H F M D

Yup, both my boys got it. Bryant had a mild fever last Monday, followed by Joshua on Tuesday. I thought it was just the usual Upper Respiratory Tract Infection. Actually I brought Bryant to see the paed on Monday. I was told that his throat was red, but as it was still very early, no ulcer had surfaced yet. I only suspected HFMD after checking Joshua's throat on Thursday night after he complained of sore throat the whole day. I saw ulcers in his throat and upon checking his body, found some spots on his inner thighs. The next day, he had a red spot on his wrist. 

As for Bryant, I only managed to check him on Friday morning. No chance of checking his throat so I focused on his body and limbs. Found a blister on his big toe. So off we went to the paed who confirmed that both boys have HFMD and are to be quarantined till Tuesday. I felt really guilty as Josh had been going to school. He only had a mild fever on Tuesday afternoon and was all good after that. Thus, I packed him off to school on Wednesday. Being responsible, I informed the school and apologised for not suspecting anything earlier. Thank God there were no further cases of HFMD in school.....or else I'd feel even worse. 

Blister on the big toe. 

Unfortunately for me, my dear hubby was down with a high fever, body aches and sore throat on Friday and Saturday. And my maid had similar symptoms to my hubby on Saturday. Did they contract HFMD from the boys? I have no idea. They had no blisters on their bodies. My maid saw a doctor who said it was tonsilities though........ But seems such a coincidence that all of them are down with different viruses at the same time. Thank God I was spared. 

Generally my boys coped very well. Perhaps it was because theirs was a mild strain. Their only discomfort was being quarantined. It was easier for Josh than for Bryant. At least he could entertain himself with toys and tv. On the other hand, Bryant kept wanting to go out. He kept bringing his shoes to the door and cried when we carried him away. So I had to rack my brains and think of ways to entertain him. For eg, playing under the covers. That kept them happy and occupied for quite a long time. Hehe.

And some artwork on the face......hehe.

Both boys were all good by the end of their quarantined period. Blisters dried up. I even checked Joshua's throat again and was relieved to see no more ulcer. =)

We were all grinning from ear to ear when the boys finally stepped out of the house.........Freedom, yay!!!

B talks

He is such a cute chatterbox. In this picture, he took Joshua's pants and tried to aim his legs into the pants opening. I had a good laugh looking at his attempts. I then decided to let him wear it, just for laughs.

At 14 months, these are the words that B can say.

Mama
Dada
Koko
Back (meaning put back)
Ba-bai (meaning goodbye)
Arg (meaning hug)
Top (meaning stop)
No no
Pop pop (meaning he wants to play the Balloons Popping app on ipad)
Baba (meaning bubbles)

Besides all these words, he babbles a lot throughout the day. Cuteness to the max. And I am treasuring every moment of it.

Disciplining Bryant

B can be really naughty at times...........For example:

1) Hitting / punching his brother (no prize for guessing where he learnt that from);

2) Crying and stomping his feet on the ground when his demands are not met; and

3) Attempting to climb out of the high chair most of the time (very dangerous, now we need to request for high chairs with safety belts whenever we dine outside).

So, I had to discipline him. Sometimes, I beat his little hand, and sometimes I put him in the naughty corner. He seems to understand the naughty corner concept, maybe from observing his brother. He would stand there most of the time. Rarely would he escape.

Parenting is not easy. I feel it is easier to discipline and punish when they are older, as they have the ability to understand and question you. At this tender toddler age, I sometimes wonder if Bryant knows what he is being punished for.

Bryant's antics

Our cute toddler never fails to make us laugh everyday. He discovers and learns new things very quickly. Children at this age really absorb things at lightning speed. It is really awesome but scary at the same time as we as adults have to be careful in our actions and words. 

I was feeding B halfway when there was a notification on my phone. Thinking it was a phone call, he put one hand to his ear and started babbling away.

Monkey see monkey do. J loves the PSY Gangnam song and would always sing and dance when the song is played. B also knows how to do the Gangnam hand action. 

Oh oh.......where is the dish cover????

Introducing him to Mickey in preparation for our Hong Kong holiday. 

'Mmuuuuuuuacks!'

Lol.....I laughed when I saw this. Sometimes when I am carrying B, I just use my big toe to turn on the switch as I do not want to hurt my back. My little cheeky decided that he also wants to do the same.

Our Music Studio

After a two month hiatus of not attending any classes, we signed Bryant up for music classes in January. I have been wanting to sign him up much earlier but the timing of the classes have always clashed with his lunch and nap time. However, now that he is older, he is a bit more flexible so I quickly booked him in for a lunch time class.

Our Music Studio, which was previously known as Kindermusik is located at Tanglin Mall.

Here are some snapshots of Bryant during the class. It is a parent accompanied 45 minute class.

Playing with the metallophone. 

Tap tap tap........

Beat the drum, rum pum pum.........

Colorful parachute.

Just like his older brother, Bryant enjoys the class a lot. He would attempt to sing most of the time. And he also doesn't sit still on our laps. He prefers to wander around and observe other kiddos.

Sibling love

I am so thankful that my boys love each other a lot. Even though Joshie may be rough at times, he loves his little brother to bits. Of course there are numerous times when he snatches a toy from Bryant, hits him etc etc but he is still a very loving and protective brother.

Bryant has also been very cheeky lately. He snatches toys from Josh and hits him too...... But each time he sees Josh, his face lights up. He would smile and laugh happily. Josh is the only one in the family who can make Bryant giggle uncontrollably. 

Thus it is so difficult to separate them when one is sick. They hug and kiss many times a day. I have to repeatedly remind and warn Josh not to hug and kiss Bryant. It is really very heartwarming and I pray that they will always remain loving and protective towards each other. 

Some CNY snapshots

Posing together with the paternal grandparents on the 1st day of the Snake year. Every year, we go to church on the 1st day of CNY, followed by visiting a stream of relatives. By the time we arrive home, it is dinner time. 

Day 2 of the Snake year. Back to mummy's hometown, in Ipoh. Josh playing with fireworks in front of maternal grandparents house.

Next door neighbour's open house on Day 7. Josh posing with the lion head. He enjoyed the lion dance but started trembling when the 'lion' came over to offer him an orange. 

Hubby and I took turns closing B's ears. B seemed ok with the lion dance, but then he was not standing very near them.

The walking baby

The day after he turned one, my little B turned from a crawling baby to a walking baby. He just started walking longer distances. It was so cute to see his two little legs toddling away in the playground. And he's been trying to walk really fast, to keep up with the older kids. 

Well done, little B. 

Here are two snapshots of my walking baby. 

The baby is 1

My dearest Bryant,

You are 1 today.

The little baby of the family is growing up. Not much a baby anymore as you are progressing to your toddler stage. In fact, you have started toddling around about a month ago. What started as a wobbly step forward has progressed to 6-7 drunken steps :-), I know you still prefer to crawl as you can move around much faster. But don't your knees hurt, my dear?

Today, your daddy is not around to celebrate with you as he is working very hard overseas. Nevertheless, he misses you dearly and wishes he can plant a kiss on your cute puffy cheeks. To make up for your daddy's absence, mummy has arranged for a few close friends to celebrate with you. As soon as you wake up from your nap, we would be going downstairs to meet them. Mummy's friend has baked 63 mini birthday cupcakes, which have been arranged to spell your name. Your beloved koko is looking forward to blowing your candle (again)!

My dear baby boy. I know I have said it many times, but you are really cute! Cute, cute, cute. An overload of cuteness.

You are trying to talk. You babble a lot. All sorts of sounds come out of your little mouth. Your trademark is 'tekoi tekoi tekoi', thanks to your daddy who just simply babbled some baby language to you and it just stuck to your tongue. When you were 10 months plus, you started saying 'ba bai' when told to wave goodbye. And you have been calling 'ma ma', countless times. That is so sweet to my ears, my dear boy. And when you want to call someone or attract attention, you would say 'ah daaaaaaa' loudly. You say 'ba ba' many times too, but unlike 'ma ma', it is not directed at your father.

You love to point. With your cute little index finger. I am still trying to teach you to point to your head, tummy, eyes, nose, ears, mouth correctly but you don't seem to want to pay attention. Or mummy is a real bad teacher :-D

And you love to press buttons. You itchy little index finger is always pressing the forbidden switch, trying to switch on/off the electric point pad. Not to mention pressing the buttons on the table fan in your room.

Just like your brother, you love books. Your current favourites are 'lift the flap' books. I like to sit and watch your little fingers trying to lift the flap. This is something I really treasure as I know this valuable moments will soon pass. Books can occupy you for a longer time than toys and I am really proud of that. I hope your love for books continue to grow.

You love your big brother a lot. You will smile and laugh when you see him. Even though he can be rough to you, you love him nonetheless. And you have learnt to fend for yourself during your fights. Sometimes when koko doesn't bother you, you 'stir up trouble' by starting to hit him. You are a real naughty and cheeky one. No wonder koko calls you 'my cheeky baby'.

So my dear boy, mummy wishes you a Happy Birthday. My prayer is that our good Lord continue to bless and protect you. Keeping you safe all the time. And may happiness, health and the favour of the Lord always be upon you.

Mummy, daddy and koko love you dearly. And so do your grandparents, uncle and aunt.

With love,
Mummy

Crawl, baby crawl.....stand, baby stand.....

Our little one has managed to progress from commando style crawling to proper crawling at around 6.5 months. He's been elated to discover that he can actually move so much faster with his tummy off the floor. I also discovered that his legs are quite strong, they can even take him up slopes.

The above picture was taken at Gymboree, whereby he was encouraged to crawl up a slight elevated slope of about 30 degrees. He managed to reach the top and this mummy was so happy......hahahaha.

And a month later, he started pulling himself up to a standing position in his cot. I know, I really should lower that cot before he falls off.

He is really growing too fast.......and I know I will soon miss this baby stage.

Play, baby play

This cheeky baby is no longer interested in his own baby toys. He is more interested in koko's toys as seen in the picture above. Although there is a 3 year age gap between Josh and Bryant, they play very well together. Of course there's the occasional snatching of toys and resulting cries but nevertheless, it is a joy to watch them playing together. So heartwarming to see them enjoying each other's company.

Recently, B has been babbling more and more. And we can finally make out certain sounds. At 6.5 months, he could say "ba ba". J started with "ma ma" first. And a couple of weeks later, B included "ma ma" in his vocabulary. He loves to "talk" a lot. And he is really cute when he does so.

Our 6 month old

Look at the cool baby...hehe......with his pair of sunnies. The sunnies don't last long on his head. He would fuss, cry and then yank them off his head.

So 6 months have passed since we welcomed this adorable little angel into our lives. We've had ups and downs. Downs mainly from his reflux. But other wise he's been ok, quite a good and easy to take care of baby.

I started giving him solids at 5 months, at the advice of his paed. I was told that solids would help his reflux problem. The food and the milk will hopefully stay in his stomach and not move upwards to the esophagus since his stomach content would be heavier. However, after a week or so, he suffered from constipation. So I added in avocado. And later had to mix and match other fruits/vege. He eats more of sweet potato, avocadoes, peaches and pears as these help his bowel movement.

At 6 months, he can sit for a while without support. However he is not very keen on sitting. He prefers to be on his tummy. He has been crawling commando style since 5.5 months. He pushes his lower body off the floor to be on a proper crawling position at times. But he is still clueless on how to move his hands and legs properly to crawl. I can foresee that he'll soon be mobile all over the house =)

Bryant at 4.5 months & Joshie at 44 months

This is my favourite  picture of my two boys. I am really glad that they love each other so much. Joshie is really besotted with his didi and Bryant adores his koko to bits.

Time really waits for no man. Our Bryant has now passed the newborn stage. He is now much easier to take care of. I had the most stressful moments with him between weeks 5 to 12. He rarely napped for long then, usually only 5-10 minutes and would fuss when his reflux acts up. Once in a while he'd take a long nap but that was really rare. Now at 4.5 months, he's more or less fallen into a flexible schedule.

He is much more attentive and alert now. He enjoys tummy time a lot. Since he mastered the skill of rolling over from back to tummy last week, he'll automatically turn to his tummy when you put him on the back. He's still not very good rolling the other way though. Thus, I am awaken a couple of times at night when he can't roll to his back. However, he's been quite a good night sleeper. Now, he's only feeding once at night, usually around 2-3am.

As for my Joshie, he seemed to have shot up a lot in height since the beginning of this year. Most of his clothes do not fit anymore. Friends have also commented that Joshie seems to have grown up a lot after being big brother. He is generally very good to his didi, but being a child, still does not understand certain dangers. He loves to hug his brother very tightly, too tight at times. Sometimes he'd put his whole weight on his brother, practically squashing him, and we have to pull him back.

His vocab and speech has also improved. We are amazed at the amount of things he learns in school. But of course only the good! Many times, he answers us in a really rude and arrogant manner, which he picked up from some of his peers. We have to keep scolding and reminding him that there are certain behaviours which we do not tolerate.

I sometimes wish I can freeze time. My boys are growing up way too fast. But they will always be my precious babies =)

My reflux baby

Despite his reflux, my Bryant is a smiley baby. I have so many pictures of him smiling, unlike his koko.

He was diagnosed with reflux when he was just 6 weeks old. No tests was done. It was mainly based on my "reports and observations" that the doctor made the diagnosis. Here are the symptoms that made me quite certain that my B was suffering from reflux, even before I stepped into the doctor's clinic. Of course I had already consulted with my faithful old friend - the internet!!

- hiccups long after feeds
- constant hiccups
- milk dribbling out from mouth and spit-ups. No vomitting though
- wanting to constantly suckle but would fuss and cry at the breast as he only wanted comfort. Not milk.
- arching his back every now and then
- difficulty sleeping, only catnapping during the day. Even when carried, he still catnaps.
- occassional sudden cry, as if in pain

The doctor put him on medication, Losec Omeprazole and Motilium. I was asked to observe B and report back to the doctor regarding any change in his condition. From there, the doctor would be able to confirm his diagnosis.

After two weeks on medication, B improved. So now, he is on medication everyday, till we visit the doctor again in a month's time. In the meantime, I also bring him to the chiropractor every week, when possible. At 3.5 months, his condition seemed to have improved and I hope that he will get well completely and would not need any more medication. Dear God, please bless my B with good health and heal him of his reflux completely. Amen.

Brotherly love

So how did Joshua react to Bryant?

I'll let these two photos do the talking =)

Joshie loves his little brother, or more affectionately known as "didi" (little brother in Mandarin). He'd always shower Bryant with hugs and kisses. I had a hard time telling him not to kiss his brother when he was down with fever and flu. 

Of course he had his moments of insecurity. And there was also a lot of whining when mummy can't do certain things for him anymore. I've had to deal with him screaming in the bathroom just because he doesn't want our helper to bathe him. But overall he's coping well. The hubs and I are very proud of him. It's so heartwarming that he loves his brother dearly. 

The birth of Bryant

Our first son, Joshua came at 39 weeks. Therefore for my second pregnancy, doctor advised that the baby could be one week early as well. So in full anticipation, I looked out for signs of labour as soon as I passed 38 weeks. Waited, waited and waited but there was nothing. During my 39th week check-up, doctor did an internal check and pronounced that I was only 1cm dilated. Disappointed I was, and she then asked if I want to be induced by 40 weeks or go overdue. Since the hubby had to fly to Hong Kong for business a week after I hit 40 weeks, we agreed to induce if baby still doesn't want to come out.

The day before I was supposed to be admitted, I felt downward pressure off and on but it did not progress to anything. It just went off and on with no regular interval. I was calm since my MIL was already at our place to care for Joshua and the hospital was a mere 10 minutes away. So we waited till 11pm and went to TMC to be admitted for induction. The nurse inserted a tablet slightly past midnight to dilate my cervix further.

I could hardly sleep as the tablet seemed to have created a stingy feeling down under. The downward pressure that I had been feeling all day seemed to get more intense too. After 5am, this was accompanied by pain and therefore, I called the nurse to tell her that I think it's time. Into the labour ward I went at 6am. I was 4cm dilated. Bravely, I told the nurses that I did not want an epidural, just like my first labour.

The pain was still bearable until doctor came and burst my water bag at around 7:30am. I was 5-6cm dilated then. The pain got worse and I distracted myself with my iPhone. Even managed to call home and talk to my Joshie. Around 8am, the hubs told me he was hungry and was going down to Delifrance to get himself some breakfast. "Breakfast???? You are hungry and I am not? And you just had a cup of Milo not too long ago!!" But my dearest hubby just ignored me and went off, telling me that he would make it real quick.

Not too long after, the pain was really really bad and I felt as though baby was coming out even though I was not pushing. Pushed the button and the nurses came running in. Told them that I think baby was coming out and she did an internal check, telling me it's only 7cm. "What? Only 7cm. Gosh, I do regret not taking epidural now." I was given the gas and taught how to use it. By then the hubby had come out and he started taking pics!!! I glared at him and scolded him. After that, everything seemed to be in a frenzy. The pain was so so so intense. All I could remember was hubby's face right over mine telling me to calm down and the nurses saying "don't push, you will tear". And then finally the doctor told me to give a good push. After 2-3 pushes, my little B came out, at 8:40am =)

At 3.23kg, he is lighter than his brother who was 3.37kg at birth. I really thank God for the smooth and fast delivery =) Much better than my first labour =)

Our 2nd baby

Baby Bryant born on 9 January 2012 at 8:40am.

Weight: 3.23kg

Length: 50cm

Head circumference: 33cm

Koko with Bryant