The First Time

My little Berton has fever -

He is 5 months 15 days, 1 day after an injection, temperature was 38 degrees, took 2ml of 250mg paracetamol. Kicking, punching and laughing hard. I expected the fever to come and I am quite cool about it. I just keep him not too warm not too cold, and heal him with lots of kisses.

Injection Update: Berton didn’t cry! He is 8.5kg, 69.5cm. Dr Ong said its super-duper, again I am very happy. At the same time I ponder over the food I eat to manufacture such impressive breastmilk. And, he is officially eligible for solid foods in 2 weeks time!

Passport To The World

I edited Berton's photo using photoshop (crop and paste it on white background), applied online, and collected today. My sweet little darling has his passport!

My Happy Feet Again

We find this too funny to be missed.

While babies have sweet little comfort items like cute soft toys and cuddly pillows. Bevan loves my toes. And just like how parents try to keep 2 similar pillows as substitute when 1 is sent to laundry, when toes are absolutely unavailable, he sometimes settle at my elbow. This miraculous bond with my toes started when he was about 9 months old, I painted my toe nails red, he was a crawling baby, and he spotted my toes which look different and it blossomed since then.

The good thing is we will never forget to bring his comfort item. And if you are wondering, yes I have been taking care of my feet hygiene very well eversince.

Flawless To VS2, and Back

Like most babies, Bevan used to have flawless skin. But sometime early this year, he had developed irritable skin, it’s itchy, he scratched his legs and hands all the time. His skin was no longer flawless. It’s very sad.

- The paediatrician said its hives and hereditary.
- The nurses said it could be caused by food, stress, or environment and we should go to National skin centre to do a skin test.
- The doctor at the National Skin Centre said it’s NOT hereditary, he prescribed medicine and cream.

Bevan's skin condition then became intermittent, it's better when he took the medicine, but hives came back once he stopped the medicine. I was troubled (to gas up my stress level). I didn't want my toddler to keep taking medicine! We eliminated fish and eggs from his diet, changed formula milk, changed laundry soup, avoided hot places. Nothing worked very well.

And then one fine day when I was bathing for my 2 babies, *Da Daak* Bevan was using Pigeon 2-in-1 wash, Berton was using Johnson Baby, what if I bathe Bevan with Johnson Baby? It's milder, it might help. And it helps! Ever since Bevan is back on Johnson Baby, no more hives! No more itchy legs and hands, the scratched wounds are healing.

Oooh I love Johnson Baby.

Officially In!

The waiting list was incredible. The Julia Gabriel staff told us there is 1 vacancy 8 on waiting list, and we were the 8th (always the case). We explained Bevan and Berton’s napping routine. They made a special arrangement, and we are in! Yay more Bevan's artwork to be published!

2pm - Free Play
Play time with little toys all over. Sing "Clean up" and "Together", everyone puts toys back in the baskets.

215pm - Activity Time
Everyone sits in a circle. Say "Binoculars see mummys, grandmas, aunties, teachers and kids, say hi!". Teachers demonstrate activities, with a theme, sometimes it's a C-day, or a Blue-day. Followed by activities time, we had painted cat (real paint!), coloured caterpillar (with colour pencils), made blueberry pies (scrunched blue papers on paper plate), blew blue paint with straws into stars, playdoh-ing, made pasta necklaces, handprints, and miniature fishes-in-ocean.

3pm - Story Time
We had Bears-dressing-up-as-cats-for-party, and Opening-up-magic-box-with-blue-corn-chip-and-balloons (Bevan was assigned to open the box for the class), Make-birthday-bear-a-birthday-card.

315pm - Snack time

Queue to get biscuits, cheese, and watermelon/ banana. Eat, get all messed-up and drink water/juice.

330pm - Free play at indoor playground

Slides, sands, house, kitchen, cars - Bevan's favourite

345pm - Baby disco

Sing and dance together really loudly, and say good bye to everyone.

4pm
Battle with a toddler who refuses to go back home.

Zebra & Giraffe

My 5-month-old finally caught his nap, my 23-month-old was about to scream and shout in excitement (for whatever new game he discovers). In desperation, I placed his favourite toys on pillows,

MOMMY: Shh... Zebra and Giraffe are asleep. Let's speak softly.
BEVAN: *Whisper* Zebra, Giraffe sleeping, tired, shh...

Let's just hope this works all the time.

Mother Power

How much can a mother cope with?

A newborn who insists on direct nursing.
A toddler who has exploding energy
A new maid who only understand Indonesian dialect
A husband who is equally clueless about handling 2 kids
An expanding business in wholesale and retail
A head of hair that needs steaming

Good thing is I can eat 2 plates of rice for dinner 5 slices of bread for supper, and still slim down.

Artistic Moment

Bevan's first piece of artwork.

Cannot Be Alone

Right after a dazzling “Maaa” which captures my heart, he is now "crawling".

I knew he has been a bit of that , and it's terrifying to leave him alone. Last Sunday I put him on the bed, and said “Mommy is going to change now, will be back soon!”. I zoomed like lightning to grab some clothes, when I whooshed back I saw him at the edge of the bed! I shifted him back to the centre of the bed, and saw how he “crawled”, the way a caterpillar does, around the bed.

Look at his Mommy-I-am-working-hard-look. I like it.

Berton Calls Maaa...

Berton - 4 months 28 days

We braved ourselves to the new Ang Mo Kio Hub. It’s over crowded, impossible to get a seat in any restaurant. It’s a bad place for 2 babies and a new maid. We were in the car on our way back home, saying how we will never revisit the place. Berton lied on my lap. I sang to him to distress. We looked at each other, he smiled to me, and said "Maaaa..."! A moment I have been waiting for. My mood was completely jazzed up. Yeah!

*My little baby is now *too* interested to get everything in his month, he sucks his toes *very cute*, and his sleeves are always soaked in saliva.*

Check out this new sling I found! (The only shop that sells this in Singapore is Moms & Babes, and its out of stock, send me an email if you like to join/ arrange a bulk purchase.)

Shocker

Thanks for the SMS, MSN, phonecalls and comments. I am filling in a little for the FAQs.

As I am typing this, I am no longer wobbling in anger and panic. A domestic Infernal Affair happened right before me.

Basically Riyah lied. She has stolen money, sneaked out and transferred money to her husband. I only found out when the bank called me to verify the recipient's account number. She lied that she was helping my neighbour's maid, Yati. And Yati tricked her by using my information. When I asked to meet up with Yati, she said Yati has gone back to Indonesia. To investigate, 2 nights, 2 families, 3 maids were involved. Eventually she admitted, to my neighbour, that she has stolen money from me. She created this whole story to cover up. At first she admitted she has stolen $100, and $300 more, and $300 more, and $400 more. Nobody, except herself, know exactly how much she has stolen, and how many lies she has told.

I was in utter confusion. Because Riyah, picked up loose diamonds in my office and returned, told me "Bukan Riyah sombong, tapi betulnya Riyah bodoh dan stubborn, tapi Riyah orang yang tak curi wang." When she told me this whole fictitious story of how she was just helping Yati, she cried and said "apa yang saya buat, kenapa dia benci saya?" "saya punya hati jatuh!". I was determined to clear her name. She even created a new role (a non-existant maid) in her plot and described her with shoulderlength hair. When she admitted that she has stolen $100, she said sumpah (swear) that was the first and the last time she stole. After that I checked her bag, I saw my nail stickers, my book, my signature, my new maid's passport number, her makeover photos (read again), and my ring.

It's of course our mistake that we trusted her so much. Leslie refills my wallet whenever its empty. He put in at night, Riyah took it in the morning before I wake up. So I just thought my dear hubby forgot to refill. Money was no longer the concern. I have left my kids to someone so pretentious, I almost got panic attack.

I felt a mix of betrayal and fear and disbelief. We have decided to forgive her, arranged the new maid to come in today. And close this episode.

First Day To School

I am not a believer of (very) early child education. Bevan is speaking to strangers comfortably. I get lots of questions like how many enrichment classes is Bevan attending. Basically, he just stays in the baby room in the office and chats with Riyah, didi, me, or toys.

However, my plan has to change. Because Bevan and Berton are screaming at each other from 1pm to 5pm, nobody goes to sleep. They are cranky, I am tetchy, and customers have to help to pacify my kids. It is bizarre.

Leslie and I shortlisted 3 schools - Julia Gabriel, My Little Gym, and Montessori. We decided, at barely 2 years old, we are not going to start him with a drastic schedule of full/ half day school. So Montessori is out for now. Today, to show Bevan that Daddy and Mommy care, 3 of us, went for a trial at Julia Gabriel.

It was so fun, Bevan is probably one of the younger ones in class. At first he was very excited to join, and when the whole class started singing loudly, he wouldn’t let go of my legs. After some warming up, (snack time particularly) he was pulling teachers' hands playing slides. He coloured with crayons, played with play doh, learnt to put things back and to queue. QUEUE!

At the end of the class, I actually have his artwork to bring home! Oh I am beaming with parental pride. We had good bonding time. I was not stressed. And when we reached office, didi was sleeping, Bevan fell asleep within 10 minutes.

I don’t like to sound like a big-headed mom, but my plan completely works! And I will tell more about how charming my little prince was in the class.

Bid Farewell To Riyah

Riyah, our domestic helper, an Indonesian, has been us for almost 2 years - eversince Bevan was borned.

She is moody, secretive and forgetful. She understands Mandarin and English, and interrupts in almost every conversations Leslie and I have. She tells my mom little secrets of my new family. So there is completely no privary with her around.

However, she loves Bevan. She plays very well with Bevan. Bevan likes her. Berton is beginning to like her. She is Bevan’s first friend. She knows what would make me jump and she tries to avoid them. I know forgetful and over-sociable is her nature and I live with it.

I am someone who dislikes changes, so I am alright if she works for us for 10 years. But she is going back next week due to family matters.

Leslie and I spent the past 2 hours thinking of a good exit. We know how close Riyah and Bevan are. She pats him to sleep, feeds him, bathes him, and changes diaper for him. When he wakes up from nap, he would look for her. Moreover, we read that separation from someone close is not good for child development – they tend to think good things don’t last.

The plot is now this -
Tuesday night - Pick up new maid
Wednesday - Riyah handover
Thursday 6am - Riyah leaves home to airport

When Bevan wakes up on Thursday, Riyah will be gone. Thursday is a national day so we hope we can all distract him together.

Wish us good luck. (The pic is Bevan Mar '06)