toilet training

We’ve started Joy-Anne’s potty training.

Actually we intended to start only around 3-4 months. This early start came about by accident when she was 2 weeks old. After feeding one morning, my mum gently rubbed her tummy downwards while making the “umm ummmmmm…” sounds and to our surprise, she poo-ed! We tried it again the next day, and the next…all with positive results.

When she turned 2 months old and could hold her head more steadily, we used the potty.

Joe looked at this and said, “big, medium, small”.

Hence Joy-Anne is a very clean baby. No soiled diapers, no bum rash and no diaper change thru the night.. When she starts walking, we will start training her to pee in the potty and then the toilet.

In comparison, Joseph poo-ed all the time, everywhere. I always kept at least 4 diapers in the bag every time we went out. He particularly liked to poo in church, There was a time when he poo-ed in church for four consecutive weeks and up to twice during a 2-hour celebration.

We started him on the potty when he was about 5 months old.

Now he routinely sits and boms every morning after his bottle of milk. It is a good habit.

He was off diapers at 23months old, in March 2007. Up till end of 2007, we still put on a diaper for him at night. But I always had to wait till he was sound asleep before putting it on for him because he insists that “big boy cannot wear diaper!”. He wet the diapers about once every 10 nights. Several times he actually woke up to say he wanted to shee shee. Eventually we took him to pee at about midnight before we went to bed, and again at about 4am when I got up to use the bathroom. Waking up in the middle of the night wasn’t a problem because Joy-Anne put so much pressure on my bladder.

We’ve saved tones of ringgit with Joe’s early potty training. My sister says that in the USA, some people wait till their kids are 3 or even 4 years old to start. In my opinion, that’s way too late. I’ve seen kids who are incredibly articulate, but still wearing diapers. Looks rather unsightly, if you ask me.

I believe Joe’s daytime bladder control was also made easier with our use of cloth diapers. Unlike disposables which can keep bums very dry for longer periods, cloth diapers need to be changed more frequently and baby feels the dampness. Even though the fleece keeps bums quite dry and diaper rash is non-existent, baby realizes something is happening when he passes urine. It made our task easier.

I’ve been told that girls achieve their toddlerhood milestones earlier than boys. If that is true, I’m hoping Joy-Anne can be free of diapers by 18-20 months. Oh well, time will tell!

smiley at last

I finally managed to get some pictures of Joy-Anne smiling. When we review Joseph's baby photos, we find that his mouth is open (with a duhh kind of look) in almost each and every photo.

Unlike her brother, Joy-Anne keeps her mouth closed in most of her photos.

Wearing the pretty pink roses and butterfly outfit from Tua-Um.

Entertaining myself with my friends...

And trying to fit my fist into my mouth...Nope, it won't fit!

When papa has semester break..

...he takes leave to take me out.

Yesterday, we went to the KL Bird Park. Entrance fee was RM10 for papa (discount with my McD Kids Club card) and free for me (FOC for kids under 3). The timing was so chun because I turn 3 next month.

Here I am with the love birds, and my binoculars. We also had a picnic lunch of egg sandwiches and chocolate milk at the park, just like Higglytown Heroes.

This park is quite clean and big. Unlike the pathetic deer park nearby. I saw ostriches , flamingoes, hornbills and peacocks and many more. It's the world's largest covered aviary.

But I was quite afraid of the huge birds roaming free so papa had to carry me most of the time and that's why he couldn't take that many photos for yee yee to see.

We have to take photo like this.

This is the hatchery. It's for keeping the eggs warm so they hatch and out pop the little chicks.

I had a very educational and fun morning!

another new outfit...

This is from Aunty Hui-Wearn.

smart talking

I was talking to Joe...

me : Do you want to go to Ikea tomorrow?
Joe: Ya... go to Ikea to buy toys.
me : Do you have money?
Joe: I buy. You pay money!!!

photos of Joe for yee yee

"I make monkey face"

"I talk to Joy-Anne but she don't understand me"

for keepsake

Joy-Anne turned 2 months old yesterday. Since Joe had the privilege of getting his hand and foot prints done in the Keepsake Clay kit, I thought it only fair that Joy-Anne got hers too.

This costs RM84.90...

Trying to get it right...

Ah..finished product.

Almost 2 months

I'm so blessed! Mummy has yet to buy a single piece of clothing for me. Yet everyday is like a fashion show for me.

This white one is a gift from Tua Um.

And this is from Yee Yee...

I've still got several new outfits in my wardrobe....

blessed to have and hold

Exactly a year ago today, I was reeling from the effects of having my womb sucked clean. They call it a D&C. What the doctor did was put me to sleep and then suck the dead fetus out of my womb. Horrible as it was, i'm thankful that today I have a perfectly healthy and beautiful 8-week old baby in my arms.

It's undeniably tiring and waking up every 2 hours at night to feed her is no walk in the park but I'm counting my blessings. I know there are many women who want to be in my shoes.

And I'm even more thankful for my superwoman mother who is making my life so much easier by helping me with my kids.

life with 2...

It's been a while since my last post. I've been busy. That, and blogging with dial-up is a real pain. After coming back to KL, Joy-Anne has still been feeing round the clock.

I estimate she's hooked on my breast up to 12 hours a day making it very difficult for me to even cut my nails, do big business, or take a proper bath. I do most things like eating and typing this with one hand.

It's difficult to spend time with Joe. I miss taking him out to Ikea and Midvalley.

Last weekend, we made an impromptu trip up to Penang. My cousin passed away at the age of 32 years and 3 months after battling an aggressive nasopharyngeal carcinoma for a year and a half. His cancer-ravaged body was hardly recognizable. We thank God that He is now Home, free of all pain and suffering.

Celebrating my mum's birthday just before we got the sad news.

Joe said, "I make funny face!"

In Penang, I started getting the flu. Then on the way back, Joseph started vomiting and had a fever. Two days later, Joy-Anne woke up in the morning with a fever. She has since recovered but Joe and I still have drippy noses. It's tough trying to recover when I can't get enough rest.

Hopefully, Joy-Anne will start sleeping longer at night or I'm gonna be a zombie dentist when I go back to work. Don't want to get sued for pulling out a wrong tooth now, do I?