The Chair Series (3 months old)

Making It Lovely is one of the blogs I started following this year. When she started posting monthly pictures of her baby girl sitting in her Eames rocker, I thought, "THAT IS SUCH A BRILLIANT IDEA! I'm SO going to copy that!" You see, PF and I decided to splurge a little and got a gorgeous rocking chair (for me to nurse DS) from Lorgan's and upholstered it in a wonderful retro print. Deee-licious! And just perfect for doing my own chair series for DS!

So ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, the first and second instalment of The Chair Series! :)

DS is now three months old, and that means two things. One, time flies and two, my maternity leave is ending. Ack!

I know I will be an embarrassing wibbling mess on the first day of work because I'm really enjoying this baby. You know how you're not supposed to say good things about babies because you might just jinx it? I won't go to the extent of naming my baby xiao fei zhu (little fat pig), but I will say this...

DS is such a "terrible, terrible" baby. She is "impossible" to placate and cries "non-stop, all the time". I'm always "at my wits' end" on how to handle her because she is just so "difficult". She "hasn't slept through the night once" (nudge nudge!) and still wakes up "five times a night", the little "devil" (wink wink WINK!). Of course, this causes her mother "great great grief". Sigh!

I think I just beat the system. *smug face* I will now have the most intelligent and well-behaved baby in the worrrrrlddddd, woot!

Whoops, think I just jinxed it.

Caught In The Act

To suck or not to suck the thumb, that is the question.

Hmmm... decisions... decisions... what's a baby to do?

 

Heck! I'm going for the fist!

If you're going to do it, do it right!

Oh dear.

In 3 years, I envision myself doing this yet again, but this time it's going to be 10x worse, and this time, I'll really go bald. You can throw away the nyeh-nyeh, but you can't throw away the thumb!

My Mei Mei!

A cousin's of PF shared this story about sibling rivalry that scared the bejesus out of me. It's a really short story and goes something like this - one day, she found her 2 year old standing on his 8-month old baby brother in the playpen. ACK!

That's natural birth control for you!

So it was with much trepidation that we introduced DN to DS for the first time in the hospital. We did our prep work and prepared a present for DN (from his sister). Before DS arrived, we read "A New Baby" to him and every night, we invited him to talk to his little sister via baby telephone (toilet roll). I don't know if it was the present, the book, the baby telephone, or just that DN is real sweetie at heart, but I don't think he's going to use DS as a stepping stone any time soon.

PHEW!

He really does love his little sister. He gets real excited when DS smiles at him and will promptly shout (and scare the living daylights out of his little sister at the same time) out, "Mei Mei smiled at me! Mei Mei smiled at me! She smiled at me you know!"

During DS's first month, the first thing DN wanted to do every day he came home from school was "look at Mei Mei". After kicking off his shoes, he would rush over to her cot and attempt to hug her with his grimy hands and shower her with sweaty kisses. Sweet, but terribly unhygienic!

One day, when confinement nazi left the flat to walk DS along the corridor, DN shouted from the living room, "HEY! That's my Mei Mei!" He was worried his little sister was getting kidnapped, but apparently not worried enough to get off his seat from the couch and stop watching cartoons to chase after confinement nazi and get his sister back. LOL!

He even tries to be the mummy by singing her his favourite lullaby (you MUST click on that link!) when she gets a little fussy.Yes, I've got a little hokkien kia at home. And if DN keeps up with the serenading, I will soon have TWO.

And now that DS is actively cooing and communicating with us, when DN is in a patient mood (not often enough), he will talk to her and give her advice.

DS : *coo coo coo*
DN : Hello Mei Mei! (playing with his cars)
DS : *coo coo coo*
DN : You cannot play with this yet okay? I am big. You are small. When you're big, you can play.
DS : *coo coo COO*
DN : Hush hush.
DS : *coo COO COO*
DN : Don't cry okay? Ti or or... beh lor hor... ah kong ah mah gia gut tor...
DS : *COO COO COO!!!*
DN : Hush hush! Quiet quiet! Otherwise I'll make you stand in the corner!

He tries. He really does.

But don't get me wrong, it's not always hunky-dory in the Ong household. We are so NOT perfect. Just the other day, I lost my temper when DN prodded his sister with one of those handheld back massager sticks (sometimes, I'm just so eloquent) despite being warned not to. And he refuses to share his pillows, bolsters, towels, EVERYTHING with his sister. And the other night, he peed on the bed, and ME, when PF carried his sister out of the room instead of him. Me! He peed on me! My son actually urinated on me! So yeah, it's not all ribbons and rainbows over here too. But overall, I'd still say that he does love his little sister and can be quite a sweetheart.

At times.

Sleep tight, my little bunnies!

Laugh or cry?

DN : I got two cars!

Me : I have two cars.

DN : No. You don't!

Me : ...
Okay, this one can laugh.

Me : (lifting DS up by her armpits)

DN : Mei mei is superman!

Me : ...

This one also can laugh.

DN : (looking up at me and pointing at my belly) Mummy! Got more babies inside!

Me : ...

CRY! WAIL! SOB! SNIFF! HOWWWL!

Imagine my dismay when DN said that. He used the plural form too! BABIES, not BABY. It's been 12 weeks since I gave birth and I tell you, I'm sick and tired of still looking pregnant! And PF is sick and tired of me constantly asking him, "Do I look like Big Momma?"

My wardrobe is so limited. I can't wear sleeveless tops because my arms look like honey baked hams, I can't wear ANY of my skirts because my muffin top threatens to overflow and I still can't wear my old jeans. If my arms look like honey baked hams, I don't even want to think of a comparison for my thighs! The only pre-pregnancy thing I can fit into comfortably now are my goddam shoes, and that doesn't count!

I know I'm supposed to be patient and give myself six months, and I guess it makes sense. After all, if it took me 10 months to put on all that weight, it should take equally long to get it off right? Technically yes... if you're a mere mortal. If you're Heidi Klum however, when your baby is 5 weeks old, you abandon said baby walk in the Victoria's Secret Show. In your undergarments! For the whole world to see! Goodness, when DS was 5 weeks old, my undergarments were big, white and 100% cotton. Hang on, DS is now 12 weeks old and my undergarments still look like flags on the washing line.

Did you see that picture of her? I mean, seriously! 5 weeks after giving birth?! And this is her 4th kid?! Give me a break. This woman's either of a different species than me, or... of a different species than me, i.e. NOT HUMAN.

But God is fair. I think I see a hint of a water-retention ankle in this picture. And I think my baby is cuter than hers! Humph!

*sniff* Something smells sour in here...

Milo Tins Under The Bed

You know how the old folks like to keep their money in milo tins under the bed because they believe banks are just out to cheat us? (Looks like they might be right after all...) Well, check out what DN has stashed behind his pillow.

(L to R) His wallet, a Thomas the Tank Engine book, his teddies 
(the round one he nicked from a baby basket for his sister) and his Mr Men board books (current fave books)

This is where he keeps his favourite things. He loves to go to bed knowing that they're there. He will even arrange his books neatly in a row. Their spines are all not facing out, but give him a break, he's 3! Last night, he refused to sleep because his phone was not with him.

DN : I want my phone!
Me : But why? It's time to sleep, not play.
DN : I need to call someone! *wail*wail*wail*
Me : ...

I finally let him out of the room and he ran to the living room to retrieve an old, spoilt cordless phone which he now uses as his mobile phone. He fell asleep with it in his hand. :)

Weaning off the Pacifier : Day 7

Down to a pat.

All in the bag.

It's a wrap.

Done and dusted.

Whoo-pee-tra-la-la-la-fiddle-dee-dee-yay!

Night 7

Took less than 10 minutes to fall asleep.

Didn't ask for his pacifier all day.

Slept through the night.

Woke up happy.

It's REALLY over!

Weaning off the Pacifier : Day 4 + 5 + 6

No more nyeh-nyeh in the house!

No more nyeh-nyeh in the car!

No more nyeh-nyeh from today!

No more nyeh-nyeh FOREVER!

That was the anthem DN's grandma created when we embarked on this crazy journey. DN was really excited and happy as we chanted that on Day 1. It actually became very festive. He even threw his own nyeh-nyeh (happily too) in the bin when his grandma asked him to. I was so shocked he did it. I mean, it was his right arm! There are 2 possible reasons why he did it.

1. All that chanting really got him into the mood and when we cheered after he did it, he must have loved basking in all that attention and glory.

2. The poor guy didn't know what he was getting himself into.

It's probably #2 eh?

No matter. We're 6 days into this whole thing and I am happy to announce, the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter and brighter. By jove, I think I see the exit! :D

Night 4 : DN wakes up around 12am, wailing again. Starts thrashing on the bed. I quickly pick him up, cuddle him close and rock him. In less than a minute, he stops wailing and starts whining instead. Eureka! The poor chap just needs some tender lovin'! He soon falls asleep and I put him down gently. This continues on and off for the next hour until he finally dozes off into deep sleep.

Night 5 : DN continues to drift out of deep sleep between the hours of 12am and 1am. Tonight he whines in his sleep. I like whining! It sure beats wailing! PF and I leave him alone and he manages to go back to sleep! Woot! When I wake up BY MYSELF (oh, you don't know how good this feels), I check the clock and it's 6.30am. It's 6.30am! OH MY GOD! *hyperventilate*

Night 6 : We have a feeling the worst is over and I'm not afraid to go to sleep anymore. As usual, DN wakes up from deep sleep during the night and starts whining. Today there's thrashing, but we ignore him and he GOES BACK TO SLEEP! There IS a God! (and I think he likes us!)

So yup yup, it looks like DN has gotten used to life without nyeh-nyeh. He still asks for it every now and then, especially when he's cranky and in a bad mood, but it's not a persistent type of asking, you know what I mean? He just asks once or twice and when we ignore the request, he stops asking.

No more nyeh-nyeh... FOREVER!

Weaning off the Pacifier : Day 1 + 2 + 3

DN's absolute, most favourite thing in the whole world is his nyeh-nyeh. Believe it or not, he never graduated from the Pigeon Step 2 pacifier for 9 month olds because the Step 3 one is of a dramatically different shape compared to the Step 2 one and he refused to have it in his mouth. So yes, up until yesterday, my 3-year old toddler was sucking a pacifier for 9 month old BABIES.

We've thought about weaning DN off the pacifier since he was a year old. Obviously, for 2 years after that, we did squat because we were too chicken. And the task just got more and more difficult as DN got more and more attached to his nyeh-nyeh. We might as well have started compiling a wedding guest list for the happy couple. -__- But I'm happy to announce that there will be NO wedding and NO happy couple! There will instead be a very disgruntled toddler, extremely unhappy with his parents and whose main goal is to turn all their hair white in a week.

He's not doing a very good job with that. Our hair's not turning white. It's falling OUT!

The days are actually alright. We've already weaned him off his nyeh-nyeh during the day. It's weaning him off sucking it in the car and at night that we needed to work on. So far, getting him to go without his nyeh-nyeh in the car has been pretty easy. We just keep him really occupied in the car - talk to him, sing with him, let him watch videos on the iPhone...

The nights are a totally different story. That's when our hair starts falling out in clumps. (Some of it is pulled out.)

Night 1 : DN wakes up at 1am WAILING for his nyeh-nyeh. Totally inconsolable for an hour. Tells PF between sobs and wails, "Papa, I don't want to be like this!" *piang piang piang* (sound of PF's heart breaking) Finally calms down when I bring him downstairs with me to watch me pack the milk I'd just pumped. Continues to wake up every 2 hours after that, wailing every time.

Night 2 : DN wakes up wailing again. Only asks for his nyeh-nyeh a couple of times and then gives up. Then starts asking for things that he knows we cannot give (just so he can kick up a bigger fuss I believe). Asks to eat "rice and fish" and then "rice and meat". Wakes up 2 more times (wailing) after that.

Night 3 : The wailing continues. Wakes up at 12am and his crying wakes DS up. (ARRRRGH!) It's not "rice and fish" today, but "I want to go out and buy bananas! Now!". Wakes up again at 3am. At 6.30am, DS wakes up for a feed. PF and I look at the sleeping DN and breathe a sigh of relief AND start counting our chickens before they're hatched. PF then (foolishly) brushes his head and that sets him off again.

The funny thing is, DN has been able to fall asleep quite easily without his nyeh-nyeh every night since the weaning started. What he can't do is soothe himself back to sleep when he rouses from those periods of deep sleep.

It's Day 4 and I feel the same as DN on Day 1 - "I don't want to be like this!"