Pictures of our July 2011

At the Bt. Timah railway tracks, during those few days it was open to public before being dismantled. Christian's still very enamoured by trains and tracks.

 At the playground; see how cheeky he can be.

"Godma and Godpa came to visit! And brought me a bubble gun!"

Everybody's laughing at how much he loves cakes.

"Daddy popped some popcorn just for me!"

Lots of train tracks! (Mama and Daddy's ploy to keep me occupied when meimei's out..)

"Give me bread and I will willingly sit on a stool and make funny faces for the camera."

"Aunty Kasumi gifted me this kimono. Just in time for my school's heritage dress-up day!"

Calista's 1st Coo

Calista started cooing two days ago.

She used to cry 'Urgh urgh.. meeh meeh'.. but two nights ago, she made an obvious attempt to communicate, looking in my eyes and going 'uh uh', waiting for a response. I was lying on the bed next to her at about 3am, looking down at her upturned face and expectant 'uh's, thinking she's pretty cute and 'finally! she talks!'

A series of vignettes (24 Jul 11 - 7 Aug 11)

This post is more of a record of our little Christian's character, and less entertaining than the previous posts. And yet, i feel compelled to put it up here, for Christian to read in future, what he was like in the two months before he turned 3.

24 July 2011
MIL related this account to me when she came to visit Calista and me in hospital. Christian told his nai nai when P brought him over for the weekly Sunday dinner - "I cannot make mama angry. Mama take care of meimei, tired, I cannot be naughty. Cannot talk loudly. Mama feed meimei. I must make mama happy."

29 July 2011
My dad pretended he wanted to bring Calista back to Bedok / sell her to the garang guni. Christian got anxious and said "No! I chop gongong up! because gonggong's naughty."

6 August 2011
I carried Calista into the room to feed her, after having talked to Christian in the living room. P said he sensed Christian's jealousy cos Christian immediately went to him and said "aeroplane" (i.e. he wanted to be carried by P too.) Christian then ran into the room and hugged my legs. I was surprised and asked why he's hugging me. He said, almost defiantly, "Because I like it."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I exclaimed loudly in pain, when mum put hair curlers in for me. C immediately came over, looked like he was about to cry and shouted at mum to stop.

7 August 2011
(when i sat on the floor of the living room to play with him)
Ch: I am happy.
Me: Who?
Ch: Christian is happy.
Me: Why?
Ch: Because mama is here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
P asks: Do you want a new toy?
(I grumble about C having enough toys already. Ch overhears and replies to P)
Ch: I don't want new toy.
P: Then what do you want?
Ch: I want mama. *pouts and de-ehs*
P (tries again): How about 2 new toys?
Ch: Don't want. I want mama.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ch refuses to go visit MIL because I wasn't going.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ch helped close the walk-in wardrobe door when I said I was cold. He shouted at the wind coming through the cracks -
"Go away wind! Mama is cold! i chop you up! Go away, mama is feeding meimei here!"
Told P I'm so touched Ch was my little defender (tho i should state that his current preoccupation with "chopping" is thanks to the story of the hunter helping little red riding hood, as well as the story of the giving tree being chopped up). P said that's what puppies do, and Ch is like my little puppy.

Series of vignettes (Part II) (9 Aug 11 - 15 Aug 11)

9 Aug 11
Ch looks at my top and asks why there's "snow on the flowers". I replied that there's no snow, some of the flowers are just coloured white, but that it's possible to interpret that as snow too. Ch commented that there's a green flower. I remember that his school's learning theme for the month is plants, so I decided to engage him on the topic and asked if he likes flowers and plants. He paused thoughtfully and said "Noooo..." I'm surprised and asked why. He says.. "I like trains.".


11 Aug 11
Ch asked why I'm wearing home clothes. I said it's cos I'm staying home. He said he didn't want to go to school. He wants the old school. I said he's a big boy now, and has to go to the big school. He insists he's a little boy. Asked "Why i must go to school, mama?" in a sincere and truly puzzled manner, before stating that he  wants to stay at home with me.

12 Aug 11
Wanted to tell Ch about the flyer we were going to take the next day. Started off by saying he's going to get his birthday present early; he's turning 3 soon. He immediately butted in and said "Then I can play 'leh-doh'!" (i.e. playdoh. P said he's not to touch playdoh until he turns 3, cos Ch tends to make a big mess all over the floor. Ch clearly remembers the limit imposed.)

Ch: Mama, I want to sleep with mama, meimei and daddy. Why I cannot sleep with mama, meimei and daddy in that room?
Me (feeling tremendous guilt): Er..because meimei cries at night..she'll cry for milk and wake you up.
Ch (seeks affirmation of his superiority): Mama, I can say 'I want milk, right'?
Me: Yes.
Ch (returns to main topic): Mama feed meimei, then sleep next to me, here.
Me (says weakly): Er.. I'll think about it. ..
Ch: I want mama to sleep next to me and daddy sleep with meimei.
*starts pouting* i want mama...

13 Aug 11
P and I brought Ch to the flyer with my parents. Ch saw the bottom mechanism of the flyer, was fascinated and said "I want to go inside." before pursing lips and proclaimed "But...i'm scared also."
I was surprised at how adult and frank he was.

14 Aug 11
I napped in the room, exhausted from the night feeds. P and Ch were playing outside. I woke to find a yellow highlighter slide off my body. P explained that Ch was using it and it was nearly dry. He shouted "oh, must give it to mama!" (P said Ch treats the yellow highlighter like food.. must leave the last bits for his mama.)
Ch ran into the bedroom where I was sleeping and gingerly paced it on me like an offering without me knowing.

15 Aug 11
Ch had his dinner, then Pa fed him a morsel of bread with butter. He ran pitter patter from the bright living room into the dark computer room. I followed him, then asked with bewilderment why he ran in out of the blue. He covered his mouth, looked up with eyes wide, and whispered conspiratorially "Later Popo say I eat dinner already." Haha. He knows how to hide and avoid admonishment.

Sigh. I miss my son.

an interim update

Had been meaning to post an entry earlier, but couldn't find the time amidst the adjusting to baby's routine, arranging her full-month gift packs, and all the visits by relatives and friends. 

It's been almost a month since my last post. 

I'd intended to post here about how poor baby Calista caught a fever when she was only 6 days old, and had to be admitted to hospital for fear of bacterial infection. They administered antibiotics via a small intubator in her tiny hand, for 3 full days, before the tests came back clearing her of bacterial infection. It was a tiring and heartwrenching time, cos I missed being with Christian who only came to hospital to visit on the 3rd day, after I couldn't bear to not see him any more. 

I'd intended to post about the blissful weeks after that unfortunate episode, where Christian seemed to be adapting well to his little sister. Other than a single comment "why everything meimei" (when my mum told him P and I needed to be in hospital to accompany his sister), he's been quite a good brother. He'd show concern when she cries, rushing to pat her gently, and singing songs like "twinkle twinkle" (the original version, not the Christian-mangles-the-lyrics version). It's been slightly difficult trying to juggle the two of them, especially when he wants to play and she wants to be fed.. thank goodness for my parents and P, when he's around, who help to distract Christian. 

This post is unfortunately possible only because Christian is down with chickenpox. Sigh. Yes. Spots started appearing yesterday, and the doctor confirmed it today. We've decided to let him stay at my parents' for a week, to avoid his sister contracting the disease too (though I read online that it's rare for children under 1 to contract it, if their mother has immunity against it). I'm going to miss my dear son so much. :(