But I'm not tired mummy! ... zzz...

Now that I have two monkeys children, every time I see parents with twins, I have this urge to run over to them, shake their hand, and ask, "HOW do you do it???" I have two children, THREE years apart, and I struggle to find time to go to the toilet. How do they handle two children of the SAME AGE? Amazing.

DN has definitely become more challenging to handle this past year. It's probably because of DS. I think in general he loves his sister (sometimes he gives her random out of the blue hugs) but sometimes he wishes she were toast. Like today. He woke up complaining that his sister stole his bolsters and pillows and went on and on and on and on about it and even pushed her! DS of course, doesn't take this kind of abuse lying down and promptly threw her milk bottle at his foot. At this point, if PF were awake, he would have started his usual chant - "fight fight fight fight fight!"

By this time, my FIL is flipping out. It's not yet 7.30 in the morning and he has two young spitfires children on his hands, ready to leap at each other's jugulars. I of course, am still wiping crust from my eyes and trying to walk in a straight line. So my poor FIL has to referee the fight. Again.

Sigh!

The cheeky monkey and Barney 

DN has also been resisting sleep and refusing naps. Nothing too unusual, he's 4 after all. The thing that gets me is, he's SO not ready to drop naps. Of course he doesn't think so. If he misses his 1pm nap, by 3pm, his eyes are glazed over, his arms are limp and his mood is BAD! And our usual conversation goes something like this...

Me : DN! It's time for a nap! You haven't taken your nap today!
DN : No! I don't want to sleep!
Me : You have to sleep. You're so tired. Look at your eyes!
DN : I'm not tired Mummy. I don't want to sleep. I want to play!
Me : No more playing. Okay, you don't have to sleep. Just close your eyes and lie down. (He hasn't caught me on this one!!)
DN : But I'm not tired Mummy! ... zzzzz...!

And he's out like a light.

And then DS wakes up from her nap. ARGGGGHHH! Just stab me already.

Ilovemychildren. Ilovemychildren. Ilovemychildren. Ilovemychildren.

I love my brother/sister

I love it when I find random photos like these in my phone. :)

DN's still not very good (okay fine, he's crap!) with the camera as you can see, but occasionally, I find photos like these in my phone. He's still quite enamoured with his sister and loves to take photos of her. Sometimes he ends up taking photos of the floor / ceiling / tree outside the window / his finger, but sometimes the planets are aligned and he actually manages to get his sister in the frame. Yay!

I love watching these two interact with each other. DN loves to makes his sister laugh and frankly, his success rate is way higher than anyone else's. He could just go "boo!" at her and she will laugh. She makes him laugh too. When she farts. Oh, that just sets him off.

The other day, we moved DN's car seat to the back (and that means I've been promoted to the passenger seat, heh). When he got into the seat, he started wailing. I sort of expected that because now he couldn't see the whole road laid out in front of him. But no! That's not why he started wailing.

"Wail! Wail! Wail! I cannot see mei mei! I cannot touch mei mei!"

Hee hee hee!

You see, DS's car seat has got pretty high sides, so unless DN cranes his neck, he won't be able to see her. And of course, he can't touch her because his arms are just too short to reach across! But do you know what? They figured it out. After a while, I turned around and saw two little hands touching. Yup, both of them reached out of their car seats to hold hands.

Now tell me your heart isn't melting!

What's wrong with you people?

I bet that's what DN is thinking whenever strangers ask him if they can take his baby sister home with them. Why do people do that?

"Can I bring your Mei Mei home?"
"Mei Mei go home with me can or not?"
"Let me bring your Mei Mei home today. I'll bring her back tomorrow okay?"

If we strip those requests down to their bare bones, it's kidnapping eh! Read : not legal! And people get really high on hearing DN say, "No, that's MY mei mei!". I guess he passed their "are you a loyal brother?" test. So far, he hasn't failed that test yet because he lurvvves his sister. But if this goes on much longer, I'm not sure he'll pass the "are you polite to strangers?" test.

Are you one of those who like to ask little children for permission to take their sibling away? If you aren't, then ok! If you are then, erm... hmm... hem... haw...

*awkward silence*

*sound of crickets*

Okay then!

The other day, we were in a store and the same thing happened.

Salesgirl : Wah! Can I bring your baby home?
DN : No.
Salesgirl (won't let up) : Please? Please? She's very cute.
DN : No!
Salesgirl (still at it) : But why? Why cannot?
DN : That's my mei mei!
Salesgirl (almost high) : Just one day lah! Let me bring your baby home okay?
DN : No. You go hospital to get one!

LOL!

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!