The return..

Hehe, long time didnt blog already..
Been very busy with LT the whole time.. He's 2 years and 9 months old now!! How time flies..
Very defiant little boy, talkative too.. and manipulative...

But one thing's for sure, he dotes on the big bump on my belly now.. Hope he stays that affectionate when baby arrives! Yup!! We are expecting our 2nd bundle of joy soon! Thank you God for your blessings! She's expected to arrive in Dec 2012.. But we are afraid she may come out early like her big brother.. So, come next month, we are all on our toes standby.. In the meantime, we are all preparing for baby's arrival, lotsa clothes to launder, things to baby proof, etc... See you soon dear little one, in 8 weeks' time!

Eventful Trip Home

Hubby and I planned the trip since LT was in my womb.. We anxiously waited for LT's appearance before applying for a passport for him and finally booking the airplane tickets. Did you know that the Malaysian MyKid Card is not even used for passport application?! We waited to receive the card, which came two months late to the PJ registrar's office only to find out that the dumb card is not required.. Humbug!

We chartered a taxi to take us to the airport on Saturday.. Decided to bring his car seat along for the long journey.. First off, the Proton Iswara taxis DOES NOT have long enough seat belts to secure GRACO car seats. So poor hubby had to clasp on the car seat with the precious cargo inside for the whole trip to the airport. To make matters worse, LT started having running nose just before the trip. =( He was cranky but well behaved through-out the journey.

I read somewhere that babies need to breastfeed or suck on something during take-off and touch-down to aid the change in pressure inside their ears. So, very gung-ho, I helped LT to latch on as soon as the plane starts to taxi to the runway.. Little did we know, it was a 20 minute wait before we are clear to take-off. =( By that time, LT already drained one of my boobs and is not interested in feeding anymore. However, once the plane started to lift off, LT graciously accepted the 2nd boob and happily suckled until we touched down. =)

Btw, the airline doesn't permit the carry-on car seat or stroller, but they would happily store it for us once we reached the plane entrance. LCCT had a very basic nursing room, cold and thankfully just cleaned. It had very bad ventilation and LT didn't like it one bit. Thumbs down! On a stark contrast, Changi's nursing room was properly ventilated, comfortable and clean. It even had a private room for nursing! Thumbs up!

We were greeted at the airport by enthusiastic Granma who proceeded to shower LT with lots of kisses. Then off we went to search for Granpa who had parked the car and was walking towards the arrivals. At home, LT was greeted by Xiao Ku. LT gurgled with happiness!

Day 2 was Father's Day, and we were all excited and ready to go to Christ Methodist Church, which LT's grandparents attend. As Grandpa and Daddy stood up during a Father's Day well-wishing during service, mummy could see both dear faces were beaming with pride and joy at the little bundle of joy in mummy's arms. What a Father's Day! =) And it was Daddy's first Father's Day celebration too.. =) There was a major Mum-mum session at home with Grandpa cooking very yummy pomfret! Yum-yum! =P

Day 3 brought along cousins J & J over to grandparent's house.. My oh my, were they over the top at seeing their little cousin LT. It's the first time the cousins met. Oh, it was also the first time Ta Ku met her new nephew. The 2 cousins were so eager to see LT.. Younger J was so happy that she kept holding LT's hands and feet and saying, " So cute!! "
Older J kept prancing about and making LT laugh at his antics. Then we went off to dinner at Waraku, Granpa's favourite japanese restaurant.

Day 4 was a shopping trip to Orchard where Daddy and Mummy found out that the GSS is actually a minor sale with major shopping places offering only 10, at most 20% discount on the items that we wanted to buy.. Like the Philips Steamer & Blender for making baby food.. It's actually more expensive in Sg than M'sia! However, we did manage to buy a pair of cute rompers saying "I love Dad" and "I love Mum" at a very cheap price.. After a tiring day, plus with a stuffy nose, LT decided to throw a tantrum.. And we zoomed off back home in a taxi fast.. Mummy had to cradle LT until he sleeps and while he sleeps. The moment Mummy puts down LT into his cot, he started to yell his lungs out. =( Poor LT. Sleeping must have made his nose blocked. Grandma figured that the best remedy for stuffy noses would be to give more breastmilk. So, Mummy fed LT every 3 hours and sometimes even sneak a feeding in between when LT's sleepy. =P Oh, and we nearly forgot.. Daddy cooked us very nice lobsters for dinner. =P

Day 5, LT's nose got slightly better.. And we bundled off to City Hall to meet Auntie SW and Uncle ZW. LT wasn't his usual chirpy self yet, but he gave good smiles to enthusiastic Auntie SW! What a trooper!


Day 6 was a restful day for all of us.. But mummy got a surprise call from Uncle A, mummy's only sibling. Uncle A was not around when LT made his first appearance and has never seen LT yet. Uncle was away on flight training in Australia and could not take any leave home to welcome our family's latest addition. The very moment Uncle A completed his flight test, he boarded the plane back Sg.. Eager to see LT for we would be leaving on day 8 morning. So, that night, after Uncle A reported back at Seletar, he dropped his luggage and came over for dinner with the invitation of LT's Grandma (mummy's cool mother-in-law). =)
Here's a nice pic of Uncle A, Mummy and I. Notice I was a bit grumpy? Well, that's because I was pretty sleepy then.

Day 7 was pretty uneventful, with LT recuperating at home from the cold. Mummy and Daddy did sneak off to buy "pineapple bak kwa" for souvenirs.. We had another big feast at home with all the whole clan.. This is a nice picture we took:

Day 8, and it was time to say goodbye.. Granpa, Grandma and Xiao Ku accompanied us to Changi.. Sigh.. we hate farewells.. LT even more so.. He did a major poop in the waiting lounge of Changi and we had already cleared immigrations and were waiting to board the plane. Hehe, what a frantic time it was, two parents hurriedly cleaning out the big mess and changing the little one, diapers, clothes, booties and mittens!
The trip back to LCCT was good, with LT suckling away at both boobs throughout the journey. However, the trip back to home was a different matter.. We got another Proton Iswara taxi which had a spoilt airconditioning system! LCCT should really do something about the taxi services that ply the area. They should ban the old rickety taxi types from coming in.. I may sound crude and unforgiving, but my heart breaks when LT cried the whole journey home due to the heat in the car!!! Do you know babies could die from heat stroke from too hot a car journey?!! If anything were to happen to my LT, I would have the hide of the taxi company! Thank God we survived the trip home. Poor LT was soaked through and he had such a sad, grumpy face that your heart breaks if you ever saw him! =(

Flying With Baby

Hubby and I were excited as we planned this trip a few months back.. In fact, it was even before Little Tyke was born. =) We wanted LT to spend time with LT's loving paternal grandparents & see where his daddy grew up.. With the added bonus of having LT's grandparents to dote on him, this trip would be a memorable one.. Mommy started packing like 3 weeks before, and even considered taking the kitchen sink with them.. With the adding crates of stuff and appliances (namely LT's toys and everyday necessities), we find that we need to upsize our luggage to 15kg per person.

Since we would be taking the budget airline, we figured we must check what we could bring and could not.. And what services we could use.. Before booking, hubby checked if we could bring the baby pram & the safety seat that comes with it.. It says on the website that it would be free.

Mommy, being the ultimate kiasu type, called the airline to check whether we could carry baby on the safety seat as a hand carry.. As I tried calling the airline on their "usual" line, it was totally unhelpful as the answering machine dolled out inflexible options for me to choose from. After 20 minutes of listening to "letters A, press 1, letters B, press 2.." from the cold mechanical voice, I decided to call it quits and called the"premium line" at RM1.95 per minute.. [Yeah, this airline knew how to do business.. Even when you have a tiny inquiry].

Fine, the call was placed a little before 1pm today and it lasted 8 minutes.. Oh well, what's a little charge if you could get your facts straight right?
WRONG! I couldn't be anymore wrong! I was told that, I could not place LT on the safety seat, and was not allowed to take the seat on board with me.. Okay, fair enough.. Then, the staff on the other line said I have to check in the pram and safety seat, plus, if it's over the baggage weight limit, I would be charged.

I was like, "Huh?! But your website says it is okay to bring the pram."

The guy on the other line had the cheek to reply in a mannered way,"Where does it say in the website?"

I was totally flummoxed, "I forgot. It was so long ago when we checked before booking."

Seeing that the conversation was going nowhere, and that LT had begun rousing from his sleep and is now crying for mommy, I ended the call and tended to him. Now that my indignation has subsided, I went on the web to check the terms and conditions of carriage. Sure enough.. It says here:

Checked Baggage : A baggage fee is charged for the carriage of Checked Baggage, which will be charged at a discounted rate if purchased at time of booking or up to 24 hours prior to the scheduled time of departure or at a full rate at the Airport Check-in counters. A minimum of 15kg of Checked Baggage may be purchased at first instance and then in increments of 5kg. Any passenger checking in baggage which exceeds 15kgs or the amount purchased at time of booking will be charged on a per kg basis at the Airport Check-in counters. Please refer to our Fee Schedule for details on all rates. The fee is non-refundable and non-transferable.

Baby buggies, manual wheelchairs, mobility devices and walking frames are carried free of charge. There is no baggage allowance for infants, although a pram/buggy will be carried free of charge.

So there!!! Humbug to the RM1.95/minute call service!

On a lighter note, the guy on the other line says that we could ignore the "Adult and infant qty" when booking a seat. Adults being aged 2 years and above & infants aged between 9 days to 24 months. That would ensure that LT has a seat of his own, in his safety seat, strapped and SAFE by booking him as an adult. Another way to get around the system.. As taught by their own employee!

Breastfeeding Made Easy

While I was pregnant with LT, I had a comforting vision of me and baby rocking together on a rocking chair, breastfeeding. That lovely vision encouraged hubby to purchase a nice rocking chair from Ikea..

Together we anticipated LT's arrival with lovely visions of the perfect lovely, cuddly and well-behaved baby. Haha, we were 2/3rd correct except for the well-behaved part (LT's is one alert and mischievous baby..) Little did we know, or are prepared with the difficulties of breastfeeding. Everywhere from adverts on telly, articles on books to word of mouth from strangers echoed that breastfeeding is the best for babe and mommy. Yeah.. they forgot the most important part.. It takes a lot of determination, pain and confidence to pull it off successfully.

An article in Reader's Digest on October 2009 that I came across totally bowled me. I should have read that before I started to breastfeed. Many people say that breastfeeding is best, but they fail to tell the moms-to-be that it is super-difficult and it is not by instinct. Both mom and child need to learn this process and complement each other.

I dare say that I had a rude shock when I dealt with painful sore breasts, thrush and cracked nipples.. No one said anything about discomfort, let alone pain.. Everything made it look so easy.. And then it hits you.. Are you a failure being a mom? You cant even feed your child properly.. Is your child getting enough nutrition? How come you cringe each time your child feeds? Silently praying that the ordeal would be short and yet baby has enough to feed.. I cringe & grit my teeth everytime LT starts to suckle during those first few weeks.. The pain was enough to bring tears in my eyes.. That and with the added stress of "entertaining" the confinement lady really made confinement difficult.

Confinement lady was chinese, from Kepong.. At first, she said she was pro-breast-feeding, but after a few days of saying I have not enough milk & pestering us to get formula, Hubby & I felt that she wasn't walking her talk. Anyway, Hubby told her up-front not to be so negative and start encouraging me instead. She took the advice none to graciously.. She told LT after one bfeeding session, "Why? Mommy's milk not nice?" Anyway, I'll talk more about Chinese confinement and myths later in another posting..

Back to breastfeeding.. During the early weeks, both mother & child are learning about each other. Particulaly a new mom and her newborn. Me, a new moms knew next to nothing about bfeeding, only what I read in books, therefore instinct, or the lack of thereof, was not one I possesed immediately. I had no exposure to bfeeding and didnt know anything about proper latching on. LT too, had lots to learn.. Together we went thru sore nipples, bleeding and hunger (on LT's part). We were both tired and stressed out. Hormones were doing yo-yo on my moods. Sometimes I felt like crying and giving up. I prayed often for strength and perseverence, and God graciously extended them to me.. What I also found helpful during those few weeks were the encouragement I recieved from family and friends. Thank you all! =)

I'm glad we persevered thru all that.. LT is now 6 months old, healthy, strong (thank God for His blessings!) and naughty. Even though his weight is on the borderline of 25% and 50%, the ped said he's doing great. Oh, and the rocking chair from Ikea? We didn't use it all too often.. We found that armchairs from Ikea are better.. Rocking made it difficult to latch on.. But on the hindsight, the rocking chair was good to lull LT to sleep. =)

Baby's First Word!

Little Tyke said his first word!! It's "Mam-mam!' LT was officially 4months and 6days' old then.

Hehe, this happened when we were coming back from a tiring day of shopping at 1 Utama with LT's grandparents. LT was fretting cos he didn't sleep and eat well whenever we go shopping. He was fretting in the car as mummy was driving home.

Granma said LT was looking silently and grumpily at daddy the whole trip before he started fretting, and then it happened, out of the blue, LT said, "Mam-mam!" Everyone in the car heard it loud and clear! We cheered! However LT was still grumpy and he couldn't join us in cheering as it was 1/2 hour late for his milk.

Well done LT! We await for your next few words!

Celebration of a Milestone

Little Tyke was due for his baby wellness check-up on Tuesday and his 4 mo HIB jab and 2nd Rotateq.. He's now a big boy! 4 months and 4 days' old. Daddy and mummy went early to the hospital and found out that your usual doctor was on leave. Hummph.. No one bothered to tell us? So we have to wait another 45minutes before we could see another pediatrician, Dr Paran.
Mummy made a long list of questions to ask the doc, we managed most of it before he was called into the operation theater. LT was very brave, thou he screamed his lungs out before doc could touch him for his dose of Rotateq, his cries were lesser than the baby before him. Considering that they both got their jabs. Possibly LT already knew what was coming (the jab). He was fidgety the whole time in the hospital before the HIB jab.

Looking around in the waiting room, we noticed that LT was a bit on the small side. Especially when a great-grandma of another 3 month old baby boy asked if LT's 4 months. Wow, that great granny looked so young, and so wise! She took one look at LT and announced that he's 4 months and every bit of a rascal cos of his mischievous look. Her great grandson looked very chubby and had a bigger stature than LT. Hmm, that got mummy worried.

When it was LT's turn to see the doctor, mummy asked about LT's sleeping habits (only 10 - 12 hours a day!) and weight (LT now weighs 6.2kg, which was short of the expected 6.5kg). Doc said 10 hours of sleep is okay for his age. Then doc asked what formula was LT on, he said 750g gain in weight for a month is still above the minimum, so no cause for concern. Daddy told the doc that LT was on total breastfeeding (TBF). Doc gave a surprised look and exclaimed, "That's very good! Very little TBF babies are so chubby!" [At this point, you could see mummy's got relief written all over her face]

Mummy's always been a bit phobic on LT's weight. Ever since the beginning when many people commented that LT's skinny. We keep telling them that he's on TBF, but they seem to not register it in their heads. LT's been gaining 900g every month since birth until April.. Most babies we see in church and now chubbiness extreme. =) Very contented and sleepy babies.. Unlike LT, whose all eyes and curious as a little kitten =P. Mummy read somewhere that babies who are TBF are generally:
1) more alert
2) more active
3) progress faster (cos less weight to bear on their little bodies makes them easier to turn and crawl faster)
4) skinnier
5) healthier (less likely to be hospitalized due to antibodies provided in mother's milk)
6) smarter (higher IQ)
7) more confident (cos closer to and more skin contact with mum)
All of the above which encouraged mummy and daddy to persevere on BF.

Upon checking the growth charts, mummy found out that LT actually improved in his weight percentile. He used to be hovering above 25%, but now, he is in the 50% line. Hmm, it could be cos the chart tapers as babies age.

However, looking at the chart, Dr Paran marked LT's head circumference as 38cm, which was lesser than what Dr Peter marked 2 months back, LT was already 38.5cm then. Mummy went straight to alert mode! Daddy got concerned too and we measured LT's head again, yielding a healthy 42cm. Whew! Maybe Dr Paran didn't measure at the correct spot? Oh well, these things would have errors. Not that we have anything against Dr Paran, we think that he has many years of experience.. Possibly the next check-up would reveal a more accurate figure? The next check-up would be due next month, but the family is leaving for a week-long trip to see Granma and Granpa. Hmm, maybe we shall change pediatrician?

Dr Kwan's very good and he's got 30 years' of experience. More importantly, he's office opens on weekends and weekday evenings. That means, daddy doesn't have to take a day of leave to bring LT to see the doctor. Hmm, I guess we should consider changing from Assunta to Dr Kwan's..

Baby on Strike Again - Part 2

I'm glad to say Little Tyke is back on track again, taking both sides of the boobs. =) After a week of partial striking, he's back to normal now. Both hubby and I tried nearly everything to get him to take his normal meal portion for that painful week.. until mummy stumbled upon a great find!

Turns out that Little Tyke seeks out the boobs for comfort and sleep. Every time he gets sleepy, he would seek out the boobs. Also mummy found him more co-operative and easy on the boobs when he's half asleep.. =) We never did find out the reason for his strike.. Maybe it was a cold? or an ear infection? Only he knows...

The next time he's on a strike, mummy's got a few tricks up her sleeves.
1) wait till LT is sleepy, then feed.. =)
2) always tickle LT under the chin when he stops feeding and his eyes closed to prevent LT from falling into deeper sleep. Sometimes LT takes a breather after suckling too long but his eyes remain open.
3) switch breasts when he starts to drift to deep sleep, but only after 8mins.

Hopefully LT doesn't strike again..