The 17 days without Domestic Helper

As I am writing this post, I'm waiting for the arrival of my domestic helper back from Philippines who was away from Singapore since 10th February afternoon. We had officially survived the past 17 days without helper. Think we did quite well...

The first 2 days are adaptation period and the boys surprising did not miss Ann a single bit even though Josiah co-share a room with her for more probably the past 18 months. Both boys slept in the same room but it resulted in Felin having almost totally no sleep as she is easily awaken by both boys unlike me who is more resistent to noises.

As Joshua is currently very stickly to Felin, we had decided that I shall sleep in the other room with Josiah. It works better as Josiah moves quite a lot during sleep and I, being the deeper sleeper seems to have a easier time with him.

The first weekdays from 13th to 17th Feb was at the Royal Carribean Cruise. We had a scare initially because Joshua's fever shot up to 38.9C on the night before we travel but dropped to 37.1 just before we left. FIL accidentally damaged the thermometer just before we left for Cruise and we urgently borrowed one from neighbour.

The Days at Cruise wasn't all smooth sailing. Joshua's fever went up on the evening on the first day onboard and the thermometer that we borrowed from neighbour shown 41.2C that made us panicky that we decided to call for the doctor onboard. My suspect that the thermometer wasn't accurate is true as he measured only 38.8C when we went down to the medical centre.

Joshua remained cranky from Day 1 onwards and we have problems with both of them onboard in the sense that they refuse to eat and yet refuse to let us eat as they kept wanting attention or to be down from the baby chair to run. They can't drink their milk well without the rice powder which they are so used to over the past years. They also are not keen with the shows onboard and resulting us having to skip them. Yet we need to keep to the nap and bedtime which resulted that we have little time for ourselves. As Joshua was sick, we also have to ensure he receive more rest and usual.

If without the support from my parents and inlaws, I will think this trip is there to kill us. No rest and lots of stress only. I hope life will be better in our next trip in future. Nevertheless, its a good experience and we still have some good time with the family.

The following week after cruise aren't easy as well. I returned home early to help with the housework. I realised that there are so much clothes to wash and fold daily. I also need to wash so many dishes, bottles, etc... I also need to sweep / mop the floow and make the beds every morning. There are also much work to be done to prepare the kids to school before sending them over.

Sales do got a bit of hit during the past 2 weeks when my time management skills did not improve. My personal assistant also chose to quit her job at this time which means my time spent in office are generally administrative and servicing work and not so much of sales and business.

But in contrary, I think my relationship with the boys got better with more time spent with them over the past 17 days. I slept with them, played with them in the evening and morning and I managed to prayed and read my bedtime stories. I do feel good for in this area though Sales was somehow affected. They are certainly not easy kids and pretty active. Joshua is super sticky to mother and kept whining for smallest problem and Josiah still have problem with biting and scratching classmates in school. We sometimes do lose our patience.

Okay. I ended my post at 1:57am on 27th Feb and my helper have still not called us though her flight landed at 1:06am. Hope she boarded the plane and is alright.

Chinese New Year and Childcare Updates

Its the boys 3rd week in Childcare Centre today. Let have an update of what happened.

The first week was all "Half Days" and it seems okay with Josiah seemingly enjoying himself in a new environment while Joshua will cry for a few minutes everytime he reached the centre. Felin accompanied the boys for the 1st few days and she can withdraw herself shortly.

For the 2nd week, we tried putting them for full day. Both of them are unable to fall asleep and making a lot of noises there. The teachers asked if we can bring them back and we brought them home in the early afternoon. On the 2nd day, we took their pillows along and they can sleep for less than an hour. That was an improvement. On the 3rd and 4th day, they took a break from school because of runny nose. On the 5th day which happens to be CNY eve, Josiah went alone and he was all good for the half day he went. He enjoyed himself without even notice Felin was not around.

The 3rd week is after CNY and Josiah suddenly had a sharp change towards school. He was very reluctant to go school. He resisted violently and insisted to be carried. He cried non stop and vomitted while in school. We do not know the reason for this sudden change of behaviour. He cried for probably an hour on Day 1 and was told be cried shorter on Day 2. Today as I am writing this, it was his Day 3 of week 3 and I need to monitor him closely. He continue to cry violently and just a mention of the word "School" at home, he will shout "no", shake his hand and resist it. I'm really at a loss when I brought him to school today as I'm worried if this is bad for him psychologically if such crying persist. Maybe on Day 1, he cried so much that he hated school. Maybe he was frightened by the firecrackers, fireworks and lion dances during the CNY period in Malaysia. It remains a mystery.

As for Joshua, its not all plain sailing as well. He had chronic constipation which we need to pay attention on. He resisted passing motion which resulted in his stool getting harder and more painful to pass out. We are feeding him with stool softener twice daily and adjusting his diet. He still resist sitting on the potty and will cry violent about it.

New year and birthday party...

We had our countdown for 2017 at our new place in JB as a family. The fireworks was unforgettable as its the most beautiful I ever seen in my life. Its not a single fireworks but 10 to 20 fireworks all happening at the same time across the horizon at all different angles. The sound of fireworks was also all over and all these lasted more than 30 minutes. Too bad the boys are not able to appreciate all these yet.

The boys are growing very fast. Joshua is now able to talk in sentences such as "Can I close door? Ask Auntie Ann, Mummy, Daddy, Ye ye, Nai nai." They are very aware of what we tell them such as when I told Josiah that he is going for a haircut, he will give me a straight "No" answer. They are now in midst of the Terrible Two period and really quite difficult to tell them to do something. Eg, they refuse to let me hold their hands to walk, they will purposely not drink milk if I tell them so. They want to show their independence and in control of things. Maybe this is a sign of their future leadership and not simply submit to every instruction.

They celebrated their birthday on the 7th Jan in the function room and we invited just our family. Brother can't make it though. We didn't have any special fanfare but blew plenty of balloons for them to stay busy. They are simply crazy for balloons.

 Felin decorated the birthday cake for the boys.

 

 When we told them to hug each other, they did it without hesitation. How I wish they will be so close in future.

 

 Ah Ma came for the celebration as well and she was so happy.

 

Our group photo and the simple backdrop that I had decorated 

After singing the birthday song, they were having fun with the cream. 

Taking turns to feed each other...

On the 12th Jan, we had another simple celebration with 2 pieces of small cakes. Its our family tradition that we must blow candle on our actual birthday. No exception to both of them in future too.
Anyway, we purchased school bags for them to prepare them for school on the 16th Jan...

Will talk more about their Childcare experience in my next post. Hopefully it will be a positive one after 1 week.

Coming to end of 2016

Its coming to end of 2016. When I reflect on the year, it seems that there are many things that could be done better where many of my resolutions were not fulfilled. Nevertheless I have to be contented that we are doing okay financially, the kids and whole family are happy and healthy, I started my fitness program with healthier food choices and better fitness, etc... 2016 is overall a good year.

As for the boys, we visited several childcare centres recently and likely to enrol them by Mid January 17. Another set of challenges is facing us as we are unsure if they can adapt well to childcare and if they will find trouble with the kids and teachers there. We are also concerned about them falling ill during the initial period. Mum complained that they are too active and they find it tiring to take care of them like before and I seriously also think its better that they start with a proper learning timetable and environment asap.

Joshua is now able to articulate rather clear like a young toddler and Josiah prefers to observe rather than making noise. Josiah is more of a problem solver when he wants something. Only when he fails or he is prevented from trying, he will shout for attention till he get it. Joshua is more of a 小少爷 who will shout for us to get things done instead of finding solutions.

I rotated them for their daily morning walk when I drove Felin to MRT station. Its always difficult as the other one will cry nonstop when he see the other sibling going out and he stays home. I always need to tell them who is the one going out the next day.

We went Malaysia over the weekend and stayed in our new house for the very first time. We also celebrated Christmas over there with the family. Mum and Dad also went during the first day. We are blessed to have the beautiful house but not sure how well maintained the whole developement will be in the long term considering how the Malaysian properties always end up after few years. We are also trying to rent out the place.

As mentioned. We just have to be contented and be grateful for what we have today. We thank God that he continue to provides happiness and good health to everyone around us. Its a long way ahead of us and we have to remember that God is in control regardless what happened in the future.

Time not enough

Time just flew that I missed writing for the last 2 months again. I stopped playing my Pokemon Go and Boom Beach at an above average level a few weeks ago. It was a very difficult decision as I love playing these games and am such high level. I decided that I have to stop all these things that are taking away my time at work, in family and with God. This is an example that I must set for my boys. It is necessary for me to demostrate what is important and what is not and show them with my real action. They are too young to understand this but this post will serve as a future lesson that I want to tell them.

There are so many things to update over the past weeks. I always wanted to write it down but failed miserably. There are always things that seems more urgent to do but when I did not pen it down, I ended up forgetting what I wanted to say the very next moment.

The boys are very active at this stage. They fight almost all the time and I'm somehow worried if they will be good brothers in future. Its tiring to care for them because we always have to monitor their behaviours and to stop in time if they fight. Eg, they can jump up the bay window and throw all the toys to the floor at one moment and next moment climb up the sofa or bed and start jumping around which we afraid they may fall and injured themselves. When they are playing, they will snatch for the same toy and start fighting using the toys or even biting each other.
Sometimes when I'm out, I always see toddlers able to sit quietly on the chair playing their own toys or even reading but for my boys, it seems a bit difficult. I felt a bit envious but my parents always say, "

Their appetite improved over the last few weeks. Joshua was down with some virus last month and his appetite dropped very badly that his weight goes below 10kg again. Josiah is defnitely heavier and he is taller too. We are trying to feed Joshua more but he seems to be the more picky eater.

Joshua is getting noiser and like to imitate what we talk. Its quite irritating when he repeat over what we say when we are scolding him. When we asked him a question, he will repeat the question as if nothing goes into him. He also talk quite a lot when he sleeps and he can even sing now.

Josiah is still the cheerful boy who can laugh over anything but he seems to be the type who wants to finish something fast. This is shown on how he eat and drink milk. He did it so fast and will be happy to drop the milk bottle and start doing his things again. Joshua prefer to take his time and drink slowly instead. When playing, he is very insistent whenever he wants something but he will fight over it if he fails to get it. We really have a problem whenever we go church as he did scratch and bite other children when it comes to play with other kids. This is another big headache.

Now they also like to spit saliva and I assume that its part of their growing process as they just learned a new skill. Felin and I are so irritated that we have to scold them and put them in high chair whenever they do it. We feel that its really rude and we have to teach them fast. Too bad that Felin and I are not home all the time to teach them and we depended a fair bit on my parents and helper which they are not strict enough on their misbehaviors. When we are around, they tends to be more careful on what they do.

Overall, we are surely loving our time with them and I value my weekend a lot. Its time consuming playing with them and I bascially can't do much of my own work during weekends. After pacifying them to bed, we are already dead tired. Its a bitter sweet feeling which I think only parents will know.

Pokemon Go

I had missed blogging for nearly 2 months because of work and Games. I started playing Pokemon Go on its first Day Debut of 6th August 2016 and been playing daily since then. My work time are still my work time but my spare time became my game time. I have also been playing Boom Beach since October 2015 which actually slightly eats into my time with family and with this Pokemon Go, it is made worst. Daddy really have to set a better example to the boys on how we should better utitlise our time for more important things. Mummy is definitely better than Daddy in this area of time management. I'm setting a exit plan for the 2 games in weeks ahead.

The boys are getting more difficult nowadays. Their favourite word is still "No...!!!" Both still love to fight and bite each other which make the caregivers very tiring as we need to watch out on them almost all the time. They are still not too good on the feeding part and often refuse food after 4-5 spoonful of food. Its pretty frustrating especially if we spent much time cooking for them and they ate only that few mouthful. If we force them on the food, they will cry and be more resistant to the food.

They can speak 2 syllabus words quite well now like Lorry, Reach Home, sorry, thank you, etc... and seems to understand when we reprimand them. They can look down as if they are guilty of doing something wrong when we scold them. The conversation seems to be more meaningful though Josiah just love repeating what we say. I suppose we are still at the fun part of parenting and we just have to continue enjoy the moments.

Taking the MRT together during one of the weekend. Its our 2nd MRT trip together and they seems to like it.

The 2 biggest love of the boys. Balloons and Bubbles right now. See how they will insist on holding on to the balloons while having meal.

Had a enjoyable day last weekend at the Marina Barrage. They were wearing the same shirt as the first time while they are just 11 months old. How time flies and the same shirt still fits them. We played bubble, exposed them to waterplay before having dinner at Satay by the Bay.

Their first time carrying lantern during the Mid-Autumn Festival organised by Livia NC. They were not very stable while carrying the lanterns and we were careful as its the candel type of lantern. They are simply so cute while walking with the lantern.

The season for Flu, Runny Nose, Cough and Fever again

The virus is back again and its getting strong. Josiah started falling sick on 28th July with fever running as high as 40.1 Degree Celsius at one point. We took turns to sponge him with water throughout the day and night. His runny nose is quite bad that he couldn't sleep and cried the night through. Its pretty tough over that 1 week until Joshua fell sick as well the following week and just reocevered only on 9th August. That was a long and super sleepy period as we still brought ourselves to work in the morning. Always feel that the tough part of parenting is when the kiddos are sick, yet it hurts to see them ill. Something that a non parent may not fully comprehend.

When they are finally much better with no fever, we brought them out again for family time. Its so much easier to be out with them than to be with 2 sick boys all day at home. Its the National Day weekend and we sang National Songs and attended the National Day Observation Ceremony. Hope they will be proud to be Singaporeans and serve the Army happily in future.

Their weight dropped quite a fair bit over the past 2 weeks with Josiah dropping from 9.9kg to 9.2kg and Joshua to only 9.0kg. Haiz... They are still so thin and need to feed them to grow more fats. Their baby fats are like gone already when I looked back at old photographs. So many babies at 12 months already more than 10kg and ours seems so hard to hit the mark.

Feeding is still an issue as they always don't seems to enjoy food. They are more selective with food now with this age and will reject strongly if they don't want to eat. The case is worse for Joshua lately maybe because he just recovered. Hope their appetite comes back soon...