The fussy baby

It has been 3 weeks since I last wrote something on Blog... well, that's NOT because I've delivered Little Pumpkin...(oh I so wish!) but mainly because of some health concerns... namely SPD (symphysis pubis distraction) and GDM  ( late onset Gestational Diabetes Mellitus).. Yep I know, very sad. Very very sad indeed.

I have been keeping myself very busy (trying as much as possible NOT to walk) with the computer, loading myself up with knowledge - you can never have too much- about breastfeeding/ pumping breast milk/ finding a name for Little Pumpkin/ how to manage a fussy child etc... and since I have been relegated /banished to the couch and the bed because I can't walk much these days, I might as well do as much research as possible before Little Pumpkin arrives.

Yes, I do have 2 babies already, but after the failure to breastfeed for more than 2 and 3 months each due to a multitude of problems... I have decided to be successful this time (since it's the last time anyway.. hehe). I wanted to share this wonderful article I found online regarding fussy babies. Something I never ever knew I was doing wrong with both my little ones when they were a coupla weeks old, which actually leads me to believe now, that THIS was probably the reason why I started having decreased BM supply and the eventual failure to continuously breastfeed.

A wonderful article which I think many will benefit from : http://www.mother-2-mother.com/cc-baby-B.htm#Fussiness

I will be going in for my Blood Sugar Profile (BSP) tomorrow, for the 3rd time and I hope that against all odds, it comes back normal. I did have durian yesterday, much against Maran's wishes but credit to me, it was the 1st time this pregnancy and I couldn't control myself. I shall be a good girl from now onwards.

Shapes galore...

I can't remember if I mentioned it on blog, but sometime ago (roughly 3 months back, when he was about 21 months old, when I still had a maid and life was muccccccccch easier!), Julian started pointing at random objects like the moon, traffic lights, garden lights etc and yelling the word "circle". Of course, it sounded like "kerkel" but I'm his mom, and I usually can make out most things he says.

So I took it upon myself to teach him shapes, but for the first few days of trying to teach him shapes like square and triangle, he called everything "kerkel" and absolutely refused to cooperate. He'd look at me with a silly smile, point to a square and gleefully cry out "kerkel!!!". So, I gave up. Yes, I know terrible thing to do, but hey at the time I was 5 months pregnant with 2 kids under the age of 2, a husband who's away on work most of the time and with a maid who was driving me up the wall. So, yes... I gave up thinking that he'll "get it" in his own time.

Then, a week down, I can't remember when exactly, he came up to me as I was  getting ready to go shopping, he pointed to my earring and said "oval". Hmmm... so I pulled his Shapes Book out and pointed at the various shapes, he named them all correctly! Ahhh... my son!

So these are the shapes he currently knows: (or shows me he knows)
1. circle
2. square
3. triangle
4. right triangle
5. rectangle
6. oval
7. crescent (although he calls is "moon")
8. star
9. heart
10.hexagon
11.pentagon
12.diamond

He loves this particular video on youtube, which I can play over and over again and he never gets bored... so easy to please! Below is a video of Julian, he's a little soft as it was time to sleep...

I shall be working on Polygons next...

Colour me WILD...

I’m convinced Early Literacy (Reading and Math) is extremely important in building a child’s vocabulary, and eventually his affecting his growth and maximizing his potential. An early start gives us, as parents the opportunity to lead our little ones to love reading and not to look at it as a chore or something one is forced to do. Learning should be made to be fun and easy to do.

About 4 months ago while driving my car, Julian (then 20 months old) suddenly pointed out to a red Honda City and said, “Red car!”. I was surprised (who wouldn’t be?), so I decided the next day that maybe I could start showing him different colours to promote colour comprehension. I had a stack of  10 printed butterflies of various colours and laid it out in front of him, and as I was beginning to name the colours, he NAMED EVERY single colour (without help). I was stunned, and tried immediately thinking back of when and how he could’ve learned it. All on his own? Maybe. By observation? Could be. Then it struck me that I had actually flashcarded him colours sometime ago, not too aggressively but I did. Probably 2-3 times, maybe. What an amazing memory. I believe that young children are sponges. They soak it all in. Young kids are more able to retain information. I know that I can recall more from my early childhood than I can from high school.

This is a blurb from Babycenter  “Your child's ability to recognize different colors heats up at around 18 months, the same time he begins to notice similarities and differences in shape, size, and texture. Then it will be a while longer before he's able to name the colors — most children can name at least one color by 36 months.”

Awhile ago, someone told me that I was “pushing” my children to read and “study”- as he referred to it -  too early and that they should be having a fun-filled childhood, not bogged down with reading and difficult stuff like schoolwork . Pushing? I’m not too sure. Difficult stuff? I don’t think so. At that point, the only thing I was doing was reading to my 2 bubs roughly 2 books a day (their favourite board books, Little Puppy and Puppy Dog, don’t ask me what the fixation with puppies are, and STILL is) – which is VERY few, and doing a little flashcards for about 10 minutes a day, 3-4 times a week. Nothing much else, lots and lots of play and of course plenty of wooden puzzles, also for them to play with. Genevieve, at that point 8 months old was only putting the puzzle pieces in her mouth, and Julian at 20 months  was only interested in throwing the pieces around. I still persevered thinking that one day, they might actually take a liking to it. (STILL persevering, HAHA). In my opinion, why not teach and ingrain into them the love of reading/study/schoolwork (however one may refer to it) so when the child eventually goes to school (which in this day and age, they have to, to be socially independent) they don’t perceive it as a burden or duty.

I don’t think my son is “precocious”, no way. Mainly because, I have in fact been practicing a little reading, bits and pieces of  flashcards when I have the time and a some music (although very little), without which I don’t think he will be able to know as much as he does. One of the main approaches of the program I wanted to use with my children was that it should be a fun experience, nothing forced nor punitive. We enjoy it, our “learning time”. If it helps them in any way, then why not? Let learning be fun and casual and most importantly always improvise to make them want more!

 This is a video of Julian naming the colours

Childhood Obesity and Cheese...

After their run in the park, tortoise watching and ball catching yesterday, Julian and Genevieve were TRULY tired. Tongue wagging (literally!) Julian came up to me and announced that he wanted, "Cheeeeesssseeee!". Normally, he has a slice of Kraft Cheddar Cheese Singles in the mornings alongside his glass of milk and of late little Genevieve also follows suit, NOT an entire slice but an estimated quarter slice.

So, since I always thought Julian as slight for his height, although he weighs in at a hefty 13kg (that's due to a good bone mass) I was happy with his good choice of snack. To my horror, he ended up eating 3 slices of cheese, and not to sidetrack Genevieve, she had an entire slice on her own! Initially I was excited that they were consuming "extra calcium" and "extra Vitamin D", and tried to allay my own concerns regarding Childhood Obesity due to fat content in cheese, but Baby Daddy Maran wasn't too happy with "too much of the good thing".

Me, being the paranoid mom that I am, usually control what goes in their mouths (more so with a history of atopy in my family), but what happens when I'm NOT around is when I get worried. Like a week ago when my Dad bought Julian an ENTIRE bar of Cadbury's milk chocolate with macadamia nuts.(Sorry, Appa) Yes, it was bought out of love, but chocolate before 2? Hmmm....

Not to digress, I researched a little and saw this article on 10 Frightening Facts About Childhood Obesity, which could happen to any child looking at the nature of what we do, technology and habits. Since I started Un-schooling the children, I have noticed a trend of them wanting more and more screen time (etc the laptop) - will post on Disadvantages of Increased Screen Time soon - especially at certain times of the day. In my eyes, more screen time equals less play time equals less calory burning and eventual obesity. Drastic, I know... but that's how it is!

Image from Obesityhelp101.com

So. I have decided to start them on healthy snacking and went to the supermarket to buy fresh food items like:
1. Nestle's Low Fat Fruit Yogurt (which has probiotics- great for the gut)
2. Banana (1 a day, high in Potassium)
3. Grapes (antioxidants), Citrus fruits (Vitamin C)
4. Cherry tomatoes (easy to hold and crunchy to munch) - my Dad brought some lovely ones from   Cameron Highlands today.
5. Cucumber and Celery (which can be eaten raw, cut into sticks - lovely to hold and munch)
6. Soya bean drink  (fresh from the Chinese uncle), with no sugar - when you start them young, they know no difference!!!

What I TRY not to buy:
1. Processed foods like Bottled Baby Food (only for extreme necessities, I have stopped for the past 6 months)
2. Processed meat for the kids - sausages/ meatballs/ nuggets (who knows what goes in there?)
3. Tropical fruits (this I only get once in a while - due to the high sugar content- Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 also runs in the family)
4. Junk food (chocolate, ice cream - I make my own -, sugared biscuits, deep fried foods)
5. Fast food (might as well control it now, when I still can!)

There's much more I can add to the list, but here's the gist. I may not be the world's healthiest eater, (definitely not!) but I can start with my children. I'm also not one of those "ONLY ORGANIC FOOD FOR MY KIDS" sorta person, though I seriously "salute" those who are, mainly because as a working mom with so little time to spare, I buy easy-to-get foods, and also am a big believer in easy-to-prepare food. I thank God, my children are easy to please when it comes to food, so food prep for snacking is a breeze!!!

Articles worth a read:
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/obesity_in_children/article_em.htm

http://apjcn.nhri.org.tw/server/apjcn/Volume6/vol6.3/kasmini.htm   (Prevalence of overweight and obese school children aged between 7 to 16 years amongst the major 3 ethnic groups in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)

Kisses in the park.

Eyesight is a common problem these days amongst the younger generation, particularly Myopia (short sightedness). This is probably due to the little ones having too much screen time like the television, computer screen and video games, and sometimes poor lighting. A smaller sect of people also claim that the reason children are afflicted with Myopia could be caused by early introduction to reading and doing paperwork. I don't agree and the following article is the reason why.

I recently read this article (can't remember from where, but I had bookmarked it), which proposes that short sightedness is more likely due to the inadequate outdoor activity as opposed to "near work" like reading or screen time. So, I decided to have Julian and Genevieve go to a nearby park as many times a week as possible, and also play outside the house daily to prevent Myopia. Killing 2 birds with 1 stone, they get to play more and I'm less worried about their eyes!!! Everyone's happy.

Yesterday, they went to the Bukit Jalil Park (which is a 5 minute drive from my home) with their paternal grandparents and cousin Anushree. Did they have a blast? Have a look-see at the pictures!!!

Julian : Before the walk... note the excitement

I asked him what we can find in a park, he picked up a dried leaf and held it up, saying something which sounded like, "Die leaf!"

Anushree (cousin) and Julian

Definitely a portrait for the wall!!! Awww... so sweet!

Tata (paternal grandfather) with Genevieve

Super happy, at this point he didn't know if he wanted to run to the right or left!!!

Finally decided to run to the bench, and hop over it.

This is when his Tata decided to grab him, before he fell from the bench.

Genevieve just finished whacking 5 biscuits, THAT'S why the smile!

Another one for the album!

Julian trying to run away from us all... little does he know that his Tata was an ex-Pahang athlete, and can STILL outrun his grandson.

 And now, for the kisses... wow, by the time we all went home the kids were WET with kisses, by none other than, Anushree, the Kissing QUEEN!!!

Kiss No. 1

Kiss No. 2

Kiss No. 3

Ahem... ahem... do I show this photo to them in 12 years? ... need to consider!

Post-kiss chit-chat

Grabbed Julian before he could be kissed again... haha!

But she went for Genevieve instead...!

Happy girls!

Kiss No. 5

Going for it again...

Best friends... 2 girls, born in the same year only months apart...

Genevieve: I love you, Anushree!

And the final Kiss No. 6!

So, that was the end of our trip to the park. We had so much fun, that we'll probably go back again today... I can hear my babies going "WHEEEEEEE!!!!!!"