Come and Get Me!

Fri 6th Nov 09 (7months 2 weeks old)

Listen to Tufeil squealing!!

2nd sis was coarse whispering "Come and Get me." Somehow that tickled Tufeil to no end!

Syifaa' was shrieking in the background.

And you can hear my watery giggle in the middle of the clip.

The phrase only gave us a smile from him the next day. The laughing gas has evaporated, i think.

We think its the product of feeding him milk while I'm laughing myself! LOL

"It's Ok. Let Him Play"

I find that with Tufeil crawling, its easier to get work done.

If i wanna pack my EBM, i carry him to the kitchen, put him on the floor and do my thing. I used to hafta wait till he's sleeping.

Or if i wanna prepare some snack for myself i dont hafta carry him in one hand and spread the bread with one and a half hand. muscle straining ley!

If i wanna eat... ill let him play on the floor and me next to him propping plate on my hand (bertatang).

Syifaa' is like a second mother to him. Lol. She would say, "No, Tufeil tak boleh. Ini kakak punye." (No, Tufeil. cannot. This is mine.) or "Tak boleh nanti jatuh." (You'll fall) or whatever.

I rarely say NO, actually. As far as i'm concerned, he can play with anything. He scratches my face. Ok. He plays with the remote control. No Problem. Hold or Play with his food and mess his shirt. That's alright too. Provided i'm watching all the time.

He's besotted with this vase. Thank god its made of rattan and fake flowers.

He likes to chew non-existent sireh / paan / betel leaves.

"C'mon, Mummy. Let's go already!"

Sunglasses courtesy of Mak Ngah


Just one thing that's diff. Diaper Changing. Need i say more! Pull-ups are a life saviour!!

Sleep Operation Night 1 & 2

After 7 months of intermitten sleep, i think i've had enough! I NEED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

So i borrowed Gina Ford's The New Contented Little Baby Book and have read halfway thru. From what i understand so far:

1. Baby has to eat well during the day and not sleep too much to be able to go thru longer sleep at night.
2. Timing is everything
3. Changing his diaper in the first night feed will help him be a bit more alert to feed well = sleep longer.
4. I've instilled in Tufeil the association of feeding with sleeping.

One thing i know, it seems i'm too late for it. The book talked about 2 - 4weeks old, 12weeks old... er... Tufeil is already... beyond countable weeks. LOL So i should get the Toddler Sleeping Guide book next.

Current style: No strictly-adhered-to wind-down routine because it really depends on at what point i take over caring for him. Sometimes he's already slept in the afternoon at 5pm, other times not. Sometimes Mum already bathed him though mostly not. Sometimes his last feed is 4pm, sometimes 5pm or even 6. So it's really hard to tell.

But mostly i try to bathe him, then feed him to a short nap by about 7 - 7.30pm so i could have MY own shower, dinner and prayer.

Then by 9pm + i will bring him to the room. Maybe play a bit, read a bit then nurse him to sleep. Mostly he is asleep by 10pm. But he would wake at 12mn, 2am, 4 or 5am (at this point i couldn't be bothered to check the time) then 7am. No diaper change, no burping. Just feed in bed with my eyes closed and he in side lying position too.

Notice that he would sometimes shift in his sleep to get into a better position: on tummy. During day naps, he can only sleep for 30min or 45 at best.

2nd Nov, Mon night

Tried to put some of what i've learnt into operation.

Gave him a bottle of EBM (60ml), played for a bit then turned him down to sleep.

He was asleep by 9pm. When he started crying at 11pm, i straight away changed his nappy. HE CRIED THE HOUSE DOWN. but immediately soothed when Ash who just came home picked him up and played with him for awhile. But nothing doing. No improvement whatsoever. still same pattern.

3rd Nov, Tues night

Came home quite late. He's already had his 6:30pm feed.

Bathed him. Put him on the floor while i ate on the floor too and watched tv.

I fed him at 9pm. Just as he was about to go to a deep sleep, i brought him up to a burp. Then suddenly, i got a thought, "Let's give him the other side too. Hopefully he will become full." Current practice is to give only one side in the hope that he will get the hind (back end) milk which is researched to help babies sleep longer. Humph! Anyways, he took quite a bit in then suddenly he was playful. So read to him while lying down.

at 10pm, i turned off the light totally, in an effort to signal him that it's bedtime (current practice is to turn on the dim coloured lighting). I tried to sing him to sleep while cuddling. He was quiet for awhile but he got cranky after a few minutes. I believe it was because he was ready to sleep but can't sleep cause he wants his suckling time. After 5min or so, i gave up and just fed him.

Miraculously, he tore himself away from the breast on his own accord. He seldom does this. I take this as a sign that he's truly full. And my! He skipped the 12midnight feed and woke up at 2am! Hurrah!!!

At 2am, instead of straight away changing his diaper, i brought him to the hallway to calm him for a bit first. Turned on the light, took the diaper changing things and handed him a soft toy as well. THEN brought him down on the bed to change. He was NOT crying thank god. He even lied down quite still (a rarity for crawling babies!!).

I repeated the process from the last success. Fed one side, burped, changed side. I decided its ok to nurse him to feed. To assoc feeding as sleeping. Unfortunately, I was like so excited and anxious, delirious, high to document this moment, to remember every detail and what to write in blog that i found myself wide awake at 3:30am. GRRRR

Just when i've finally fallen asleep, he woke up again at 4:40am. This time i think supply was rather low at the last feed. and i just sleepily gave him one side WITHOUT properly ensuring he's alert enough to feed well. And i think again at 5:30am. Too groggy to remember. Just stuck him a side. LOL.

I'm thinking i should prolly give an extra bottle somewhere. at 2am perhaps.

In The Hot Seat

So today was my first time taking the public transport to work after my 4 month long maternity leave. and it was horrendous, as usual.

This time around, i don't get to say, "Can i have a seat, please? I'm pregnant." But i feel like saying, "I have a 7month old baby at home who doesn't sleep thru the night and now i'm feeling very shitty. If you wanna avoid being stepped on by me, give up the seat to me, or else!"

I may be a fierce bitch in my own imagination - i concoct a lot of nasty things to say to everyone around me all the time- but Nah... in reality, i'm too timid to vocalise those thoughts, to hurt other people.

In any case, this one man almost racked up my courage to do just that. A guy just vacated a seat in front of this Apek (Uncle) looking passenger and i was standing just next to him. I shuffled in a way to signal that i want that seat. It's quite a long shot but i expected him to give it up to me being he is a healthy, not so old man.

Not only did he not offer that seat to me, he even DARED TO TUT at me!!! What The! The least you could do was look sheepish and avoid eye contact and i would just say you're a lazybum or something. But this behaviour was sooo uncalled for! I was sooo worked up i GLARED back at him with much distaste! Gosh i felt sooo accomplished! Empowered! Having the nerve to stand up to myself as small as it was.

I wanted to snap a photo of him in that old fashioned polo tee and bermudas. I bet he's not local. If you know what i'm saying. But i forgot my hp. GRRR

I have an idea! The next time i fight with a guy for a seat, i would politely say, "Are you gentleman enough to offer that seat to a lady?" Granted, a man like the above won't even UNDERSTAND a word i'm saying, but i would target a well dressed man who looks like he's heading to a big shot office or something. If they are not embarassed enough to let me sit, ... why then i shall take a picture of him and blog about it! What? I'm in a public place, aren't i?

Crawling Baby on the Floor

Wed 28th Oct 09 - 7months 1 day old

I just came home. He was on his tummy on the carpet in the living room. Syifaa' was standing above him (but not ON him) and suddenly Tufeil crawled to me!!! As though fleeing away from his cousin. LOL

And he was pretty fast too!

It's not the kind of efficient crawling yet but at least he's started using his knees a bit. and he was getting somewhere... going places, ya know... and his butt is raised even higher. Macam cute gitu bontot ternaik2 hahahahaha.

I actually have a video of that first discovery but er... well.. not suitable for public viewing. Sorry. I'll try to get another session.

Which Camp Are You In?

The one that says I'm Fat, or the one that says I'm not fat bordering on thin. BUWAHAHAHAH

Well how about this....

Covering Your Aurah leads to rape! or the obvious Revealing clothes lead to sexual crime.

I was very shocked when this non-muslim friend of mine offered this view. Before that, she was asking me why do i cover myself. and i said to preserve decency mah. She did not agree. She said pple with little clothes on, there's nothing much left to the imagination. But with baggy clothes being such a teaser, men might not be able to take it and just wanna rip it off and see what's hidden underneath.

Hmmm I don't know. I'm not quite convinced. What say you?

It's ME time!

Tuesday, 27th Oct 09


I suddenly had an idea the day before that Tuesday would be an excellent time to take half day afternoon off to myself. and started scouring Cathay website for the opportuned timely slots.


Decided to tell Mum first so she won't be calling my office and gotta know from somebody else that i'm off having fun while she's stuck at home taking care of the baby.


It was nice how it also coincided with 2nd sis availability. Being a teacher, she CAN finish work early but its hard to know for sure as they might hafta stay back to relieve somebody ... or extra classes... or just irritating almost pointless meetings. However, with P6 done with their exams, she was able to finish timely and join me!!!


Left the office at 12:48pm after a 40min pumping session. Rushed my way to Somerset, stopped by Burger King for smuggled lunch to catch this:

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs with a pair of free ticket :D


I can just say: WOWWWW!!! I mean.. what IMAGINATION!! I LOVE IT!


Even before the credits appeared, we made for the exit to not miss the start of...


My Sister's Keeper.

Now all 3 of us sisters have already read this book. The scenes from the first 15min or so were terribly terribly fast! If you haven't read the book, u wouldn't notice the subtle points like the pendant. It was just a brief touch n go i dont see the point in showing it at all!

Several circumstances were changed, a few small additional pple... but one main character was omitted totally. Well... I can understand because it could then take 3hours!! I was quite irritated by the lack of presence from the lawyer character!

However, the biggest disappointment of all, the ending is TOTALLY DIFFERENT from the book.

Nonetheless, i enjoyed it. Mostly I like to watch movies from a book i've already read to see how does my imagination measure up to the "real" one and then reimagine them all over again. Especially the layout of the house and everything. I'm running out of ideas cos we live in a totally different kinda buildings.

I cried quite a bit too. (Spoiler now) Like the scenes where they took the bone marrow aspiration from Kate and then when Anna was being restrained onto the hospital bed... (end of Spoiler)

basically i can't take any Parent-Child, child-trauma scenes, i will definitely cry. Now i understand how my mum can cry over such a small emotional scene on TV. Motherhood has changed me so.

Initially, i wanted to catch a 3rd movie Imagine That with Eddie Murphy... but it would finish at 6:40pm and i feel guilty leaving T for an hour longer at home so i decided against it and we shared a cab home. Reached slightly earlier than i normally would if i'd been to work.


To sort of "make up" for the "guilt", I took him to the library. Borrowed 18 books!! 6 baby books, 5 novels for me (2 are light readings so not so bad) and 7 Parenting Guidebooks!! HAHAHAHA Ambitious, i know! But i can't resist borrowing Tracy Hogg's books... a (simple) Brain Games book... 2 on First Foods bla bla bla...

Now that i can leave Tufeil on the floor/bed exploring on his own, I have free hands to browse thru the parenting books (with one eye on the baby, of course).

But seriously, novels are my saviour. With a good book in hand, i actually LOOK FORWARD to take the TRAIN home. The only down side is, i lose a bit more sleep. Oh well... You can't eat cake and NOT GET FAT. Tit for Tat.

Tufeil's Solids History

So it's been a WHOLE month since Tufeil's started eating solids.

The first food i ever properly gave him was pureed pear which he ate alright.

Then mummy started giving him instant rice cereal for 2 weeks. He ate well. sometimes even skipping one bottle. Mummy gave him water after cereal to "wash off". Hmmm

However, the past week or so, Mummy reported that he's been refusing the cereal for lunch. I deduced that he's tired of soft textured food or simply tired of it. But even when mum gave an apple flavoured cereal, he refused.

So i gave him fruits to eat for dinner... namely apple and peach and he lapped up very happily. When i tried potatoes, he was not too keen.

At this, i decided he prefers the SWEET Stuff and something not too foreign from milk taste.

I thought of introducing porridge with carrot / chicken / fish... but afraid it might still be too early. its only been a month since he's started solid.. but i read that older babies might not like pureed food for long and they might start to dislike solid food totally since its always so bland so boring!

so what i plan to do now is to rotate the pureed fruits ie not everyday same fruit... but somewhere in between remind him of veges - the pureed carrot and potatoes i made. Maybe for another week or two then will start with fish porridge. Let's see.

Will study the Feeding: Solved book i borrowed.

Eatz19 is in town!

Mon, 26th Oct 09


Felt a bit embarassed when the newbie showed me a new HALAL lunch eatery. But am VERY GLAD she found it and told me!


I had been a fan of Eatz 19 @ Liang Seah St, Bugis, since i gotta know them thru my F&B first job. Their menu is always fusion-istic but in a sensible / edible kinda way. They've closed that out.

Today, it is located at Temasek Tower (Tg Pagar) a few restaurants after Starbucks with mainly Al fresco dining. (It's wayyy to the back)


Lunch menu starts from $6.80 for main dishes + Ice Lemon Tea. Or add $3 for a bowl of soup.






This is Tomyam Chicken Soup and its TO DIE FOR!!! I've never tasted anything so.... innovative!


The good thing is they have a list of what soup on which day so you can plan ahead WHEN to go over esp for pple like me who dont like Corn soup or minestrone (however it's spelt). Basically, i only like cream based soups. hah

I ordered Szhechuan Chicken with pasta.

Great for people who LOVES spicy food

The portion of the chicken thigh is fairly large. My pasta has finished long before my chicken did. which is rare for me cos i try to balance everything and finish at the same time.

All in all... A MUST TRY for CBD workers!!!

Hmmm... i saw the owner and remembered her face but for the life of me cldn't recall her name. Oh well.. i doubt she recognizes me anyway. But she's as friendly as ever. Asked if i need extra chilli padi and if we've had a nice lunch... Awwwhhh....

Tufeil's Developments!!

UPDATE!

Forgot to write: Tufeil is now wearing Mamypoko diaper L size, even though the package says its for 9kg above and he's only 7.6kg. (6months 3 weeks)

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Ok my colleague's children actually started crawling first (at 5 or 6 month) then sitting up. I think Syifaa' started crawling quite early too. Tufeil is now 7 months old!

Tufeil starting sitting about 5.5months... and now i'm anxious to get him to crawl. Actually he shows more potential to walk first than crawl. Often would grab our hands or push him himself up from other furniture. PLUS, he gets upset now when i put him on his tummy.

I continue relentlessly to put him on the belly and entice him with a toy.... in an effort to get him crawling

The clip is over 2min long but the first few seconds will do. Towards the end, Syifaa' disturbed the "Adik" already.

You will notice that he stretches his arms to reach for something and uses his TOES to go forward rather than knees. Therefore, i deduce this is the Commando Crawl.

Ok Tufeil, one step at a time. I love you, babe.

Haeundae Tsunami - The Movie

Sat, 24th Oct 09

Got another free pass from Ash who works at Cathay. We watched it together just at Causeway Point. It required quite a lot of planning - which went thru the window cos she woke up late.



I had class first at home then at 1.30pm went out. Left Tufeil with the maid. Alone. Kak Ly is due back in half an hour or so.

In the middle of watching the movie, suddenly, i felt real guilty leaving Tufeil at home alone with the maid. This was right after the scene where a girl was trapped in the house alone. Even though, by then, Ly was playing Dress Up with him.

"Siapa Bilang Gadis Melayu Tak Menawan?"

Motherly MeMe

Name: Jussaemon

Child(ren) and their ages:
7months old Boy

How many children would you like to have, ideally?
4. 2 boys and 2 girls. God willing.

How long did it take to conceive?
6 months after going off contraceptive methods.

Brief version of your Birth Story:

Induced thru a tablet inserted. No progress in 18hours. Returned to normal ward, walked around, had a bath and waterbag burst just as i started to have dinner. All this in less than 1hr. at 3cm, i asked for Epidural. 7 hours and 5pushes later, baby was out.

Baby's Birth Date, Weight and Height:
27th Mar 09, 3.1kg, 50cm

Weight gained during pregnancy:
12kg

Weight shed after delivery:
12kg

How did you name your child(ren)?
First name we took from his paternal great grandfather. Second name is request from MIL.

Working or Stay-At-Home Mum?
Working =(

Formula / Breast milk?
100% Breast Milk so far

Your Favourite Baby moments / actions:
During feeding/sleeping time, he would hover his free hand searching my face, and i would either kiss it or bite it gently... It's a very tender loving moment.

His/Her/Their First Word:
Er.... AWAWAWA??

I would like to tag SUE, NISA, FARA, WANA, Butterflyrubrics (I know you're reading *wink*) and allllll mothers out there!! Please let me know when you've done it. i'm DYING to know your answers!

Temporary SAHM coming soon!

Yay!!... my leaves have been approved!

My parents are going for Haj this yr (Alhamdulillah!) and so i need to take leave from work to look after Tufeil.

Thank god i still have 13days of annual leave. I havent used much cos the first 3 months i was mostly only on MCs and 2 half days, then maternity leave! Then i got 1 more day credited from Deepavali on Saturday. Add 6days of child care leave = 20 days! and to date, i have 2 more days of maternity left.

I've applied for leave starting 23rd Nov 09 all the way to after Xmas, with one week break in between since 2nd sister is on school holiday (she's a teacher) and can help to care for T.

She's excited to start our holiday together... lotsa outings like last June i bet. More so cos we would have the car!!

Er.. but frankly, i'm a bit apprehensive at the notion of spending the WHOLE day with a baby everyday. Even just spending weekday evenings with him, i already feel clueless at what to do to entertain him, what more a whole month 24hours a day? And if he's started crawling by then... i doubt i can even go to the toilet!

But i suppose im looking forward to the "rest"... as long as Tufeil sleeps with me... and SWIMMING... and GOING OUT. Maybe i may even introduce... the theatre to him? *wink*

More Check Ups

Tues, 20th Oct 09. (6months 3weeks ols)

On half day afternoon. Tufeil went to class with Mummy and they picked me up at midday and straight to KK. Even Ash joined in today!

First was an appointment at the ENT centre. I actually postponed the last one cos Mummy said there's no need for an ear check up since Tufeil seemed to be hearing well and that there will be a hearing assessment at poly's 6month check up. *Shrug*

The reason we were called for this test is because i declared some history of hearing problems from his paternal genes. When i received the letter urging us to come, i scheduled it to be on the same day as the physiotherapist's, so save one trip.

When i came into the room, T was asleep. The doc said its better so he won't cry when given the earphones to do the test. But, as usual, T the lightsleeper came awake just a min after the test started. Thankfully, he didn't cry. He was much intrigued by the sound he was hearing (not the mention the cute yellow star soft toy the doc had in her hand), while the doc was looking the monitor screen reading the feedback frequency Tufeil's earlobe is giving off.

He had to go thru the test like... 5 times to get a A* reading. previous 4 were just passed. But doc assured me that his hearing is normal. Told me to go to the neonatal follow up check up the following monday to go thru the report. which, Actually, i dont intend to go...

PHYSIOTHERAPY

Next up, his toes.

I don't hafta tape his right toes anymore. Nor do i have to do the bend-the-knee-and-press-the-foot-flat-on-the-floor exercise since he is standing ok already. But his left toe is still unsatisfactory though improving.

She introduced me to a set of new exercise. Just push the left pinkie toe upwards 10x of 10counts. and continue with stretching the toe outwards - now 3 toes. Ill take a picture some time tonight.


After that, we went to visit the Simei Gang Chief. He was warded into TTSH. It started out as a simple bacterial infection from one of his teeth and led to surgery! As of today, he's out from ICU and into normal ward. We pray for your Speedy recovery!


Long after i reached home, i realised i probably could have used my CDA account to pay for Tufeil's two appointments. close to $40's worth. Huarghhhhhhh

Holidays soon!