And so we decided to start potty training Tabby this week (before our school holidays end). I have specifically ask Timmy to take leave and be around so help out as I cannot foresee managing the 2 kiddos!

And so we began the day by putting trainer pants on Tabby after she wakes. I prepared her for the day and reminded her that she should let us know if she wanted to use the potty for pee pee and poo poo.

5 minutes after I put on her pants, she had her first accident. As all good potty training mommies do, I cleaned it up without any fuss and assured her that all is fine. She just have to try again.

Half an hour later, I tried putting her on the potty again.Used my iphone, her story books etc to try to keep her at the potty for a while longer. Nothing came out. Then I had to put Isy down for his nap. Guess what. When I returned to the living room, she had another accident. FAINT.

And so the day progressed with more and more accidents. The only time she managed to pee in the potty was when she was peeing half way in her pants, and I had plonked her immediately on her potty. Just to encourage her that it was the right thing to do, we applause like mad little kids, gave her a sticker and a mini chocolate to reward her.

After that, there was 1 more accident. After which, she decided she wasn't going to pee or poo anymore till bedtime (and mind you, she had a huge cup of drinks for dinner and some yogurt too!). We even got her to sit on the potty for half an hour after dinner, but nothing came out.

Oh well. Then we put a diaper on for her and let her go to bed.

I suspect she is holding back because she feels pressured to do her thingy in the potty. I guess I need to relax more and just go with the flow more tomorrow.

So for Day 1 - a total of 6 accidents and 1 mini "success".

We'll see what happens in the next few days. Oh God please help her to learn quickly and help me to have patience with her!!

Seems like everyone is doing a review of 2010. I guess I should too, to give thanks to God for seeing me through another year. :)

First quarter of 2010:
1) Tabby's first steps: Watching her take her first steps at 10.5 months make me tear. It was one of the most moving moments in my life and I am so glad to have caught it..
2) Tabby's first birthday: Thank God for seeing her through her first year and for guiding us as parents! Thank God she has really been a bundle of joy, not just to us but to everyone around us.

Second quarter of 2010:
1) Discovered that we are expecting our 2nd child. I marvel at God's timing for this child, as he would arrive right after my exams and after Timmy's busy period (the youth camp, christmas preps etc).
2) Hit with the usual dose of morning sickness - I press on believing that this would be the last time I would be pregnant, that somehow makes me feel better.
3) Went to church camp in Port Dickson and enjoyed myself thoroughly. But came back to Singapore with a strain of cough/flu/fever which resulted in me throwing up and feeling sick for 2 weeks (in retrospect, many of us suspect that we were down with H1N1).
4) Death of a close friend - Evon, I will always remember your sweet nature and kindness.
5) Happy with my grades for this semester. I thought I was going to do badly for the modules!

Third quarter of 2010:
1) Finally enjoying the golden second trimester. Thank God that my term starts only after my 2nd trimester begins.
2) Discovered that we were expecting a boy. Reaffirmed my decision to 'close shop" after this child!!
3) Watching Tabby growing up and speaking ALOT more than before. I stand amazed at how much she knows from watching us and the people around.

Fourth quarter of 2010:
1) I realized that it was mad of me to think that I could cope with 3 modules, being heavily pregnant and a super active toddler. By the grace of God I survived.
2) Got my grades and were pleasantly surprised. Thank you God!
3) Birth of Isaiah - I continue to be very shocked that I had managed to birth a 3.81kg baby. I didn't think that was even possible. Thank God for making it possible.
4) Isaiah's first days - trying, tiring and discouraging at times. Really needing to lean on God for sustenance and for strength.

I think that pretty much sums up my year. I am grateful for all the experiences and for Timmy and the 2 kiddos. I look forward to seeing us resume a certain normalcy in 2011, and enjoying more time together as a family of four. And of course, I look forward to completing my masters by end 2011!!

And..ahem..one new year resolution - to lose all my pre-pregnancy weight by end 2011!! 10.5kg down 6kg more to go!!!

I have come to realize that no matter how much you love children or enjoy watching/caring/tending children, you will almost ALWAYS find it a challenge to care for infants. I must have suffered from partial amnesia since I have little recollection of what it was like caring for Tabby when she was a newborn. Tabby has been really good thus far. While she may sometimes cry for mommy, she is generally well behaved and is able to play alone when I need to be with Isaiah. But I do find myself spending a lot less time with her, and I feel really sad about it at times. I do miss the time we would head out to the playground or just spend time alone together.

Time with Timmy is even rarer now. I can't wait for things to stabilize so we can resume our dates/time together.

Before i rattle on about how life has been since Isaiah was born, I must commend Mount E for their excellent service. I feel like I was living in a hotel room. :P The nurses were nice and supportive of breastfeeding (wait till I share about some of the nurses at KKH), the food was pretty yummy and the room were nicely decorated. The nurses also took good care of Isaiah while I had good rest in the nights.

Things of course, as all mommies know, become wildly different once we reached home. Isaiah challenged us with 2 nights of no or little sleep when we came home. The first night he cried from 8.30pm to 3am. The 2nd night, he cried intermittently (every 20 mins) from 8.30pm to 6am. I only slept for an hour at 6am holding him in my arms, sitting up. It was torturous. I vaguely remembered having very difficult first two days with Tabitha as well but I really can't remember what it was like. Anyhow, we prayed like mad for a good night's rest for the 3rd night and thank GOD we had some decent hours - he whined and cried till 10.30pm but slept then till 1.30am and then ate, slept again till 5am for his 2nd feed and then slept again till 8am. So we all managed to get some decent sleep, thank God for that! I don't know if its psychological, but whenever the evening comes, I have this anxiety building up in me, wondering what my nights will be like!

We then found out on the 5th day during a PD visit that Isaiah's bilirubin level of 332 was way too high for a 5 day old. PD started to worry as the level peaks at day 7, which means it could go up even higher for Isaiah. So we were given a referral letter to KKH to admit Isaiah. I was quite heartbroken to hear him wail his heart/lungs everything out under the phototherapy machine. :( The first group of nurses I met were a pain in the ass. They were so pro-formula feeding and insinuated that I do not have enough breastmilk for Isaiah, as he was crying incessantly. Hello, he could be crying because he was scared, needs to be burped, carried etc!! 

I then checked into a room at their Ronald MacDonald's family room ward so I could breastfeed him. Tabby and Timmy stayed over as well for the first night. It was encouraging to have both of them around during such a time.

I do hope that Isaiah can be discharged tomorrow so we can go home. I miss Timmy and Tabby, and prefer to be home with them.

And so we are down to the last few weeks of waiting for the arrival of our little boy. Its 2 days to 38 weeks and I am feeling like a huge whale already. I can't really imagine being this big and heavy for another 2 weeks should he decide to come on his EDD or even past his EDD. Can someone refresh my memory, do we lap on weight like nobody's business in the last few weeks? Cos I swear I haven't been overeating but my weight gain in the last 2 weeks are quite horrendous!! :(

The boy is growing well, apparently he was 3kg at 35weeks (most other babies are 2.4kg to 2.6kg at 35 weeks!). On Monday we'll probably get a good gauge of how heavy he is now. I hope he's not too massive, I still want a natural birth!!

I try to spend as much time as I can with Tabby these days and bring her out as much as possible before she gets "confined" with us at home. :P I don't know if she'll ever truly understand what it means to have a sibling until he comes. My prayer is that the siblings will learn to love each other and support each other in times of need.

Tabby has been growing so fast that it amazes me to no end what she can do now. She yaks none stop, sings to a variety of songs and has tremendous amount of energy that could easily wear any adult out. I can't believe that just a mere 20.5 months ago, she was just a helpless babe, and could at best stare back at us and make baby noises. Its also amazing to see how her personality has evolved in just less than 2 years, and I pray that as parents, we will know how to hone her strengths and help her with her weaknesses. I really pray for her to grow in wisdom, in stature and in favour with God and men.

I can't quite believe that we're going through the "night feeds", "endless crying", "nap problems", "sleep problems" and "breastfeeding issues" all over again. But in a sense, this time, I think I am more realistic about what we can do and what we can't do, and perhaps, will try to make more effort to enjoy the time with both the kiddos. I have heard that the transition from 1 child to 2 children is quite tough, may God be our strength!

Ok my boy, don't take too long to come. Cut mommy some slack ok? I take a long time to lose pregnancy weight. :P

How did Strawberry shortcake evolve from this:


A cute little chubby girl

to this?



What is the obsession with slimmer female cartoon characters???? :(

31 weeks as of today...3 weeks to all my deadlines, 6 weeks to the end of my exams, and 6 to 9 weeks to the arrival of the boy. How time flies!

I was so tempted to get another diaper bag cos my current one is getting a bit too small and packed for just one kiddo!! Someone asked me what I have in my bag, and I rattled on:
1) Extra set of clothings
2) 3 Diapers
3) Wet Wipes
4) Mini Story Books to keep her copied
5) Snacks
6) My trusty sack and seat
7) Her meal in my trusty thermos - if its meal time
8) Mommy's stuff: handphone, wallet, tissue etc

It doesn't seem like a lot but my bag is ALWAYS perpetually bursting. My diaper bag has served me very well in the last 1.5yrs, a gift from the lovely madmoneymonkey and her family when Tabby was born. Given that I am quite a chor lor mommy, the bag isn't in great condition after 1.5yrs too. :P

With no.2 coming, I doubt the bag will be able to hold anything else anymore. Plus I think I need to be more organized! I always fail to find my wallet in my bag, or find the wet wipes/tissues when I REALLY need them!

I have been searching and searching for a nice backpack (so I can have my hands free to grab the 2 kiddos when we're out), one with lots of compartments and which is of course, pretty. :P I found the Packabe a while back but I was so hesitant to buy it! Afterall, the trusty pink one I have now is not really torn and tattered and even with discount (UP: $238), it is still $148! (sorry I am very giam, $148 can go a long way for a single income family!).

But I kept thinking and thinking about it. Finally, I decided to just get it!!! :P After all, the stay-at-home mommy deserves a little treat once in a while too right????? ;)

Yeah!! Can't wait for it to arrive!!

Timmy Daddy wants to name his son Isaiah. :)

I remember this incident vividly when I was 12 weeks pregnant with Tabitha.

Today (12 weeks pregnant with the 2nd one), I receive news that a close friend of mine had passed on due to a blood vessel rapture in the heart.

We had been good friends in the past and were hanging out super often previously. We sort of stopped hanging out that often once I got married, but still managed to meet up again earlier this year. She was really the 开心果 among us, and was one of the kindest persons I have ever known.

This happened so suddenly, it took everyone by surprise. Again I am baffled at the frailty of life, and remembers how God decides when our time is up, and this is completely not within our control.

I will miss you tons Evon. You were a very special person and I will always remember our time together fondly. Thank you for being a wonderful friend and for being so kind towards me, and everyone else you met.

I'm really really itching for a holiday. Wanted to go bangkok but alas..The protest doesn't seem to be ending anytime soon. :( Not a good idea as we'll be bringing Tabby along.

Tried Hongkong but their flights are so full!! Sigh.

*Whines*

I want a holiday!!