All Down

I had a sore throat and a mild flu before we left for Genting. Nainai had a nasty flu and fever on the day that we were supposed to leave for Genting. The flu didnt let up during the trip. It is no surprised that Daddy Lim came down with flu and fever too after the trip. In fact, the flu hasnt left him and he had been nursing a fever on and off since the trip. He has promised to see the doctor tomorrow to get the fever checked out. I hope it is just a persistent flu bug.

Lil Shauna came down with flu after the trip too. Luckily there was no fever. Her running nose seems to get better after a few doses of the leftover flu medicine but came back when we didnt keep up with the medicine. We brought her to the doctor yday for new medicine.

Lil Isaac has dried mucus and his nose seems a little runny too. At least he didnt develop fever from his jab yday. I hope my BM is good enuff for him to fend off the flu bug.

Ah yee is sick too. Somehow, the flu bug went to her and she was whinny about being sick.

Bad enuff? No, I think I injured my back from carrying too much of Lil Shauna and Lil Isaac during the trip. I came back with a nasty, dull pain at my tail bone. I felt a constant ache that didnt really go away despite the ko-yok plaster cos the carrying continue when we came back. There are days that the pain is really bad (like today) and I couldnt sit properly for long without feeling the need to fidget, as if that will help to chase away the pain. And the dull ache travels to my leg. The dull paim intensified when I took certain sitting postures (like crossing my legs). Arrggghhhhh.. I think I need the doctor too. Or maybe the sinseh or a good massage. I is old liao.

Mummy Lim

Random Thoughts

We were at Mummy SY's place last Saturday. Lil Shauna loves to play with Booboo, from make-believe to simply jumping on the bed.


What I really wanted to mention is that T was there too and he was roaming freely with little need for supervision. T is 8 months older than Lil Isaac. I am just so looking forward to Lil Isaac being 8 months older.

I was on leave yday to bring Lil Isaac for his first of the 2 pneumococcal jabs. I love how the kids look when they just woke up.



Lil Isaac cried from his jab. I heard people say that it is a painful jab. The 2nd jab is due in 2-months. The best part? The GP mentioned that there is a revised guideline on MMR. The first jab (of 2) is due now and asked me to bring Lil Isaac back in 2 weeks' time. Great! -_______-" The only comfort is that the new version of MMR can be mixed with the chicken pox vaccine.

My brother shifted into a bigger unit in Centris. He did it up a little before shifting in. I am again reminded about how much I like new houses and hotels. Oh gosh, I really think we should do something to our current flat. I am bored. I think we can do with new sofa, new bed for Popo when ah yee shifts out and also new bed for Lil Shauna.

Did I mention how much I hate Daddy Lim's new gaming mouse? It is absolutely smooth, in fact too smooth and glides everywhere. I am straining my arm muscle trying to tame it. Hohoho.

Mummy Lim

The Fallen Ballerina

Three weeks ago, Lil Shauna refused to go for her ballet class. She finally changed into her ballet costume after much coaxing. However, she was only willing to sit at the door with mummy and wouldn't join the class despite the teacher's attempt to coax her. We eventually left but that is after she promised to come back for her class the following week.

Last week, she did go for her ballet. Maybe I was a little too sensitive but I thought she didn't look too happy and didn't enjoy the class as much as she used to.

This morning, it was a nightmare again. She insisted that she was tired and didn't want to go for her ballet. Then, she threw a tantrum and cried for about 30mins until she was really tired and finally stopped. I refused to give in to her whatever demand.

So we skipped ballet again. She refused to bulge when I threatened that we will stay at home the whole day since she is "so tired". She announced that she doesn't want to go for all future ballet class and agreed when I asked if I should throw away her ballet clothes.

I had expected that this might happen. If given a choice, I would of course hope that Lil Shauna can stick to an interest and be really good in it. Then again, she is no genius and is really young now to really know what she wants. I would be more worried if she's rejecting her phonics class, which is academically focus. So, I comfort myself that I can save some $$. I will look into channeling my funds into music class instead. There is also swimming and abacus for next year!

The best part? After the big hooha, Lil Shauna asked to go for her ballet class at 11am. -.o" She's confusing me but at least she admitted that she threw a tantrum and apologized to me when I asked her to.

Mummy Lim

The Last Straw

Popo was fuming mad just now. It is the same old thing. Popo expects NRT to read her mind and know what to do, which she obviously does not. I was pissed bcos Popo nags and irritates me. Just yday, I snapped at Popo for nagging at me bcos of the maid. It was her request to get an IND maid. I am not God. I cannot guarantee that the maid that I chose will be good with kids and housework. That useless cv and blur looking pix on the cv + that less than 2 mins phone interview don't help lor.

I finally told NRT off and gave her the final straw. To date, i have never scold her before. I told her straight in the face that the kids don't like her and she is not meeting Popo's expectation. She's told to buck up or I will send her back.

NRT really doesn't know how to win the kids' favor. It has been 2 weeks that she has been here and she hasn't even draw or color with jiejie or play her vast collection of strawberry shortcake. When she's asked to play with the kids, she merely watch over them and not play with them. No wonder Lil Isaac gets bored and can't wait to get out of her reach. She's one big wooden block.

I don't know how to help her. I mean, how do I teach her to make the kids like her? She don't have much time left. I think she will soon be packing her bags if she continue to irk Popo.

I wouldn't mind changing maid. I do pity NRT that she will get an additional 2 months' loan if I were to send her back, but things are really not working out. Popp defiantly mentioned that we should do without a maid, which I think is impossible unless we send the kids to childcare but Lil Isaac is too young now. Popo is no longer young and it will be very tiring to try to look after 2 kids without help. Of course I don't want to do housework too. I already don't have enuff time with the kids and don't want to sacrifice that little precious time that i have over housework or slog at the housework after the kids are tucked in. Yes, we are pampered and we need a maid for now, at least until Lil Isaac is about 20 months old and I can send the kids to the childcare. Then again, Popo thinks that it is pitiful for the kids to go to childcare.

I think I better start praying for a new and good maid.

Mummy Lim

Soon to The End?

Auntie NRT is not in Popo's good book. She is still unable to memorize Popo's 101 manual by heart and cannot follow the instructions given by Popo in her typical broken English. She is "cha tao" and forgetful. Despite everyday's routine, she still makes mistake and forgets.

Popo is definitely not patient with her and at times took over what NRT was doing bcos she was too slow and cannot follow Popo's instruction. Now I know where I inherit my lack of patience. To make things worse, she is not winning the kids' favor. The kids prefer us anytime. At Centris, Lil Isaac bullies auntie and opts for Popo. Try as she might, we have a struggling Lil Isaac in his typical "eh, eh, eh" chant under her care. Otherwise he will be screaming or crying for our attention, eager to tear away from auntie's grip.

I can see that she really tries. We were very much alright with her in Genting bcos we took care of the kids most of the time and there was no housework to be done. She was merely helping out. More importantly, Popo "disappeared" most of the time and I had peace. The moment we stepped home, my ears hurt from all the noise that Popo made from nagging, scolding and complaining. Haiz.

I don't know if NRT can survive. She will either have to buck up on the housework as per Popo's standard or win the kids' support to stay. Otherwise, it will be really tough. Popo says that she's contemplating to send her back. I am fine if she wants to. What I hate is to have Popo talking sarcastically to NRT and loudly, as if intentionally for me to hear. Worse, Popo talks sarcastically to me bcos NRR irks her. I already told her that IND maids are slower and she was the one who asked me to get an IND maid so why am I suffering all these now????

Haiz, I hope NRT bucks up soon. I really cannot take all this noise. I am already not interfering when Popo disciplines the maid. I really left it to her charge. What more can I do?

Mummy Lim

Milk, Milk, Where Are You?

I don't know what happened. My milk supply dropped. I don't know if it dropped during the Genting trip. I expressed but not according to the usual schedule. There was more than enuff for Lil Isaac bcos I topped up with FM.

I realized the reduction when I was back in Sgp. I don't know if it is bcos I was too tired. I missed my night express a few times before we left for Genting and definitely a few nights after that. Or it is that time of the month. Though I am blessed with no menses, I found that my ss tends to drop when I experience menstrual cramp.

I am of course not ready to stop expressing yet. I haven't lose enuff weight yet and Lil Isaac still doesn't take pure fm in his alert moments. I am not desperately trying to increase my ss but would be glad if I have enuff for Lil Isaac. I am a cow, I am a cow. Mooooooo..

Mummy Lim

Genting

We are back from a short Genting trip. Not many pix from the trip bcos we are too busy chasing after the kids! Cameras are a passé for us, we are only armed with our iPhones and pix are only provided that we have time to rip them out for some precious moments.

We went with Nainai and Popo via the night coach. The trip was pretty alright. Lil Shauna has a seat on her own and almost slept through except for her waking up halfway through the journey to climb on top of Daddy Lim to sleep the rest of the way. I shared the seat with Lil Isaac and was thankful that the seat was really wide.

As usual, we didn't see much of Popo during the trip. There aren't much to do for Nainai but I think she was just really happy to spend time with the grandkids, fussing over them.


The Chan family was there too, we managed to meet them for part of the trip and the girls had loads of fun at the outdoor theme park. Playmates are good. Lil Shauna loves having playmates to run around and act silly. This is us in the cable car down the mountain. The last time I took the cable car in Genting was a looonnnggg time ago.


Lil Isaac is more participative as compared to our last Genting trip 6 months ago. He went on quite a number of rides and actually enjoyed them. I am so looking forward to him walking and taking those rides on his own. Hoho.



We came back by flight on Sat afternoon. The 2 hours taxi ride down the mountain, 2 hours wait at the airport, 40 mins plane ride and 30 mins taxi home from Changi airport sound really daunting, especially with a tiger who hates to be confined. Luckily, the princess was willing to stick with Daddy Lim and the tiger took his nap during both taxi rides. We survived the journey and it wasn't bad. It is either we had loads of help, the kids are easier now or we are getting better at parenting. Lol.

The only painful part? I was so tired by the time we were home but the kids were bursting with energy! I was willing the time to pass faster and the kids to sleep earlier, both unsuccessful. Boo! I can't be more glad at bedtime.

Now that we are back, it is only right that we plan for the next trip. We do need to look forward in life, right?

Mummy Lim

On Leave

Daddy Lim and I are on leave today in desperate attempt to clear leave. We must be real bad planners. We heard of many lamenting about insufficient leave and here we are making weak final attempts to clear ours at the end of the year before the company forfeits them.

We are now reading newspaper and sipping hot coffee in Macdonalds and raking our brains about what to do for the rest of the day. Yes, poor planning again. We only know that we should take leave but didn't think of what to do. Lol. We are now basking in the without-kids quietness. It brings us back to those dating no-kids days. Hoho.

Of course it would be great to laze around the whole day without the kids, especially when Lil Shauna is in her frequent-tantrum mood triggered by that irritating flu bug. I am sure we can manage that easily provided that we can get past our guilty conscious. Oh gosh, the kids would love to spend the day with us. See what I mean?

So, we could do a movie with jiejie in the afternoon. At least we fulfill half of our parenting responsibility. Or we could bring the whole lorry load of people out in the afternoon to venue unknown. It is school holiday and we have in total 5 adults and 5 tiny people to squeeze into Tiguan. Hohoho.

We'll see how.

Mummy Lim

Good Job!

I started Lil Shauna on her phonics with LCentral (LC) on 21 Aug 11. To date, she has completed almost 2 terms of the most basic class (aka Foundations). The Foundations focus on the first sound. Other than the actual phonics, the kids also do lots of colouring, cutting, song and movement and games during the class. Lil Shauna loves the phonics class and asked to go to Teacher Rebecca’s class all the time.

The classes are seriously expensive. However, I was really glad to see Lil Shauna enjoying herself. I was a little sad that I don’t get to participate in the class with Lil Shauna like how we used to but I was also glad to have free time to run errands and read a book during that 1.5 hours that she is in class.

I managed to speak to the teacher during the last lesson 2 weeks ago and was told that she’s performing really well and is able to hear most of the 1st sound. Teacher Rebecca also commented that Lil Shauna is starting to open up and is beginning to speak up more during class. She thinks that Lil Shauna can be “promoted” to the next level (LaunchPad) next year! I am so proud of the princess.

Last Sunday, while I was at the school, the admin made arrangement for Lil Shauna to move this coming January and was telling me that she is really fast. It usually takes 2 to 3 terms for them to progress. The admin also conveyed that Teacher Rebecca was impressed and commented that Lil Shauna is really small but is really good. LaunchPad is usually for K1 student, Lil Shauna will be in Nursery next year. In fact, Teacher Rebecca says that Lil Shauna can be promoted now but thinks that she lacks self confident and recommended for her to move next year. I think so too. It can be very daunting for her to be in a class of bigger kids. The last thing that I want is to kill her interest.

I was a little sad for Lil Shauna bcos Felicia just joined her class. Lil Shauna really enjoy going for such enrichment classes with Felicia. It is also a cute sight of the 2 of them interacting during such classes. I hope Felicia will pick up quickly and join Lil Shauna soon. I bet Lil Shauna would like that.

I am in the league as the rest of the Singapore kiasu parents. Next year, I will want to sign Lil Shauna up for swimming and abacus. Of course, I will have to work hard on Lil Isaac too. I will be signing him up for My Little Gym next year. I seriously think he should burn some energy during such classes.

Mummy Lim

Walking

Lil Isaac is cruising a lot more now. He sometimes cruises instead of crawls when trying to get to one place to another. He can also stand unsupported for like 5 sec. On Saturday, Lil Isaac took his first step or what appeared to be his first few steps. Actually, it wasn’t really walking. Daddy Lim and I were about 1 m apart and we were trying to coax him to walk from one of us to the other. Lil Isaac did try. We will encourage him to stand unsupported and urged him to walk when he is ready.

He didn’t really walk. He sort of fell and then staggered his feet while he fell forward. Well, at least it looked somewhat like walking and he was pleased with all the excitement that he created. So he “walked” and “walked” from Daddy Lim to me and back. I remembered doing that with jiejie too, just that jiejie walked so much more steadily then and not merely “falling”.

Yeah, our tiger will walk soon. I am really looking forward to that than to have to carry a struggling baby when we are outside.

Mummy Lim