Strong Boy Drink Milk!

Even since Kyle's habit of drinking from the milk bottle has stopped, I have trouble getting him to drink milk from the cup. It is quite frustrating because on one hand, I have managed to wean him off the bottle, but on the other hand, his growth and development will be affected as he refuses to drink milk from the cup.

I told Hubby about my concerns, and I said that I rather he drink milk from his bottle, than not drink at all. He then said that he got an idea, and told me to wait and see.

Hubby got the milk ready in a cup and gave it to Kyle, who expectedly refused, of course. Hubby then played a game with him, whoever can finish the milk faster wins! Kyle was quite intrigued, and being a boy who likes challenges and games, he proceeded to down his milk quickly! Hubby was clever enough to drink his milk slowly so that Kyle will win.

Needless to say, my baby was very happy at winning and was smiling from ear to ear as we praised him for being such a strong and clever boy. From then onwards, he has not missed his daily milk routine and even drinks when there is no competition.

This is his current favourite catchphrase.

Strong Boy Drink Milk!!

Rae Turns 2

My nephew Rae Isaaq turned 2 on 28th Apr. His parents held a small party for him at the house (they wanted to do the whole chalet/bbq thing but his mummy is already 7 months preggie and she was too tired to plan anything so they forgo the idea).

He is a very active and playful kid. He calls me affectionately 'Mama' and my hubby 'Ayah' just like my own kids. Heh, so I have 3 kids already and dat's enough for me :) He is very close to my other two kids. Sleep also must be together, he cannot sleep without one of my darlings.

He is super manja with his own mummy and would hang on to her whenever she comes during the weekend to fetch him home or go out. I wonder what will happen when his baby sis is born, will he be jealous when his mummy devotes her time to the little one? We shall see this June :)

Birthday Boy with his Barney Cake

Blowing his birthday wishes

Taken with his Nenek, Atok and my kids
Happy Birthday Rae, Mama love you always.

See, I told you I have '3' kids :)

Please God, Keep Them Safe & Warm, and Away From Harm

My kids were involved in a couple of accidents these two days at home.

First was Kyra. She usually sleeps with me, but one night, my Mummy decided that she wanted to sleep with Kyra, and so Kyle being the good big brother that he is, relented and slept with me instead. Imagine my shock when at 5 in the morning, my Mummy dashed into my room with Kyra crying in her arms!

Apparently Kyra has rolled over the bed and landed with a loud thump on the floor. Kyra is a 'naughty' sleeper. Likes to roll around the bed when she sleeps and usually ends up with her leg on my face. My Mummy did not notice that she is already at the edge of the bed and only woke up with a start when she heard the fall. After calming Kyra down, I let her continue her sleep with me.

So now my poor baby girl has a big black round bruised on her forehead. I have always been worried about her falling because I can never forget her fall from her crib at just 3 weeks old. That day was hubby's birthday.

It was my fault. I left her on the crib with her towel draped around her and dangling on the sides. When I went to my room to get something, my two year old happily pull the towel, and down went his sister on the hard cold floor.

I remember standing in front of Kyle frozen and looking at my hubby who had picked up and was cuddling his baby with tears in his eyes. What made matters worse was that Kyra did not make a sound. She was not crying at all. I was so terrified that my mind just went blank. Luckily my Mummy was around and she quickly ushered us to go to KK emergency hospital. The doctors gave Kyra a full body check, including X-ray and blood tests. Alhamdullilah, she was fine. I still remember the accusing looks the nurses gave me :( I had been negligent.

Later Mummy told me that Kyra fell from the same spot my grandmother passed away 3 weeks before. So could it be that she was still around watching over us? Only HE knows :)

Ok, Kyle's turn. It is a daily routine for me to give Kyle his Vitamin C tablets. So yesterday was no different. After giving one to him, I went to the kitchen to wash up. Suddenly I heard him cry loudly and pointing to his nose!! I was shocked and could not make out what he was saying in midst of his cries. He kept screaming, "Vitamin! Vitamin!". It finally dawned on me that he had pushed his Vitamin C tablet up into his left nostril. I think if not for my Daddy being around, I would have fainted on the spot.

The vitamin was located quite high up in his nostril, and we told him to keep blowing his nose to purge the tablet out. As he was crying, it was kinda difficult for him. I was already on the verge of tears and worrying whether he has to go through surgery. Daddy even carried Kyle upside down and shaked him hard hoping that the tablet would abide by the law of gravity. It didn't.

I decided to immediately take him to the doctor. While waiting for hubby to get ready, I asked Kyle to blow his nose one more time, and with all his might. Lo and behold, to my surprise and relief, the tablet came out of his nostril!! What a crazy situation. I think Kyle was quite affected by it and told me that he don't want any more Vitamin C tablets :)

When Kyle was about a year old, his head fell onto the edge of the computer table and left a gaping wound on his left eyebrow. I remember crying all the way to the hospital. The doctor gave him 8 stitches while me and two other nurses hold him down while he screamed & struggled.

Being a parent is certainly not easy. Every little thing they do or encounter affects me greatly. I think my blood pressure has increased tremendously ever since I had these two kiddos :)

Kicking the Habit!

Kyle is finally off the pacifier!

He has been asking less & less for his pacifier and these few days, he has been sleeping without it. I can't tell you how happy I am. It has been so hard weaning him off the pacifier. Sleepless nights, endless crying and tantrums thrown just for that little piece of what my daddy calls 'candu' or drug. Yes, Kyle is so addicted to it that at one point, he used to need 2 pacifiers, one for the mouth, and one to hold & fiddle with!

When Kyle was born, I actually refused to give him a pacifier, but after sleepless nights, I caved in and so whenever he cries, I would just push the pacifier in his mouth, and he would sleep contentedly. And of course that works very well for me also, as I was also deprived from sleep.

Three years on, he is still on the pacifier. His teachers managed to kick his habit in school, but whenever he comes home, he would start sucking on those dastardly pacifiers again!

So I decided enough of enough. One day I hid his pacifiers and told him that his teacher told me to throw his pacifiers because he is a big boy and his friends do not suck on pacifiers anymore. Of course he did not buy that and searched the whole house for it. He even took Kyra's pink pacifier just to satisfy his habit! After telling him that he does not look handsome, and he is far too clever to be seen with a pacifier, he relented and went to sleep without one!

That whole process repeated itself for a week, before he officially does not ask for his pacifiers anymore :) At times he still remembers and ask for it, but rarely. And also another piece of good news, Kyle has stopped drinking from his bottle :) He now takes milk in a cup :)

Now, the next thing for me to do is to brush up on his toilet training. He tends to forget that he is not wearing diapers while playing, and he would unconsciously pee-pee in his shorts. I hope he can stop wearing diapers altogether soon! So wish me luck!