5 weeks plus...

It's been a week since we moved back to KL and we're still trying to adjust to life with our new addition. It's a real challenge! Sleep is a luxury I'm craving.

Feeling a wee bit more photogenic in spite of a total of

merely 4 hours (not continuous) sleep last night.

I wonder how my mother managed 3 of us without help last time.

Superwoman a.k.a. Nana

country life

It's been a month of country life for Joseph in Seremban. He's had the chance to do many things that he wouldn't be able to in KL.

Playing with water in the garden

Watering Ah Mah's plants

Playing golf with Ah Kong in the garden

Ah Mah and Ah Kong bought this new toy for him

I've asked him if he wants to stay in Seremban with Ah Kong and Ah Mah. But he says, "I want to go back to Kuala Lumpur with mama and papa and nana and Joy-Anne."

freedom finally

Joy-Anne is 1 month old today. Confinement is over for me. Freedom at last....to bathe, wash hair, eat rubbish, go shopping...

Her jaundice is more or less gone. And she's put on 1.1kg since birth. My tummy still exists but it's slowly shrinking.

We go home tomorrow. I hope Joy-Anne starts to sleep more in the night and less in the day soon.

child labour

My sis has been complaining that she doesn't see enough picture of me. Too bad...but I still don't feel very photogenic yet. I still have to lose about half of the 10kg that I put on during pregnancy.

So in the mean time, here are more pictures of Joe.

I hope we don't get in trouble for child labour. He likes to take part in whatever we do (the nature of children, I suppose). No need to buy expensive toys for him; just give him some of our adult stuff. Oh well, let's make the most of it and get him to work, before he wisens up! Enjoy it while it lasts :p

Gong xi Gong Xi 2008

New year...new addition to the family! Time to update the family photo!!!

It's no piece of cake trying to get 5 boys to cooperate just to get a decent shot.

We managed this... after many tries.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Fish park

I like to bring Joseph to the Seremban 2 City Park. He calls it Fish Park, and here’s why; there is a nice lake with plenty of fish in there, and they even sell bread (relatively inexpensive at RM1 per big bag) for you to feed the fish. They have also built ‘platforms’ where you can see and feed the fish.

The platform to view and feed the fish

The authorities have also put in lots of fish, and they all appear to be very well maintained. There were big and nice fishes.

Feeding frenzy

Joe trying to 'sprinkle' the bread

General feeding view

Recently, Joseph has renamed the park as ‘Fish and Bird park’. This is because he saw some sparrows come eat the bread crumbs. As a result, that became his new passion, and he enthusiastically chased the sparrows in an attempt to feed them (which obviously won’t work). So now we put bread crumbs on the walkway and hope that the birds will come eat them. It works, but not at a very high success rate.

Sparrows coming to feast

We also tried to feed a bird in the water …..

Notice the bird eyeing the small piece of bread

The park has quite a nice playground too, but normally Joe doesn’t go on that. His favourite item there is the set of 3 tunnels

But what is his favourite past-time with the tunnels? Climbing on it and then jumping down!

I don't play in the tunnel. I play ON the tunnel!

Overall, this is a nice park. It has been around for a couple of years and is very well maintained (a very nice change from what we’ll normally see in Malaysian parks). They have even stationed security guards there to maintain order (this is necessary otherwise the fish will disappear!) The fish are beautiful, and feeding them can be very therapeutic for one. Only downside to this park is that it is very crowded during the weekends and public holidays, which speaks volumes about its popularity. In addition to the fish and playground, the park also has kite-flying; there are vendors selling kites all along the road leading to the park.

Joseph and his cousins trying to fly kite (more of his cousins fly and he watch)

Kites galore!

These ‘outdoor’ times (such as these, and the visits to the deer park and ostrich farm) are things that I treasure with Joseph. It has been my privilege to show and teach him new things. I’m not sure about him, but I definitely enjoy these times with him. It’s also very fulfilling when he keeps wanting to see pictures of those ‘outdoor’ times that we have shared together. I hope that Joseph will learn to appreciate nature and the outdoors and live a physically active lifestyle. I don’t want him to be an ‘indoor’ kid, stuck to the TV/computer, and living a sedentary lifestyle. Living in the city, it can be very easy for him to fall into that kind of lifestyle. I suppose this is what I can do to help him live a healthy lifestyle.

Edwin

funnel fun

Joe found a new toy in Seremban. His father showed him what a funnel is ans its function as well. First he filled a jar with water.

Then he put the funnel into a small-mouthed bottle.

Then he poured water from the jar thru the funnel, into the bottle.

Ta-aaa....I did it! Now I'm so happy!

Visit to the Ostrich Farm

Joe's daddy took him to the Ostrich Farm this morning.

Entrance fee is RM8 per adult, which includes a ride on a ostrich. Joe went in free.

Checking out the ostrich eggs.

The farm has ostrich (abuthen?), emus, camels

and flamingos as well.

Joe wouldn't ride the ostrich. Not surprising to me since he wouldn't even let me put money into those car rides that you see in shopping centers.

Nope...I'm not getting on the ostrich.

But he did have fun and it was educational for him to see the real animals instead of looking at pictures in books.

30 years!

Happy Birthday to me!

20-something no more

As of today, I'm no longer 20-something. Getting older...it's inevitable! Good thing is I don't quite look it. Must be the youthful genes I inherited.

yup...good genes!

I'm just happy to have baby home... it's a happy birthday indeed!

Don't I look sexy?

Joe's bedtime fun

Since Joy-Anne was in the hospital last night, I managed to spend a bit more time with Joseph. After reading to him for a while, he was more happy to jump around on the bed and happily smiled for the camera.

Pretending to do the hop-scotch. He saw the numbers on the floor at Ikea and learnt to jump on them.

In this position, he says, 'I can see the shooting star..."

Finally all tired out. Like father, like son.

baby is home

Joy-Anne came home today after 24 hours at the hospital. Her bilirubin levels have dropped but Dr still advise to sun her every morning for the next few days. Damage to the pocket - about RM450.

I'm just glad to have her home. Last night I had to pump at midnight, 3am, 5am and 7am and each time I was already so engorged, it was painful and I couldn't sleep. Even getting up was difficult. After the 7am pump, we went to the hospital and I stayed there all morning to nurse her, until the time she was discharged.

yellow yellow...

I just got home from the hospital....with empty arms. Joy-Anne is admitted for 24hours for phototherapy. We took her for her 1-week check up this morning and her paed said she looks very yellow. We had to get her pricked (on the heel) for blood test.

I hope the bilirubin levels come down quickly so she can come home tomorrow. Then I'll have a very happy birthday.

My baby's name

I’ve been asked the meaning of my new baby’s name. Comments also include :

- so long

- pretty name

- so sweet

- sounds complicated

We actually had this name picked out in case our first baby had been a girl. Since we couldn’t agree on anything else, we stuck with this. I did want the name Isabel. But Edwin said it sounds too European and Joseph started teasing his yet-to-be-born sister by singing “Jingle Bells….Jingle Bells” every time I asked if he would like that to be mei mei’s name.

So Joy-Anne she is. What does it mean? Well, Joy means just that – joy! Lots of happiness. Anne is the modern version of Anna which means God is gracious.

Her Chinese name Soong Hwei is from the phrase ker song and ern hui which together mean song of praise. We modified the spelling because ‘sung’ might be pronounced as the past tense of sing. You know….sung, lung, hung, dung. If spelt ‘song’, it might be pronounced as rhyming with long, gong, tong. So we have spelt it as “Soong”.

As for the “Hwei”, it’s to go with Joseph’s “Wei”. Kinda like the feminine version. And I think it sounds more accurate than “Hui” or “Hooi”.

Put together, it certainly looks long if you count the number of letters. But it has the same number of syllable as Joseph’s name. In fact, my own name has more syllables.

I didn’t want a single syllable Christian name because I just didn’t think it would sound nice. You know….Joy Tan....Rotan…Hutan.

Of course we could have picked Babihu Tan or Rambu Tan or Pakis Tan but I don’t think our kid would like it very much when he/she grows up.

Looking back, her name couldn’t be more appropriate even though it was chosen about 3 years before her birth. Her conception brought much joy to us, having been conceived soon after my miscarriage. She’s a gift from our gracious God – we did not try for her. We praise God for answering all our prayers – a healthy baby and a natural delivery. Indeed, God is good all the time!

moo moo

Joy-Anne having breakfast...

Breastfeeding is tiring and challenging. There's no doubt about it. It takes a lot of determination! I'm more a moo-my than a mummy. But once you get the hang of it, it's so much more convenient. And so satisfying to see baby grow!

Joe's produce

Joe has always been on a staple diet of Quaker Oats. He eats it well and it keeps constipation at bay. In fact, Joe can 'bom' up to 3 times a day.

Recently however, he started eating rice more. Subsequently his faecal product has also changed in shape, texture and consistency.

He's very creative in describing his potty deposits...

This he calls, "serpent"

This is serpent - no friend.

This is kacang puteh. Then he'll sing "kacang puteh kacang puteh....sepuluh sen...sepuluh sen..." (sung to the tune of Are you sleeping?)

And this is kacang puteh - no friend.