three stoges

its 10 to 2 on a sunday afternoon, number two is in his swinger, junior is in me bed, THE WIFE is baking some CNY cookies..... i am just taking some time off from the spring cleaning.... yup, chinese new year is coming.... and tomorrow i will be off to thailand for three days.... i noticed i have been out of town alot recently due to work.... good sigh i guess, business is picking up......

its been 7 months since junior went to day care..... he has moved on from kicking and screaming at the door " i dont wanna go to school" to smiling at the teachers and happily greeting his other classmates.... the school is actually toilet training junior.... for the past three weeks, junior has been out of diapers and in under pants for the whole day at school..... one or two incidents so far, but i guess only good things can come out of toilet training, for one thing, i can cut back on the diapers.... hmmmm....

i have also moved him out of his baby seat to a booster seat in me car.... nowadays he rides shot gun and sometime when he get a hold of some flags lying around in me car, he would wave them a shout "go daddy go, go daddy go".... i guess to have your very own number one fan rooting for you when you are driving is kinda cool.....

number two is putting on weight steadily... he is just one kg shy of junior at 12.5 kgs... he is catching up to junior in term of weight and height... they share diapers, pajamas and most times, when junior cant finish his dinner, number two would take over.... here you see cousin izzac, junior and number two... not exactly the three stooges but close enough i guess, you got the tall, short and the fat... hmmm... when you think about it, cousin issac is 10 months ahead of junior and number two is 23 months behind junior... junior is closer in height to number two than cousin isaac... i guess juniors got a lot of growing up to do... hmmm....

its good to be back

its 15 past 11 on a wednesday evening.... THE WIFE is in the shower, junior is in his bed, number two is in his swinger, they are both in their own room they share..... and i am just catching up on this blog thingy... its been a while since i had time to burn..... its good to be finally in my own bed again after two years on the floor....

number two is turning one in a few days time... hes appetite is very good... he is wearing xl diapers and he is able to down his bottle of milk in 4 minutes..... i actually timed him.... 200 ml of milk, gone in 4 minutes..... he is able to get around very well in his little walker and whenever he sees us sitting at the dinner table for meals, he would rush over, expects to be picked up and fed.... he is that hungry..... he weights a little over ten kgs and chances are, he would outweigh junior in months......

junior is still not eating very well... not pooing very well..... he can actually go seven days without pooing..... he gets very cranky though.... we tried all sorts of stuff... change his diet.... make him eat lots of fruits.... drink lots of water.... nothing worked.... we are thinking of changing his milk formula.... maybe that will help, we heard from friends and relatives that their little ones start to go when they change their milk.... i guess theres nothing like crap in the morning to start the day right... hmmm.....

conversation with junior

its 30 past midnight, junior and THE WIFE are in bed, number two is in his cot and this old man is just finishing his homework...... everyone is down with the coughs and runny nose... junior had fever for the last three nights, number two is coughing like a old smoker, THE WIFE isnt really feeling too good.....

gloomy as this day may be.... today is also the first time i have actually talked to junior over the phone.... i was calling me mum and junior was home from school as he wasnt feeling too well.... i was calling me mum to check on junior when junior picked up....

junior: hello?
me: hello? is that huai tan?
junior: daddy
me: are you feeling better?
junior: yes daddy, i no more sick, tomorrow can go wai gong house
me: are you sure?
junior: yes........
me: then what is huai tan doing?
junior: watching pocoyo
me: is it nice?
junior: yes, i see pocoyo and he is running around and i am watching and i like pocoyo
me: did you da bian today?
junior: yes
me: are you sure?
junior: yes, i da bian today
me: okay i want to talk to ah mah...

and he pass the phone to me mum.... i know this is not much, but when you consider that junior is 2 months away from his third birthday and he is able to converse without using baby talk, i think its not too bad..... maybe i should get him to stop watching cartoons and teach him useful stuffs like how to drive, then maybe he can send me to and from work pretty soon......... hmm......

six packs vs a barrel

its 20 to midnight, the kids are in bed, THE WIFE is getting juniors stuff for school tomorrow, i am hacking away at the computer.... i noticed that this is only the third time i am updating this blog this year.... hmm...

it was two sundays ago when number two was admitted into the hospital for his corrective surgery.... he was discharged last tuesday.... everything that can go well, went well..... and number two is now poo-ing the normal way... just as babies does.... its stinky... messy... and would you believe it, wonderful...... number two no longer has a bag on his tummy.... although there are three lines across his little belly button..... like railway tracks, he has two east west and one north south line.... for a eight month old, hes taking it pretty well...... the nurse commented that he cant have a six pack anymore.... i guess why settle for a six pack when he can have a full barrel just like daddy.... hmmmmm......

we are to expect a nasty case of nappy rash, as advised by the good prof p....... to be able to see number two without his bag is nothing short of a miracle.... the bag was always on him since day 3 of his life..... THE WIFE was always struggling to change the bag and number two would always cry in agony everytime she does it..... even the nanny whom we have engaged during the first month have never seen a baby cry so bad before... the nanny would wipe away her own tears when she sees us change number twos bag.... and when she cant take it anymore, she would go into the kitchen and cry and leave THE WIFE and meself to handle number twos crying.... but thats all behind us now...... i guess, things can only get better from now on....

the night before school

Its 5 past midnight on a friday morning... THE WIFE is in bed as is junior and number two.... i am just finishing up checking me office mails.... i am at home doing work... past midnight..... school is not the only place giving out homework... hmmm...

tomorrow is a big day for junior, tomorrow is the day we start him off in daycare.... sort of like school for him... where the kids will sing and dance, learn the alphabet, count and mingle..... maybe even pick up bad habits from each other and the odd flu bug if any of the kids are sick.... hmmmm..... the wonders of communal living...

we are sending junior to a neighbourhood nursery, nothing fancy.... we figured the whole idea is to let junior mix with kids his age, not try to turn him into a pint size version of einstein... hmmm.... just kids@tama jurong pte ltd...... the whole registration and deposit and stuff like that set us back $986... and a monthly fee of $350, after subsidies..... i guess its not too bad..... we get to have someone take him off our hands 5 hours everyday for 5 days a week.... in fact i think they should charge more.... imagine being coop up in a room with 40 screaming kids, 11 hours a day, 5 days a week.... it would be a wonder if those teachers would want kids of their own....hmmmmm..... whatever they are paying the teachers, its not enough....

i dont think junior is as nervous as THE WIFE and me... we gave him the idea that its all fun and games, things to do and friends to make.... but somehow, i cant help but feel nervous, it is the first time in his life, we will entrust him to a group of strangers... people we dont know.... i guess its the letting go part that is tough, come tomorrow i am not too sure who is going to have problem letting go, junior or THE WIFE and meself.... hmmm...

even better than best

its 5 past midnight on a tuesday morning.... THE WIFE is in bed, junior is at his wai gongs place and number two is in nuh at the pediatrics icu..... we admitted number two to the hospital on sunday as planned... THE WIFE and i spent the night at the hospital and number two was wheeled into the operating theater the next day..... i didnt sleep much the night before, somewhere between the crying baby in the next bed and the yacking by the doctors nearby, i reckon i got about three hours of sleep..... considering that a hospital is where people go to to get better, good luck trying to get some decent sleep there.........

number two was wheeled into the theater at 10.30 that morning... the nurse estimated that he would be done in three hours time... THE WIFE and i went for some breakfast and a little shopping for my up coming trip.... we got back to the hospital at 3 but it was about 4 in the afternoon that we received a call from operating theater that prof p needs to see us urgently..... believe me whenever a surgeon wants to see the next of kin after an operation urgently, nasty ideas would rush into the head.....

we got into the operating theater holding area in double quick time, prof p was still in his scrubs...
me: hows everything?
prof p: i got good news and not so good news.....
me: okay.... whats the good news?
prof p: your son does not have hersprung.... we did a test to confirm the condition before removing the intestines because i want to be really sure, we were about to remove a very long portion....
me: okay...
prof p: then the results came back, theres ganglion cells.... we did five tests near the end of his small intestine and one more at his large intestine, they are all normal....
me: okay, thats a good news.... the bad news?
prof p: well, the test would take about 30 to 45 minutes, we cant possibly be standing around doing nothing.... so we prep a portion of his large intestine......
me: and?
prof p: when the result for the large intestine came back, and it was positive, we have already stop the blood supply to that portion of the large intestine.... that part is dead, we have to remove it and joint whatever is left together....
me: and?
prof p: well, the removed portion would not affect him too much, whats more important is that we have save the valve at the end of the small intestine and the section near his anus.... he will be able to control his bowels like normal....
me: why is it that mount alvernia tested negative and you tested positive here?
prof p: i am not too sure, we have send more samples for testing and should get the full results in 3 days time... i cant remove the stoma yet because, the size of the intestines are different, one is the size of a earthworm and the other is too big... we have to joined his intestine and still leave a stoma, so that some of his poo can come out through his tummy, some can come out through his large intestine thereby stretching it.... in three months time, when the earthworm gets to the size of the other intestine, we would only need to do a minor surgery to remove the stoma and he will be fine......

believe me, this is wonderful news... junior does not have some birth defect.... he will be able to poo and function like all kids..... up till yesterday, the best that could happen was for number twos operation to go smoothly and that everything would go as planned.... but the best did not happen... something better than best did....

i love you

its 15 to midnight on a monday night, number two is in his cot, junior is in me bed, THE WIFE is busy putting away the laundry and me?.... well, allo allo is on... rene is trying to help the two british airmen escape.... hours of fun......

we were suppose to be in the hospital today, number two was scheduled to have his corrective surgery... it was last month when prof p decided that number was ready for his surgery.... we were all getting ready for this day when a nurse called on saturday and said something cropped up and prof p cant make it..... we were rescheduled for next monday...30 march.... better not be aprils fool....

number two is getting bigger.... he weights about 9 kgs.... wears the same diaper as junior and is wearing what junior used to wear when he turned one.... yup, number two is that big... he is able to sit in the chair junior used to sit and join us at the dinner table.... THE WIFE is starting him on porridge and papayas.... he seems to really like solid food.... i call him jojo now and he looks my way whenever i call him that....

as for junior... he still poo once a week.... dislike meal time, i practically have to force feed him at every meal... and weights a little over 12 kgs.... he is turning out to be a smart boy, he would walk up to grandma and say, "ah ma, i love you, i did not bully edbert today, you bring me to imm?" and me mom would take him shopping..... with his big round eyes and mascara lashes... who can say no?..... i guess beautiful people are dangerous.... we are thinking of sending him to daycare... let him mix with kids his age.... maybe he can pick up more tricks to try on grandma.... hmmmm....

merry christmas

its 30 pass 5 on a thursday afternoon, 25 december.... yup its christmas day.... we are at me folks, THE WIFE is with junior in one of the bedroom playing with cousin edbert, number two is with me old man..... and me? well, its been a while since i last made an entry, i guess i am making up for it.....

the last two months had been a rush, time really flies when you are having fun... or buried with work... junior had learnt to pick his nose in the last two months and put whatever he digs into his mouth... he even offered some to THE WIFE....

junior: mommy, eat pee sai?
THE WIFE: eeee.... you dont eat pee sai... sooo dirty....
junior: nice nice....
me:hmmmmmmm...
i swear he did not pick up nose picking from me... he digs with his thumb, i prefer to use my little pinky.... i guess nose picking is one skill he is born with but to dig it discreetly is an art he has to, with pun intended, pick up....... although i am a believer of, what one does with his pickings is nobody's business but his own.... but please do not put it in your mouth... hmmmm....

number two has been putting on weight steadily... he weights more than 8 kgs now... according to prof p, he is in the 25 percentage, overweight..... on the bright side, he seems to be thriving.... putting on weight just on breast milk, i guess its not too bad, most babies ive seen put on weight due to formulas...... and right now, number two is wearing L size diapers, a size that junior can fit... THE WIFE is even letting number two wear juniors shorts and shirt, and the thing is, they fit!! junior weights about 11 kgs, i guess it wont be too long before number two over takes junior.....

two cakes for turning two

its 10 past 11 on a friday nite, the last day of october.... THE WIFE is washing up number two, junior is spending the nite at his wai gongs place, i am just enjoying the peace.... yes... today, two years ago, junior came to be.... i have been a daddy for two years..... two years of dirty diapers, nite feeds, tantrums, baby pao tiao and of course, my favourite, papa carry you.......

junior is becoming more and more like a little person.... with his own likes and dislikes.... he chooses which grand pa to play with, what shoes to wear, what cartoons to watch and of course what to eat.... junior is quite particular about what he eats... depending on his mood, he would swing between chicken rice, noodles or nothing at all.... he can go all day with just bottle milk and nothing else.... which could explain why he still poo once or maybe twice a week... i guess if nothing goes in one end, nothing much will come out the other... hmmm.....

the good thing about spending time at both grand parents is, you get to have two cakes on your birthday..... and the thing with a big extended family is, you get to celebrate birthday quite often.... me mom and number two are in sept, me sis and junior are in october, me old man and me fil are both in november, me bro and cusion edbert is in december, cousin izzac is in january, THE WIFE is in march and mine is in april..... i guess with birthdays lined up like that, putting on weight should not be a problem for junior... hmmmm....

whole family in hospital

its 15 past 9 on a tuesday nite.... THE WIFE is in NUH with number two, junior is at me father in laws and i am at office, getting some work done... well sort of.... I am on leave today, i just thought i swing by get some work done so that i wont be buried by it tomorrow.....

yup, number two is in the hospital.... he was warded last tuesday for an infection... THE WIFE has been spending her nights keeping him company... i have been with them the last couple of nights... junior was admitted to the same hospital yesterday... he was discharged today and staying with his favorite grandpa.... yup... how lucky can a guy get? both of me kids warded in the same ward at the same time... on the bright side, i dont have to go to different hospital to see them both and i dont have to take too much time off...... hmmm.... frankly i hope it never happens again..... not many parents go through lives with all their kids in the hospital at the same time... at least none of the ones i know....

number two was having an infection on his scar he got during his operation.... the wound was sort of swelling and puss was flowing out of his tummy.... prof p said that we had to admit him for observations and have some procedures done to draw the puss out of his scar.... if not, the scar will not heal and the infection might spread..... so far, number two is barely two months old and he had already been warded into two different hospital, its rough... most folks i know, gets through life without spending much time in the hospital....

as for junior, he got into a little accident in the bath.... the motherinlaw was bathing him when he slipped, fell forward and hit his head against the toilet.... it was a pretty nasty cut, blood everywhere.... he was rushed to the polyclinic, which in turn referred him to nuh..... they stitched him up and warded him for the nite for observations...... well for the record, junior always bump his head when he falls and the last time it involved blood was when he hit his lips while climbing chairs at me dads.... so i guess its fair, the scar above his right eye is from his wai gong and the scar under his lip is from his ah gong..... hmmm

touch 4D ten times.....

its 15 past 11 on a sunday nite... the boys are in bed, as is THE WIFE.... number twos been cranky the last couple of days, we havent been having much sleep.... i guess a baby being a baby, he is just doing what he is program to do...... keeping mum and dad up... hmmm...

we were at nuh a couple of days back... we were refered to a professor queck, by the good dr simon, and he in turn referred us to a professor prabah... i guess they are must be pretty good in what they do to get referrals... hmmm... prof q is a pretty nice fella, looks like he is pushing 60... he did a once over with number two and referred us to prof p..... lets just say that its sort of comforting to see old profs, with so many years under their belts, they must have seen everything..... hmmm... and according to prof p, what number two has is something only 5% of babies with this particular condition gets.... when you worked it out, 5% of the 1 in 5000... that would make it 1 in 100,000..... considering that the chances of touching 4D is 1 in 10,000.... number two just touched 4D ten times... hmmmm......

according to prof p, he has only seen 2 or 3 such cases and most of them are girls.... he should be able to do the second operation when number two reaches 6-7 kgs.... that means we have to fatten up number two.... at around that weight, prof p should have enough of intestines to work on.... what prof p wants to do is to take the existing part of number twos intestines, fused to some of his other large intestines and hopefully have enough to make everything alright....

prof p arranged for us to meet the stoma nurse... as it turns out, i knew the nurse... we used to be classmates back in the old days... junior, number two, if you are reading this.... point to note here, be kind to all your friends, you never know when you will meet them again needing their help.... the last time i met her was 16 years ago.... i guess number two is in pretty good hands.......

1 in 5000

its 10 after 9 on a friday, 2 days after childrens day.... its the fourth friday since number two came to be.... THE WIFE is trying to feed number two soy milk formula... number twos been having diarrhoea lately.... junior is at me father in laws.... he should be sending him back home anytime soon..... me? i am just doing what i do best... nothing....... its been a while since i last did any nothing....

number twos been putting on weight steadily... he was 3.4 kgs when he came to be, he was slightly over 4 kgs yesterday when we went to the dr about his diarrhoea.... bearing in mind that he had a major operation not long after he was born, i think he is doing pretty well.... what number two has is a condition called hirschsprungs.... its where, for some unknown reasons, the cells in his intestines stop forming... this condition renders the part of the intestines without the cells, useless..... the usual treatment would be to find out where exactly the cells stop to grow and then remove it... hence the operation.... as to why he had to have the operation on the third day after he came to be?... according to the surgeon, his intestine has, in the words of the surgeon, perforated.... in words where normal people like you and i can understand, his intestine has burst and poo is leaking into his tummy... nasty when you think about it... the infection alone can killed anybody, not to mention newborns.....

if you think having a baby will cost you an arm and a leg, having a baby who needs an operation and spend almost two weeks in a NICU will leave you pretty much limbless... hmmmm...... the bill for THE WIFE was a little over $1200, the bill for number two came up to $20000... according to the dr, this condition happens in 1 out of every 5000 births.... considering the number of babies born every year... there should be more than a handful of kids out there just like number two.. i might even start a support group for folks with kids of the same condition...

this blog started out as a diary or sorts for me... now its more like a letter to the future for junior and number two... junior, if you are reading this, study hard, eat your greens, be good to your mother... number two, if you are reading this, it means what i fear most did not happen and study hard, keep healthy, yada yada yada, make loads of money and give them to your old man.... hmmm......

do it or else....

its 20 past midnight on a wednesday morning, number two is in his cot, THE WIFE is in bed, junior is in bed and i am in a chair.... for the past few nights since number two discharged from the hospital, we have been all sleeping in the same room... THE WIFE has to be close to number two, to breastfeed him in the middle of the night.... junior has to be close to THE WIFE else he cant fall asleep, mama boy... and i sleep on the floor next to the bed just in case THE WIFE needs me help with number two..... four of us in one room, sort of like tenants in our own house.. hmmmmm....

the pediatrician told me about the bloody stool on a saturday morning, the surgeon talked to me that evening, took another x-ray the next day and explained to me that number two must be operated on that very afternoon or else... by this time number two was already in the NICU with tubes running in and out of him... to think that it was just two days ago when he was kicking and screaming when the good dr theo first pull him out of THE WIFE... i just hope that not too many fathers have to go through that... the surgeon also said that the operation will take about two hours... they will start at two thirty and should end before five.... i guess i really have to hand it to these doctors, they dont seem to have any day off.... i wonder who help them to spend the buckets of money they made if they are at work seven days a week... hmmmm....

THE WIFE was due to be dischargd that sunday afternoon... it just doesnt feel right... the thing with giving birth is, two check into a hospital three should check out.... unless you have twins, then four checks out... i guess giving birth isnt always about smilling babies, rainbow skies, bunny tails and unicons... sometimes crap happens.... and i guess the crap from number two says it all.....

number two was wheeled back into the NICU at five thirty that day... THE WIFE was already at home resting by then... standing there alone looking at number two with all the tubes and scar across his little tummy, i am just glad that or else did not happen.....

speechless

its 15 to midnight on a sunday nite..... junior is in bed, THE WIFE is in bed, number two is in his cot..... yap... the day came.... and passed.... frankly i dont know what to feel....

we got into the hospital at a little past midnight three fridays ago... the nurse preps the wife while i tried to catch some Zzzs in the freezing labour ward waiting for the number two to come... its was seven in the morning when THE WIFE had the urge to push... but the dr with the epidural was not around... seven oclock was also the time when the nurses change shifts... by the time the nurses realise that this is not a drill, it was too late for epidural... THE WIFE was well into it.. she was going do it the old fashion way... al natural... pain killer free... i have never heard THE WIFE scream so loud before, i was told later THE WIFEs scream can be heard in the whole labour ward and the rest of the pregnant ladies immediately ask for the epidural... when dr theo arrived, he barely had enough time to slip into his scrubs.... number two pops just as the good dr positions himself... time of birth, 7.43 am.... number two weights in at 3.4 kgs.... almost half a kg more than junior when he came to be....

everything was nice and dandy until the next day when the pediatrician pull me into the baby ward and showed me number twos poo...

dr: his stool is not normal... i am concern
me: ok...
dr: you see this stool, its like mucus and there is also blood present.....
me: ok...
dr: we need to take an x-ray and i will speak to the surgeon about it...
me: ok....

trust me, a conversation like that out of the blue will catch any new father speechless....

thank god its friday

its 15 past 11 on a wednesday night, junior and THE WIFE are in bed, i am just taking stock of whats going to happen next..... we were at the docs office last nite and according to the good doctor, number two should be out...

we were at the doctors for our 38 week visit, the nurse took THE WIFEs weight before we got in to see the doc... THE WIFE was 68 kgs.... and according to the scan by the doc, number two was 3.5 kgs... compare to junior when he was born, he was only 3.01kgs, number two is a big fella...

doc: i think we can induce to have the baby delivered...
me: when?
doc: tonight or friday.....
me: huh? can we wait till full term?
doc: you can wait till full term, the cervic would be softer but the baby will be bigger you might have some probelm or you can induce, the baby will be smaller and it would be easier....
me:hmmm.....
doc: you can check into the hospital tonight, induce and give birth tomorrow or you can check in on thursday and give birth on friday....
me: can we do it on friday? its THE WIFEs mothers birthday... and i can finish off some work before then...
doc: okay, you check in on thursday midnight, induce and i will come on friday morning and see how...

i guess thats that.... seeing as how this is the last night before all the crazy stuffs starts, i should enjoy the peace of only one kid.... come tomorrow, we will start the ball rolling on changing our world of three into a world of four....

joel chua ren he

its 30 past 6 on the day after national day, junior is hitting on some pots and pans, THE WIFE is on the comfy chair watching the news, i am just hacking on the computer and enjoing the peace, sort of... at least till number two comes along... should be within these few weeks, at least thats what the dr says.....

we are getting ready for number two... we got back juniors cot and some baby clothes from cousin edbert.... set up the bath and changing station.... even clear out the spare room to make room for the nanny to stay in.... the thing with not being the first one in the family is, you get to inherit loads of hand me downs.... and from the stuffs that we are getting for number two, he should cost us next to nothing..... here we can see the marks left behind by junior on the cot when he was growing out his front teeth....either juniors got strong teeth or the cots got soft wood.... hmmmmm

number twos grandpa, me old man, handed me this paper the other day... like it was with junior, number twos name came with strings of poem... although the two poem looks the same.... according to me old man, those words are calculated through the pen stroke of the chinese charaters... juniors name and number twos name both have the same number of strokes, hence the same four string of poem.... i still cant make out what those four lines mean.... junior is ren jie while number two is ren he... me old man decided that for this generation, they will all share the same middle name.... cousin edbert is ren yi...... the thing with ren jie and ren he is, if you put the last charaters of both name together, you would get jie he.... union or sorts.... talk about deeper meanings... hmm......

i guess little by little, we are getting ready for number two.... frankly with the workload i have at work, i am pretty looking forward to the three days of paternity leave, i might even throw in me own annual leave and take a week or two off work.... of course if anybody asks.... i am spending time with the little one... hmmm....

ok and bu yao............

its 50 past 10 on a tuesday night... junior is asleep and THE WIFE and myself are having a little quiet time... in another three weeks or so, THE WIFE is going to pop and number two is going to be, i guess we better enjoy it while we can....

junior is growing to be a small little boy.... hes picking up more words... english, chinese, hokkien.... and yes, he speaks singlish... not with the lahs and lors, but more with the "papa, chong liang, go sleep sleep" when you actually think about it... he is trilingual... how many kids can do that before they turn two??... but the two phrase that he really uses with great effect is "ok" and "bu yao" ... i would ask if he wants milk, he would pause for a while, as if pondering lifes greatest question, then answer "okay".... me: you want to go walk walk? junior:.......okay .... me: you want your pooh pooh? junior:....okay ..... but if he dont want anything, he would say... bu yao... turn around and run away.... me: you want to give papa kiss kiss? junior: bu yao... and then turn around and run away shouting, "baby pao tiao"....

junior can also count up to twelve.... recite by heart actually, i dont think he knows what they mean, he just knows what comes after one and two and so on.... THE WIFE is starting to teach him the alphabets... she makes flash cards and get junior to read them... sort of like a for apple, b for ball... so far, junior knows that x is for xylophone... i didnt even know what a xylophone is... hmmm.....

but a kid being a kid, he still throws a mean tantrum, crying fits and rolls on the floor when he dont get his way... he is getting very clingy to THE WIFE too, becoming more and more of a ma ma boy... with THE WIFE ready to pop... within the month according to the good dr, im not too sure if junior is ready to share ma ma wif number two... if one throw fits like tat, imagine having two boys going at it.... i cant wait... hmmm.....

twice a month

its 15 past 12 on a saturday afternoon.... THE WIFE is doing some crossword puzzles, junior is swinging in his swinger, sound asleep... i am just trying my best to ignore the fighter jets buzzing around outside.... yes, national day is coming and they are flying formations in the clear blue sky... its pretty cool when you think about it, i get a sneak preview of the planes going through their rountines, most people would only get to see it on the actual day itself....big fat hairy deal....

we were at the dr theos two tuesday back.... we are into our 27 week.... number two has been kicking and turning in the tummy according to THE WIFE.... he is a kicker, unlike junior... we got to the docs office 15 mins past seven, 15 minutes late.... theres about four couples infront of us... but it wasnt long before we were called in....

doc: hello, how are we today?

THE WIFE: fine, i guess
doc: well, you put on quite some weight, i guess you are making up for the past few visits..... has the baby been kicking?
THE WIFE: yah, pretty much the same time everyday...
doc: okay, lets take a look....

the nurse readies THE WIFE while i tried to make some small talk with the doc... it wasnt long before we were looking at the little screen...

doc: everything looks normal.... heres the head, spine, and leggs...
me: can i have a picture of that?
doc: sure..... let me see if i can get a good one......

after everything is done, we made an appointment to see the doc in two weeks time... from this appointment onwards, we would be seeing the doc every two weeks... i guess it wont be long when we start seeing the doc every week and before we know it out pops number two.... i guess i better enjoy it while i can, when number two comes around, i would be up to me nose in diapers and milk feeds again......

laundry basket no pants

its ten past one on a wet saturday afternoon... THE WIFE and junior are having their nap and i am just taking a little time out to catch up on this blog.... I have been a little behind, its been a while since i last updated..... a convenient excuse would be that i am busy but i guess the real reason would more likely be that i am getting lazy.... that would also explain why i am putting on more weight and why junior is running around the house with the laundry basket on his head.... no, he is not trying to be spongebob squarepants, although he is more like laundry-basket no-pants.... hmmm....

the fact is, i am pretty beat from work and THE WIFE is getting heavy with number two.... couple that with junior who is always running around and dosent want to be held on to, going out for walks is like some sport race... THE WIFE with the weight lifting, junior with the running and me with the catching up.... hours of fun....

junior is still not eating much... he can actually get through one day with just 4 bottles of milk and maybe a little noodles in the middle of the day.... most meal time involves us chasing him down to get food into his mouth... doesnt work most of the time though.... he still weights 10.4kg... considering that he is coming to twenty months, thats light for a boy.... his cousin, edbert, who is 7 months old, is weighting about 8 kgs... chances are he will out weight junior when he turns one... but the doc whom junior sees, says that junior is within the average weight and height range for his age... i guess as long as he is healthy, THE WIFE is happy and i am fatty... hmmm...

one plus one equals...

its 4.30 on a hot saturday afternoon, THE WIFE and junior are both having a lazy afternoon nap.... i am just having a lazy afternoon... the thing i find with naps is that they make time goes fast.... you pop into bed at two and in an instant, you woke up at four... where did that 2 hours go??... although surfing the net makes time flies too..... hmmm....

today we finally grill up the remaining two windows thats ungrilled.... the balconey and the kitchen.... it set us back by $520.... but i guess its money will spend.... junior is starting to climb chairs and i dont think it would be long before he reliase that there another world outside the window.... where theres cars and bus and blue skies and green grass..... more interesting than what we have in the house.... Junior is growing into his own little person... when he dont get what he wants, he would kick and scream and throw fits on the floor... but i found that if i talk to him in a calming voice, reason out with him, he would calm down and listen... here, we can see that a happy meal is a deflated balloon and an ice cream cone... although pants is still an option, hes still running around in diapers on most days.....

junior is getting bigger, its one of those things, you see them everyday, you wont see a difference... but when someone points it out, you suddenly realise, yeah... hes grown quite a bit... hes outgrown some of his clothes, shoes and hes getting tall enough to reach over the dinning table.... but he still looks pint size to me, although he is getting heavy to be carried around.... here we can see that junior is fast asleep in his supper high tech pram... it boasts a self containing air ventilation system, driver control steering wheel, which doesnt control anything and cup holder thats too small for most cups..... cool... useful yet useless at the same time.... hmmmm

junior is pick up quite a few words... he can point out to things and name them.... doors, lights, pictures, cars, bus, see saws.... all sorts of things... ive though him recently one puls one equals two.... and every now and then i would test him...

me: one plus one equals...

junior: too....

me: two plus two equals...

junior: too...

me: 100 divided by 50 times one equals....

junior: too....

me: sooooo clever.....

you get the drift.... every equals two to him.... hmmmm......