Updates Updates and Updates

Its been a while I last posted and I'm excited to announce that Josiah is finally walking without support and confidently. However the problem is that he walk very fast and unstable. When Joshua started to walk, he walks slow and steady but for Josiah, he walks fast but unsteady. It kept us really busy just watching him walk. He fell with his face straight onto the floor a few time already with bruises on his face.

Joshua was down with Thrush with whitish spots on his tongue. He got no fever but we have to seperate the 2 boys for a day and sterilise the toys to ensure the bacteria does not spread. Glad that the whitish spots disappear after 2 days. Its always a pain to seperate the 2 boys because it means additional manpower to watch 2 babies seperately.

The boys sometimes still a bit feverish and constantly had runny nose and we started to suspect on the Pediasure milk powder as we were told that the milk is very heaty and the babies need to drink plenty of water. Our babies always refuse to drink water and we think that could be a likely cause of them always getting fever. We are trying encourage them to drink more water.

We were supposed to go for a Professional outdoor photoshoot on 13th March, Sunday at Fort Canning Hill Park but it started raining just before the outdoor shoot and the shoot had to be postponed. We wore the family Popeye Tees and brought along Dad and Mum with a hope that we can bring back some memorable pictures. Unfortunately didn't go through. Anyway, we went to eat Ba Tuk Teh at Song Fa and walked along the river bank at Clarke Quay and the boys enjoy seeing all the boats on the river. The floor and the chairs along the riverbank are wet and the babies got wet as a result. Mummy obviously are not happy with me letting them walk freely fearing that they may fall sick.

I had my wisdom tooth removal on 16th March and in the midst of that nearly 30 minutes surgery, I suddenly have a vision in my mind that Joshua becomes a Dentist. Is that a prophecy for me? I felt that is a noble job to cure those with dental problem like what I had with my wisdom tooth. Go for it Joshua! Its a God's given vision to me.

The flu bug is back after the fever

As we thought the Fever season ended after the TCM on 25th Feb, Josiah went down with flu again on the 27th Feb. Coincidently, I also strucked with Flu and Fever the next day which I took 5 days to recover. I resumed my usual chore of taking care of the babies and stopped wearing the mask as I thought I had recovered. In fact, I had made the mistake of removing the mask as I actually still have a bit of runny nose on Thursday. This resulted in Joshua also went into Runny nose on Saturday. Haiz, I am already sick for so long... I really hope no one get sick again.

The boys are getting more fun to play with now. Joshua can walk pretty fast now and Josiah are more stable when we hold his hand to walk. They are making more noise at home and kept "Ahhh... Ahhh..." in the house. Both of them can point to me the Panda, Zebra, Star, Angel, Cookie Jar, Monkey, etc... quite accurately. Their favourite game are still to hide under the playmat and pulling the curtains. Their feeding are still an issue but their sleeping is pretty stable. They don't eat and drink a lot and we need to distract them to eat. They slept from 8:30pm to 6pm daily with 1-2 naps in the day.

We went for a Wedding Dinner last Sunday and Brother's shirt happened to be similar to the boys. So take a picture of him with the boys.

Over weekend, we brought the boys to the sports hall to see people swim, to Church and to the beach for a walk. The boys are now enjoying the Church Cradle roll now as there are always so many toys in the room but they are losing patience during worship services as they simply just want to walk around now... Just prayed that God will protect our family against illnesses and all of us will always be happy...

Return of the Fever Season

The boys had been having runny nose while in Malaysia for CNY. This runny nose developed into cough and then excessive phelgm and finally fever. This Fever then refused to go and kept hovering around 38 - 39 degree Celsius. They can't sleep well due to the runny nose and appetite was poor. Feeding was difficult and they were cranky throughout the day. We had to sponge the babies when the fever start to rise and to feed them medicine in the middle of the night. I was having reservist during the period and need to travel long distance early in the morning and hence I had requested Felin to sleep with the babies. Both Felin and I were really tired and badly deprived of sleep. My neck started to ache so badly that I had to turn my whole body in order to see what is beside me. Its probably caused by the lack of sleep.

Money Money Money!!! I can't remember how many times we had visited the doctors and hospitals so far over the past 13 months. We should had already spend at least a thousand or two in total on outpatient treatments, excluding the hospitalisation for both of them alone.

Just as their recovery was slow and the medicine started to run out, I decided to bring both of them to see TCM. I had heard about this TCM called Yu Guo and I brought them over for a try. We went at 2pm and its not that crowded. There was a lot of babies and children everywhere in the clinic as they are famous for their baby massage and Tuina. We were given consultation and learned a few new TCM knowledge. They were given some medication and was sent for Tuina on the spot. Interestingly, Josiah's fever was gone the next day after they did the Kua Sa. I think I'll bring them here regularly to strengthed their bodies in future.

The Chinese New Year holiday

Its Chinese New Year again and its my 2nd year putting Ang Bao or 压岁钱 under the Kids Pillow as a gesture of good luck and happiness to them. I think I will do it every year and they will be delighted to receive it every Chinese New Year morning when they gets older. I'll be depositing all their Red Packets monies in their OCBC account this year. Last year monies were consolidated and put into their CDA account. Savings for their future ya...

We had our usual Steamboat dinner during CNY eve and everyone was so busy entertaining the kids and I simply had to push the toy bicycle around the house for umteen times. Mum was as usual busy everywhere and didn't really sit to enjoy the dinner with us. Just have to pray for good health for the babies grandparents so that they will enjoy more of these when they gets older.

For this year CNY visit, I made sure we took a family picture with Ah Ma. We had a rather short visit as babies really need to sleep and we need to go Mum's place as our cousins came to visit us on the first day. Too bad didn't take a picture of the group as Neil parent's came from UK this year to celebrate CNY with us. On CNY Day 2, Felin parents came to visit our parents and we went to River Ang Bao for a walk.

 

 

 

On Day 3, we went back to work and on Day 4 morning, we drove to Malaysia to accompany Felin's family and finally went back home on Day 7. We had a good though tiring time while in Malaysia as their house wasn't as baby friendly as our own and we can only bring back one set of each items like baby seats and Sarong for the kids. They have to rotate to eat or even sleep.

Joshua had a lot of practice during the weekend to walk and basically he love walking now and smiling proudly each time he walk. He looks so adorable and really love him to the max. As for Josiah, I'm still training him and I'm sure he will catch up in no time.

Days to Chinese New Year

Its been a week since I last update here and tomorrow will be Chinese New Year. JJ were just infant barely a year ago and today they are such a joy to our family. I thank God for all these blessings over the past 1 year.

On 28th Jan, I went on a one day reservist for Army shooting and took a picture early in the morning with the boys and they were already wide awake. Its their first time seeing me in Army Uniform. I'm going for another 5 days In Camp Training later this month.

On the 30th, we went back Malaysia for Felin's Niece first month baby shower. We also had our Yu Sheng there. We insisted on the Yu Sheng with fresh carrots and radish type. Its pretty tiring taking care of the boys in Malaysia because the house was not baby proof and there wasn't an enclosed place for us to play with them. We also brought along only 1 baby seat for eating as there wasn't space for another one.  Anyway, we enjoyed it a lot and Joshua learned to walk a few more steps there as there was more space for him to walk.

Its followed by another busy work week before we set off to buy some new year stuffs at Bugis Village and Bugis Junction. Its their first time visiting my office and sit on my desk too.

The boys are getting funnier everyday. They talk to each other using "Baby" language and I have no idea what they are talking. Joshua like to make funny noise and face to make us laugh and Josiah is always so smiley that he will melt our heart. The only trouble with them is "Very noisy, keep shouting and demand attention." Super tired nowadays...

I'd just put an Ang Bao under their pillow and they will sleep with it till tomorrow morning. Tomorrow will be a challenge because they may have difficulty sleeping during house visiting hours. Hope all will be fine tomorrow...

Joshua first steps - 12m14d

I always feel that its easier to take care of the babies outside than to at home because they tends to be satisfied sitting in Stroller or Baby Chair while outside because there are so many things to see around them. Whereas at home, they just want to crawl and pull the whole house down. They also expect attention from us the whole day long. Its more tiring at home. Hence on Saturday, we went Changi Airport for a walk. While having dinner in BK, my dear Josiah was so friendly that he kept smiling and wave good-bye at everyone who passed by him. These passer-bys were so happy that they will start waving at him. Josiah tends to be more smiley outside than Joshua and people find him loveable.

 

On Sunday, Ann was on Sunday off and we brought them to one of my client's baby shower. The place was so crowded and we were really sweating. As both of us were carrying the babies, we have problem eating the buffet lunch. Both of us only have one hand each and hence I carry the plate and Felin scoop the food for me. We then put the food and stool as we try to stretch our body to eat while babies are struggling in our hands. Quite tiring just to eat.

 

In the evening, its Mum's 70th birthday celebration. She looks so young to me always and been such a loving mother. The boys wasn't too patient throughout the dinner and kept seeking attention. Ended up, we rotated carrying them around and outside the Restuarant while the rest have dinner.

Mum told me today that Joshua is able to walk about 3-4 steps already and he like to show off his new found ability by smiling happily after his walk. I'll take that his official first steps to be 12m14d. I am looking forward to video down those "Show Off" proud face of Joshua. He must have been so adorable. As for Josiah, he may take slightly longer time as he is less stable in his learning to walk journey still.

Empathy

Ever since I have kids, I realised that I gained closer connection with my clients who also have children. When they tell me that their children are sick with flu, cough or fever, I can better empathise how hard it must have been for them. In the past, I may just think that its just a flu or cough... When they tell me that they are really busy with the kids especially in the night, I can better understand too because after a hard day at work, all we look forward is to spend more time with the kids, to talk to them and make them laugh. Many things become unimportant when we have opportunity to make our children smile. When they sigh to me that its a long way to go, I can better understand too because the reason we work so hard is very linked to our children. I can feel the type of love they have for their own kids and how they desire to see them grow and be useful people. I can now understand why it is such a heartache when we see people whose children became rebellious, wayward and refuse to acknowledge their own parents. All these empathy never came so deeply for me when I meet my clients in the past.

Last weekend, I invited Mum and Grandma for dinner as an early celebration for Mum's birthday. Its actually the first time in my life that I bring both of them for a meal.  I felt the connection so much with my parents better now as compared to the past. How happy my mum will be if I am to be a useful person and fillial to them till their ripe old age. I had invited Grandma too because she will be happy when her grandchildren are doing well too. Grandma is already 93 years old, I seriously do not know how many good years more she will enjoy and I feel that I must let Joshua and Josiah interact with her and make her smile. Of course to take more pictures for the kids to see when they gets older.
Why do I think my Mum and Grandma will be happy? Its my gut feel and empathy that because my Grandma loves my Mum and my mum loves me and I loves the children. It is this family love that bond all of us together...

The kids had made me aware of many things and certainly a better person. I just have to continue set good example and to teach them correctly in future. Its a challenge but because of this love for them, I will have to take it on. I am sure, this is the same objective for many many other fathers and mothers as well. This is the journey of parenthood...