Saturday, December 29, 2007

always remember to pack your 'belongings' with you ... DO NOT leave anything behind

You know how you sometimes go some place, and then come home only to realise you left something behind at that said-some place? Could be a brochure you picked up while walking that you left behind at say, a mall ... could be a scarf or change of your kid's clothes you left at a friend's house when visiting ... that sort of thing, yea.

Well, this morning, I woke up to find out that my son had 'left something behind' too.

We were at The Gardens yesterday. Mid-morning to early afternoon - spent a good 3 hours and a bit there. First visit there for all 3 of us. Must say, I liked it. Much much quieter than the chaos that is KLCC and even OU during the weekends.

This morning, Big Z came to wake me up in an almost urgent but still sleepy tone. "Wake up, Mummy ... I need to mandi now". First thing I thought was ... oh dear ... please please don't tell me you wet your bed. He didn't. So yey. He had already stripped himself and was waiting in the shower cubicle by the time I waddled my way to the bathroom. With eyes still sepet and voice still serak (signs of not being fully awake himself just yet), I gave him his shower. And asked why the rush this morning. It was barely 7:30, and on a Sunday, no less. He replied, "we need to go now ...". Where?? "We need to go to the mall ... Gardens, Mummy". It was too hilarious as there he was, practically forcing his eyes to open wide and stand properly in the shower, but he clearly had bright-and-early plans to hit the mall again this morning. When I asked why we have to go there again today, why the urgency, his reply (as with most of his other replies) was very honest and adamant. His reply, "... becaussseeee..... I left them behind, Mummy. I left the shops behind yesterday. See ... now we need to go Gardens again". *LOL*

There you go! Did it ever occur to you that one could leave shops behind? Almost like we forgot to pack them shops with us when we left the mall yesterday! Haha ...

We aren't making the trip there again today, by the way. We've lunch plans with my parents instead. Let's hope we won't leave any favourite food or something behind today, or tomorrow may see him telling me we need to go back to the restaurant again.

Thursday, December 27, 2007

the 'missing' mole ...

For those who know me, you'd know I've a very prominent mole above my mouth (unless of course, when we meet, you never quite noticed it ... hehe). And then about a hundred more scattered around my body. OK .. maybe not quite a hundred, but plenty nevertheless. Just on my face, there's 5. But this isn't about me so much.

Big Z's story. Once again, yes.

He was in one of his affectionate moods earlier. Hugged and kissed me (the Daddy says to always embrace it all now coz he may just decide he's too much of a man to be hugging and kissing the Mummy once he hits the 7th yr! haha) and then cupped my face and commented on my mole. The one right above my mouth.

Immediately he had to check how he'd match his Mummy. Checked his face for moles he did! He has none on his face, by the way. Wasn't satisfied, so resorted to lifting his shirt up in search of that missing mole. While lifting the shirt up, said "ey ... where is it? where's it gone now?? ... mole's not behaving himself .. it's hiding, Mummy". *LOL*

I was amused. He wasn't quite as amused. Took it pretty seriously. Was finally comforted when he spotted a mole on his tummy. It's not as big and prominent as mine, but that'll do for now. It certainly made his day alright. "There! I found it. There's my mole". And then walked away a happy chap. :-)


On that note, a good weekend to all!

Mandarin for Dummies (Big Z style) ...

I know no Mandarin. Big Z however, has started learning Mandarin in school. Asked him just moments ago what he learns in his Mandarin class. After a lot of reluctance to entertain the Mummy, he finally acknowledged me. So I asked how one counts in Mandarin. After a short pause, he started laughing away on his own. As soon as he could mouth out his sense of humour, he left me in laughter as well! See, according to Big Z, this is how one counts in Mandarin ...


"Mandarin one ... Mandarin two ... Mandarin three ... Mandarin four ..."


Both Mummy and the Big Z were laughing in hysterics for a good 3 to 5 minutes. :-)


Those interested in learning the said-language, I'm guessing you should continue the progression mentioned above. It'll continue as "Mandarin five ... Mandarin six ... and so on". You get the picture, yea? ;-)
But just between you and me, I'd strongly suggest you learn the language thoroughly and correctly, and NOT the way that Big Z has; plenty of sense of humour, zilch in the actual accuray of the language.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

down to the last one ...

It could be one of two things -
(a) there's still some significant amount of room
(b) someone's proving to be a very active and restless little one

Had my check-up this morning. 2 weeks ago, Baby Z seemed to be on her way down the birth canal, with head already downwards, but not engaged. Today, it's the complete opposite, with head up against my ribs (right side) and legs curled up towards the bottom left of me tummy. At the sight of this, Dr G classified this as a true breech position, but he's not alarming me as upon further check, there are no signs of me going into early labour. Which means, technically, there should be sufficient time for her to turn herself back around. Unless she's pretty small, with still much space in the uterus to somersault every other day or so ... then a breech birth may be in store for me. Eeeek! For now, she weighs 1.8kg, which is apparently a normal weight for this stage of the pregnancy - 33 weeks plus.


On the homefront, I've completed personalized paintings for her lil corner, welcomed in more newbies in the origami paper crane population, got her crib, baby carrier-cum-carseat, stroller, a pack of newborn short onesies and a pack of newborn full-bodysuits. My mum's telling me to start packing my bag for the hospital stay, but packing it now-ish makes me feel like I'll be checking in for my labour stay in the next couple of weeks. I wouldn't want to go into labour so soon. Not just yet. So, the hospital bag packing is still a pending bit of work I would need to get to in due time.


The title at the top of this entry refers to one last Galaxy bar I've got left to indulge in. That'll be my sinful craving at the moment, yes. Tsk tsk tsk . . .

Sunday, December 23, 2007

what you'll get from an ambidextrous (might be) lil dude . . .

Some of the 'finer' things you hear coming out of Big Z's mouth ...


:: in the car, myself and The Daddy were talking, music wasn't exactly soft, so our voices weren't exactly on the low volume either, Big Z was trying to 'read' his book ::

Big Z: ey Mummy .... can you please talk softly? i can't son-ken-trate!

note: son-ken-trate = concentrate



:: on the sofabed, lying down next to me, kissing my belly ::

Big Z: when Baby Adik comes, you go to your doctor ... and you're not scared anymore Mummy ... yes? you're not scared anymore ... doctor checks your baby, and then I wait for you at Atok's house, yes? that's a good idea, yes?

note: a lot of 'yes' at the end of his sentences, almost to clarify things and give himself the peace of mind on things to come :-)



:: on noticing my belly button is now an 'outie' and not an 'innie' anymore ::

Big Z: why's the baby so fat, Mummy? she push your button out already!! ... (shakes head and says) why ... why ...?

note: yup, my belly button's no longer the deep valley that it used to be .. it's so sticking out there, pretty much has a head-start compared to the rest of my body now! not a pretty sight, i tell ya. but, all part and parcel of being pregnant, right? heavily pregnant, no less!



Oh, on a separate note, I'm starting to think that Big Z could be ambidextrous.
I did observe a while back how he'd swap his spoon from one hand to the other when eating, just as he'd swap his pen or crayon from one hand to the other when writing. But this was some time back, when he was about a year plus, so I didn't think much of it - citing it as just a toddler perfecting his motor skills. But recently, some weeks back, I watched him write his name and only after he'd finished writing it, did I notice he was using his left hand. More often, I see him using his right hand. What was even more surprising, was the fact that his name had never looked so neat as that left-hand's crafty job. Maybe he should use his left hand more when writing and painting then ... it may produce neater pieces of work.

So yea, whadya think? Big Z an ambidextrous maybe?
Both The Daddy and myself are righties. But, my dad is ambidextrous and my brother's a lefty. It could be possible then that Big Z's taking after my dad, yes?

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

a break from waddling . . .

So. It turns out, I'm not due early March, not even late February. I've been going through this pregnancy thinking it'll be a late Feb/early March baby. Yesterday, all was 'clarified'. Turns out, I've another 8 weeks to go, making my due date the end of the 1st week of February. Yippie!! Yes, I'm thrilled but not so much as to want to welcome the baby as early as say, mid or late January. I'd gladly let Baby Z get to her 'ripest' while in my tummy till she really has no more room to wriggle about in, and then yea, I should be ready then to do the mom-thing in the labour room.


If all goes well, the whole labour and delivery ordeal would be no more than 5 hours long. That was the experience I had with Big Z. So, any longer than 5 hours, I can't possibly say "I've been there, done that", can I now? Which means, any longer than 5 hours, I'd be a tad bit freaked out.


Maybe I'd write a bit now on my labour and birth story with Big Z.
My due date was the 20th August 2003. On the 19th, I had my scheduled routine check-up. Went in and found out I was already 2cm dialated. Gynae asked if I felt any pain, any contractions, anything different from the norm the previous night. Nope. Didn't feel anything different. He told me I must have a pretty high threshold of pain. So, I was to come in the next morning at 7am, get myself admitted, settle in my room, and then at 8am, my gyane will come check on my progress. That morning, at 8am, he walked in and checked - I was 4cm dialated. Once again, I hadn't felt anything. At about 8:40am, he broke my waterbag. Contractions will speed up once the waterbag's broken, that's the way it goes, right? So, at 9:15am, I was wheeled into the labour ward. Very anxious and excited by now. But still, didnt' feel anything. No pain. Got in the labour ward, and only as I was changing into the hospital gown did the pain suddenly (and finally!) hit me. Jabbing pain it was. It was like being attacked on all sides of your abdomen. With hospital gown on now, I parked myself on the bed and soon, the gynae and nurses came in. My epidural was ordered immediately. But, ticklish me, made it all a wee bit trickier for the anaesthesist to put the epidural in me, as the needle kept tickling me. It took a while longer than necessary (according to him and the nurses). But once in, the epidural worked wonders. Prior to it settling in me and doing its thing in my system, I did feel the contractions - its strong, sharp pain. It's a good thing then that I'm such a ticklish person by nature, as at least, I can say I did feel the physical pain that is labour contractions, and not just immediately resort to painkillers. ;-)


Epidural in and working, I didn't feel any pain anymore. It was just mostly this cold and very-soon-after shivering sensation which I felt the rest of the labour time. Of course, there was the extreme drowsiness too. I slept a good 2 hours or so. I woke up, and was in my chirpiest of mood, very happy indeed, no pain, and basically, no sense of touch at all. Told me to wriggle my toes, I did (or so I thought i did .. nothing moved). Told me to stretch my legs out front, again, I'm certain I did, but in truth, I pretty much folded my right leg in half backwards. Yes, it was an odd sight indeed, but it kept the nurses amused, which in turn left them real sweet and helpful to me throughout the labour. At exactly noon, I was 8cm dialated. By now, I was dozing on and off, but knowing that it was already 8cm, it shouldn't take much longer. At 1pm, I was fully dialated. All of 10cm. The nurses paged for my gyane, who was at the time in some lunch talk, so they were a bit panicky as they could not locate him at first. He finally came up just before 1:15pm (not a long wait, but I suppose at the time, everyone panics! heheh), and I was told to start pushing at 1:15pm. Pushed and pushed I did. Nothing! Yup. The epidural was so strong, I just couldn't feel anything. What I thought was 'push', was in fact just me adjusting my posture. Haha. The nurses had to physically push me down then, just the first couple of times, and then I got the hang of it. Two more pushes, and Big Z was out. All 3.44kg and 51cm of him. At 1:36pm. On Wednesday, the 20th August 2003. He really did come out on his due date. Punctuality at its best here. Hehe.


It's not such a bad birth story then, right? Just over 4 hours in the labour ward. 9am to 1:36pm. So yes, I'm very much hoping and praying for an equally smooth and 'easy' labour and birth with Baby Z now.


My check-up with the gynae yesterday went well. He said baby's growing normally, statistics are all fine and healthy, with a note that Baby Z could possibly be on the big side, hence the aches I'm having now in my lower pelvic area. Baby Z has moved down, ie: head is down, but not enaged yet. Had a peek at her face - very round indeed. I can't help but wonder if she'll inherit my curly hair. I had incredibly curly noodle-y hair as a baby and toddler, but over the years, it kinda sorted itself out to my now-naturally-wavy hair. Something also tells me she'll be tall, after the Daddy. But we shall wait and see. All part of the suspense and surprise of meeting baby for the first time. :-) Gynae pointed out that I'll most likely have a similar sort of labour and birth experience this time round, and even possibly a shorter one (labour time). Seriously?? Well, I sure hope he's right. :-) But I've already speicified and reminded him that I'd like that lil thing called the epidural at hand, in the event I'm all crying and aching in pain. I'm not one of them ninja all au naturel moms - go through it all with NO painkillers at all. No no. Not me. I'll pay extra for comfort and convenience. Epidural it shall be.


8 weeks to go then. As I'm typing this out, I've now a cot in our room, about 4 tops and 1 pants for Baby Z. And that's about it really. We haven't bought her anything yet. The clothes were gifts and the cot's a hand-me-down. I'm now thinking this weekend could be a good time to start going out looking for baby things - namely the baby carrier, the stroller, changing mat and a bathtub. But knowing me, I'll just end up looking, and not buying just yet.


Meanwhile, I've more things to tidy up around the house, not just to make space for new resident at home, but so too to keep me sane and not be drowning in the masses of papers and books and magazines and trains (that'll be Big Z's story) that have taken over the house!


Oh, and just in case you're wondering how I look like now, imagine a penguin or a duck (whichever takes your fancy more). I'm just like them now. Waddling I do so frighteningly well, and walking I have almost forgotten how to! *LOL*

Thursday, December 6, 2007

a mommy's cry . . .


tired i am, exhausted i am, in pain i am
but to simply unwind, pause and stop work is just not an option here.

dream i shall then - of faraway holiday spots perhaps, or just a good lie-in at home.


should i wave my 'red flag' now?
should i quit trying to be mom-and-housewife-extraordinaire?
should i just shut both eyes to the chaos that is the state of the house (or life)?


sigh...........


it must all be worth the aches and pain,
it must all be worth the string of complaints


but seriously though,


how much longer to my end reward, my much-needed pat-on-the-back, my own special treat?



:: don't be fooled by the photo - am barely managing it all ::


Monday, December 3, 2007

a bilinguist he is alright!

. . . or is he? Haha . . .


Big Z was just lying down on the bed, mainly talking to himself. And then he wanted to know the equivalent of some Malay words in English.


Started of very promisingly with the Malay word 'ayam'. To which he confidently shouted out 'chicken' as the English equivalent. Yes, very good. And then it pretty much ended there - all promises of a good thing. I offered the next word, 'nasi', to which he enthusiastically offered the word 'goreng'. *LOL*


I couldn't help but laugh, and told him that 'nasi' is rice and that 'goreng' means fried in English. So, after chicken and rice (incidentally, a combination of the two calls for a pretty yummy treat .. hehe), it basically went down hill ...
'gajah' - his reply was "hey ... this is too difficult, Mummy"
'bunga' - his reply was "err ... I don't know laaa"


That sums up Big Z's sense of humour at 4 years old. I'd rather think he was just being super-cheeky and plain lazy really, as opposed to thinking he hasn't quite grasped the 2 languages. Separately, he knows these words and what they mean in each language, but when asked to give the equivalent word in the other language, well, a right answer we do not get.

Sunday, December 2, 2007

'hide and see' . . .

. . . or hide and seek for the rest of us. Big Z gets it confused every so often - one day it's 'hide and seek' (bravo!), the next, it's 'hide and see', or 'hide and peek' (or is it peak?). Hehe.


But this entry is about another Z. That's right. Baby Z.


The moves that are going on in me these days are happening so often and somewhat rough too. My tummy moves in all direction, I'm pretty convinced Baby Z's an even more active baby than Big Z ever was in my tummy all those 4 yrs plus ago. While Big Z used to only move during the night (but mind you, ALL THROUGH the night though), Baby Z now moves ANYTIME of the day. And pretty much ALL the time really.


Could it also possibly be that Baby Z's cheekier than Big Z was? More playful too? Or could it all just be coincidental?


Typical scenario . . . I feel a fair amount of movement, I let it be for some minutes, until I finally have to see it all properly (ie: lift my top and see and feel the tummy move while Baby Z does her thing). So, I lift my top, put my hands directly on my tummy, and then she freezes. Doesn't move at all. I remove my hands but still have my eyes fixed on the tummy and still, nothing. I then pull my top back down and go about doing what I was previously doing and then ... what do we get?? Another series of active, rough, violent, move-in-all-directions movements from the Baby Z.


This also happens every single time I get the Daddy to come watch her movements. She'll be all rolling about from side to side, or kicking and stretching away, and then the minute the Daddy stands next to me (regardless of him placing his hands on my tummy or not), she stops immediately. It's her little game with us.


I'm trying now to find a sneaky way around getting to actually watch them movements as they happen and not just feel them. Clearly I've got to be real quick and sneaky about it as she seems to master the art of 'hide and seek' rather well, I'd say.