Souvenirs from abroad

Alden got a very nice surprise from his aunt who just got back from a tour yesterday. She got him the official England soccer jersey with matching socks.

Guess what? The kid got so excited, he donned the jersey straight away and refused to take them off the whole evening. Finally managed to persuade him to change by dinnertime. Told him that he wouldn't want to soil the nice getup with his food. The boy has a bad habit of using his shirt to wipe his mouth. Thank God the notion pass through his head. Barulah sanggup dia tukar baju.

Then, yet another surprise since his birthday will just be a couple of days away. His aunt threw in a Batman Flik Flak watch plus a mini beamlight that emits the batman logo when switched on. Bukan main lagi tu budak. Satu malam dia pasang tu torchlight until I can see the batman wings in my sleep.

The boy was so smitten with the gifts, he stuck to his aunt the whole night. Reason? Mau minta tambah present lagilah. Kids nowadays are a lot smarter and cheekier. May we blame the DHA, SA or whatever AA that they add in the milk? Hmmm..

Coincidently, the dad also went shopping for his soccer getup yesterday. Si gentua indak mau ketinggalan juga bah. His old soccer shoes went to pieces when he used them last week.

Told me his going to get new shoes and the man got carried away with his shopping. Got himself a new football jersey as well. Anybody can tell me where can I get a jersey for a 5-months old baby? He,he..just kidding.

The old....


and the new...

I watch you as you sleep....

I watch you as you sleep

a sleep so deep

you gave not more than a peep.

With a face so serene

my heart could only joyfully beam.

God has sent me an angel

to remind me of my being

We are, together, growing;

you with you kiddy antics

and me with my daily practics.

You helped me find my purpose

I could only guide you to yours.

I hope you'll enjoy your journey

pick up the wisdom, keep the memories,

you may need them for life many tourneys.

May God keep you safe and warm,

so you may come back to your mother's home.

(Mommy's little poesy for the two of you)

To burp or not to burp?

When we first brought Edric home, my heart was doing the twirlies inside as I was happy as a teacup filled to the brim. I had to leave him at the hospital for the first 4 days of his earth-being due to jaundice. I couldn't really describe the dismay I felt when I was discharged and have to go home alone. The little guy had sunburnt (literally) when he got back home.

The confinement lady fed my breastmilk from the bottle to him. Then came the burping part. He gave quite a loud burp and without anticipation from anyone of us, out came the milk. By the look of it, the volume was almost 1 oz. Hmmm..probably this was just a one-time, off and on kinda thing, but sorry to say, not. So, the nurse actually leftout one tiny itsy bitsy info; Edric is a spitting baby.

According to an article I read, reflux is common in infant and can affect up to 50% of young babies. Most of the babies will grow out of it during the first year. As long as the baby is gaining weight, there should be nothing to worry about except for the nuisance of having ingested milk thrown up everywhere plus the additional washing. I had to purchase 4 dozens of hankies for him. To save myself the confusion of which hanky belongs to who, I have to sew each one of them with Edric's initial. Can't really go for colour-coding coz Alden's hankies consists of a variety of colours. I swore to myself to find a better way if there should be another new member of the family in the future.

As for the burping part, Edric's paeds suggested to observe the occcurances of reflux when burping against non-burping. My mom tried not to burp him. After feeding, she would lay him down with his head raised. The refluxes were lessened but Edric was sometimes uncomfortable due to the trapped tummy gas. Nowadays, I just burped him once and waited for a few seconds for his reverse peristalsis to settle and then lay him down on his crib.
When he was about 3 months old, the paeds also suggested to add in a spoonful of cereal in his milk to thicken the feed, which will be less likely to be brought back but it will also harden the stool. Being more concerned with constipation than the messy regurgitation, I opted to hold from introducing cereal to his diet. When he was about 4 1/2 months old, I added the cereal in.
His regurgitations were lessened as he grows and I think the cereal helped a lot too. Even when he rolled over on his tummy, he would not throw up as much as I anticipated.

The following tips helped Edric's regurgitation more or less :-

1. I have to ensure that he is relaxed during feeding time. If he started to writhe and kick, I'll
stop the feed. Feeding resumes again only if I manage to soothe him.

2. If he is gulping too quickly, I'll pull the bottle off for a few seconds and then reintroduce it.
This action sometimes needs to be repeated several times until he finds his so called sucking
rhythm.

3. After feeding, I'l lay him on his cot immediately but with his head raised up. No upright
position or 'jiggling' for about half an hour or so. Sometimes, he'll just fall asleep after he is full.
So that's another bonus.

4. I have to ensure that his diapers, either disposable or linen, are not secured too tightly around
his tummy. If the diaper is fastened snugly, it might press on the baby's tummy when you put
he/she in a sitting position. My rule-of-thumb is to ensure there is a two-fingers space
between the tummy and the diaper.

By the way, I read that acidic drinks, such as fresh orange juice, may stimulate reflux.

What's in a title?

I've been ravaging every nooks and crannies in my head for the title of my blog and the answer came as easy as the wind blows. Edric was in his crib napping when he relieved his sinus irritation and still manage to doze off after the bout. It had me thinking on how I should act and treat every life situation I meet along the way.

sneeze : To expel air forcibly from the mouth and nose in an explosive, spasmodic, involuntary
action resulting from irritation, as from dust, in the nose.

( To sneeze is a semi-autonomous way our body react to foreign particles that irritate our breathing pathways. When a problem comes our way, we naturally face and deal with it in our own mode of action, responsibly or irresponsibly. Some say we shouldn't take a problem lightly as it may have a domino effect. Well, I often tell myself to look into the problematic situation and try to react/solve it as calmly as possible. A problem is like a sneeze. The relief I felt after the
'Ah-Choos' is the same kind of relief I felt after a situation is solved. ( Life will always be full of sneezes eh?)

snooze : To take a light nap; doze.

(Hmmm, who wouldn't mind taking a few minutes of snooze after a meal in the middle of the day or after a tiring meeting in the morn. I passed the notion for a little nap so many times in the past even when I was dead-beat. When my body was crying for little rest, I kept pushing it aside as I told myself there was still something to do, problems to settle. The nature of my work had my brain ticking, all the muscles tensed and on the move all the time. So many emails to look into, and the need to offer help and solutions to other people were large in scale. Then one day, I just decided to take the long awaited snooze and I feel great. I resigned from that crazy, 1 leg-kick stupid job. Being a stay-at-home mom wasn't all that bad but I won't be satisfied with where I am now, careerwise. So there'll be another job-hunting process, interviews to go to, heartsickening truth to be known whether you manage to get the job of a lifetime or not. Oh well, guess I'll have to react to them with a sneeze and a snooze...

What a boring, rainy day.....

I've been planning for a family outing today as I managed to complete my to-do list kinda early. However, my excitement was trampled flat by my lovable bunch. Edric decided to snooze off at noon time. Thought it was only going to be a short nap, which eventually took the whole afternoon away. He'll screech if I even try to move him.
Then, on another level, hubby was complaining of his sore bum courtesy to his newly-found love; futsal. The fella just started playing last week. In the first meet, he actually scraped both of his knees. That injury had him walking like a praying mantis. This week, he walks like a tin-man in need of a walking stick. Had a sweet time taking my revenge for ruining my mood and plan though. His wails were music to my ears when he asked for massage. I couldn't help but laughed evilly when I pushed a little harder at the sore places and he howled for help. (Snorted.)
The sky took the grayish hue when Edric woke up. Then it poured. Ah well, I'll have a raincheck for that outing then. When it was time for his cereal, his refusals were ultimate. First come the cries but still I managed to shove in several spoonfuls. He stopped crying and I thought 'that's a good boy'. The greatest protest came silently; he just stuck his tongue out everytime the spoon went his way. Should I be mad? I couldn't be angry with this 5 months old baby that had me smiling and dumbfounded.
Anyhow, I was searching for a rainy, gloomy pic and found this sweet story for toddlers instead. Just click on the link below and enjoy.

http://lil-fingers.com/sky/10.html

The start of something new.......an amateur attempt..

I love to read blogs from my friends. Found it quite enriching and enjoying to learn about other people's life, love, travels and antics. These blogs have been and will always be the extra nutrition to supplement my thirst and hunger for interesting reading materials.
I have been tempted and lured so many times to try my hands on blogging but stopped myself once my fingers are on the keypad. Do I dare to bare my thoughts and feelings for others to see? This morning, when I looked at my two sleeping angels (cum devils when they're awake), I wondered whether I'll be able to remember the sweet little moments of their laughters, mischiefs, and out-of-the world growing up surprises. Heck! My brain won't be able to hold that much as proven. Been trying to reel out the memories of my eldest son's first smile, the first crawl, the first clap but failed to get to the timeline. Gone are the days of writing diaries. I was never a fan of writing one. Typing's easier.
So, this is how I end up creating my own blog and hope I'll be able to provide some zinger for thought. (Still trying to reason with my sorry self, that is.)