Amanda-licious @ 2 years and 2 months

Amanda sings

Being baby number two, we are definitely guilty to paying less attention to Amanda. And so, she demands it in her own way by being more strong character-ed.  Explains, doesn’t it? Anyway, that’s not the point of this entry. Today’s post is about how baby girl has started to sing! Sing a lot! Credit goes to her teachers, not us. I had such happy mornings the past two days this weekend just listening to her sing. We recorded her performances on video and we must have watched and re-watched the videos a zillion times together. She’d laugh really loud each time she saw herself laughing in the video, making me laugh as well. Really made me realise what I’ve been missing out all the past weekends when we were just busy doing other stuff or when we were too tired to entertain her. Boo. 

Here are some videos of our morning. She, baby girl, is such a joy!

Big boy haircut

Officially promoted to big boy territory when it comes to haircuts.

He has been thrilled to be able to get his haircut at the salon his daddy frequents, saying goodbye to his childhood salon. Now, this boy shares the same stylist as both mommy and daddy!

Even his haircuts are a bit more 'big boy' in style - mommy's loving the edgier look. Though this boy probably loves the salon for the milo and strawberry biscuits he gets each time he is there (spot that the two packages he has in his hands).

Favourite breakfast for the month - Koko Krunch

Milk monster

For about two weeks now, Amanda has been doubling her night milk intakes to official scary levels. Before she goes to bed, she drinks 480ml of milk (yes! 2 bottles of her normal 240ml) and when she wakes up in the middle of the night, usually around 4ish, its another 360ml to 480ml of milk she demands! Does growth spurts last so long? 

At the rate she is going, I'm afraid she may double her size in no time! Our chubby mei-mei!

Two years of parenting two

These days, we have finally reached a phase where the kids are much easier to look after.  Finally!  Mainly referring to Amanda, since Wayne has long been quite independent and self-entertaining. 

What triggered this post, was my lunch date with a friend last Saturday. I met her in the late morning and ended up spending almost the entire afternoon with her, reaching home at 4pm. It was not the fact that I was out for so long, but the state of my mind while out. I was able to relax and enjoy my time out chit-chatting with my friend, without worrying how the kids were doing and if they were driving the husband nuts. You see, in the past, all the times I was out and the husband was alone with the two kids, I would not really relax. Perhaps it was me, I would worry if the husband was having a hard time alone managing the kids and I would usually end up hurrying home. Amanda isn't the easiest kid to handle, and when she starts to look for me when I am out, she can be pretty hard to pacify.  And I just didn't want the husband to feel tired or frustrated, though he doesn't complain. I still recall a time when I went out for the night and Amanda ended up crying the entire 2 hours non-stop, leaving me feeling really guilty for subjecting both Amanda and the husband to such torture. But from what happened last Saturday, I now know that after two years, I needn't worry!

I think a lot has to do with the fact that she can play independently and does not need constant supervision. Having a brother to entertain her sure helps a lot too. Often, both the kids would now play by themselves in their room, leaving the husband and I a bit more time to have our dinner peacefully, and do a bit of our own things, which sadly often revolves around the household chores. Haha. Still... I am not complaining. It is a far cry from the times that I needed to eat my dinner in two portions depending on how long she wanted to sit down together with me, or when we couldn't even wash the dishes without having the other one of us free to keep an eye on her, or couldn't even take a shower until she naps. For all that, a big hooray!

Amanda being in school the past few months have also helped with the logistics. I commute a bit less on a daily basis, and the icing on top of the cake is being able to take half a day's leave to sleep at home when I just-feel-too-tired-to-continue. Seriously.. this, only mommies will be able to understand. Oh.... the lack of personal time we have, and the lack of sleep! On good days when Amanda sleeps through till 7 in the morning, I wake up feeling so rested... but its so rare, I've long gotten used to waking up to her cries in the middle of the night, falling back asleep sometimes on her bed, sometimes on mine, and waking up irritated by the interrupted sleep. When, baby girl, will you sleep through the night consistently?

Looking back at the past two years, together with the immense joy they bring into our lives, the husband and I have also been really stretched to the brink of exhaustion. Our daily routine does not include much rest time, BUT just when I feel that its getting too much, finally I see the light at the end of the tunnel when I start to find more and more pockets of time amidst our routine to rest. And with this, I really look forward to spending more quality time with the husband, the kids and the extended family.

Love you both, my two little monsters!

Amanda-licious @ 2 years and 1 month.. More Expressions!

Amanda-licious @ 2 years and 1 month ... Expressions!

Giant puzzle

Miss best dressed

Our little charmer bagged the title of PG’s best dressed champ in the recent Hari Raya celebrations in school, coming home with a grand prize of 4 chocolate gold coins in her first award ever.  I think it was her cherubic face that did the trick, not the costume which mommy had scouted for in Geylang Serai during one of the work lunch hours. Her teacher so kindly e-mailed me these set of photos which she took and yesss.. she is so darn cute, this little chubby girl of mine.

Cutesy rainboots!

A last minute pre-holiday buy which proved so handy amidst the muddy puddles and rainy weather. Love the colourful designs!

Saying goodbye to her "P"

It seemed like the bravest thing to do.

Getting rid of Amanda’s pacifier, that is.

It was a ‘Turning 2 years old’ kind of a resolution. Amanda has had her ‘zui ai’ for the last two years, and it has brought much peace to our household each time baby girl went into tantrum mode. Each time she cried, fussed, needed to sleep… swiftly, in went the pacifier into her mouth, and she would mellow. It brought her much comfort, and brought us much peace. But it has been two years, and she is now a big girl (kind of), ready to take on the world herself sans her ‘P’ (as it is affectionately known as). And yes, I was getting increasingly worried that prolonged sucking of the pacifier would result in my princess having bucked teeth. Continue scaring me Elaine, it works.

It has been a bit over her 2nd birthday but we wanted it handy during our recent holiday, so she was indulged in it for a month longer. But 2 days after our holiday, it was time. Hence, 1 September.. it was bye-bye. And guess what? It has been 4 days and 4 nights and she hasn’t really demanded for it. The first night she asked for her P, I told her that “Dr Chan said that you are a big girl now, just like kor-kor, so you don’t need the P. See.. kor kor is carrying his baby to sleep, not eating the P. You carry your baby to sleep too, oki?” and she replied “Oki, mommy”.  I was certainly expecting more drama than that. Not convinced, I was sure she would demand for it a few minutes later but no, she fell asleep just like that. Still unbelieving, I thought to myself, perhaps she was just tired. I bet she would wake up in the middle of the night and throw a big tantrum when she can’t find it and not be able to fall back asleep but again, NO. And the same thing and same thoughts repeated the next night, and again NO MENTION of the P.  How awesome is she!

Now, I’m getting very very hopeful.. praying, and hoping, and crossing all my fingers that it’s the end of the P journey for good, and that I don’t jinx everything up by writing this post and announcing this piece of good news ahead of time. Fingers crossed!

Upset.

What supposedly was to be a fun time with the kids last evening turned out to be an upsetting time, with Wayne having one of his full-blown meltdowns. Granted it doesnt happen that often, but coupled with the number of tantrums he threw during our recent trip, it really got me pretty upset and disappointed with him. I was hardly angry, just really upset. And it got me wondering about my parenting style. I know disciplining the kids is not my strength, and I am seeing the results of it. It doesn't feel good seeing him throw such tantrums and it certainly does not feel good not being able to control my kids. Worst of all is seeing him behaving rudely to the elders.

I need to re-look at my parenting style and stop thinking that love is all that is needed in helping them grow up right and grow up well. Cos I'm obviously wrong and need to do a better job.