Baby Kathlene went for her 3 month paed visit and came away with her second dose of 3 different. She let out her usual blood curling yell when the needle went in and didn’t let up till a while later. Not quite the trooper but still a survivor. She did get warm after but not high enough to be classified as a fever or warrant medication. She did, however become wary of anyone pulling her pants off. She semi-freaked out during diaper changes for the day… starting from the moment we touched her pants… Hmm.

But other than that, all’s well. She’s growing well. Tipping the scales at 5.6kg and measuring 61cm. Numbers her brother only reached in his 4th month. So erhmm, yay?

All dressed up … almost looking like he’s going to school. Not. Just downstairs for some munchies. He insisted on carrying his bag, a must have every time he steps out of the house. His food intake is generally on the upswing though the speed at which it goes down leaves much to be desired.

Very easily distracted by what goes on around him, he nibbles at his food. And the fact he has 4 missing front teeth does not help the situation. He has learnt to chew with his back / remaining teeth and does a pretty decent job of it. However… my milk guzzler of a son has turned into a milk hater. Maybe he had downed (what he thinks) enough milk for a lifetime in the short span of two years such that it is an uphill struggle getting him to drink it now.

He turned against his milk (formula), his sister’s (expressed breastmilk), ‘my’ (Meiji low fat freshmilk) and his dad’s (soy milk). He used to take each reasonably freely for a period of time but has since settled mainly on chocolate milk. These had better come straight from the packet else he’d reject it too. *sigh* Which brings us to a point of a freezer full of ebm and no one to drink. Kathlene has not taken to the bottle and we are looking very likely, to be transiting straight to a sippy cup.

Help. So what do I do with all those packets of milk? Some suggested a milk bath. Or milk cubes. Any other ideas?

Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.

Life with a toddler is like a box of chocolates. You never know what they are gonna sprout.

Jayden is able to string words together very well and its quite frightening sometimes to hear what he says. Not that its gibberish or anything, but to see the way he picks up on ideas. Like how he has nicknamed the maid at an aunt’s place “Honey Star Aunty” (her name is Honey) or how he told us “Jayden no strength to switch off tv. Ask the maid to do it.” (we do NOT have a maid at home).

He is very quick on catching words and remembering them. Even if you just mention them once. He picks it up. He has learnt ‘boring’ and right now, we are telling horror stories of what might happen. We can just picture it right now… First day in school and he goes “boring” straight in the teacher’s face. Not quite the best of methods to get in the teacher’s good books.

I foresee many such “throw face” moments to come. Stay tuned. Now where did the non-vocal boy of mine go to?

There’s a new camera in the house… and I’ve been having lots of fun snapping away with it. The new age ‘instant’ photography I like!

And as a reminder that the boy is growing up… the letter regarding Pre-nursery orientation has been received. We have a date with the school next month. New shoes, new books, new experiences. Hopefully he’d stop torturing me with his endless “Mummy what happened?” all day long.

Oh, instead of the typical “WHY?” questions, this boy does his own take with “What Happened?” All day long. 7 days a week. Help.

He certainly inherited his parents’ ability to eat the same thing day after day, meal after meal and not be tired of it. So long as it is a favourite food, he can have it a couple of days in a row without any fuss. Right now, the hot favourite is pau. Though he does sometimes alternate between liking the filling and the bun itself.

Best washed down with a packet of chocolate milk. Chocolate is like the spoonful of sugar that helps everything go down. Chocolate coat the food and mealtimes will probably go by much faster than they normally do. Only thing is, I don’t think we’d be doing it anytime soon. We’d need to order cacao by the truckload…

But what he really needs to work on, is his eating manners. Such a messy eater. *Tsk tsk* Not to mention his ’sam seng kia’ way of sitting with his leg up… *slaps forehead*

(With baby K, we bring extra diapers and clothes in case she does a big poo job. With Jayden, we bring extra clothes and wipes to clean up after meals! Little wonder the diaper bag is not reducing in size anytime soon… nor that we are no longer carrying travel sized packs of wet wipes around. They just finish too fast! Bring on the large packs of 80s and more!)

We went on a kiddo necessity restock shopping spree yesterday and it occured to me that we don’t quite have brand loyalty. Whatever works really.

For our two babies, we have gone through the following wide-ranging brands, from the relative expensive to the downright cheap. All at different times and stages. As they grow older, and we aren’t quite the clumsy new minted parents, we go for budget.

Some things like diapers just need to have an assortment of brands… depending on day or night / outdoor use. Heh.

Diapering Needs

• Carlson / Angel / Tollyjoy / Carrefour / Kodomo baby wipes
• Desitin Creamy (the original has a really pungent smell!) / Drapolene / Pureen / California Baby creams
• Pureen / Gaia talc free baby powder
• Mamy Poko / Giant / Carrefour / NTUC / Pampers / Petpet / Huggies / Drypers (hooboy, lousy choice!) diapers

Bathing Needs

• Johnson & Johnson / Kodomo / Body Shop (ask Jayden) / Crabtree & Evelyn (again, ask Jayden) body washes
• Tollyjoy nappies (used almost exclusively for anything but nappies) and liners
• Johnson & Johnson baby lotion

Milk & the Like

• Friso / Pediasure (freaking expensive!) / Dumex / full cream fresh milk / chocolate milk / soya milk / almond milk
• Playtex (cheap cheap!) / The First Years / Gerber milk bags / recycled glass bottles for ebm storage
• Avent / Nuk / Tommee Tippee (trying out on Kathlene) milk bottles
• Avent ISIS breastpump (manual) / Medela Swing (electronic)

Out and About

• Moms In Mind sarong slings / pouches (never quite figured out how to wear them properly though…)
• Chicco Go carrier (o.u.c.h but does its job)
• Aprica / Chicco stroller
• Chicco / Lucky Baby / Mamalove rocker
• Graco / Lucky Baby car seats

Good grief. I don’t think I’d like to actually tabulate the amount spent on all the above.

How does your list read?

A little quiet on the blogging front but the flickr photostream has been pretty busy. Just borrowed the dslr and went completely trigger happy (don’t like? delete delete delete!). Learnt quite a few things in the process like …

1. I want need want need want a dslr NOW
2. been so used to using the P&S cameras that I completely forget all the jargon and how to tweak settings
3. the P&S cameras weigh so little its insane (almost like a toy right now…)

Oh wait, you are concerned about the kids…

Ok, things I’ve learnt about the kids whilst using the dslr…

• great to capture the kids with the fast shutter speed

• Kathlene is a lazy baby. She absolutely hates being made to exercise (aka tummy time). Hence most, if not all of her shots are of her lying on her back. Unless she is sleeping…

• Kathlene is also most awake in the mornings. When I am not.
• Jayden is perpetually eating. And making a mess. Hence not that many pictures of him. Messy faces aren’t quite conducive situations for photos.

Erhmm, overdosed on baby K yet?

I guess 3 different vaccines in a single paed visit is just about pushing it. Her lil body is fighting the infections and has raised the white flag. She was running a low grade fever and became awfully cranky the whole day. She hates medicine (what’s new!) and has learnt to keep the darned liquid in her mouth and spit it out when we least expect it.

She learns fast this one… I foresee many more fights considering this is her first fever. And her first series of vaccines, BCG at birth notwithstanding.

Meantime, big brother Jayden is tinkering around with his Lego. Having fun I must say. Probably very glad that all them injections are past him. Little does he know… Heh.

Jayden has taken a greater interest in having his pictures taken. Probably because he sees us snapping away at his baby sister and also wants in on the action. He sauntered into the room one day and proceeded to promptly climb my swivel chair (with me on it!) and attack my worktable. So the next best thing to do? Distract him with Photobooth.

We took tonnes of photos, practised ‘counting’ (count down to the timer!) and smiled many times for the camera. Simple joys… and it does not cost a thing. Ok, not an additional cent.

A lot happens in a month. 31 days of milk induced coma, faux smiles, pee and poop and oh yes, growth.