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!
Friday, November 26, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
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....
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....
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
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.
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.
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