Mummy you go work...i go to school ok?

2nd November marks another new chapter for Naomi which is her first day at school. Tjun Aun and myself took 3 days leave and accompany Naomi to her new nursery. The principle advise us to take 3days off and follow her to school so that she won't get a 'culture shock' or feel that we abandoned her etc.

She woke up early and then I just gave her a quick wipe and brush her teeth and change her to her PE uniform. I can't really tell how's her actual feeling as she didn't really show it. I'm worried and quickly say a prayer in my heart.

We went to school together and she was quite out of place and I heard that she's one of the youngest girl in her class. There are about 10children in her class. She was more fascinated with the toys than her class and follow instructions. The principle said for her class (2-3yrs) the teachers will not force them to do anything (Which is why I choose this nursery). Cause if you force them too much, they won't feel happy and they won't be able to express themselves and learn anything in the future. The principle's daughter is in the 5 year old class and she has a lot of experience in child care and education.

When we arrived, it was the children's playtime and they went outside to play at the playground.

There were slides, see saw, toy cars and etc. Naomi was too careful towards her surroundings and she even close the gate for safety reason. Sometimes I really cannot believe she's only 2 plus??!

After that it was breakfast time and everyone was given a cucur udang and Naomi only ate half of the cucur and gave the rest to me. She was too excited with the new toys so she ran over and play with the toys instead of enjoying her breakfast. After breakfast was their singing session, the children sang "Twinkle Twinkle little star" This is one of Naomi's fav songs of course and she did sing a long with other children but the funny thing was everyone sang in normal tone but she alone sang so loud and i can hear her voice and the principle commented that "wow....she can sing yea?"

The principle advise us not to leave her and we took her back after her lunch and bath. 2nd day was way better than I expected. She reached her school, had breakfast and then she wants to poo-poo. She ran to the bathroom and told one of the teacher (yes, she didn't even come to me). Teacher praised her and kept saying she's a clever girl etc. The funny thing is when she was doing her 'business' in the toilet and one of the teacher came near her, Naomi shouted at the teacher "Go away, here smelly" "When I'm done, I call you" The teacher was laughing so hard.

Tjun aun and myself are confident to let her go for full day so we said good bye and let her nap in the school. I called at 2pm to check on her and one of the staff told me she look sleepy and going to sleep already. We went to pick her up at 5pm and the teacher told me she slept in school but with persuasion from the teacher of course. The third day, we just drop her off and then me and tjun aun went for breakfast, shop around at Gurney plaza and just laze around the house.

When we went to pick Naomi up from school, she was hanging out with her friends screaming and shouting at the spinning windmill outside the nursery. I talked to her teacher for a while asking for feedback and how is she etc. The teacher asked me this "Are you sure Naomi haven't been to school before?" I told her yes, this is her first. The teacher was surprised and told me she is coping very well and no problem at all. I'm very proud of my little girl! And the teacher add on "Whatever we tell her or ask her to do something, she sure answer back one, this girl surely will answer you something back...always" I just laughed. Teacher told me she can make friends easily and when we left, all her classmates was saying Bye, Naomi! So, it was not that hard after all?

This morning when I was getting ready for work, she ask me mummy, you go work ? I said yes and she adds on "Then I go to school lo.." I laughed and told her yes dear.

Starting all over again?

2 months back, I received a very bad news from Alice, my babysitter. She was not able to care for my 2 kids anymore. This happened when her mother in law passed away suddenly in her sleep about few months back. Her mother in law normally will help her in taking care of my kids too and doing their house chores too. So, losing her means a lot to their family and mine too.
After her mother in law’s passing, I actually prep myself mentally to be prepared for the worst but to my surprised she told me she still wants to take care of my kids because she and her whole family really love them very much and treat them as their own children. She hired a lady who happens to be her close friend to help around and she pays the lady about 70% of what I’m paying her. I paid her about 1.1K every month and she paid the lady RM700 and she only takes RM400.
I was grateful but guilty at the same time. Few months past by and about 2 months ago, she told me that her friend manage to get another job and didn’t want to work with her anymore and she can’t manage 5kids (she has 3 kids on her own) alone. I understand her feelings as I know babysitting is definitely not an easy task especially you need to take care of the house, chores to do, cooking and fetching the kids to school etc.
So, I need to look for a new babysitter. But I got a surprised from my mother because she volunteered herself as my new babysitter. I was of course very grateful for this favour. My mother is a career woman and I know she sacrifice a lot by giving up her job to do babysitting. Who doesn’t want a family member to help take care of your own kids’ right?
I started to bring the kids to my mom’s place every weekend and let them bond with her and to familiarize the house and what not. 1 month passed by and my mom told me another bad news. She wasn’t able to cope with the 2 kids alone and she was having backache and etc. Another thing is her bosses actually gave her salary increment and ask her to stay in her current job. I was of course devastated and nearly went crazy as it was barely a month away before I can find a new babysitter. I was very upset and down and thought of resigning my current job too.
My mother finally manage to find me a babysitter just staying opposite of her house. We plan to send Isaac to the babysitter and Naomi to full day nursery cum day care centre.
Hopefully this new babysitter will love and care for Isaac like their own child. Finger crossed!
As for Naomi, this is definitely a new chapter for her. I have so many things on my mind like will she cry when we send her there? Will she able to cope? Will the kids bully her? Is it too much for her (As we will be sending her for full day). Can she eat well? Sleep well? Will she fall sick often? I also need to prepare myself mentally and physically as well.
We’re still deciding on which nursery to send her to yet. Hopefully, we can finalize everything by mid of this month. We already have few options but we’ll see how it goes.

What a night!

Last Thursday, we went to pick up the kids as usual. That night, Naomi complained that she’s having head pain. When I saw her, she look quite pale but I just thought maybe she look fairer and fresher after her bath so I ignore the first sign. Alice told me she slept early that day around 12+ and woke up around 3pm and maybe she’s tired. She went to bed at 8:30pm which is very early as she normally will go to sleep around 10-11pm.

She woke up at 12+ and she said "stomach pain". Suddenly, she vomited…..a lot of vomit and the smell was terrible. I recognize that smell immediately. Durian! and I can see bits and pieces of durian fleshes on my pillow and bed sheets as she co-sleep with us that night. She felt one kind as this is the first time she vomited ( I think). She looked scared and I was so scared also. Tjun Aun was telling me horror story that she might hit her head at baby sitter’s house and has internal injuries and that cause the vomiting etc etc. Alice told me she didn’t fell down and etc. Well, I trust her as she was taking care of my kids for more than 2 years and would she lie now?

Well, to be on the safe sides, we decided to consult specialist. I call up Dr Tan Eng Guan’s cell phone immediately. That time was about 12:30-1am and he picked up the phone and told thim he situation and he asked me to go to the hospital emergency. Naomi’s body started to feel warm. It was not very ‘hot’ but definitely has fever.

When we reached the hospital, the staff wanted to take Naomi’s body temperature but she was using both her hands to cover both her ears. Minutes later, she vomited again. I’ve never seen her so weak before. She held on to me the whole night and was lying on my chest the hold time (manja-la). Finally, Dr Tan came in about 20minutes later. Again, she did not want the doctor to check her body temperature. Dr said her fever might not be very high as her body was not very ‘hot’ and just warm. Of course, Tjun Aun’s concern was “Did she fell down and knock her head?” and “Got internal injuries or not?” Doctor said due to the fever, she might have slight headache and normally internal injuries won’t cause fever and vomiting. We were quite relieved to hear that. Then I asked him, is it cause of the durian? He also mention not because of that. He diagnosed her with viral infections.

Dr asked the nurse to insert 2 soft medications to her buttocks (to relieve her fever). She already started to cry when I brought her to the side bed. She kept screaming and crying and we need 3 people to hold her. Luckily the nurse is quite experience and it was done within seconds. She stops crying after that and Naomi was still weak. We went back home and we let her watch cartoon on TV. She didn’t feel sleepy and that time was about 3am already. I need to feed her the vomiting medicine and I pray quietly that no drama and she will take it. Well, true enough, no problem when taking medication. Proud of my girl! I can see she began to become more active and was playing with her toys already.

Before I took her to sleep she told me she’s hungry and want something to eat and she wants biscuits. I gave her 3 Jacob’s oatmeals biscuits and she ate all of them! After that, she was Zzzzz. I did not send her to babysitter’s place the next day as I was on leave. Actually I wanted to rest and relax but in the end I want to take care of her. I only send Isaac’s to babysitter’s house that day.

The next morning, she still complain about head pain. I still continue feeding her PCM. Doctor said if her vomiting stops, means it’s a good sign but if she continues to vomit we need to admit her right away. Thank God, her vomiting stop that night itself. Dr Tan gave me a call on Friday afternoon to check on her. He is good right ?

He asked me what is her temperature and I told him through the phone, she won’t let me take her temperature as usual but I can feel she’s still warm. I just update the doctor on her progress and doctor said nothing to worry about and just continue with the medication. After I hung up the phone, Naomi took the ear thermometer from my drawer and gave it to me. This is what she said to me “Mummy, faster faster do” “Naomi stand still still” I was shocked….and funny ok? She’s letting me to put the thermometer into her ear! I quickly took her temperature. It was 37.3

She knows I was talking about her on the phone with Dr Tan. :)

I stop giving her the medication on Saturday as she has fully recovered. :)

Sharing & Giving....It goes both ways?

Naomi has been giving in to Isaac most of the time and I'm not having any hard time making sure they both get along well. Surprisingly, she's doing okay and able to help me to take care of Isaac for few minutes. Sometimes she will request from me to help take care of Isaac. Most of the time when I'm not free. I will put Isaac inside the cot or play pen and Naomi will ask me whether she can help to look after him or not. I'll be glad to and will carry Isaac to our bed so that Naomi can play with him. Isaac, being the youngest sibling still doesn't know how to play and control his hand movement very well yet and he will try to snatch toys from his sister. Naomi usually will give the toys to him. I actually took this picture when I saw both of them playing together. Naomi was talking to Isaac and telling him "Wait ya, Naomi "on" the music for you" "Wait ya" "Ok, on already" "Here you go". But when I click the button Naomi realize I was taking their picture and she said "Chi Chak" and do her finger pose. Haihh.....

There's another incident when Naomi was having her afternoon nap on our bed and I was breastfeeding Isaac but Isaac saw his sister sleeping on the bed and decided to call her instead of concentrating on his feeding session. He turn to the other side and use his hand and touch Naomi's back (Very rough) and keep on disturbing her. Naomi turn (very sleepily) and pat his head and told him "Che Che sleeping" then turn back and continue sleeping.....cute or not? hehe

Naomi @27months

This pic was taken b4 the movie start.

We took Naomi for her 1st movie experience in the cinema last week!

Are we crazy or what?! hahaha.....It was not my idea actually (It was daddy's idea) as I feel she's way too young to enjoy or sit still in the cinema for 1 1/2 hours show.

We went to see Monster vs Alien (3D) show at GSC Gurney Plaza. We book the tickets via e-payment so that we are able to secure good seats and it was quite pack as it was still school holidays. True enough, when we reach GSC it was so packed! Unfortunately, we couldn't bring Isaac along and Alice (my babysitter) was kind enough to take care of him while 3 of us went for the movie.

Each of us are given a 3D goggle so that we can enjoy the 3D effects from the movie. The goggle is too big for Naomi and daddy has to hold for her. We have to buy 3 tickets so that we can get 3 goggles but Naomi share the seat with her daddy cause the seat is also too big for her...hehehe..

Well....she manage to sit still for 1hour only. I can see she did enjoy herself and she strecth her hands out to touch the objects when the 3D effects were shown at the screen. It was kinda cute...

But after that 1 hour os sitting still, the drama started-lah..she began to crawl from daddy's seat to my seat. She was talking in the cinema as well and she wants to go to the toilet so I took her to the toilet. After another 10more minutes, she said she wants her milk. I didn't bring hot water with me but I have the normal lukewarm drinking water with me so I just mix her milk using that water for her but she told me. "Mummy, please put hot hot water" Another headache for me. So what I did was I took her with me (and the milk bottle) and we went to the cinema's cafe and ask for hot water. The waiter is kind enough to give me some hot water. After that, brought her back to the cinema and we continue watching the movie until the end.

Luckily the show was not that long and we did wait till the movie ended :)

After the movie, I took her to the toilet again. After that we walk around the mall for a while before heading back home. Isaac was home already as my mother in law went to pick him up from Alice's house after she finishes her work.

Belated Mother's Day Post

This post is dedicated to all mothers out there.

Without our mothers, we would not be here today. My mom has taught me well and i'm grateful for that. :)

I would also like to say a special thank you to my babysitter - Alice who is taking care of my 2 kids (Naomi & Isaac). She is only 37 years old and has 3 kids (age 13,10 & 8). I'm thankful for her as she's like the 2nd mother to my 2 kids. Naomi & Isaac spend most of their time at their house as I'm a full time working mother. I'm still taking care of them on weeknights & full day during the weekends. I thank God that he has bless me with a good babysitter. They (including her husband Leslie) really love and care for Naomi & Isaac like their own children. Naomi even calls them 'mama' & 'papa'. Many people ask me if I'm okay with this like feel jealous or etc. At first, I do feel a bit uncomfortable but after a while I realize they really love her so much and didn't mean any harm and I should be glad they treat her good.

Besides taking care of her they taught her many things as well. Naomi wished me "Happy Mother's Day" during mother's day and she gave me a hug and a hand made purple carnation too (she did it with the help of my babysitter). Isn't that sweet? I was very touched as I didn't expected that from a 2 year old.

I try my best to be a good role mother for my children. Before I'm a mother, I always take things for granted and cannot imagine what my mother has to go through. Now I'm a mother myself I really feel her and it definately has it's ups & downs. I would like to wish all moms out there

a very Happy Belated Mother's Day...=)

Naomi @26months

Last Saturday we took Naomi for her Pneumococcal jab. This is the first time we took Isaac & Naomi together to the hospital. Both of them behave rather well actually. I actually prepare myself for the worst cause Naomi hasn't see her paediatrician or visit to the hospital in a loooooong time. Her last visit was when she's 18months old and also for a jab and it has not been a good one. She cried so loud and everyone was looking at us. *shy*

But to my surprise, she was behaving rather well and when the nurse wants to take her height and weight she's so co-operative and still no crying. When we go inside the paediatrician's room, he ask Naomi to open her mouth and say 'Aaaa' she follows without hesitation. I was so proud of her! *yay*

But when the nurse was preparing the injection stuff, the drama started la......she started crying already even before the doctor touch her. Doctor was on the phone with someone and she was crying and struggling at the high bed already. I need to hold both her hands and 2 nurses was holding her legs and then the doctor came and quickly gave the shot. I saw her holding the doctor's hand and told him "pain! pain!pain!" I had to calm her down and she was alright after that. Next was Isaac's turn, he just cried like less than 10 seconds when the needle touch his leg after that he's like normal self. So, that's the difference between my drama queen and mr. cool :)

We were told that after this Pneumococcal jab, she will develop slight fever so we need to feed her PCM. I was thinking in my head...."Oh no! Another difficult task!" So in the evening, I took out the PCM and I try to talk and explain to her that she need to take her medicine so that her leg no more pain she cried a little whenever i remind her of her jab. lolz then she nod her head so I put the PCM on a spoon and ask her to open her mouth and she did! She took the medicine like a matured girl...no crying! I was like "Wow...this is easy....too easy for me!"

The next day, as I was preparing lunch for her and she was playing by herself downstairs. Daddy was looking after Isaac and when I walk out from the kitchen I got a shocked of my life! I saw Naomi's face was swollen. There were red bumps on her forehead & under her eyes. I quickly called Tjun Aun and he said we need to send her to see the doctor immediately and since it was Sunday our regular paediatrician was not working that day so I called up another Dr's handphone. Yes, my friend gave me his handphone number and thank God he is still in the hospital so we quickly took Naomi there. While waiting for our turn, Naomi's redness has subsides so we thought maybe it was nothing serious. I did ask her what bite her and she told me mosquito but nobody knows whether she's telling the truth or not.

After checking with Dr Tan, he told us that she has develop an allergy reaction towards something (either insect bite or food allergy). He prescribes piriton and another type of medicine for my girl. The redness actually subsides even before we feed Naomi her medication. But I still feed her anyway for just in case. Anyway, I'm glad she's alright and nothing serious happen to her.

Cloth Diaper.....anyone?

I know it's quite late to invest in cloth diaper now. I'm not talking about the traditional cloth diaper but actually referring to the cloth diaper (the latest trend in the market). They are a bit pricey (that is why I use the term 'invest'). Since Naomi has been fully potty train but at night I still let her sleep with her diaper on. For the past few weeks, she has been inconsistent. Sometimes 1 or 2 days she will wet her disposable. For example, 2 weeks ago, she did not wet her disposable for 4nights in a row and imagine this 'kiam siap' or 'kiasu' mummy re-use the disposable up to 4 nights! So I only use the same and only 1 disposable diaper up to 4nights. I know this is unhealthy for her bottom so I finally decided to invest in cloth diaper.

At first, I only buy 2 cloth diapers from Happy Heiny's http://www.happyheinys.com/( to test first) Then last week I bought 2 more. I never regret buying them :) Let me tell you why.

First, Naomi and Isaac can share the cloth diaper as it is a one size diaper (the buttons are adjustable). The diaper is suitable for baby from newborn till L size. Below are the sample, note: this is the same diaper but with different settings. I plan to put Isaac on cloth diaper when he is 6months old onwards.

Second, the absorbency is very good. No leaking when toddler (a heavy wetter like Naomi) accidentally take a leak or especially during the night where they can't really hold their bladder for that long period of time. So, this is diff compare to the traditional cloth diaper.

Third, no more disposable diaper and definately more environmental friendly :)

Fourth, Disposable diapers contain chemicals, paper, and plastic, and have been reported to cause allergic reactions among other serious health problems. Cloth diapers are a more natural choice and are available in organic fabrics that are either untreated, or minimumally treated with chemicals.

Fifth, will save you money in the long run. Depending on the cloth diapering system you choose, you can save from RM 1,000 - RM 2,000 from birth to potty learning by choosing to use cloth instead of disposable diapers.

Last but not least, the designs are irresistable and nice :) I'm in love with them!!

PS: Some people might find this troublesome as we still need to wash the cloth diaper BUT you can just throw them in the washine machine and you don't have to change the diaper often (like the traditional) cause the level of absorbency is good. You can read the website for more info on how to clean and care for the diapers if you guys are interested.

"Happy Cloth Diapering!"

aikssss.....i'm doing my 'business'

About 1 month ago, Naomi already started to use to toilet bowl to do her business. I need to train her cause when we need to go outside (especially during her class or short trip to shopping mall)she need to use the toilet bowl instead of her usual potty.
This is the pic I took using my camera phone (sorry for the bad quality pic) last Saturday morning.
My little girl has definately grown up a lot and more independent now :)

Chop, Chop? Anyone?

This is another activity that I introduce to Naomi. We called it "chop, chop"

Normally I will let her play with this when we're dining out so that she'll sit on her high chair for at least 20minutes and let me have quiet dinner.

Before that, I will just let her simply chop in the paper. Just 2 months ago, I started to draw simple lines that look like small boxes and ask her to chop inside the box instead. She's able to listen to my simple instructions. Look at the pictures below:

Imaginative Play...

Naomi has shown interest in acting out various roles with her toys and I find them interesting to blog about. We encourage her to explore as well. Here are some of the examples on her imaginative play.

Play 1:

She has 2 Barbie Dolls (Gifts from her grandma) for christmas and Naomi will talk to the dolls and ask them to sleep, eat and read book. She sounded like me especially when she ask the dolls to do something. She will comb their hair and help them to wear shoes and etc.

Play 2:

She has a doctor set toys which includes all the doctor's accessories such as plastic thermometer, stetoscope, stringe, scissors, plasters and etc. She will pretend she's the doctor and me or daddy is the patient. Sometimes Isaac will be the patient as well. She will use her stetoscope to hear our heartbeat or take the stringe and pretend to give us injections. It has been ages since Naomi went to visit the doctor and her last visit was when she was 18months and it was not a good experience as she screams and wails like mad girl and everyone was looking at her! I read from book that by introducing kids/toddlers with this imaginative play (doctor set) it will help the child to be more open when going for a jab or visit the doctor. Well....hope it works as we're planning to take Naomi for the Pneumococcal jab in May together with Isaac's check up. Then I will update in this blog and let you guys know.

Play 3:

We bought for her another cooking playset ("masak-masak" set) from Jusco for RM10 only and the set has all the accessories for cooking like stove, bowl, plate, spoon, cup, fork, knife and etc.

She will pretend to cook for us or cut the meat or vegetables as well. She will ask her dolls to eat her food too....haha

Play 4:

Another pretend play is her music set that has drum, guitar and microphone. Her favourite are the guitar and microphone. She will use her microphone to sing songs and jam with her guitar. The funny thing is when she plays with her guitar, she will do like the rockstar type, with her 2 legs open wide and then strum her guitar. She sometimes will shake her hair as well (especially when she saw the A-Mei concert advertisement last time).

I've read in books that imaginative play is extremely important for young children as this is where they begin the very tricky lesson of working out ‘life situations’ – learning by replaying the situations they’ve seen other children and adults dealing with. It’s an essential ‘game’ – if you like – that involves the stimulation and rehearsal of communication, social and language skills.

Another milestone achieved....

Naomi has been fully potty-train for both morning and night. She's able to hold her bladder better now even at night when she's sleeping. I actually never expect that to be so fast as I've bought a waterproof bedpad for her but I haven't got the chance to use it yet.

I still put her on diaper during night time but her diaper remains dry the next day and it has been about more than 1 week already.

Every night before her bedtime, she will tell me "Mummy, I want to shee shee" so I will let her sit on her potty and she will do her business every night without fail. After a bottle of milk she will straight away go to bed and normally I will wake her up around 7am (even though she's still sleeping) and ask her to do her business. She will sit on her potty no matter how sleepy she is and empty her bladder. She still can went back to sleep after her business. During that time, I will remove her diaper already and then will send her to baby sitter's house without her diaper on.

If we're going out for a while or short distant trip, normally I will let her be diaper-free as well. I will only use diaper when we go out shopping (long hours) or those places that won't have toilets or dirty toilets only. Seriously, I have save a lot on disposable diapers now. Good Job Naomi!

Foodies' Choice....

Since 4-5months ago, Naomi has been very picky about what she eats. I'm not sure whether is this one of the stages that every parent and child need to go through and it was tough! Before that, she's very open to what she eats and I don't or NEVER have any problem feeding her food.

So every Friday I need to think of what type of foods to cook for Naomi cause I'm taking care of her during the weekends. Before this, she will just eat the food cook by my MIL (rice with vege or meat and soup). As Asian, we need to have rice in our meal be it lunch or dinner. Naomi doesn't want to eat rice anymore. She will say "dun-wan" "dun-wan" when we ask her to eat rice.

So, I have to be creative with my food choices. I introduced her to pasta instead (for carbo) so I will cook spaghetti bolognese, macaroni and cheese and what she love most is the plain boil spiral pasta (without any sauce). I've also tried pancake with maple syrup and she love it as well. Sometimes when I'm lazy I will just prepare ham and cheese sandwich for her for lunch.

She still takes her fruits so not a problem for me. As for snacks, she still will eat her crackers, cereals, oats, yogurts, energy bars, jell-0, raisins, steam sweet potatoes and chocolate.

My parents kept telling me, she must eat rice cannot eat all this. But I have no choice and some even commented that she is so western style and not 'chinaman' style at all. It's a plus for me at least she eat something right? Oh yea...she loves milk very much and will drink milk at least 4-5times(8oz) daily.

But last 2 weeks, she surprised all of us again. She asked for rice! She told her grandma last week before her class "Eat Rice" "Eat Rice" and she finishes all her rice and ask for more! I'm so happy when she did that and last week she did the same thing again. I realize that she cannot take fish/meat together with her rice as she will push the food out from her mouth and make a mess. If I give her separately she will eat them. I know her pattern but I'm not complaining since at the end of the day her bowl is squeaky clean!

How Is Naomi coping so far with baby Isaac around...

I've decided to blog about this topic today since many people ask me these questions:

How is Naomi coping? Jealous or not? Can sayang baby or not? or bully baby? and the etc etc

Well...surprisingly she's doing okay cause I expected the worst and I didn't get her any 'gifts' or 'presents' to present to her when we came back from the hospital (Cause I heard from some friends that this can prevent jealousy by presenting the big sister a gift and says that it's from the younger siblings). Seriously I've no time to go and buy the gift so I didn't get her the gifts.

When Naomi visited me in the hospital, she was rather reserved and didn't want me to carry her at first. She did glance at Isaac but I think she's too young to understand what or who he is. To her, it's just another baby I think. She was okay during the 2 nights (without me) as I was staying in the hospital after my delivery. Tjun Aun tucked her to bed and she didn't miss me as well.

When we came home with the baby, she felt weird and kept saying "Baby", "Baby" and just look at Isaac only and she will come and give him a kiss once in a while. So, it was still too early to judge whether she's jealous or not during that time.

But as days, weeks and months passed by, she seems fine and helpful with chores like helping me to throw Isaac's diapers, take Isaac's handkerchief to wipe his mouth, sing to him and even share her toys with him. Sometimes she will rock his bouncer when Isaac cry or ask/push me and say "Go!" (Cause Isaac is crying). She's not jealous when I breastfeed Isaac as well and when she saw the milk bottle she will say "Baby's one" and she didn't throw any tantrum or show any sign of jealousy cause we put Isaac on her baby cot(used to be her sleeping place). So I think she's pretty alright as I've heard stories that the older siblings will get jealous if the mother breastfeed the younger child or use the cot etc.

I send both of them to the same babysitter as well and alice's feedback was Naomi has been very helpful just that she's a bit "cho lor" towards her brother sometimes as I think she's geram with the baby and she will poke his head or kiss his head too hard. As a toddler she's still learning and just need to keep close eye on her at times.

I will say so far so good :)

Learning through Playing

Naomi has been attending weekly classes at Tumble Tots (http://www.tumbletots.com.my/) since last month and she’s loving it. I called up the centre one day (while I was still on my 2nd month maternity leaves :) ) and the teacher (Madeline) ask me to come over for a free trial lesson. Madeline told me since Naomi is going to be 2 years old only she’s somewhere in the ‘middle’. I didn’t get what she meant at first and ask her to elaborate more and she told me that they have 2 classes for Tumble Tots. The first class was a free flow type (a more relax type) and it’s for kids 2 years and below and the other one is for kids to follow simple instructions and a more structured class (for children 2-3 years old). She said she needs to see what category Naomi falls under. So, I took her to the free trial. It’s a total new thing for Naomi as she never attends any playgroup before.

When we reach the place, Naomi was so so so shy….hahaha…and she dare not go near the other children and just sat on my lap and stick to me like ‘super glue’. As a parent, I need to encourage her to join in the group and not stray away from the group. First few minutes were word play and I know Naomi is very good at it but she didn’t want to participate at all. So, I try to encourage her some more but to no avail.

Next activity was climbing and they need to climb up quite high (for my standard it was considered high and I doubt Naomi will climb as well!) True enough, she didn’t climb but she did follow the simple climbing where the place was setup like a mini gym with obstacles for children to explore. Slowly, I can see she’s beginning to open up. After the climbing activity, the next was ‘agility’. Naomi was very good at this and she’s able to do all the ‘agility’ activity with no problem at all. The last one was ‘balancing’ and I was surprised she’s so good at this! There’s one activity where they need to walk on a narrow wooden plank (form into a small circle) where require you to balance on the plank without touching floor. Naomi was able to walk 2-3 rounds without touching the floor at all ! I saw her nearly fell down a couple of times but she surprised me with her balancing skill and able to prevent herself from touching the ground. Oh yeah….She didn’t even hold my hand at all when she’s doing that.

After the gym activities, they have music and dancing activities. After the class Madeline talked to me about Naomi and she said she is able to fit in and follow the class and the only problem is that I need to encourage her to join in the group and slowly she will be able to follow the simple instructions. So I enroll her for the class for 2-3 years old children. Although she is the youngest in the class and the others were like 2.5-3 years old but I think she should be alright.
Every week she’s looking forward to the class and she’s now able to join the climbing activity as well. The only problem is that, she’s still stubborn and sometimes don’t want to listen to the teacher. But then again, most of the kids there are the same as well especially the boys. Patience- there’s what both of us need. :)

Since, Naomi already been potty trained, I let her be diaper-free when attending the class as well and so far so good…no accidents so far…hehe
Our plan is to let Naomi explore herself with other children and listen to simple instructions from a stranger (the teacher) and then maybe after 3-4 months in tumble tots I plan to send her to learning gardens (for weekly classes first). When she’s 2.5 years I might send her to half day day-care centre. I believe slowly she will able to adapt the idea of going to school. We’ll see what goes in the future. Will definitely keep you guys posted!

I wish to post up some pictures here but the teacher doesn’t allow me. I will try to sneak my phone camera when I have the opportunity :)

Last week, I curi-curi took these 3 pictures. The quality is very bad cause I was using my camera phone and I did not focus at all as I might get caught!

peek-a-boo..i see you!

She's the 1st in line - excited as usual, balancing very well huh?

Jumping up and down on the trampoline

Naomi: I'm 2 years old...

Naomi celebrated her 2nd birthday last week and this time we only invited family members for this 'mini celebration'. 1st is always special that's why last year we had a birthday bash for her..;)

This time she's more familliar with birthday cake, candle blowing and cake cutting and she did blow her candles this time round. When we ask Naomi this "How old are you?" She's able to reply 2 years old! Time flies...and my baby girl is already 2!

In pictures, she look a bit blur as she just woke up from her nap! Timing wasn't right...hehe. Here are some of the pix taken during her weekend birthday celebration at our house.

Her chocolate moist cake from Jenni Cake House

Scary huh? The way she hold the knife and with the look on her face

Yippee.....i get to cut my own cake!!

She's only interested in the toy balloon in stead of the cake

We had another cake cutting on her real day(5th March 2009) at babysitter's house and that time she was excited and know what to expect. Alice bought for her Maxim's ice cream cake and it was delicious! We didn't bring our camera so sorry, no pictures.