Christmas weekend

Phew... the Christmas weekend is over!

Actually, it was a pretty good weekend. It started early since Christmas eve was a half day at work. Chris was home early too. We had dinner at home with the family, then everyone decided to come and check out our new apartment. It's almost ready, just some carpentry work that needs to be completed. We need to get curtains measured and fitted too.

On Christmas day the entire family met up for breakfast at the Botanic Gardens. We were reasonably early so managed to get seats. The family is growing! We needed a table for 10 just for the immediate family! After breakfast the kids got to feed some overfed and stuffed fish at the lake, before heading home to raid the gift pile.

Now that Madison is getting older, it's quite fun to see her get excited over the presents. Madison and Elizabeth were swimming in gift wrap and endless amounts of toys, clothing and other paraphernalia. The rest of us did our gift swaps and I think we were all quite happy with each other's selection this year.

Instead of an eve dinner we planned a Christmas day dinner with turkey. A few relatives were invited and it was perfect with Han Ting around.( That made Chai very happy!) We bought the turkey 4 days earlier and started thawing it out 2 days prior. The day before it was soaked in a brining solution and then I started to prepare it for baking 6 hours before dinner. The entire baking time was 4 hours at 160 Celcius. I did it from a vague memory of this recipe that I'd tried a few years ago and the turkey turned out great. This time round was the same! The breast was tender while the legs were juicy, and the meat had the fragrance of the herbs that I covered it in during brining AND baking. Pa also made roast pork and a braised version that we turned into a prawn and pork salad. For dessert we had 2 log cakes. And of course, lots of bubbly. By the end, we were stuffed but happy. The kids got to eat their fill of sugar too.

Boxing day was a day sans helpers. All 3 of them were off for the holiday. The morning was kind of nice, Chris and I got to laze about with the kids for all of 15minutes in our pjs, then I got breakfast started. After brekky we went over to the pool at our new apartment for a dip. After THAT we headed over to the swimming club. The plan was lunch there but since we were early we had our second dip at the club pool. Annika got to go in for a swim too! Her first! She took it remarkably well, considering the water was actually quite cold. I didn't let her stay in too long, since the midday sun was on the way up. After lunch we drove around for an hour while Madison had her nap. Learnt my lesson from the last time I had to do an afternoon nap... I got the nap and not the kid!

So, we got to see the massive house on Nassim Road that had the biggest Christmas tree ever, with an amazing light up to boot. The house had 2 huge dragons on its' formidable front gates.

Unfortunately, by the time we got back to the apartment, I was beyond paying attention and managed to dent the back bumper bar on the left reversing into the carpark...(sob).

Dinner was out at Pudong, a Shanghainese restaurant at Balmoral Plaza. We had our favourite braised pork, dumplings, noodles in sauce and cold toufu. The restaurant has good food, although service leaves much to be desired. The restaurant itself looks a little dingy and aged but oh well... the foods' good.

This week feels weird... hopefully it'll be a good one to end the year off!

CRAZY busy...!

It's been rather busy and stressful these past few days...

Yesterday was a good example. The kids had to be dropped off at school, after which the service man was supposed to come and check on my Delphin vacum cleaner( AND HE DIDN'T TURN UP!). Then, for some reason the clinic decided to get busy and it was a mad rush to see them before pick up time at 12noon.

Of course, by this time Annika was grouchy and hungry so I was driving like a mad woman to get everyone home for lunch and naps.

When Annika was finally settled I had to grab a quick bite, pump and then go back to work. Again, another mad rush to see patients, then it was off to the airport to pick up my mother-in-law. Thank goodness traffic was smooth flowing. When I got to the airport, thinking I would be late, it was a pleasant surprise that she had not picked her bags up yet. So, a quick toilet break and a nice cool drink. She finally checked out close to an hour after the plane touched down. We went straight back to Novena, where the kids were all up and playing already.

By this time, Annika was tired and hungry for her last nap so off we went for a short rest. Being an evening nap, she was up 30 minutes later and then it was time for Madison's dinner! So, I handed Annika over to Warni, kept Madison company while she had dinner. When dinner was done, Pa came home and of course we headed out shopping.

Thank goodness United Square was busy but still had reasonably short queues at the supermarket. We picked up a few items and headed home. OF COURSE we forgot about the traffic home. Even though the shops are a 5 minute drive we took close to 15 minutes to get home. BY WHICH TIME our dear Annika was grumbling AGAIN! ( BEDTIME )

So... quick bath for Annika, quick feed and then lights out and down for the night. We finally had dinner, then it was time to go home to put Madison down for the night. Of course when we get home I STILL have to pop out to get some milk from the convenience store, wash and sterilize my pump, prepare Annika's bottles for the next day THEN finally shower and RELAX.

Oh.. and Annika turned 5 months yesterday! I wanted to get her a little cupcake or muffin to celebrate but in the craziness of the day, FORGOT. As usual. I am suffering without my iphone's calender.

I also have started giving Annika a little bit of solids just because she seems so terribly interested in our food. Everytime I eat something she actually brings my hand to her mouth and try to 'eat' it as well! Yesterday she got steamed sweet potato with spinach. Which she took fairly well although she gagged a few times. She doesn't gag with banana. Tonight I am going to try cereal with banana. I've got an avocado that I'm waiting to ripen. I think the solids help a little. She managed to go a longer time without a night feed last night. It was so nice to get that extra sleep.

The other thing that really took up quite a bit of time was Christmas shopping. Finally completed it all this afternoon. Quite a headache thinking and buying presents for so many people!

Today I brought Madison down with me to the clinic. I thought it would be a quick one, then I could take the kids over to Novena, but the patient TURNED UP LATE! ARGH! Madison was really good though. She sat quietly in my room, covering my desk with stickers while I attended to the patient. She also pooed while she was at it, and when I asked her after I was done, her reply was:" No toilet in the clinic?" (!!!) As if she would poo in the toilet anyway! But it was funny. We were late so I had to take her over to Novena in her stinky poo diaper. Boy.. was the car stinky all the way there!

Maybe I should go get Annika her cupcake/muffin today? Hm...

December...

I just love the month of December!

The weather is so much cooler, people are in the holiday mood and it's just a generally more relaxed month.

We're having a Christmas day dinner for the family, and probably going to exchange gifts. Buying gifts is a real pain though, since it's getting harder every year to come up with new ideas! My shopping is almost done, after 2 mad days of combing the stores at Takashimaya and at Vivocity.

Chai is back for the holidays. It's amazing, he's already headed into the final year of medical school and will be done by next year! His girlfriend is already done with her Masters degree and started work. I am getting old! It's nice when he's back, feels like our family is complete again. We're all looking forward to when he's back for good.

Madison is finishing up her time with Bibinogs. It's a little sad that's she's ready to move on, and I'm grateful for the skills that they have imparted to her. She's developed so much over the year, and become more confident and articulate since she started school. Next year she starts at Pat's Schoolhouse at Buckley and I'm hoping she doesn't have too much trouble adjusting. I think she'll like it there eventually.

Annika is also growing up much too quickly. She's rolling all the time now and is generally a happy person. It's great how I feel so much more relaxed and confident handling her compared with Madison! She's also lucky to have 2 older kids to entertain her and keep her company. Elizabeth and Madison sway between protective love and jealous snatching! It's funny how the 3 of them occupy themselves the entire day.

Chris is going away AGAIN, this time with Pa for a medical mission trip to Padang, Indonesia. They leave tonight and will be back on Sunday NIGHT. Argh.. I will have to survive another 2 nights with the kids. He's working so much these days that he hardly has time for the kids, and with all the travelling he's been doing recently, it's been a little tough. But I do understand that he needs to train now so that he can be good at what he does.

The saga with Warni is also resolved. She is (hopefully) coming back to work with us for another 2 years starting next March. She leaves for a holiday in February. We negotiated her working terms and so she gets a pay rise and regular time off starting next year. I think she's happy and already I feel a positive change in her work attitude. I want to thank her for her efforts over the past 2 years, and so I will give her a Christmas bonus as well. I think I want to do the same for Maria and Siti( Geok's helper) as well. I am grateful for their help over the past 5 months with Annika and Madison.

Finally.. on the apartment front... yay! Work has finally begun and things are looking GOOD! I'm hoping we'll be able to move in before next year, but we're not rushing things. I'm rather sick of sleeping in the lounge and having our things all over the apartment. It's only a slight increase in space, but since we're having things built in it feels like a significant upgrade.

Oh.. and Chris' mum is coming for the Christmas break. And staying till Chinese New Year. That should be fun. She'll get plenty of time with her 2 granddaughters.

That's it for now...

Gap Casting Call

We entered Madison and Annika in a baby competition!

Actually, it was Chris' idea to do so, if it were me, I'd be too lazy to do anything. He heard about the Gap Casting Call from a friend, and turned out that it was happening over the past weekend. We had to spend $80 per child in baby Gap to qualify for a photoshoot.

It was lucky I was free this Saturday. We drove over to Gap at Wisma Atria and there were parents there shopping already at 11am. After checking with the sales people that the competition was actually on, we went berserk trying to quickly find $160 worth of Gap clothes to buy for the 2 girls. Then I had to join the queue to pay. It was annoying that the check out register took quite a while.

Of course, by this time Annika was getting cranky because she was getting hungry and it was close to nap time. But bless the little girl, she behaved really well, didn't even cry or complain that much.

After we finally registered the 2 girls, we had to join ANOTHER queue to wait our turn to take the photos. By which time, it was definitely Annika's feeding and napping time. Still, she did brilliantly, allowing the photographer to take her pictures without any fuss. It was a pity she wasn't at her best but it was the best we could do at that time.

Madison was up next after Annika. She suddenly became so shy; she was unable to smile or pose for the camera. Chris asked her to smile and she tried her best...

When the photos were finally done, it was a mad rush to feed Annika then Madison. The Gap staff was really nice, when I asked her if there was a nursing room somewhere in Wisma Atria, she said there wasn't one, and offered a dressing room for me to use. I managed to give Annika a quick feed before people started knocking at the door( rude! I never knock at the dressing room door to hurry other people up!) We ended up at the Marriot Singapore for lunch.

Hopefully the girls get some votes, but I'm not holding my breath about us winning this competition...it was just something different to do and good exposure for Madison. Some of the other kids were quite natural in front of the camera. And they definitely have aggressive parents marketing their photos for votes.

BTW, voting is through Facebook on the Gap Singapore site!

More gastro!

This is unbelievable!

The gastro bug that Elizabeth has and Madison HAD WILL NOT GO AWAY!

Elizabeth has been having diarrhoea from Monday till today, Madison vomitted Sunday but has been well till today, when she succumbed to diarrhoea too. ARGH.

I am praying Annika doesn't get the bug. I really don't want to see her sick and admitted to hospital. This diarrhoea bug must either be a rotavirus or an adenovirus. It's quite bad.

Today I was so pissed off that Madison started having diarrhoea that when I drove the kids over to the Novena house I got the helpers to strip the play area down and wash just about everything. I've got this germ phobia too, and I'm convinced the play area must be swarming with bugs of all sorts. I stripped down Annika's car seat and playthings that the 2 older girls like to get into and got them washed too.

It's days like that I feel absolutely crap. Surviving on disrupted sleep night on night, then having to deal with toddlers who fight, whine and scream all day is seriously exhausting. I'm glad that I do work though, so at least I have an outlet and time out everyday. And I get to interact with people other than the kids and the helpers everyday.

But for now, WILL THE GASTRO BUG PLEASE LEAVE US ALONE???!!!

Gastroenteritis..! Blowing bubbles...

Madison came down with a bad case of the stomach flu over the weekend. Just in time for Chris' arrival back from Japan.

I think she must have caught it after going swimming at the NUSS club with Elizabeth, Geok and Munhon on Saturday. She was well Sunday morning, but then all of a sudden started crying, fussing and saying she wanted to poo. Then, without warning, she projectile puked onto Warni and then several times thereafter. Needless to say we were all shocked.

Poor thing, she wouldn't stop throwing up, so I ended up giving her a shot and a suppository to stop the retching. Drove out to get some Freezer pops for her as well. She spent most of the afternoon sleeping on the couch in front of the television with Chris.

Thank goodness, by the evening, she seemed to suddenly improve and could tolerate ICE CREAM. Unfortunately she started running a fever. I was waiting for explosive diarrhea to start, but thankfully it didn't.

I was super paranoid that one of us would catch her bug too, and especially worried for Annika. Bleach was my best friend that day. I'm sorry to admit that I have a bit of vomit phobia; gastroenteritis is my greatest fear. I honestly tried very hard to be there and comfort Madison, but am thankful that Chris had already come home. He did an excellent job keeping Madison company.

Elizabeth started having diarrhea on Monday, so it's confirmed that the pool must have been contaminated with someone's poo.

On the Annika front, she's staying awake for longer periods now, and like Madison, is starting to refuse feeds when wide awake. She tries to sit up, squeal, and blows bubbles when either Warni tries to bottle feed or I try to breastfeed her! It's kind of cute ( although somewhat annoying as well ) when she is blowing bubbles at 5 am instead of going back to sleep after a feed. Her nights are still somewhat variable, which is tiring too. I am still hoping we don't have to do CIO with her eventually.

We finally have some progress with Warni. Her contract is up next March and I've been asking if she wants to continue working with us. Up till now she has not been forthcoming with her reply, but when I paid her over the weekend she finally gave me her reply.

Initially I was surprised that she would bargain on her terms of employment. I was hesitant to renew her contract, but after discussion with the family and thinking it through, I decided to negotiate with her and have an honest discussion with her. I am glad we came to a happy settlement, so at this point of time she will be continuing to work with us. She will go home for a 2 week vacation then return to us. I am quite happy with the decision and am thinking of bettering her employment terms if she does perform well over the next year. In fact, if she could DRIVE a car and chauffeur the kids around, she'd get paid VERY WELL.

Chris' birthday is coming up in 2 weeks! I think I might get him an Agnes B Voyage lap top bag? I was thinking a new laptop, but I did ask him and he declined. A nice watch would be good too, but they are too EXPENSIVE. Clothes a little too cliched. Maybe a nice suit? ( expensive too ) Maybe I should just get him some running stuff. And get him into running? ( doubt he'd like that! )

Vaccinations, holidays

I can't believe it's almost December already! How time flies! Just a year ago Annika was not born yet and Madison was such a little toddler.

Yesterday Annika had her 4 month shots. Managed to time it so that we headed down to the clinic just after she woke from her afternoon nap. I wasn't planning to take Madison along but it so happened that all of them awoke from their respective naps AT THE SAME TIME.

So both Madison and Elizabeth came along. Munhon was off work and Elizabeth ended up getting her shots too. (18 month ones). Madison was worrying throughout that she'd end up getting some too.

At her weigh in Annika was 7.8kg and 65.6cm tall. She's lighter than Madison at the same age but taller. Madison was 8.1Kg and 64cm at 4 months. I think that was the heaviest for height Madison ever was. She's now plateaued at 13+kg for the past year.

Annika was such a champ! She was so bubbly and cheerful the entire time, cooing and smiling at the paediatrician, and only cried for a little while during the needle. It was easy to pacify her afterwards and then she was off entertaining the parents outside! It was really funny. We were waiting for Elizabeth to finish her time with the paediatrician and Annika was cooing endlessly to the parents waiting outside!

I just found out that Warni has been feeding Annika with the bottle teat facing the WRONG direction. The NUK teat is specially designed to resemble the nipple so it looks a little strange. I realised this when I was feeding Annika myself at the clinic using the NUK teat yesterday. When I asked Warni which direction she pointed the teat she showed me the WRONG way. Not sure if that's the cause of her not being able to finish her milk at 3 PM. She takes only 60 to 70mls of expressed milk each time and I'm pretty sure that's hardly enough for her at this stage. We'll see.

On another note... holidays.

Chris is AWAY for a blissful holiday/conference in Tokyo for 4 days. He left on Wednesday afternoon and will be back Sunday morning. LUCKY guy. Would I LOVE to go on a spa holiday right now. I love going to Japan. We've been 3 times, skiing, shopping and eating. Niseko twice and Nagano once. It's the BEST for powder snow. Our skis must be rusty by now. I think I deserve new boots by the time we can take the kids skiiing!

We are trying to plan for a major family getaway in January, but as far no one can decide where to go. I'm a little half hearted because

1. taking 2 kids on holiday ISN'T really a holiday ( although Madison is quite good these days)
2. Madison will miss the FIRST day of her new music class ( not good! they don't repeat it and it's EXPENSIVE!)
3. Chris has to attend a course on the Friday of that weekend.. making HIS holiday really short and he'd have to travel separately from us. Blah. I'd have to take the 2 kids by myself without him.

Anyway... I'm NOT going to be the one planning OR organising this trip so I'll wait and see what my parents/Munhon/Geok can come up with. I'm sick of being the one who always has to organise/sort/plan things out. I've got 2 kids.. that's enough planning for one person!

Regression, TIRED!

Argh... what is with potty training?

Finally we have resolved Madison's fear of no 2 ( pooing ) only to have her regress back to using diapers full time!

We changed her back to diapers because she had such psychological difficulty with doing no 2 in the potty and then ended up constipated. Took over 2 weeks for her to resolve her thing with pooing. She is better now, but for some reason 'lost' her ability to use the potty for pee! I think she will be able to do it consistently if we lost the diapers and used normal underwear, but then how would we solve the pooing issue?

Anyway... I thought maybe I should give the reward system a go. So today I drew up some columns on a piece of paper and prepared some shiny star stickers. I also offered her M & Ms for every star that she got. Let's see if it works.

As for Annika, I think that sleep that I got a few weeks ago was a fluke. She's back to 2 night wakings regularly, and even 3 wakings, but I only feed her at the first 2. I tried NOT feeding her but she created such a fuss it was easier to just feed her. And boy, did she seem hungry!But am I TIRED...

Otherwise, she's a happy baby, all squeals and conversation recently. She's got the cutest smile and the most expressive face ever! Add on the baby curls piled on top of her head, she is a magnet for attention. People keep asking if she's Korean or Japanese. So far no one has mistaken her for a boy.

Where does all the time go? It's already mid November! Before long Christmas will be upon us. We are expecting some visitors come December. Chai is back for his holidays on the 4th of December, and then Chris' mum will visit for a month starting Christmas eve. Should be fun....

Night wakings

I think I am less patient with night wakings with Annika than I was with Madison.

I guess in a way, I'm looking forward to being able to sleep uninterrupted again... but then she's only 3.5 months now...

It's just that a few weeks ago she seemed to be able to consistently make it to close to 3 am before requiring a feed, but recently it seems to have regressed. Last night she didn't even make it to midnight before she started fussing. I tried not to feed her but she would have none of that. We persisted in trying to settle her without a feed but she refused to settle. In the end I caved in and boy! Was she hungry!

I'm cracking my brains over this. Is it something wrong that I'm doing so she isn't getting enough? Although, I must say that she seems to be eating less in the day now. She completely refuses to feed even though I offer. Can't force her since she'd protest. I'm thinking maybe that's why she needs more at night recently. It's driving me mad. Not sure if I can really do anything about it either.

That aside, Annika is becoming more of a little person now. It's amusing how she gets obsessed with checking her right hand to see if it's still there. She is really into sucking both her fists now, and sometimes( quite frequently!) tries to suck them WHILE feeding! She also seems to be more attached to me than Madison was, and protests if I don't carry her when she wants. She's also quite taken with her sister and cousin. I have a short video of Madison playing with Annika.

I know this baby stage doesn't last very long, so I'm trying to relax and enjoy her as much as possible. When I look at Madison now, I cannot imagine how quickly she's grown. Some time between Annika's birth and now she suddenly became a little girl. It's a bittersweet feeling.

Men are from Mars??

I just had lunch with my parents, and this came up in a conversation.

My sister is away in Bali for a business trip (lucky gal!!! would I LOVE to be in a spa in Bali right now!!) so her daughter is bunking in with my parents for 2 nights.

Apparently she was up a few times last night, and my dad got up to pat her back to sleep, and eventually she ended up sleeping with him. Dad fell asleep immediately as soon as she settled. Mum was a different story. She just could not go back to sleep after each waking!

Which brings me to my point.

What is it with men? Chris is the same. When he has to get up for any reason (eg Madison crying ) he can deal with it and plonk back down to sleep in no time. Even better, the baby could be crying and he could sleep right through it!

My theory is that with the first kid, the husband would TRY and wake for the first month. For the second, that would last all of 2 weeks. By the third kid, he probably would sleep through the entire crying session right from the start! I found it really amazing ( not to mention ANNOYING ) that he could do that, but I have come to realize that apparently it's a talent of ALL men!

I think many mums would have the same complaint. WHY,oh WHY... is it up to the mother to attend to ALL the night wakings of a newborn/infant!!! And then why is it the husband that looks worse off in the daytime??

Multitasking.. another gift that women seem to possess and men seem to sorely lack. Why?

Of course it is NEVER any use actually trying to tell the husband any of this. First it inevitably ends up in an argument. Second, NOTHING changes. Third, the woman ends up PISSED off and remains so for a VERY LONG TIME. ARGH.

Fantastic weekend

Staying at my parents' place over the weekend turned out to be a great thing!

Of course it was nice that there was no one else around, so the house was pretty quiet.

Usually we have to transfer Annika from the cot at Novena over to our place at night after dinner, and I get stressed worrying that she'd wake and then refuse to settle. So it was such a relief to not have to do that on Saturday night after dinner.

And it was nice that Annika got a room of her own while I got to sleep in a separate room in peace! Madison camped over with grandma and boy, was she happy!

The night turned out to be great! Annika slept soundly till 1 am, waking for her usual feed. She settled quickly after that. At 2, I heard noise coming from downstairs, and then Madison crying. Followed quickly by my mom running back upstairs and comforting her. Turned out that Madison had peed in her diaper and it had leaked so needed a change.

The funniest thing happened to me though. I downloaded an alarm clock app for my iPad and though I'd try it out. I set it for 3 AM to pump ( if Annika didn't wake by then ) and of course forgot about it. Fell asleep and then was rudely jolted awake by the sounds of church bells chiming. I panicked and started cursing the bells, and quickly turned the baby monitor on to check if Annika had been disturbed by it. She moved once and then settled by herself. Took me awhile to finally realize that only I was hearing the stupid bells! And to turn it off!

The rest of the night was peaceful... Annika didn't even wake at 5 as per normal! It was also nice that I didn't have to juggle 2 kids by myself early in the morning since my mom was looking after Madison. We went to the Botanic Gardens for breakfast when my dad came back from the airport. In the afternoon Madison had a haircut, and when I turned up with Annika the stylist took it upon herself to cut Annika's hair too. Pretty weird.

Yesterday it was back to the grind. Monday blues all around. I had to take Madison to school and got caught in horrendous Monday traffic. It didn't help that it was also drizzling. On the way there Madison decided to unclip the safety belt that was holding her car seat down. And of course soon after I had to brake suddenly and guess what? The entire seat with Madison came forwards onto the front seat! Was a good thing it was at low speed. OMG. I couldn't believe my eyes when she did that.

Am hoping for a good week this week!

Juggling 2

It feels like I'm playing tag team with Warni most days.

In the past there was only Madison to worry about; now there are 2 of them.

I don't know why but Annika has been waking more frequently the past week or so. Prior to that she was so good, going to bed at 730Pm and not waking till at least 230AM for her first night feed! It was great, and I had to pump once before that so that I wouldn't be too engorged and make her choke when she ate.

Now she's waking close to midnight, then another 1 or 2 times before waking for the day! Last night she was up close to 1 am, then again at 3 and then refused to go to sleep after that! She didn't want to nurse, and she started to fuss when I tried to rock her. So I put her back in the crib and waited. She started to fuss and squirm so I undid the swaddle to let one arm out. She squirmed some more and the other arm was free. She settled and was pretty happy with her 2 drumsticks, and funnily enough, fell asleep by herself some time later ( I fell asleep first waiting for her!) And strangely,stayed asleep till past 7am!

Other than the sleep, she's incredibly cute, cuter than Madison ( if I may say so!) She's getting more aware of her surroundings therefore is distracted during her feeds. It's especially annoying when I'm trying to get her fed so that I can go to work, since she refuses the bottle at any time other than at 3Pm ( fingers crossed at this stage!Madison started refusing all bottles after 3 months!). Otherwise, it's quite funny. She will yank and pull off repeatedly until I give up and then she flashes this gummy grin at me. Makes my heart melt. I tell myself, it's all TEMPORARY... in the end the only feeds that are left are the pre brekky, pre bed feeds... even night feeds END. And finally, it all ENDS. My only concern is that she is not getting enough during the day so makes up for it at night! Grr...

On the Madison front, the poo saga is almost over ( I hope! ). She is back in diapers although she is able to pee in the toilet with the child seat. I'm trying to get her to poo normally again first before we attempt any further training ( or not ). Of course now she has to catch another cold and is running around with a snotty nose. Thank goodness Elizabeth is away this weekend so she's not around to pick it up too and pass it along to the baby!

I'm quite short of patience with Madison these days. She's getting fussier with her meals and I need to BREATHE while trying to give her meals ( thank goodness I don't have to deal with LUNCH!) This morning I was so close to the edge with her... after spending 30minutes trying to get Annika down for her morning nap and she walks in JUST as the baby fell asleep and of course wakes the baby up ( who of course responds by screaming her head off!) I know it's not fair but I feel like my patience tank has run dry by the time I'm done with one child!

We are staying the night with my mum tonight... everyone is away.. Pa is away in Sri Lanka; Geok and gang are in HK, and Chris is on call the entire weekend. Should be fun....

Fed up!

This potty training thing is driving me nuts!

First of all it wasn't even a planned event. She got trained overnight because she had bad diarrhoea and severe diaper rash that required her to go diaperless for 2 days. Then after that she was able to pee in the potty without issue. Initially pooing seemed to be fine too, but for some reason she started to withold and became super constipated.

Now I don't know what to do about it all. She is still not pooing again on her own, and she screams when we try to potty her regularly for poo. Chris and I had an argument last night about this and I'm still pretty mad about it.

Today she developed this weird rash on her cheek and upper lip. Now I'm paranoid it's an allergic reaction to the lactulose or liquid paraffin that I've been giving her. And to top it off, Mun Hon is disapproving of my dispensing habits and frightened me with things like Madison's gut becoming lax, addiction to laxatives etc. But my reasoning is that until she is able to go naturally again, her poo should ideally be soft and easy to pass so that she does not have pain.

Anyway.. now I have to stop all medication because of this weird rash. Not worth risking an anaphylactic reaction just because of poo. Urgh.

On a different note... Annika has been really good to me the past few afternoons.. I've been successful at putting her down in her cot AWAKE for her afternoon nap, and after singing for 15-20 minutes she went to sleep! It's great! I could never do that for Madison. And she's been taking the bottle daily for the past 2 months as well.

Although I have fewer pictures of Annika compared to Madison, I feel a whole lot more relaxed looking after Annika. I don't stress so much with her feeding schedule, it's ok if she screams a little here and there. And she's so cute at the moment, it's irresistable! I think I was quite nervous with Madison, and still am when it comes to unnavigated territory ( like potty training!)

Maybe I should just relax and let things sort themselves out. I seriously GIVE up already!

Madison made me proud!

Today marks Elizabeth's first day at Mandarin school at Bibinogs.

I told Madison over the weekend that Elizabeth would be starting school with her on Monday, but she didn't respond so I assumed she didn't really understand me.

This morning, Elizabeth came over to my place with Siti ( her carer ). Madison perked up immediately ( she was a little grouchy before that ). On the way to the car, Madison started to hold Elizabeth's hand and they walked together to the car. Madison was really quite cheerful (unlike her usual Monday self) and was chatting to Elizabeth all the way there.

When we got to the school, Madison did the usual thing: get temperature checked, rubbed her hands with disinfectant etc. When it came to Elizabeth, she suddenly refused and wanted to leave. Madison took Elizabeth by her hand and led her back to the teacher. Each time Elizabeth tried to escape, Madison would drag her back to the classroom!

At 12, I went to pick the kids up and Madison was all chirpy. When I asked her how their day went, Madison giggled and said " Elizabeth was crying!" So I asked her what she did. And she replied:" I wiped her face!" I was so proud of my girl! And touched that she could be so thoughtful towards her little cousin! This is despite the awful battles they have at the grandparents' place regularly.

In other Madison related news, we are having a horrible time with potty training the no 2. She is peeing well and can even hold her bladder for short periods of time for us to find her a toilet. But the pooing is posing a serious problem.

After the horrible evacuation that I had to subject her to, I started her on regular stool softeners. She still refuses to go when she has the urge. It ends with an awful screaming session on the toilet. According to parenting sites that I looked up regarding potty training, apparently behaviour training is quite important. She is supposed to get used to sitting on the potty after meals to poo. So, I've been trying to sit her on the loo twice a day after breakfast and dinner. I hope it gets better soon.

In Annika related news, she is getting so cute! Her neck strength is improving by the day; she is able to lift her head up 45 degrees and look around ( although not long ). For the first time ever, she giggled at me on Saturday! Nights are still somewhat erratic, she wakes up between one and three times a night. I sometimes feel bad towards her, she has to play second fiddle to Madison because I need to get her breakfast, dress her for school etc then get round to feeding her in the morning.

I think Annika is going to be one chatty person. Already she babbles and coos endlessly to people ( when she is not fussing or grouchy ). She loves going out, and is the best when we are out shopping -- she loves the lights, the noise and the people.

I just wish there were more time in the day to fit everything in!

Constipated!

Madison is constipated. I think she will probably hate me in another 5 or so years for blogging about it, but I am quite traumatised by the whole thing!

She's normally a once- a - day type of gal. If she skips a day, we know we're heading for trouble already. 2 days? uh-oh... So I'm super OCD about her diet and fluid intake normally.

I guess with 2 kids it gets harder to keep track and we're less patient with coaxing her to drink. And I just don't get why toddlers don't want to drink water! It's so frustrating, trying to run after her with a sippy cup of liquid that she literally SIPS.

So... coupled with this potty training thing, Madison is officially constipated. Jammed up.

Yesterday was Day 4 of the absent BO. I took her down to the pool side to splash in the water before dinner, and she suddenly said she felt like pooing. So off I dash to the toilet downstairs with her, stripped her of her swimsuit and sat her on the toilet. Then all hell broke loose. Long story short, there was screaming, there was a manual evacuation and then there was more screaming ( by me..!)

I think I might have post traumatic stress syndrome from it all.

Pumped up from it all, I drove the kids to the pharmacy and bought an array of laxatives. A microfleet enema, glycerin suppositories and paraffin liquid. I wanted to give the enema straight up, but changed my mind and she wound up with 2 glycerin suppositories. Which didn't seem to really work but she ended up with tummy ache the whole evening. And skipped dinner.

Somehow, amidst the chaos, it emerged that Warni( probably me as well ) is not coping with 2 kids and housework. Although she refuses to acknowledge it or to bring it up ( Why? Why ? ) Anyhow, with a crying baby that wants to be carried all day and an energetic toddler to mind she cannot get all the housework done in the few hours that she has at our apartment.

So after some pow- wow with the hubby, we came to the conclusion that she has to 'bring work home to do' ie take the laundry back to finish up in the evening when we are all at my parents' place. So we drove out to buy another ironing board, iron and laundry baskets for my parents place for her to use.

Hopefully the new system will work. I guess this is an evolving situation, and we are all trying to cope. There is just no winning. Unless I stop work and help look after the 2 kids and Warni can do more housework, or else she needs help with the kids. The former is not really an option so trying to get more help might work.

Sigh. I just hope the liquid paraffin works. Apparently in Australia they have parachoc, which is liquid paraffin for kids. Chocolate flavoured! How come we don't get it here?

New place

It's been pretty fun getting the new apartment!

On Friday, we had a bbq dinner for the family. It was a bit of a mad rush, since I finished work a little late and then had to run around getting the bits for the bbq. It turned out to be pretty fun though! Even though it cost me more to do this than to just go out for dinner!! Mun Hon took Elizabeth for a dip in the pool. Poor Madison missed out because I was too stressed with getting dinner cooked and pacifying a tired baby at the same time.

Still, she was more than happy with her mini Magnum ice cream... clever little girl even wanted more-- she told me to follow her, and I did, only to have her take me to the lift lobby.. when I asked her where we were going, she told me solemnly... "mama, I want to get more ice cream". So we get to the lifts, and I thought to myself, "well.. if she actually figures out how to get back to our apartment, I certainly will give her another one!" But she gets to the lift and and is stumped by whether to go up or down! Good try though...

On Saturday.. I had the 'brilliant' idea of going over AGAIN to the apartment for a dip before Madison's lunch. That wasn't the silly part. To decide to COOK her lunch at the apartment was the silly part. We ended up with shattered pyrex all over the floor, baked beans and rice all over the cook top , one screaming baby and a toddler who was refusing to don her slippers even though there were glass shards all over the place!

Even so, I managed to salvage the event; her lunch did get cooked, we did go to the pool for all of 10 minutes! And she had lunch by the poolside. And got another mini Magnum while I tried to clean up the mess. At the very least I got to try the awesome jacuzzi at the pool! They were really strong jets of water! Fabulous... great for post exercise massage/water therapy!

The contractor came over on Sunday to measure the apartment up and to draw up additions to the place. Being a small apartment, we need build- to- measure furniture so as to maximise the use of space. I am looking forward to seeing his plans for our new abode!

The grandparents came back from Tokyo on Sunday. We were all glad to see them, and they bore bags of goodies for us all. Of course the kids were the most excited... to see packets of chocolate, biscuits and the like spill out of their bags... they were literally swimming in the stuff! But, I must admit, the Japanese snacks are actually quite something... giant sized Pocky sticks, smooth as silk Royce chocolate, and delicate butter cookies.

Well.. all too soon the weekend came to an end... it was dinner together, then home for everyone to their respective places..

Happy Children's Day!

Today being Children's Day in Singapore and Anthony's last day with us, I thought I'd do something nice for a change.

Initially the plan was a simple lunch with the kids and maids in tow at Casa Verde at the Botanic Gardens. Then I thought: " OMG it's Children's day... probably going to be terribly crowded ..! " So.. after some consideration, I decided that a picnic at the Gardens would be a nice alternative.

Of course this change in plans just had to be made at the eleventh hour... so as usual I was thrown into a mad rush to gather picnic material. Madison is just recovering from her bout of gastroenteritis so I was a little paranoid about what to get for lunch. I wanted to cook some chicken but in the end, I realized it was either cook the chicken and be too late for a picnic, or make do with store bought roast chicken. So, I settled for the roast chicken, but microwaved it again for safety's sake. It also helped that being mid morning, the chicken had just been freshly cooked.

It turned out to be a great afternoon! The weather held, nice and sunny, and we managed to get a little pavilion all to ourselves.

We layed the picnic sheet out, trotted the food out and when the kids saw the spread they wanted to eat immediately. We had the roast chicken, sliced cheddar cheese, bagels and foccacia, salad and fruit.

After lunch the kids ran off to feed the black swans in the pond, while I fed the baby. Was great that Chris managed to come out to meet us too for awhile.

The reason why I decided to write this post is that I was just thinking... life would be so simple if I decided instead, to leave the kids at home and let the maids do their usual routine with them, and then take Anthony out for lunch. Instead it was a mad rush and stressful event trying to pack up 2 toddlers and a baby and 4 adults to go to a picnic. But... that's what having kids is all about, isn't it? Children are not "convenient" to say the least, but it is when we do the "troublesome" things that gives us the fufillment, isn't it?

Poor Madison...

This morning was terrible.

Chris left the house early so I was alone with the 2 kids. Normally this isn't much of a problem but today Madison suddenly got up at 6. I couldn't figure out why, but before I could do anything the baby woke too and started crying.

I kind of panicked, and went in to feed the baby first. Watching Madison through the baby monitor throughout... she stood in her cot for awhile, and I had this sinking feeling that she had done something nasty in her diaper. When I had finally settled the baby, Madison had fallen back asleep.

At 730, Warni arrived for the day and Madison woke again. I immediately went in and OMG... the smell was terrible. I took her to the bathroom to wash and the poo was all over her diaper. After that she refused to wear a diaper, and I couldn't understand why.So she went diaperless for breakfast, then afterward she said she wanted to pee so I took her to the potty. Nothing. I decided to give her a wash and that's where she started to howl in pain.

Her perineum was excoriated and macerated. It was BAD diaper dermatitis. Poor baby. There was still some poo inside the vulva so I had to gently use wipes to clean again. Then used Desitin ( 40% zinc oxide ) to cover the affected area. The rest of the morning she went without any diaper/underwear.

The ironic thing is that she FINALLY voluntarily used the potty consistently the entire morning, apart from the first poop that landed on the floor! But poor Madison, had diarrhoea 5 times this morning. I don't know what caused it... was it left over banana cake that her grandparents gave her( even though i was against it! ) Or dirty swimming pool water? Or too much dried fruit?

Now I feel bad that I had to choose between the 2 kids as to who to attend to, and Madison had to suffer from bad dermatitis as a result. I know she doesn't blame me, but if I had cleaned her up earlier she would not have had to suffer the pain of excoriated skin.

I'm not sure what we're going to do tonight, because she most certainly should not be sleeping in a wet diaper ( not that she'd agree anyway ) .. I have to see if one of us works something out.

As for Annika, I'm still trying to work out a regular schedule for her so that she's less grumpy and settles better at her afternoon nap. Yesterday things were slightly more settled, she slept in the morning for an hour, then settled beautifully in the afternoon for a decent 2 1/2 hour nap, and one more later in the afternoon for another hour or so. I figured that should be roughly what she needs at the moment during the day. Night time is a different ballgame! It's still variable as to when she wakes, so I take it one night at a time. The only thing I have learnt is that I do need to pump a little just before she nurses at night so that she that she doesn't choke, gulp huge amounts of air and then fuss over gas and then refuse to settle.

Sigh... that's motherhood for you, I guess...

Back to night wakings!

So.. it must have been a fluke.

Annika is back to waking 3 times a night, which is what she has been doing the past few nights. Sigh... I blame Chris! He must have jinxed it! The day he commented that Annika is a good sleeper was the day she reverted back to multiple night wakings...

It's funny how quickly you forget what it's like to have to stay up all night! 2 nights of tasting sleep and I start getting grumpy over having to stay up again! I've already forgotten the nights where she wouldn't even settle, and I had to stay up 2 hours trying to get her to go back to sleep.. shudder..

Maybe it's a growth spurt? Sigh.. the only hope I have is that IT IS TEMPORARY. She WILL NOT be doing this at 1 year old. At least we will have sleep trained by then. I am still wondering about the technicalities of sleep training this time. Do we let her cry it out when Madison is sleeping over at the grandparents' place? Or just do it even though Madison will be next door to her? Sleep training takes a few days to a week, so technically Madison will have to endure some of this crying too. I'm still hoping Annika will somehow magically sleep train herself painlessly!

Anthony is visiting for 2 weeks. It's nice to know there's another pair of hands to entertain Madison.

Speaking of which. We had a great weekend that just passed. Friday Chris finished work early so it was nice that he was home and we had lunch out together. Saturday I got to go to Joan's wedding gown fitting while Chris and the grandparents took Madison out to see kite flying. There was a kite festival at the Marina Bay promenade over the weekend. After dinner, the kids were then taken to Kranji to attend a Lantern Festival event, and they got to walk around with their lanterns and try mooncakes. After the event, Madison stayed over with the grandparents, while we took Annika home. It felt really weird having only 1 kid to look after, and boy! It felt EASY! It's all in the retrospect!

Sunday morning felt so nice and calm. Only 1 baby between the 2 of us. Fed and changed her, then went to the club where Chris managed a swim. We then had a leisurely brunch at Vivocity, went shopping and then frappucinos at Starbucks. Something we usually cannot do because of logistics/ toddler running around/ nap time issues. Also since Madison isn't really allowed to drink frappucinos as a general rule.

Anyway... Monday came around way too soon. The usual mad rush starts again.. me and the 2 kids. Sigh. But I really should embrace the time I have with my 2 darlings... funny thing is, I grumble when I have to stress over all this but then when I get time out I stress over getting back quickly to my darlings!

Potty training and sleeping

Yesterday Madison finally voluntarily went potty by herself for the first time.

So many people have been either asking me whether she is potty trained already or nagging me about it, but after a few failed attempts I've decided thus far to leave the issue alone. After all, like the books say, it'll happen eventually.

Anyway, yesterday morning she didn't want to wear her diaper. Which has been happening for awhile. It's just that she refuses to go anywhere near the potty or the adult toilet. So, as usual I warned her not to pee on my bed or the couch. She agreed. After breakfast, I took the 2 kids out alone for a short jaunt to the petrol kiosk then we were fiddling downstairs by the pool, where she promptly splashed the water onto her clothes. When we got home I wasn't sure if she'd peed or it was the pool water. She denied having peed. So I took the opportunity to ask her to use the potty. Initialy she sat on it and I tried the usual tricks, reading, encouragement etc. Then she insisted on taking the potty to the living room, to my chagrin. I caved in in the end. Told her that if she did pee she'd get a reward. That worked instantly. So she got her pack of M&m's. Sigh. So much for trying NOT to use rewards to potty train.

The other thing was that for the very first time, Annika slept through for a really long time! I hope I don't jinx it by blogging about it, but I really should document it this time. She was fussing in the evening at about six, so I fed her and she went down by about seven. I was expecting her to wake earlier since she usually goes down closer to eight. To my great surprise she stayed asleep till midnight, then managed to continue till 6 the next day after a quick feed! I still had to get up to pump though, since I got engorged anyway but it was great not having to settle her in the middle of the night after feeding! I made the mistake with Madison of routinely waking her up in the hope that I could get a regular night time schedule. In the end I'd spend over an hour trying to resettle an woke baby after feeding! That drove me nuts. This time round I'm going to let Annika lead the way. Until closer to 8 months or so, then we'll have to sleep train if she doesn't do it herself.

The 2 girls ended up having vaccinations yesterday too. It was a mad rush getting everyone ready and packed up to go to Kkh but between us all we did it. Madison, being older had to have bribes and promises of treats, but she was a champ at the paediatrician's ! Willingly let herself get examined on the table, just like a pro! I was so proud of her. She cried a little during the jab, but proudly announced she'd had the injection later on. She got her prize at 7-11 afterwards.

Finally, it's really funny the things that she says these days. I keep telling her not to use crying or tantrums to express herself, since only babies do that,a nd babies don't get special treats or outings. She understands but occasionally forgets. Yesterday after her lunch she grouped back into the house and seeing me there, quickly announced :" I no cry!!" of course I immediately become suspicious and ask her if she did cry! She did not admit and then of course the next person I ask is Warni. Who tells me that she did throw a tantrum. Why? She got mad that Elizabeth was faling asleep at the table while they were eating lunch together! Kids..

Relections

I admit it, I'm addicted to the blogosphere.

Since I've got the iPad I've been spending more time on the Internet and I've found so many blogs that are quite interesting-- at least to me. There's one that I've been following for quite a while now, she's a teacher in the US who initially was blogging about her first pregnancy and running through it, then how she coped during the child's first year. And then, surprise surprise, she became pregnant again and delivered just a few days earlier than me! It's unreal how we get glimpses into these strangers' lives and if you keep up with the blogs it's as if you get to know them personally!

Anyway, I found it really intriguing how she manages 2 kids and trains for races without much help... I couldn't imagine doing what she does!

Another blog that I found via a parenting magazine is called " impersonating normal". She's a therapist of some sort that wrote extensively about her struggle with infertility and infertility treatments. She subsequently became pregnant with twins but the male twin died in utero at 24 weeks. That was quite a shock. She writes very well and is really expressive. I was hooked for a few days while I plowed through all her archived blog entries. Thank goodness she only started her blog last year. Reading her blog left me thinking about how lucky I am to have 2 healthy kids without any of her struggle, and to be more patient with them.

Anyway, that aside, things are settling somewhat with the baby. I am still trying to get her on some form of a sleeping schedule, but it's still not there yet. But, the power of hindsight. I know now that in the end all the naps are dropped except for the afternoon one, so i' m really not as stressed about it this time round as compared to Madison. So, I am routinely putting her down for her 1 pm nap in the hope that she gets the hang of sleeping well at this time.

Also, this time round I'm a lot more disciplined with the bottle feeding. Annika gets a bottle of expressed milk every afternoon. Thank goodness for the lactation consultant Yen Ping, who kindly advised me to try the Pigeon latex teat. So far so good. Am thinking of introducing a second bottle feed, perhaps mid morning.

Work is starting to pick up too. The past week has been rather busy. Sometimes it feels like there is hardly time to breathe, yet it all passes
so quickly. Tomorrow Annika turns 8 weeks! 8 weeks since I was pregnant, had that horrible C section and survived the recovery period! We are going to Kkh for the first of her vaccinations tomorrow. Madison will get the chickenpox vaccine too this time. I am feeling rather nervous about it, although I know it's rather silly and these jabs are really quite routine.

One final thing, Chris received an award for being an exemplary registrar at work! Am so proud of him! He attended a dinner last night to collect the prize. Mun Hon was there with him, since I had to stay home with the kids. Way to go!

Hari Raya break

Yesterday was the Hari Raya holiday.

It's like the new year celebration for Muslims and a fairly important day, so I gave Warni the day off. Thankfully Chris was not on call so he was home the entire day to manage the kids.

My goodness ... Chaos would be a good description of the morning!

Everyone was up by 730 am for the day. it was a tag team effort between the 2 of us to get breakfast sorted put, then the 2 kids reasonably dressed for the day. Madison insisted on wearing her undies without her diaper or anything else first thing in the morning. Hence she was naked save for the above said undies for the better part of the morning!

Lunch was picnic at the beach. The sky looked threatening initially,covered with dark clouds,but we persisted and it didn't rain till we were done! We made it simple, with store bought food and drink. There was roast chicken, 2 types of ribs, ham and cheese, croissants and egg tarts. Talk about a gourmet lunch! Madison was starving and she tucked right into the food. No trouble with eating there...ended the meal with a tub of Ben and Jerry ice cream..

We brought along Madison's little push bike and she was peddling it for a little while. Then the wind picked up and Mun Hon finally got to fly the kite ...he and Chris were the most enthusiastic kite flyers in the family.. Although it was pretty cool at the end when the kite actually stayed air borne without much effort..

The baby was great outside actually. After her screamfest earlier that morning she was quite calm and settled at the beach..she even allowed me to put her in the stroller while I had lunch. Then when she started fussing I latched her on and she fell asleep while I continued eating! It was all great until we got home and then she couldn't stay asleep! Then the crying started again..

Well... I don't know if it was the screaming, or the good sleep she got after that when we took her shopping with Madison, or the full bottle feed that she took but the night was great! She settled really well by 7 pm, allowing Chris and I to grab a nice dinner at Casa Verde (at the Gardens ) then staying asleep till 1 am! She settled easily after a quick diaper change and feed till 5 am then again till past 7! It was great... Worth the screamfest entirely.

Am super glad that there is still the weekend to look forward too!

Goodbye to Grandma

Chris' mum went back to Melbourne last night after a one month visit here.

Yesterday was busy as usual in the morning: Chris had to go to do the round at work, I had appointments at the clinic and Madison had music school. Poor Annika was the only one left out! Lunch time things fell apart: the clinic ran late so at 12 I was still working. Chris was late for his training at the gym because he had to watch the baby while Warni gave Madison her lunch. And of course the baby by then was starving AND tired!

The afternoon in contrast was peaceful. We took his mum to the Botanic Gardens to take some photos ( her favourite activity!) with the kids. Unfortunately the weather was just too humid and hot. We were all sweating buckets by the time we left, which wasn't very long after we arrived!

After the baby was settled in the evening we had to go to the airport. Madison came along. I promised her ice cream after our dinner at the airport as a treat. She was understandably excited the entire day about this.

It was nuts at the airport! There were so many people hanging around and queues were massive at all the dining options! We rushed from one restaurant to another, only to be faced with wait lists ! Crazy! We were about to give up and just say goodbye when I chanced upon Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, which happened to have seats. So we had a quick bite and Madison, got her molten chocolate cake ( instead of ice cream ). She was happy. There was a Grand Prix exhibition by model car maker Tamiya next to us and after watching the model cars zoom by I got Madison a simple remote controlled car.

Sigh.. alas the night was BAD. Annika woke earlier than she'd been doing recently for a feed, then after that it was downhill. Whenever I have a bad night I feel my temper rising if she cannot settle. Then I think.. not doing this ever again! So unfair that men get the easy end of the stick when it comes to kids! It takes me close to an hour to settle her each time she wakes and then I have to do it all over again after an hour! Meanwhile everyone else gets to sleep. It sucks.

I know it'll pass eventually.. in about a year or so...but right now that seems really far away.. yawn...

Work!

This has been a rather crazy week!

Initially when I planned to return to work, I meant for it to be half days in the afternoon only. But, the minute the week started, patients appeared in the morning, and I couldn't turn them down.

Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays Madison has school. Usually I'll drop her off, and by the time I'm back and settled the baby it'll be closer to 1030 am. Thankfully patients at the clinic don't seem to come round too early. In any case, I'd have to turn them down or get them to return later. So then, Annika is left in the good hands of Warni and I rush down to see the patients. On Monday this week, it was too late to go back home after I'd finished so I had to go straight back to pick Madison up from school.

Between 12 and 2PM it's definitely a no go zone. Warni needs to give Madison her lunch, bath and settle her for her nap of the day. Which means I have to stay at home until Madison goes down, usually by 130Pm. Hopefully during that time I am successful in settling Annika, which kinda depends on how much she has slept during the morning.

It's quite hard to keep her up and happy! She's peaceful when she's sleeping, but then she refuses to go down for her afternoon nap. If we try and keep her up she's crying and fussy! So usually it's a delicate balance between the two states. Warni seems to be better at keeping her up and slightly more pacified than me. It takes me close to an hour or 1.5 h before she finally settles in the afternoon ( usually ).

So, then by 145PM or 2 PM I can usually go back down to the clinic. I can't even imagine if the clinic was truly busy! I like it that I don't have too many patients at the moment... and my patients are mostly happy to go by appointments ( rare in Singapore!)

Today the morning appointment ran over time. It was a mad rush to go home and by the time I got there the baby was wailing, Madison had turned the house upside down but the good Warni was cool and collected! I really think Warni is better at this mothering thing than I am... she's got the personality for it.

I'm starting to feel really guilty towards Madison; the days she is at home she winds up spending quite a bit of time with Warni or by herself. I guess I should be happy that she is able to entertain herself, which probably is developmentally appropriate. Just that in the past I'd be able to spend more time with her. Hopefully as Annika grows older it'll get better. Then maybe the 2 of them can play together and entertain each other! Annika also gets the short end of the stick.. she can never get the amount of time that I had with Madison at the same age.. the only difference is that she'll never know.. which is sad. Why does it feel like anything I do is never enough?

Finally... I LOVE the iPad! Only problem? It needs a Mac OSx 10.5 and above to work! So the iMac and this laptop is obsolete... apparently the software for the new operating system software is not even compatible with them! But, Chris got the iPad working for me, and it keeps me company through the long nights and when breastfeeding! Just wish I could download some ebooks off iBook or Amazon for kindle.

I guess we all just have to press on...

Another week

This week marks Annika's 6 th week....

To start the week off, the rear right tyre on my car punctured. Fortunately I saw the deflated tyre.. I would've been driving all week on it.. the car didn't feel any different. I took the car to the nearest workshop ( which happens to be at the SPC station downstairs) and the bad news was that all 4 tyres needed to be replaced! That cost me $900.

The refrigerator at home also decided to call it quits.
The repair guys came to check it, and declared that the compressor was kaput. Argh... so close to moving house and the fridge has to give up on us! So we ended up buying a smaller fridge to replace our current double door. And this is after the renovation to the kitchen just to fit our huge double door fridge!!! Now there'll be a huge gap from the fridge to the wall!

I've also started work as of this week. I think I will do afternoons to start, when the kids have ( hopefully ) settled down for their afternoon naps. Annika is getting difficult to nap... she is sleepy the entire morning, then when 12pm comes and I need her to sleep she is fussing and refusing to nap. Yesterday she ended up catnapping on and off the entire time from 12 to 3, then finally falling asleep after her milk feed at 3!

Today she was battling with me again at 12, but I finally won and she settled at 130PM. I hope she stays asleep though. She seems to not want to nap in her cot during the day. But I'm not complaining as long as she sleeps in it during the night! Madison was pretty much the same, and the only thing that changed was that she required less sleep as she grew up! So I'm banking on the same for Annika too!

Ooh... on the personal front, I finally received my iPad courtesy of Pa! There was a mix up in the online ordering so Chris had to re-order the iPad last week. No regrets getting it. The only thing is that I can't seem to order books! I don't know why they don't allow non US residents to buy the e-books.

Chris' mum is away for these few days visiting her parents in Kota Bahru. She'll be back for another 2 nights then home to Melbourne on Saturday. After that things should really settle down and life should begin.. .the excitement of a newborn is dying down and Annika is growing up quickly.. at the PD appointment on the 25th August she was already 58 cm and 5.3 kg. I was quite surprised but am happy she is doing well. Considering the amount of milk she pukes after each feed. Her next visit is on the 16th September where she'll get the first lot of vaccinations.

The days that Madison goes to school are great because then there is 1 child less to entertain. Today I took Madison to school as usual, only to find out that it was a school holiday and the school was closed because it was TEACHER"S DAY!! Unbelievable! how come I'm the only parent who didn't know that!!!?? The only saving grace was that traffic was light BECAUSE there was no one else had school!

Birthdays!

We have 2 birthdays to celebrate this month!

The first is Annika's full month celebration, which we held on the 22nd of August. It really is a milestone, surviving the toughest month of the baby's life. I'm so grateful that she didn't have any major problems the first month, unlike Madison, who had the groin abcess, bad jaundice and then URTI at the end of the month.

We held the party at the Novena house. Catered with Gustos-- they catered for Pa's opening at Healthway at 111 Somerset, so I figured they must be reasonably good since Healthway has an entire marketing team to source for caterers.

The party was a success. I'm glad we opened it to my parents' choir friends, they made up half the guests and contributed quite a bit to the atmosphere. The entire event lasted over 4 hours and the guests came at just the right time throughout the event. Am also grateful to my mother-in-law for helping in the preparation of the party. And of course, my parents who shopped endlessly to get stuff ready for the party. There were plenty of kids to entertain each other and of course, they had fun with all the toys at home.

Today, is the other birthday! Mine! Turned 33 .. I was thinking, 33 years ago I was a tiny baby, not unlike Annika and my mother was the one carrying me. 33 years later and the roles have changed... I'm the one carrying the baby. 33 and 2 kids. Am happy with my job. Hopefully the kids turn out ok. Good hubby... supportive families on either side. That's not bad. Of course I could do with Heidi Klum's body, drive a Porsche Cayenne or Panamera and live in 4,000 sq feet of land, but really I shouldn't complain.

To celebrate my birthday, Pa cooked an elaborate Japanese dinner yesterday. He started planning the minute I told him I'd rather have dinner at home than to go out to a fancy restaurant. We had sashimi, home made chawanmushi, wagyu steak, tempura and ramen noodles. There wasn't time to make the california rolls so they became a DIY course. For dessert we had the birthday cake from Cedele and lots of mooncakes. Of course there was the mandatory picture taking, candle blowing ( this time Madison actually blew the candles out for me! ) It was a really nice family affair. Pa spent over 3 hours slaving away in the kitchen. That is better than any restaurant meal.

Today, we had dinner at Marriot with Chris' mum, Neil, Tim Hui and Brenda. Tim and Brenda were visiting from Hong Kong. They were really thoughtful and brought gifts for the kids too. Madison absolutely loved her soft toy bumblebee backpack. Smart choice. We had the buffet dinner and of course Madison had her fill of dessert.

I'm still eagerly awaiting my present from Pa and Ma! I know what it is already.. but am not going to jinx it until I receive it. I'm really excited. I also had a few messages from close friends wishing me Happy Birthday. It's so touching to know that people actually remember and care.

The day is over... my final wish is for a good night's sleep.. that'll be a great gift from both my children.. if they can possibly grant it for tonight! ( wishful thinking! Maybe in another year's time..)

Bad nights

We've been having a spate of bad nights recently.

Last night was terrible. Annika settled well initially at 7PM, but then it was downhill from there starting past midnight. She was up every hour, probably due to gas bothering her, but then after that would be fussy and could not be settled with rocking. I ended up nursing her but then she would sleep for an hour and the battle would start again. It finally ended at 6 AM with all of us exhausted and on the bed.

SO.. I've finally decided she DEFINITELY needs awake time in the day time routinely. Possibly 5 or 6 hours if we can manage it? Maybe like an hour after each sleep period? Tried to follow Gina Ford but it doesn't seem to work. Funny how I cannot remember what Madison was like at the same age.

Madison had her music class this morning, then lunch at home for her. During their naps Chris and I stole out to get a breather. Lunch for us at Toast then a spot of shopping at Takashimaya where they are having a baby product sale. Later in the afternoon we all went to the beach to let Madison fly her kite. Ended up needing to nurse Annika on a park bench at the beach too. But we did alright!

Dinner was at Boon Tong Kee. Chris took his mom, Neil, Madison and Warni over for dinner while I tried to settle Annika down for the night. It was nice having the house to myself! I could nurse in front of the TV, go to the kitchen and grab snacks etc. Took ages to settle her .. in the end Chris had to rock her down to sleep. Seems like the fastest way to tire her out is when she is post a screaming fit!

Sigh.. another night to face. Am getting resigned to bad nights..

Week 4 post baby

I cannot believe how time flies!

4 weeks ago on this day I was in the final day of the pregnancy, without really knowing it. It was a Wednesday too, can you believe it!

I was at the Gardens walking and having contractions (which I thought were Braxton Hicks!!). Today, exactly 4 weeks later it was like deja vu... except minus the heavy belly.

I am still trying to figure out a routine for Annika, and to make it fit around everything else. Funny how with Madison I wanted it to be textbook right, following the Gina Ford principles. Today, I'm alot more relaxed about it, but I do borrow her ideas to try and work it out.

Initially life was harder because Annika could feed half to hourly. Now that she's a little bigger and probably has some store( as well as a greater stomach capacity ) she can last at least 2 hours. That gives me more time to run errands and do other stuff. I wonder how much she weighs now.
She definitely is 53 cm long. We think her birth measurement was wrong. She measured 49 cm at birth, but when we took her for her jaundice check at day 4 she was 53 cm! We checked it at home and it was 53cm.

This week with Madison is a little better. Partly because I am starting to have more time with her ( Madison ) and partly because she is slowly adjusting to the baby. It also helps that Chris' mum is here to spend time with Madison so that takes some of the pressure off me in the afternoons.

So far Chris has been on call twice, once during the week and once over the entire weekend. Warni has been great. She stayed over all 3 days. We take turns with the 2 kids so it's quite a team effort.

Neil arrived today, and will be staying 10 days. We are really blessed to have a great supportive family on both sides, and I am eternally grateful. The full month party is happening this Sunday, and I've booked Gustos to cater for the guests. We're not quite sure exactly how many are coming, so I paid for 50 people. We'll cook if there's not enough.

To thank Dr John Tee, I went to Jones the Grocer at Dempsey Hill to get a food hamper. Cost me $400! But to be fair, it was a really nice one and they packed it well. I hope he likes the stuff and actually uses it. ( rather than just give it away! )

The next hurdle will be when I have to start work. Am getting nervous about it, especially having to fit feeding around it. With Madison I didn't bottle feed at all because she refused it after 3 months. I'd rather do the same with Annika, but I don't know if I'll have that luxury. I'll take it as it comes. I'm still in 2 minds as to whether to start giving her some bottles during the day.

Hopefully things will start to settle down and Annika will start sleeping longer AT NIGHT... she's been staying up from 2 or 3 am till 5 am the past few nights...

Present for doc; visitors

I can't believe it's almost been a month!

I have an appointment with the obstetrician on the 25th August, and am thinking of getting him something nice. He happens to be a family friend too, so has been waiving his professional fees for me thus far. He did a great job of managing the pregnancy and then subsequently a difficult C section.

The last time we got him some nice wine and a hamper. This time, I am thinking of doing something a little different. But I'm not sure whether it'll be wierd.Maybe I should still stick to the hamper/wine. He likes to run, so I was thinking of getting him a heartrate monitor/watch device. But that's a little personal. Just that it's practical. Hm.. Chris thinks it's weird too. Maybe I'll just get him a nice hamper from Jones the grocer at Dempsey.

Yesterday we had a bumper crop of visitors. My mother-in-law is around visiting for the month. Then for some reason everyone decided it was a good day to come. My aunt and her 2 friends came over bearing confinement food and cakes and a gift for the baby. I had to feed the baby in between chatting with them. Then Joan and Su came over too. It was great that Su brought a gift for Madison; I think she really liked the mini Minnie mouse from Disneyland. Thanks a million, Su!

Wei Yee also happened to arrive at the same time from KL. I had to go pick her up from the bus station, which was fortunately just down the road at Novena Square. Then come back, feed the baby again and keep an eye out for Madison. Thank goodness Chris had finished work by then and he took over the baby..who was grisly by then because she couldn't sleep with the noise!

Anyhow. In the end, everyone left, and after I finally settled Annika down for the night we went out to dinner. Just nearby, with Chris and his mum. It was nice getting out for a meal though.

Another battle this weekend: Chris is on call the entire weekend!

3rd week with Annika

It's been a crazy week!

So busy that it feels like there's hardly enough time in the day to breathe. Except when the kids are finally down for the day and I finally get to relax, have a drink and not feel like someone needs looking after/entertaining! But then by then I'm supposed to be sleeping too so that I can cope with the nights.

Annika is definetely more awake this week. So much more aware too, that now for some strange reason I cannot seem to successfully put her down for her naps. Overnight she needs to be carried for most of the day. We're trying to get her on some form of routine but it's not been easy juggling 2 kids. At least with hindsight, I know all this is temporary and she will eventually be on a similar schedule to Madison. So no need to stress about it right now.

Breastfeeding is exhausting too. Now I remember how tempted I was to give up at various stages with Madison. My back, neck and shoulders are aching constantly from supporting her while she feeds. My boobs are needless to say, sore despite correct latching. ( But that's getting better). And the time taken to complete each feed! Then settle her. And then it's close to another feeding time. I really wish I had an iPad right now. At least I could read an e-book while she eats!

Madison is getting the green eyes too. I think the novelty of a baby has truly worn off and she is acting up occasionally. Thank goodness for school 3 times a week. Its funny how a few months ago I couldn't fathom sending her to school every day; now I am seriously contemplating sending her on a daily basis!

Chris has started back at work this week. I was nervous at the start; he was on call on day 1! But I coped alright. It helps that Warni is excellent with kids and she hit it off with Annika on day 1. So because of that I get to have a little break everyday. She stayed over with me when Chris was on call, but Annika was great that night so I didn't need her help. Still, it was a psychological support that I got.

This weekend is going to be another challenge. Chris is on call the entire weekend and so I'll have to figure everything out myself for the 2 kids and his mom . Man. I need more than luck.

Week 2 post baby

It's been one hell of a week.

Managing 2 kids is quite a challenge. So far we've been coping, despite the amazing lack of sleep every night. The first week was somewhat a honeymoon period- the baby ate, slept, ate and slept. And pooed and peed in between but I didn't have to settle her much. There was the usual engorged boobs, pain from the Csection wound and bleeding but I have to say, it seems less painful and horrible compared to the natural birth the first time round. No wonder female doctors opt for elective C sections!

The second week started off slightly better. At least we didn't have to go to KKH first thing in the morning. Took the baby to the Gardens again, but she was fussing most of the trip unless we carried her. We also made a trip to the Australian embassy to lodge her citizenship application.

The swimming club has been a great place for us as well. Chris took Madison and Elizabeth for a dip in the pool. There's a decent parents' room at the club which is airconditioned as well ( most of the club isn't ) which is a godsend in the current weather.

Annika is starting to have more awake periods. Initially she could stay up for 3o minutes but the past few days it has stretched to an hour. It's quite cool how she can localize a voice and turn towards it. The downside to this is that she is getting harder to settle to sleep. But I guess Madison was the same too at that age. That's the beauty of hindsight. Makes me less stressed about these things second time round.

Madison, on the other hand, was a bit of a green eyed monster this week. I think the novelty of a baby is starting to wear off, and she was acting up quite a bit. She'd start crying out in the middle of the night too. I figured she felt left out since I'd been carrying the baby and not her, so started to carry her this week. I know I'm not supposed to do any heavy lifting, but I don't think she'd be able to understand this for another 3 weeks! Seems to have helped though, she's happier now.

Chris had to go back to work on Wednesday and I was left with the kids for most of the day. I was quite nervous initially, but I DID it! I survived! Dropped Madison off at school, fed the baby, picked Madison up while Warni watched the baby, then fed the baby again while Madison had lunch, waited till Warni put Madison down for her nap then took the baby out to get some lunch. Was doing ok until close to 4 PM when I simply needed to crash, BUT Annika just wouldn't settle! In the end I took her to bed and I fell asleep. I think she did too, eventually.

This week marks the end of Chris' leave. I'm worried about coping on my own, mainly because he's been the main parent to Madison for the past 2 weeks. I'm so tired most of the time that I don't feel the energy or mood to entertain her. I feel bad towards her but the baby needs my time and attention right now. It doesn't help that the active toddler in her feels the need to be shouting, jumping and getting into fights with her cousin Elizabeth most of the time.

But, I know it's all temporary, and before long it'll be in the distant past. I'm trying to treasure the time now that the kids are small and cute. Just would be nice if I could do that AND have sleep at the same time!

Happy week 1 Annika

Today marks Annika's first week!

1 week ago I was still heavily pregnant, experiencing contractions and then having the C section.
Now it seems like an eternity away, and boy, am I glad I documented the experience: I can barely remember the pain already! No wonder people repeatedly subject themselves to the pain and rigours of childbearing.

Annika is cute. No doubt about that. Plus her full head of jet black hair that nobody can resist commenting on. I think I feel more confident and relaxed this time round so I am enjoying her more than Madison at the same stage. I still get a little anxious about her feeding times etc but overall it's better.

Since her bilirubin levels have stabilised, and I am starting to feel a little more on top of things, we've been going out with Annika.

So far, we've been to Starbucks Coffee at United Square for breakfast ( day 4) together with Madison, and to the Botanic Gardens twice. Once after seeing the paediatrician, and the second time yesterday. It was raining as well, and so was nice to be out sitting in Casa Verde, sipping drinks and flipping through magazines. I got to try out the newly refurbished parents' room at the Visitor Centre too, and I must say I am duly impressed. There are 2 individual rooms with a diaper change station and a breastfeeding chair each. The rooms have glass windows that look out to the greenery, and have natural ventilation as well as an electric fan. Nice change from the ones at malls which are enclosed rooms.

I am still trying to get my head around creating some sort of a routine with the 2 kids so that it is easier to manage on a daily basis. Especially when Chris goes back to work and I have to look after them both. I have to somehow give Annika her first feed before Madison wakes, then give Madison her breakfast. Initially probably safer to have Warni come over earlier to help me as well. Then ferry Madison to Bibinogs on Monday,Wednesday and Friday mornings by 9 am. I haven't decided yet as to whether to take Annika along. Maybe not?

At the moment, after Madison finishes class, we pick her up and then send Warni to take her to lunch with Elizabeth at Geok's house. The 2 of them used to eat together at my place but then Elizabeth is rather noisy and screams too much, so I thought it would be safer for them to make a ruckus at Geok's place. After their lunch, we then ferry everyone over to Novena, and then all the kids go down for their naps.

The only thing that doesn't quite fit into the puzzle at the moment is work. I think in that situation we'd probably stay put at Papillon so that I can come home to feed Annika. I know that I could pump but then it would still take time and I'm not sure Warni can cope looking after 2 by herself.

Annika has the funniest facial gestures! She would stop in the middle of feeding to smile, and sometimes even laugh. She does that in her sleep as well, and it startles me. Then there's the pout and the frown.

So... happy first week birthday my darling baby...

Post discharge from hospital

It's amazing how time flies!

I'm glad in retrospect that this time we stayed nearly 3 days in the hospital and so had more time to recover.

They were well spent establishing breastfeeding and getting to know Annika, as well as getting some rest before facing the challenge of life with 2 kids. It was also nice to have a bevy of trained people around looking after me and the baby.

2nd time round is slightly easier. I already know how to breastfeed and that is really half the battle won. It's a little like driving a car or cycling, a little practice and it all comes back.

Recovering from the C section seems to be slightly better in the pain department compared to a natural birth with an episotomy. The wound hurt when I moved for the first 4 days or so, but seemed better today. I took painkillers initially but was able to stop them after 3 days.

The lack of sleep is the killer though. Today is day 5 of sleep deprivation and I am starting to really feel the effects of it. For some reason, I simply cannot seem to fall asleep at night after going through the drama of feeding, changing and settling the baby in the middle of the night. By the time I finally settle myself down to sleep the cycle starts again! And it's hard to sleep during the day too; I feel I should try and spend some time with Madison when the baby is asleep. I'm already fortunate that I have the luxury of not having to deal with housework as well!

Yesterday we were at KKH getting Annika tested for jaundice. Her serum levels reached 252mmol/L up from 167mmol/L just 2 days ago. At 260mmol/L she would require phototherapy. Madison's paediatrician was in the clinic so we went to see her. Today we were back again, and I was mentally prepared for Annika to be admitted for phototherapy already. BUT to our surprise, the level actually dropped to 204mmol/L!

Madison has been a real trouper. She hasn't really been acting up even though I spend so much time with Annika. Today, after the appointment I carried her on impulse ( even though I really shouldn't ) and she hugged me really tightly. I felt sad and teary and realized how much I MISSED her too. My life used to revolve around her; now Annika takes up most of my time. I think she feels it too, but somehow seems to understand that I have to do this. I'm grateful that I have so much support from family during this period: she is constantly surrounded by people who care and look after her really well. The 3 domestic helpers chip in quite a bit in keeping her company too. Also, not forgetting Elizabeth!

At the moment, the greatest fear that I am facing is that Chris goes back to work in a week's time. I am worried about how I will cope with 2, not to mention when I have to go back to work!

But, like before, things eventually sort themselves out, and life goes on... and before I know it, the 2 of them would have grown up and all this would seem like a distant past. I didn't imagine 2 years ago that I could actually get my life back once Madison grew up and became more independent. And so this time, I am enjoying every baby moment with Annika. It is so very short, and so very worth it ! ( in retrospect ! )

Welcome Annika!

Well... famous last words!

Annika Chui Yuen Yue was finally delivered on 22nd July 2010 at 0014h.

Quite an experience. Completely different from Madison's birth. First of all, Annika turned transverse at the very last moment, leaving me in a conundrum as to what to expect finally.

SO... on the morning of the 21st, I was woken early in the morning by somewhat painful and fairly regular contractions. Initially I brushed them off as Braxton Hicks, since they didn't seem as bad as the ones I had with Madison.

The pain continued throughout the morning, but I went on the day as usual. Had breakfast with Madison. Then dressed her and took her to Bibinogs for school. Driving there I still had the contractions every 5 to 10 minutes or so, but they weren't too bad. The rest of the morning the contractions continued and I started feeling some pelvic pressure. But my only thought was that since the baby was transverse, I'd end up with a Cesarean section if I wanted to deliver now. So I was hoping they were just early contractions that would stop.

In the afternoon the contractions eased off, and by late afternoon they were almost gone. I was supposed to go to tea with a friend, but asked him to come over to the house instead. ( A good idea, in hindsight!) We chatted until he had to leave for dinner. Then Celine and Aaron came over for a playdate. Soon after the contractions seemed to start up again, especially during dinner, which we had at 8PM since everyone at home was busy. Chris was out with the Hand surgery department for a farewell dinner.

After dinner, Geok drove my car home since Chris wasn't back yet. I managed to put Madison to bed, then rested while waiting for Chris to come home. The contractions were happening every 7 minutes or so. Finally he returned close to 10 PM. We waited another 30 minutes, then decided to get checked at KK hospital.

We called Pa to drop Warni off at our place to babysit Madison while we went. Thank goodness KK hospital is but a 5 minute drive away. I felt slightly embarrassed because the pain still didn't feel completely unbearable, and at times was a little erratic. After all, I had survived the entire day!

At the delivery suite, after explaining the situation ( during which they figured I was a medically trained person, considering I knew more than the average pregnant woman!) they quickly strapped me onto the CTG for monitoring. Just so happened that my obstetrician had been called in for another patient, so I didn't feel too bad making him come in at midnight!

When he finally finished his delivery, he was accompanied by the midwife who told him (surprise, surprise!) that I was indeed in labour, with contractions occurring every 6 minutes. And that I had pretty strong contractions too! Wow! The first time with Madison I thought I was dying and the CTG didn't pick the contractions up!

Dr Tee palpated my tummy and bad news still. She was now somewhat between a breech and a transverse (? oblique). He did an internal examination (ouch!) and I was 5 cm dilated with membranes bulging. He thought he could feel a limb presenting as well. So that did it. Emergency Cesarean section. It was already close to midnight by then.

There were forms to sign, sodium citrate to drink, shaving, changing and finally all the various people explaining the usual things: risk, procedures, consent etc... The anaesthetist decided on a spinal block for me. The block itself was fine, and seemed to work pretty quickly. Only thing was that it wasn't a dense block, but since I'd never had one I assumed that was normal.

The operation was difficult. Coupled with less than satisfactory pain relief, suffice to say it was probably the worst experience ever. Curse words flowed freely from me... Apparently her hand popped out first, and Dr Tee was trying to put it back and look for a leg to pull out. All I could feel was an endless excavation of my interiors! I guess it was made worse by the uterine contractions that continued during the operation.

Finally she was pulled out ( thank goodness..) and that was still not the end! Still more pain while he was ? removing the blood clots and presumably removing the placenta. Argh. Anyway, gory details aside, it did end and I was in bliss. Was shown Annika but seriously, at that time my brain was focused on survival!

So... I spent another hour or so in the recovery bay, managed to sleep for awhile, then was taken to the ward. The good thing this time around I asked for anti emetics before the operation and was given the goodies. So no nausea, unlike the first time when I suffered for almost a day.

Welcome Annika to our family! Birth weight 3550g, length 49cm, head measuring 34.5 cm!