Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Brothers in February

Mason is already 10 weeks old as we speak.


Jaden is 6 years and 4 months old going 5.



Lots have been happening with both boys.



Jaden just had his annual meeting with his developmental paedatrician. The reports that came back from his school, speech therapist and ABA therapist had been rather consistent although these three do not meet.



Jaden has been showing signs of improvement, as said by the doctor from her observation from last year compared to him today.She commented that school have been great for him and that he should continue and take his time. 



Though there are times he do show his frustration and chin himself but he was much more compliant and do all the work that the doctor asked him to.



She then wrote me a letter of referral to get him to re-start his OT (Occupational Therapy) as his gross motor is still rather weak.



Jaden had been quite a rebel lately.. I have kept away the cane for a very long time and have been trying my best to reason with him. Of course, reasoning only comes about 3-4 times before I lose it and start either snapping at him or threatening him, which I really hate myself for it but he is really as stubborn as a mule.


I am trying to make Jaden sign for things that he wants now, instead of just doing it for him as I already know what he wants just by his pulling and pushing but I really need him to communicate so he will learn that he needs to communicate instead of grabbing, pushing or pulling people to whatever he wants.

Jaden is weighing in at 22.38kg still and his height is about 120cm. His weight has not gone up since a year or two.. and it is making me darn paranoid. Is he not absorbing nutrients again? Leaky gut again?


Mason, well, he is cooing more and more. Very talkative to selective people and his toys and kor kor's books. 



He still very much prefers me carrying him to anyone else. He is at his most cheerful self especially in the morning when he wakes up or after a loooong nap. 



He has taken a liking to the musical bear I got from the GBS sales. He talks to it =)



His eyes always look adoringly at his brother, and it seems that he is trying to establish eye contact with his brother. If the brother happen to look at him and be near him, he would then call out to his brother.



Usually in the morning, Mason, who is strapped to his car seat would look at his brother and observe whatever the brother is doing. Sometimes he gets excited when Jaden is smiling and scared when Jaden is crying or screaming his head off. Mason do get scared of Jaden when Jaden have his tantrums.



He is still very much routine-like :- bedtime is at 1030pm/11pm for Mason and he will sleep off in the middle of direct latching and though sometimes he might have startled himself awake, he will look to see if I am sleeping beside him. If I am, then he would just soothe himself back to sleep. 



His dream-feeding time is still not established. It depends whether he drinks himself full before he sleeps or he is just quenching thirst. If he is just quenching thirst, then its almost every 2-3 hours that he will stir for milk. If its a long direct-latch moment, then its almost every 4 hours.



Just in this span of a week, his longest time for not pooing was two days and after that, he will have a blasting poop time. He could then poop full up to 3 diapers, not straight in a row but in that day itself. 



He is not much more easily distracted when he is drinking milk at the living room. He would sometimes stop to look around before continuing or I have to block his view from everything else and just direct his gaze onto me. 



He still has quite a lot of hair on his head compared to his brother. Cradle cap? Well, he had a very very very very mild one and that, too went away on its own quite fast..



He seems to show some allergy towards dairy products. Pimple-like marks will appear on his face after I take Milo especially.. so far, I have tried egg and it seem ok with him.



Yesterday afternoon, I was snacking on the CNY pea cookies and this morning, he was shitting green poop. *sigh* So now, I know how long does it take for him to digest or how long the milk from a certain meal gets to him.


Well, I am still learning how to cope between the two brothers' needs and praying their needs are one at a time and not two simultaneously.. that, I definitely go crazy. 

But, I am enjoying every single moment with my children.. and loving that Mason is only 2 months old right now.. and getting to appreciate each milestones he achieves.. and of course, I am very proud when Jaden surprises me with his understanding of things.. he is very selective, thats all. If he chooses to look and concentrate at whatever he does, he sure learn them fast or gets them correct most of the time. 


Friday, February 7, 2014

Missing us...

I missed my firstborn.

I missed him a lot.

I missed his happy self.

I missed spending quality time with him.

I missed sitting down with him and doing work with him.

I missed talking nicely to him, being patient with him.

I missed taking him out for his playground and swimming time.

I missed him just going out with me, just the two of us.

I missed going to his school, into his class and watch him show me what he can do.

I missed putting him to bed at night.

I missed the times that I would allow him to take his own sweet time...

Funny eh, even though he is beside me all the time at home right now, yet I miss him a great lot..

*sigh*

Saturday, February 1, 2014

2014 Chinese New Year

We celebrated our Chinese New Year in KL this year. 

No Melaka. 

No Penang.

Mason is too young to travel and the very fact that we did not want to expose him to so many people just yet is the main reason why.

Hubs. as usual, as a tradition now, he is the one in charge of preparing and cooking the reunion dinner food for all of us and boy, its awesome good.

After marrying Hubs, it is my first time of not eating steamboat as our reunion dinner. It is really different from how I grew up but hey, food is food and they are good. 

It is really touching to see Hubs slought away in the kitchen, cooking food that both Jaden and us could enjoy. I did contribute.  I made soup! =)

Mason was being a gem, sleeping away in his bouncer as three of us dug into our food. He woke up not long after we were 97% done with dinner and became demanding after that. It was supposed to be my turn to clean up but because I have to see to Mason, Hubs cleaned up too. *sigh* What is there not to be touched about, do you still have to ask?

Hubs then distributed angpows to both his sons and I when the clock striked 12am. Fireworks went off opposite our house and Jaden enjoyed them. 

Mason, fell asleep not long after as it was past his bedtime. 

First day of Chinese New Year was a very quiet one for us.

No house visits, no friends over.

Sad huh? but it was alright. This year I am not disappointed in the way we celebrated Chinese New Year. All for the better health for Mason.

At times, I do feel a little down, knowing that far up North, my big ass family are celebrating with much laughter and eating food at every house they visit. Sharing jokes here and then and gambling away. This is what Chinese New Year is all about, where relatives gather from near and far and just be comfortable and happy with each other's company.

Next year, hopefully we can go Melaka and then back to my hometown too. 

Jaden has been exposed once to my family's side of CNY celebrations. Next, would have to be Mason's turn as well. I am sure he would enjoy them as much as I did growing up.

Today, is the second day of Chinese New Year and I am supposed to have my friend over but because I slept off with a headache, woke up with a migraine, puked, I told her that we need to meet up some other time and just not today. I am still having the throbbing nagging feel behind my head and I think its best I pop another painkiller.. I need to be healthy to deal with the two boys of mine.. It really is energy-zapping when you are completely on your own dealing with two different needs and one that is attached to you most of the time. 

I did received a not so good news from my mom on reunion dinner night too. That my eldest aunt passed away on Wed night, the night before reunion dinner. 

Somehow I felt guilty that I never got to visit her in all my trips I made to Penang. Always full of excuses and now, she is gone.. Life is really precious and makes me think that both Hub's and my parents are already old and if we could, we should spend as much time as we can with them so we won't have any regrets.

Chinese New Year and its family theme do really get me sentimental thinking about how a family should be...