ML reading list

besides catching up on various tv series (grey's anatomy, how to get away with murder, madam secretary, how i met your mother - love the record function on our mio set up box) which is a zone-out hands-free brainless activity that helps while away the pumping time, am trying to make some productive use of the time during maternity leave to get some reading done. should be easier now that the neighbourhood library has reopened since i still prefer reading books with pages i can flip rather than e-books. also, my free time will likely be sucked up by work once my leave ends, so now is my chance to do some catch-up reading.

met up with colleagues over dinner recently and one of them said enviously "you have time to read fiction!", heh. 

here's the list so far and will add on along the way:

1. outliers, malcolm gladwell

2. grimm tales for young and old, philip pullman

3. empress dowager cixi, jung chang

10 weeks - schedule

our daily schedule is evolving as baby n spends more time awake now:

0300-0600 (usually at some point during this window): n wakes up and i usually latch him before topping up with a bottle since it saves me from pumping after that. he falls asleep immediately again.

0700-0730: h wanders into our room and i catch a few snuggles with her - rare occasion where this is possible so i milk it for what it's worth. i snooze while the hubby gets her milk and then gets her changed for school.

0800: n is up and gets his milk if he is fussing or chills out in his rocker for awhile longer before he gets fed. one parent sends h to school while the other stays behind to feed n. when we feel like it, everyone goes for the school run.

0830-0930: breakfast (no-cook oats!), pumping while n gets some time on the activity mat. after that, i try to spend a bit of time talking to n. he enjoys the attention. 

0930: n would be yawning by now so it is time to make him sleep ... if i feel like getting out of the house, i will head to the supermarket now with n asleep in the baby bjorn. he will usually stay asleep for at least an hour or more. more if he is being carried. if i am home and it's hard to put him down, i sneak a lie-in since he somehow can sleep lying propped up on my arm. my arm gets numb after awhile.

1100: n is usually up by now and he gets a bottle of milk (5oz)

1130-1230: pumping, playing with n, random chores and washing up

1230-1400: n sleeps and i TRY to put him down and get some me-time.

1400: n wakes up and he gets his bath which he enjoys very much. he knows it's bathtime the moment he gets undressed and i wrap him in the bath towel. he is very pleased and starts jabbering. he gets a bottle feed (5oz) after his bath and i pump again.

1530-1700: n sleeps again. i usually go for a long jaunt to the nearby mall with him in the baby bjorn. i tour the supermarket aisles and the library aisles.

1700: n gets fed by the MIL and i pump. if n doesn't fuss for his bottle, we feed him after h gets back.

1725: h is back and the house gets noisy. the first thing h does is to rush over to say hi and hug n and pinch his cheeks (didi you are so cute! i love you didi! and other similar lines)

1800: h gets dinner.

1830: n gets fussy around this time so i basically have to carry him all the time while he takes a very quick cat nap.

1850: n is awake again and in a better mood so he gets some time on his activity mat while i bathe h.

1930: i bathe n and afterwards he watches the toy mobile in his cot while i get his milk ready and cool down in the aircon room. h joins me in the room and she's usually attached to the ipad or decides to play with some of her brother's toys. 

2000: last feed of the day for n (5oz) and if he isn't asleep i still try to put him down in his rock and play and let him fall asleep on his own. he usually does.

2030-2200: h's turn to get our full attention. we chat, play kitchen and jigsaws (depending on her mood). i am trying to fit in some writing/drawing activity nowadays. then it's milk-time and at least 5 stories before lights-out and goodnights before i leave the room. she settles herself to sleep. 

2200-0030: two pumping sessions, washing up and sterilising of many bottles, packing h's bag for school the next day, i finally get to take a bath! and then fall into bed hoping that the next time i wake up the sun is shining (usually not the case so far, heh)

10 weeks - 12 hour fluke?

baby n clocked 12 hours between feeds on sunday night ... so it was the first time in a long while that h and not n woke me up. what a pleasant surprise! although i think it was just a one-off because he was a sleepy-head and practically slept the whole of sunday and monday. the side effect of a growth spurt perhaps? he woke up at 6.30am on tuesday morning and then 4am on wednesday morning so those long (more than 8 hours) stretches of sleep aren't really very consistent yet.

oh well ... i can live with 6am wakings but nothing earlier if possible please baby :D and am also thankful that 2am wakings (i.e. 6 hour stretches) are more or less history already.

33 months - weekday zoo visit

took h to the zoo last monday when her school was closed for spring cleaning. our FOTZ membership was up for renewal and we got a family pass this time since h will be 3 this year and would not be entitled to free entry already :( 

it was the first time we got to take advantage of the FOTZ free tram rides since it was a weekday and it turned out to be a godsend when it started to pour halfway through.

still, we got to see the pygmy hippos, tigers, polar bear and feed the giraffes before it rained. had intended to let h take the pony ride but the rain forced a change in plans. the tram ride round and round the zoo more than made up for it though! h was super pleased to be able to ride the tram and kept saying "we don't get off ok??" each time we drew up at the tram stop.

it was the first time i was single-handedly bringing h to the zoo so was really glad she was well behaved and patient when she needed to be, like while waiting for the elephant show which didn't happen in the end. she also charmed some korean aunties who piled her with chips and sweets heh.

good outing albeit a short one. we will be back soon to see the new koala exhibit!

what h might say ...

when she learns the meaning of leadership. she already knows bossy from the little miss bossy storybook. 

33 months - interactions

this picture kind of captures how h has been coping with a new sibling in the house. while i don't think she fully grasps the concept of how n will eventually soon be mobile and will be "messing up" her toys just like her year-old cousin when she visits, h has so far been quite fond of n and has been showing it in her own ways.

she asks about n the moment she gets off the school bus - "where is didi? is he alone (aloooooon)?"

she insists of having cuddle time with him at least once when she gets back from school. n, too young to object and usually in a grumpy mood in the late afternoon, has not much choice in the matter. we do get priceless pictures though, and h gets to feel like she's in charge of her little bro.

she reports to us everytime he cries and we aren't in the immediate vicinity, much like a baby monitor except without batteries. she has also been multitasking - rocking the rocket with one hand and holding the ipad with the other and watching youtube - the image reminded me so much of a busy parent! heh.

she's into a friendly competition with n already, when it comes to who bathes first and who finishes their nightly milk feed first. she wins hands down, for now.

as long as she gets her own alone time with us, she doesn't begrudge the time we have to spend alone with n (like when i put him to bed, or that i carry him quite a bit), although she does tell me to "put him down" on the baby rocker occasionally in the evenings so she gets her own cuddle time. we've been trying to give her her own space and time in different ways - we hardly bring n song for the school drop off in the mornings, she gets exclusive cuddle time with us on our bed (horrors!) when she gets up in the morning at 7ish, she gets all our attention once n is in bed by 8.30pm, she gets exclusive attention from my parents when they take her on either saturday or sunday each week.

this sibling thing will probably continue to evolve and we will have to adapt and change along the way ... but for now, this seems to be the way h rolls as a big sis, and i think being a big sis has already started to teach her that the world doesn't revolve around her as the only small being. and no matter what, i hope they will always have each other's back. that's what siblings are for especially when we are no longer around to fuss and care for them.

p.s. it also struck me looking at these photos how much h has grown from a tiny baby to the strong active and bubbly little person that she is today! time really flies and children are small for such a short time!!

life with 2 (kids)

it isn't a walk in the park when there are two small beings competing for your attention - one who is just looking to be held and have his basic needs met (feed me! carry me! clean me!); the other who is cognisant of her surroundings and the changing dynamics and just wants to have alone time and attention from her parents just like it was before baby came along. 

i think it's harder to give h the attention i would like to give her especially because she's so independent and smart and can understand so many things. one just expects her to understand that the baby needs more of our time ... that baby has a strict feeding schedule which means dragging one's feet when we are about to head out just takes away from the outing time ... that making too much noise at home will disturb baby and that takes away from the one on one time i can spend with her. but we forget sometimes that she's still 2! that she still needs her hugs and to be carried and to feel like we are still there for her even though there's baby n in the house. 

weekends and evenings can be the most trying of times when there are two of them in the house ... thankfully there's some order to the madness because we have both of them on some kind of schedule. h knows the drill and we just do the necessary with n - h bathes followed by n; i put n to sleep before giving h my full attention. 

still trying to learn the ropes of this balancing act and hopefully i get the hang of it soon and ideally without the help of too many iPhone and iPad hours for h!

7 weeks - "conversations"

baby n is getting rather chatty nowadays. he has a lot to say during those wakeful hours especially when you take the effort to engage him in a conversation. and he smiles the most melt your heart smiles. 

we left him at the in laws' place on Friday afternoon and when we went back to pick him up he caught sight of me and started talking and smiling, as if asking where i had been. quite priceless!

in other news, he has been sleeping for 8 hours for 2 nights in a row (8pm to 4am) but it could be because he was catching up on missed naps in the day ... i am hoping this streak continues, although i will take anything more than 6 hours between feeds anyday (which is the norm now already).