Such Innocence.

Can only be found in children.

I need to document this down so I don't forget!

Was wearing a thong and was somewhat exposed before bedtime.

K3: Wah mummy! Your panty is all in your backside! 
(He thinks it's a major wedgie...)

K2: Ya mummy, why don't you wear it properly?


My eldest went for a Pokemon hunting party and the facilitators found some located in a condo vicinity. They told the guard they were dropping off some kids and went in. The eldest kept telling them that they were not supposed to go in, yadder yadder yadder....(the eldest is very principled).

Upon leaving, he told the parent: "Ok you told them you were dropping off some kids. So now some of us have to hide!"

LOL!!!

The Things My Kids Say.

It's been eons since my last entry, but I just had to put this down lest I forget it...

Sometimes at bedtime, the kids and I play this "guessing game". One of us gives clues, and the others try to guess what the subject it.

So tonight it went like this.

Kaitlyn: Can we play guessing game?
Me: Ok.
Kaitlyn: Give us difficult ones ok?
Me: Ok!

(And so we start.)

Me: This is found in your blood and carries oxygen. Red in colour and round.

(No answer from anyone)

Me: Ok....it's haemoglobin.
Kieran: Hey! We haven't learnt that! We haven't even learnt science!
Me: Ok, never mind. Now you learn. Next up. This is also found in your blood. Helps your blood to clot so the blood will stop bleeding when you fall. Starts with letter 'p'.
Kristian: PLASTER!!
Me: Nope! It's platelets!
(But so funny right??)
Me: Ok. Next. What is our hair made of?
Kaitlyn: STRING!!

Lol.

This One Never Fails to Make Me Laugh

3 kids. 3 totally different personalities and characters.

With number 3, I can predict a life of challenges ahead. Which will both anger me and make me laugh, I'm sure.

Just see what has happened at 2.5 years old, and you will understand where I'm coming from.

Case 1: After a bath

Me: Kristian,  please put on your clothes quickly or you will catch a cold.

I walk out of the bathroom to dress him and found him doing single claps repeatedly.

Me: What are you doing?

Kristian: I'm catching the cold.

Case 2: At the bath / sanitary shop

You know those sinks on display on the walls of the shop? Kristian chose a round one, went up to it, steered it and sang "The Wheels on the Bus go round and round....."

Then after that wheels-on-the-bus episode, my daughter comes running to me and I ask her where Kristian was (these 2 are partners in crime). She told me he was pee pee-ing.

Me (to the hubs): Can you please on your son? I dunno where he is peeing.

The husband rushes off to find him already pulling up his pants.

Later that evening I asked my daughter:

Me: Kaitlyn, where did didi pee? In the toilet or in one of the toilet bowls outside?

Kaitlyn: In the toilet bowls outside!

Me: Cannot bluff ok? Really?

Kaitlyn: Ya! He tried to flush but cannot because it's not real what!

So we aren't certain, but we think he peed in one of the display sets.....

My Littlest

...is really not so little anymore.

He's pretty vocal and repeats pretty  much anything you say.
Loves singing "Let it Go".
One of my favourite conversations goes like this:

Me: Hello Kristian!
K3: Hello MARMEE! (very loud and gangsterish)
Me: What are you doing?
K3: I eat.
Me: What are you eating?
K3: Er.....I eat food!

And very active.

At almost 2, he can zip on the skate scooter faster than his older 2 siblings could at the same age.
He can last a whole day without napping! And still go to bed only at 10pm.
Loves to jump on the sofa and the bed.

And very cheeky.

He loves to bite, somehow. Not sure why. I've been a victim many times.

He will tell you he needs to poo poo. Goes to the toilet, sits on the potty for 5 seconds and say "Enough! I want flush!" Then he pulls the toilet roll. Non stop.

This one keeps you on your toes all the time. Tires you out. Cos you need to watch him every minute. Leave him for a couple of seconds and he'll be up to some mischief. He's like my little gangster.  Naughty but oh so cute and adorable.

What's Been Happening

I have been on a blogging hiatus for too long. Almost a year!

In between the last post and this, so much has happened and I have been extremely busy.

Kieran's 4th birthday. Kaitlyn's 3rd. Kristian's 1st. My 5 wedding anniversary. Mum's 1st death anniversary.  

2nd helper decided to renew contract and then broke it. Scramble to find her replacement. Train the replacement. Thankfully, the replacement's been good. May be too soon to tell, but for now, it's good.

Took some leave to spend time with the kiddos during the school holidays. Kristian became so sticky within just the 5 days that I was home. Stickiness aside, he was fussy too. Then, just over the weekend, I was so overwhelmed with everything, I decided to hide between the clothes in my walk-in wardrobe. Still, Kieran found me.  

I'm glad to be back at work again, but my guess is, that feeling will last all but ONE day.

Just look at these faces! The stress and fatigue at home beats the stress and fatigue at work. Anytime.

Totally Random

I was talking to Kieran one day and all of a sudden he said, "Mummy, I will be so sad if you die."

So I said, "There's no need to be sad. You will see me again in heaven, right?"

To which he replied, "If you die, I will shoot the heaven and take you back!"

Tell me, how can you not love this boy? :)

My Little Miss Independent

At just 2 years of age, Kaitlyn has a mind of her very own, does things independently and has an answer for almost everything.....

Doing Work
Just like in the picture above, she climbs onto my chair, sits at the keyboard, picks up a pen and paper and starts writing and typing. She's all quiet, and when this happens, she's usually up to no good. So I asked, "Kailtyn, what are you doing?"
"I'm doing work." comes her very matter-of-factly reply.

And for a 2 year old, she really can hold a pen well!

Bearing Grudges
I was taking both the older kids to Ikea and asked them to belt up in the booster seats. Kaitlyn refused and our conversation went as such:
Me: You have to put on the seat belt.
Kaitlyn: Dowan
Me: You have to, if not you are going home.
Kaitlyn: Dowan. No need.
Me: If you don't want to belt up, I am going to send you home.
Kaitlyn: Ok, I go home.

So I turn back and headed home. She dropped off (with no tears!) and Kieran and I went off to Ikea. Apparently she sat at the dining table and sulked. And when asked why she came home, she said, "Because I dowan to wear seat belt."

And upon my return that night, while putting them to bed, this feisty little one simply refused me my goodnight kiss.

Crying on Demand
She was reaching for a cup of cold water when Ron said, "Kaitlyn, finish the food in your mouth first. If not, the food will all go into the water. Don't drink it first."

She looks at me and says, "Mummy, Papa scold me. I am going to cry already."
And a few seconds later, she was crying.

Tell me, what do the children of these times eat??

And They're Off To School!

It seems like only yesterday that they were born.....now my first and second born are already in school!

Enjoy school and the learning process my darlings!

Welcome Baby Kristian!

Sat, 3 November 2012
I had this sudden crampy feeling in the abdomen and it felt exceptionally heavier than normal. But it wasn't really the feeling of contractions. So I called my cousin to check and she said that it could well be the start of it. So I decided to call the labour ward, only to be told that it's hard to tell over the phone (duh!) and to just head down to the hospital since it's number 3.

We headed over to Thomson and upon checking, I was indeed having contractions and was 2 cm dilated.

You know how everyone says that each baby will take a shorter time to come? And that there will be no time for epidural, so the pain will only last for a short while, so no need epidural? And how people tell you that even with the water bag burst or the start of contractions, you still have time?

I'm glad I decided not to heed all those and just went in super early and asked for epidural super early.

I admitted myself at 9pm, and Dr Tan came in at 10pm to burst the water bag. Epidural was admistered at about 930pm.

And then I was dilated at 2cm for the longest time la! And like before, the epidural was only working on the right side! At 1am, Dr Tan came in again, saw me in pain and asked if I wanted to redo the epidural. REDO? It's really quite painful you know. But she suggested that we redo it as I was still only 2cm dilated. So the epidural was redone at 2am, and thankfully, this time it worked fully.

At about slightly past 3am, the mid wife came to check and I asked her if it has progressed. And she said: "Ya. 9cm." Then she started preparing stuff and said that I can try to start pushing. "But you have to call Dr Tan first. What if the baby comes before she's here?"

9cm???

Thankfully Dr Tan arrived soon after and within about 6 pushes Baby Kristian came out.

And as of Nov 4 2012, we've officially become a family of 5. :)

The Things My Almost-3-year-old Says

I was down with a flu a couple of weeks back, so I was wearing a mask around the house.

Kieran: Mummy, take out the tissue.
Me: It's not a tissue. It's a mask. I need to wear it because I am sick and i don't the germs to go to you.
Then my mother added: "Yes, don't go so near mummy, cos she is sick."

The next morning, my son woke up and said, "Mummy, you are not wearing the mask. You are feeling better already?"
Me: Yes, a little bit better
Kieran: So I can come near you?
Me: Not yet darling. Let me get fully better first ok?

Then again the next morning.... Kieran: Mummy, your germs finish already?

Conversations with My Son

Here are some excerpts from conversations with my two and a half year old.

Me: Do you want to go over and play Hide & Seek with the je jes?
K: No, I don't want.
Me: Why?
K: Because hide and seek I cannot find them!


K: This doughnut is good.
Grandpa: No la. Doughnuts are not very good.
K: It's good, Grandpa.
Grandpa: No la. Not good.
K: Don't talk. You don't talk.


I had a glass of coke and Kieran wanted to drink it. And our conversation went like this:

Mummy: That's iced coffee.
K: No, it's not coffee.
Mummy: It is. And children cannot drink coffee right?
K: It's not coffee.
Mummy: Then what is it?
K: Coke!
Mummy: No. It is coffee.
K: I need to try.
Mummy: No need to try. It's not coke,
K: Please, mummy, can you let me try?

How to not let him try like that????


Grandma: Kieran, can you bring the contol here for Grandma? That one.
Kieran: Grandma, don't say "one". What is "one"?

This one was picked up from me. He learns really fast. But speaking proper English starts when they are young right? I hear SOOO many people saying "That one. This one. The blue one." Seriously. WHAT IS "ONE"?


My father was singing the zoo version of the birthday song for me and....

Grandpa: Your mummy is like the monkey in the zoo
K: Mummy is not monkey.
Grandpa: Oh. She is like the donkey.
K: No Grandpa. Mummy is not like donkey.
Grandpa: Your mummy is like the elephant then.
K: No. Mummy is not like elephant. Mummy is not anything!


Here is my oh-so-cute-and-clever 2.5 year old! :p

My Cutie Pie at 8 Months

At 8 months, Kaitlyn has 2 lower front teeth and 2 strands of hair. Ok, I exaggerate, but the hair growth is still slow and sparse.

And she can:

- sit on her own.
- crawl.
- pull herself up to stand. And while she's up, the tries to stand with one hand, while using the other to grab her bolster. One in 5 times, she succeeds.
- wave bye bye.
- cry like she has been hit or has fallen when you stop her from doing something. The cries immediately stop when you let her resume what she wanted to do.
- suck her thumb big time. Just like her brother.

Very cute.

Just So I Won't Forget

Kieran's vocabulary has expanded. In addition to what he can already say, he now says "Uh-Oh", "Where you go", "ball" "ish" (fish), "chair", "dockor" (doctor), tatak (penguin - don't ask me why). Calls "papa" but not "mummy". WHY??

There's still a lot of signing going on, sometimes coupled with his words. Very cute. What's really impressive is that despite not knowing how to say many other words, he really understands what we are talking about - and this is shown through his association with things. For instance, my parents will be talking about bowling, and he will walk to the bowling ball and look at it. Then just yesterday, he had just woken up and seemed to be chewing something rather uncomfortably in his mouth. So I asked him, "What's in your mouth?" and he pointed to my hair. I think a strand of my hair from his bed got into his mouth.

The other amazing thing is how he remembers stuff. Yesterday I told him we were taking Kaitlyn to the doctor's for an injection. And then in the car I asked," Where are we going Kieran?" And he replied, "Dockor". So I said,"Do you like to go to the doctor's". He shook his head. So I asked, "Where did the doctor check you the last time?" And he pointed to his chest and ears and butt (where the suppository was inserted).

He also recognises nursery rhymes which I hum and communicates what they are with actions! Super cute! I have them on video, but I haven't figured out how to upload them yet. (Haven't tried la. Can't be that dumb not to figure it out).

Speaking of jabs, I hate taking babies to jabs. My daughter will let out a cry and then go silent for almost 15 seconds, and then the actual crying starts! It's hilarious. She recognises people now and tries to grab everything that she sees.

Ok, that's all the time I have for this update. And really, it's so I don't forget all these things when they are all grown up!

Growing Up Too Fast

It's been a while since I last posted. But this "a while" has flown by pretty quickly, really. Life with 2 kids has been pretty challenging, albeit wonderful.

At 21 months and 5 months, both Kieran and Kaitlyn are extremely fun to be around. Naughty but cute. One learning to communicate and the other starting to respond. Cuteness to the max. With limited vocabulary, Kieran's communication, though can sometimes be in the form of screams, head slapping, and signing. But like my kayester says, "Enjoy the signing while it lasts!"

Kieran's first proper word was "Ice". And it either means he wants ice or ice-cream. Takes a lot of effort on his part to say it though. Now, he has progressed to say 'car', 'house', 'up', 'down', 'star' and just yesterday, "ask".

Just over the weekend, the kids went swimming with their cousins. And getting Kieran and Lauren out of the pool was like pulling screaming pigs out of the water! Terrible.

The kids are growing up too fast, and being a working mother leaves me with so little time with them.

Somebody give me the winning numbers for toto, so that I can afford to stop work! :p

Where's Mary Poppins??

When Kieran plays, this is the kind of mess he is capable of.

And then I wish we had Mary Poppins' capability of putting everything all back in place with just the snap of her fingers.

A Bedful of...

....everything a 15 month old can fill it with.

Kieran's not been feeling well recently, so he has been sleeping on our bed with us. (Actually sometimes Daddy sleeps on Kieran's bed).

Anyway, our bed is now infused with milk, medicince, urine and mucus. I have decided to leave it be and just sun the mattress protector the next time the sun is out in full force.

Once you have kids, I think you learn to live with such things.

My husband is going to have to start learning to live with shoe prints, food crumbs and other stains in his car soon. Right now, his car is in tip top clean condition. (it's a guy thing is it ah?). When he is away on work trips and the car is at my disposal, I get chided for the bird poop on the car and the leaves that i bring into the mat on the car!

We'll see what happens in a few weeks when number 2 comes along.

SuperGlue

My husband is finally back from his 2 week long work trip. Too long, too long! It's not fun having the husband away for such a long period of time.

During his 2 weeks away from home, Kieran had the luxury with sleeping with me on our bed. Comfortable enough for a 7 month pregnant lady and a14 month old with the capability of turning 360 degrees while sleeping.

So when Ron returned, Kieran had to go back to his bed (which is just beside ours, but slightly lower in height). Here's what happened in the nights that followed:

Night 1
He got up the moment I transferred him to his bed and climbed back onto our bed. So I put let him fall asleep again on our bed and transferred him again when he was in much deeper sleep. Nevertheless, he got up again sometime in the wee hours and was back in our bed.

Night 2
He fell asleep on our bed, and didn't get up when transferred back to his. However, I woke up at around 2plus in the mornning (I didn't quite check the clock but based on how much sleep I felt I got, I reckoned it was 2 ish in the morning) to find him sleeping next to be at the edge of the bed! He had somehow managed to find his way onto our bed.

Night 3
Successfully transferred him to his bed when he fell asleep. Nevertheless, he woke up again at about 5 plus to climb back up on our bed.

So the past few nights have been pretty disruptive for my well needed rest (not that I get much of it from the constant peeing anyway), but .... so cute right? To wake up and find your 14 month old asleep right next to you. :)

Kieran's been pretty attached to me of late, but I'm not complaining. It's a nice feeling to be wanted. So like my help says, "Miss, you have 3 superglue. Kieran is the number one superglue, Jamie is number two and Barkley is number 3" (the latter two being my Golden Retriever and my Shih Tzu). Seriously, they have all really become like superglue.

Here's my number one superglue...

Updates on Our Little Kieran

I think I've backlogged quite a bit. The last post on Kieran must have been when he was......6 months

Let's start with some sleep updates. When Kieran turned 7.5 months, he finally figured that sleep was better than food in the middle of the night. So since then, whoever sleeps with him (Mom sleeps with him on weekdays, and Ron/I sleep with him when we're off) has been managing to get a good night's sleep. Ok, we still wake up when he moves and fusses to pat him back to sleep, but that sure beats waking up to make milk and feed him.

On the feeding side, he's been on cereal in the mornings and porridge in the evenings, with milk in between. Just this week, we started him on cereal in the morning and porridge in the afternoon and evenings. He absoluely loves his smelly fish and brocolli porridge!

One tooth has finally decided to make is appearance this week, and he's also beginning to crawl....erm, squirm?

He now recognises people and certain objects, and has learnt to give you a high 5 (mood dependent though).

Thumbsucking is still there.......

Thanks Ee Ee Im for my Universal Studios Monkey!

Breast is Best?

Kieran turned 3 months on 7 November. He's still hates drinking from the bottle, and would rather sleep than drink. The last few evenings while being bottle fed, he cried like someone had bullied him big time. So we decided to shower him first. Upon hearing the sound of water, he stopped wailing. IMMEDIATELY. Terrible you know.

Then after his bath, he wailed again. We gave him the bottle but he continued wailing. So in the end, it was my breast to the rescue.

In the last 2 days, he's been trying to turn, only successfully turning his butt. Think the head's a bit too big! But today, he did it. Not sure if he can repeat it though.

3 months......

I only have ONE MONTH of maternity leave left! Shucks!

Lau Ma's Handmade Booties!

This pair of booties I'm wearing were made by my Lau Ma (great grandmother). Very precious cos she left us last July and no one else knows how to make them!

More booties to go round between my cousins! Some with pom poms, some with pearls and some with buttons! I think one of the Lau Ko's or Ee Ee's should go learn how to make these.....can't find them in the shops you know.