummy, dont press, I beat you." I always believe that 'It's not easy to teach good values but the bad ones, you dont have to repeat twice.' esp with my type of daughter. This is why I still dont plan to send her to nursery unless forced to.
On the bright side, she is very inventive and imaginative. She now uses things like bedsheet, coasters as skateboard. She likes to play 'pretend' too. She puts pillows and blanket around her and pretend to drive. She even asks us to sit behind her as passengers. Another 'pretend' game she likes is cooking, which many children have the same hobby. If she isnt cooking, she just imagines that she is holding something in her hand for instance chocolate, flower or butterfly and pass it to us.
In relation to insects, she acts frightened when she sees 1 on the floor and shrieks and jumps. But she then picks it up to show us, which we tell her to throw away. Hope she will grow to love books later. Not that she doesnt look at them at all, it's just that when I try to teach seriously, she shuts her ears. She does 'read' them and often asks "Who(What)'s that?"

Genting Trip

My initial plan was to go with my parents but as my mum was not well, we had to leave them behind.
The trip this time was full of activities yet more relaxing as we spent 3 days on the cool mountain. Talking about cool, I didnt expect the weather to be cold thus I only brought thin clothings for the kids. It turned out to be quite chilly and Jesslyn had to wear her pyjamas on top of her normal clothing. Normally, I would have brought thick clothes but they were seldom worn.
We had a voucher which entitled us to a Free Kid ticket(worth RM35) toTheme Park. The catch is: with purchase of an Adult ticket(RM55) to the Theme Park. So, we bought 1 Adult ticket only. However, where's the fun when Jesslyn and Daddy are left behind. I didnt want to wave from the Ferris wheel or the gondola. I wanted the whole family to be involved. We later bought another ticket(RM25-Indoor only). After getting bored with Indoor games, we went outdoor. I persuaded my husband to try his luck, passing the security with his Indoor only wristband. Jerilyn and I went in first. I watched and prayed that he could pass. I actually doubted the possibility as when I went in, the guard made sure that it was written All on my wristband. As he took his turn, there were a bunch of teenagers scrambling through the gate and VOILA!!! They made it. The guard only checked that there was a band but didnt see that it was written Indoor, not All.
The games that we attempted were less interesting for 2 reasons: 1. The kids are too young 2. Daddy and I are too old. Nevertheless, it was enough for the kids to doze off the moment they hit the bed. Daddy concluded that the money spent was worth it when Jerilyn rode for more than 10 times on the vehicles. She remained in the ring and merely changed from 1 vehicle to another. We let her played as much as she could because these rides will last her 1-2 years before we are willing to spare money on rides. By then, we have to buy tickets for 2 kids.

Proud Moments

September 28
Proud moments
Every parent is proud of their children no matter how small and insignificant the kids' achievements are. I am no different.
At 9.5 months, these are the things that Jesslyn make us proud:
1. She bangs the room door if she wants out.
2. She imitates sounds from us or television. One of her favourite is the Raya song where she sings "Yaaa......".
3. She is jealous if I carry Jie2 and will cry til I carry her. When I pass Jie2 to Daddy and put her on my lap, she will call out to Jie2 "Dah, Dah" to show victory.
4. She climbs full flight of stairs and at every corner, she takes a break, grins and gives herself a victorious clap. The maid made a comment which I didnt noticed myself, ie if she needs to sit, she will turn her body so that her body is supported and she faces out.
5. She dances to music. [Look at the video].
6. When she is too short, she tip-toes to reach her target. For instance, she loves to play with the volume knob of our hifi. When she is too tall, she lowers her body to the ground to peek under the sofa or bed.
7. She says "Wah" at everything. Jerilyn only says "Wah" when she sees food on the table, which makes her grandmothers very happy.
8. She can walk with support.
9. She loves to read and write (as compared to Jerilyn)
10. It still overwhelms me to have a kid who needs Me more than anything else in the world. She is very manja. Whether happy or sad, frightened or calm, she will come to me. She likes to rub her head against something(our shoulders or the mattress. One day, I was scolding Jerilyn (very loudly) and I noticed that each time I raised my voice, she puts her head on my lap and rub, rub, rub. Imagine a dog rubbing his head on his master's lap. There was another time she laid low with her head against the mattress. Imagine a soldier lying low on the ground when in danger. She can be playing and all of a sudden, drop her head on the bed as if seeking comfort. Jesslyn's not a timid girl but she is 1 who loves to be loved openly and protected.

At 2y8m old, below ar the things I would like to jot down about Jerilyn:
1. Jerilyn can sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Baa Baa Black Sheep and ABC. [Well, not every word but ... pls refer to the beginning of this blog]
2. She can speak more but many 'ar's at the end of the sentences. "Dont play ar?", talking to her sis.
3. Her favourite word now is "Dragon." When she plays pretend driver/pilot, she only sees Dragon in the sky or on the road.
4. Memorable quotes:
a. "Mummy very tired? Mummy sleep first." followed by closing of the bedroom door.
b. "You still want chocolate?" which actually means I still want chocolate.
c. "Give me something" Something refers to food.
d. When I made a mistake, she goes "Hiya you." Only yesterday, I accidentally banged the door, she said "Shh.... Mei2 is sleeping. Hiya you."
5. She used to draw big circles and scribbled all over the page but now, her scribbles are as small as worms. Yet, she insists those are dragons.

I am sure you have seen/heard of siblings squabbling over trivial issues. Well, this nightmare has started to take place in my house. When 1 is occupying a toy, the other surely wants a share of it. Both would be screaming at each other. As Jesslyn cant speak, she only cries. Jerilyn says "Mei2, dont play.", "Mummy, Mei2 is playing.", "Mei2, bu yao wan.", "Mei2, go away." Naturally, I am like most parents who ask the elder to give in.

Climbing

Jesslyn can now climb the stairs. Not the full flight but a few steps. The first time I saw her climbing was when she was exactly 9 months. I thought she could only climb 1 step so I was kinda relaxed, standing at the bottom. However, she didnt stop at 1st step. She continued climbing until she reached the 4th step. That's when she stopped and looked behind for support. Could she be tired? Or was she afraid of the height? Or did she think that it's enough for the day?
I dont know what is so attractive about the stairs. She loves to climb(or try to) on it. She will stop when I told her not to. Does she understand?
She can now understand words like 'Bye2', 'clap hands'. By merely mentioning these words made her waving her hands(or clapping her hands) violently.

The past week had been a disaster with 1 bad news and too much of things to worry and do. Hope the bad clouds have passed and the sky will turn brighter... much brighter. Have to go back to marking papers before the kids get up.

A Trip to the Zoo

As Jerilyn has always loved animals, we took the opportunity to take her to Taiping Zoo during the National Day holiday. What I mean by love is: If you ask her questions, her reply is "Dragon". Out of nothing, she will say "Dinasour" or "Monkey" or "Elephant". She just loves to utter these words.
So, the journey took 1.5hours. We started off with a train ride round the zoo and later ventured on our own. Jerilyn's favourite was the elephant. "Look, elephant. Elephant. Daddy, come here." She didnt have enough of them until we told her that we would go back to look at them. I dont expect much from our Malaysian zoos but I am sad for the pathetic looking animals. They looked so weak and abandoned. The only beautiful creature I saw was the swans. Most of the animals were motionless and hid from the public. If you dont search, you may miss some of the animals. At most spots, Jerilyn went "Look, giraffe." "Look, monkey." She was a noisy kid there.
While Jerilyn was excited seeing real life animals, Jesslyn sat happily in the pram. Daddy and I were actually quite surprised with her willingness to sit in it. It was the FIRST time she sat in that pram for more than 5 minutes(I am not kidding). My initial plan was to let Jerilyn sit in case she gets tired of walking.
We ended our venture about 40 minutes later when it started to drizzle. Moreover, the 2 were beginning to get restless.
In conclusion, it was a worthwhile trip for the kids but drastic measures have to be taken to improve and maintain the popularity of the zoo. One of the ways is to bring your kids to the zoo!

Is she Reading?

September 01
Is she reading?

I came across some educational videos(nursery rhymes, alphabet and numbers) in youtube a month back and I exposed Jerilyn to these videos since then. With access to these short, interesting videos, she doesnt watch much DVDs anymore. She used to watch about an hour of Barney everyday in our home but nowadays, she only watches an hour a week. However, this doesnt include the hours she spends on tv at my parents' house. Thanks to internet videos, I saved RM20 on electricity bill last month. Apparently, the home theatre consumes a lot of electricity. Morever, she only spends half an hour watch internet video everyday.
The video attached shows that she can read (it's actually memorising) the slides. Nevertheless, since watching these videos/slides, she is more receptive of alphabet and numbers. She has better memory too. For eg,She remembers that King Kong died in a movie and repeated it to me more than a week after watching it. I was telling her that the flower was gone because it dies and she said "Gorilla die". At first, it puzzled me why of all the animals - gorilla. It's also easier to teach her. Without much effort, she remembers who is the President of America, PM of Malaysia, recognises the M'sian and Perak flag etc..
My mum however, has only 1 comment: She will get bored in school if you teach her too much.

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.

Consoling Mei2

Nowadays, I fetch the kids home from my mum's place after work. Sometimes, Jesslyn cries if she feels insecure in the baby basket. Normally, Jerilyn just ignores Mei2's cries or she would give her something to play with but just 2 days back, Jerilyn was being an extremely good, big sister. She wrapped her arms around Mei2 and patted her back. Wish I could just stop the car and record them on video. What was more surprising was when she said "Mei2, dont cry. Mummy is here" again and again as she patted her back.

Reciting Names

Jerilyn often does revision if she couldnt sleep at night. Few nights back, I overheard this:
Mei Mei .. Wei Lin
Mummy .. Jo-ann
Daddy .. Jerry
Po-Po ... Doris
Ah Yee ... ....
Kakak .. Yati
Ah Gong .... Ah Gong
Ah Mah ..... Ah Mah
I just kept quiet as I didnt want to wake Mei2 up. She knows our names since she was about 27 months old. I am surprised that she conclude that her paternal g/parents names are what she calls them.
Jerilyn pronounced my dad's name as Yosef.

What's on my Mind

Til now, Jesslyn doesnt like porridge. She is going to be 7 months plus. Her first reaction at every feed is giving us a squemish look and shivers. She will only take a few 'sips' before turning her head away or screaming at us. She even pretends vomit if I insist feeding her. She loves cereals tho. She will lick her lips when we feed her cereals. She has also started to enjoy chewing on baby biscuits. I am also giving her apple to gnaw on. I am kinda worried. What if she will not take porridge for the rest of her babyhood? I dont want to feed her solely with food from the counter . I wonder how it was like with Jerilyn......... This is when I appreciate writing blogs. I can refer back easily. I forget so easily. Blogs is a great invention. To me, writing blogs is like writing a diary, which I used to do in my teens. I still have some of the old diaries that I dont want to discard. Another plus point about writing blogs is it saves lots of space. I dont have to keep heaps of diaries.

Just now, I heard cries from the baby(2y+) next dooor crying. Her mother crossed my mind again. As I mentioned in my previous blog, the mother is working in KL and she only comes back during the weekends. However, for the past few weeks, I only spot her once a fortnight!! I still cant accept it that she can leave her 2 year old child behind and only sees her during the weekends. Every Friday, I will be looking forward to seeing her car as that's when she is back. I always tell my husband that I could be as excited as her husband and baby with her return. Or, am I more excited than them??!...... I know, it's none of my business but it saddens me. As the Chinese saying, yat ka mm chi yat ka si(1's family doesnt know the problems of the other families). Anyhow, this probably reminds me of my days in KL, alone. I was not even pregnant then. Living away from home was really painful. However, I have to point out that I enjoyed the life in KL and as the proverb goes 'Absence makes the heart goes fonder'. After seeing my neighbour, I know that I cannot allow my husband to work outstation with us at home and vice versa. There was 1 time that he almost got an offer to work in other state and I thought we could live the life like our neighbours. Now, I know that it's easier said than done.

St Anne's Feast

All of us really had fun going to Bukit Mertajam to celebrate St Anne's Feast. Well, maybe not for Jesslyn. We spent a good 2 hours there. I only walked up til the first station with Jesslyn and my mother. When Jerilyn walked up further with Daddy, I expected her to make a U-turn after ><10 steps. Mind you, the steps are narrow and slippery due to the wax. But I didnt see them coming down until they had reached the top of the mountain. I said to my mum that surely CH have to carry her down. To my surprise, she came down on her own feet; hair wet and cheecks red like tomato. She excitedly said "St. Anne" as she pointed.
As there were not many people, we seem to own the place. Leisurely taking photos and letting Jerilyn run around. However, my mother kept insisting Jerilyn to hold our hands. Too bad Jesslyn couldnt go down on her feet to run with Jie2.
Jerilyn surprised us all with her sexy poses. Jesslyn looked bored and uncomfortable. By the time we left, Jesslyn dozed off in my arms. 12:46 AM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it

Down with Fever

Jesslyn was down with fever last Sunday. It was the 1st time she was ill. If we recall correctly, Jerilyn had fever too when she was ill for the 1st time and just like Jie2, Jesslyn's fever started to develop in the evening and it lasted through the night. She was back to her old self the next morning. We sticked one of those plaster for fever on her forehead. Unlike Jerilyn who touched her forehead the whole night as if we applied poison on her, Jesslyn seemed ok with the sticky plaster. Oh! Anoher similarity is we suspect that they had fever cuz of the multiple mosquitoe bites. She has 7-8 bite marks on her body now. Poor girl.

More about little Js'

What can Jesslyn do now? Her favourite exercise is to do push-up and when she does, she pushes herself to the back til something blocks her way. Most of the time, she ends up under the bed or sofa. I dont remember Jerilyn doing much push-ups last time. When Jerilyn sees Mei2 under something, she goes up to her and pulls Mei2 out. Yesterday, She pulled Mei2 to me, said "Mummy here" while pointing a finger at me as if to tell Mei2 to stay near me. After a while, Mei2 wandered off. This time, Jerilyn pulled her to Daddy and said "Daddy here." Of course, Jesslyn doesnt like it when Jie2 pulls her like a gunny sack. Pity Mei2.

Jesslyn also loves to hold my hand to fall asleep. She feels secure holding on to our fingers. She is very attached to me. I actually feels more like a Mother now as compared to mothering Jerilyn. Jesslyn cries if I walk away from her or if some1 else is carrying her instead of me. Her eyes will follow my every move. Daddy pities me for Jesslyn is too clingy to me. He said he cant help me. However, he doesnt understand that I am enjoying every moment of it and I feel important. It melts my heart when she looks straight into eyes, very much in love.

Oh! I was teaching Jerilyn prepositions (ie under, on, behind) with her Daddy, Mummy and Jerilyn toys. I arranged Daddy behind Mummy and Mummy behind Jerilyn. So, as I was teaching her their positions, Jerilyn picked up Jerilyn and put in front of Daddy. This was followed by "Daddy bau bau" repeatedly. How touching! The message I got was Daddy's 2-hour time with her daily is insufficient for her and she showed her longing for affection and attention through the toys. Anyway, I put the 2 toys together and she was very happy and looked contented. Other than this, Jerilyn shows longing for attention when
1. if Mummy is around, she only wants Mummy to do chores for her. For eg, putting on her clothes and feeding her. She wont let the maid touches her.
2. if Daddy is around, she only wants Daddy to do chores for her and wont want Mummy and of course the maid.
3. if both Daddy and Mummy are not around, she lets the maid dresses her etc... without any fuss.