Baby Plan 2: Surprise! Surprise!

I was suprised! Last blog referring to baby plan 2 two weeks ago was the first month of us trying to conceive and now I am already 5 days late. I did not expect to get pregnant during first month of trying again but we are just lucky.
I bought a pregnancy test and the result showed 2 pink lines this morning.
We have decided not to tell anybody yet because these are still early days.
Furthermore, we are going to attend my sister's wedding in KL so I do not wish my parent-in-laws to be concerned.
Plan to have my first gynae visit early next week.
I actually look forward to this pregnancy (hopefully without 6 weeks of horrible morning sickness this time).

Baby Plan 2: Preparations

I do not believe in 'letting nature take its own course', especially in planning a pregnancy.
I think a couple needs to be ready: physically, emotionally and financially.

Since our first daughter was planned, we intend to plan for the second one as well. Having a baby by accident will deprive him/ her the best start for beginning in life. One or both parents might be on certain medication, exposed to chemicals or even sick when the baby is conceived.

Although I understand the state of health of a baby does not depend solely on above mentioned but as parents, I feel we have responsibility to ensure we give the best head start for our own children.

A few simplest actions to follow are to take folic acid prior to pregnancy, cut down on caffeine intake and getting enough rest. Though the last step is hardest for me to follow because I have been working hard for the whole day and I think I deserve the much needed 'me time' before the end of the day.

After doing all the above steps, only then i will let nature take its own course.

Mama!!

Tian called me 'Mama' the first time two days ago on 28th Oct. I was elated!

She learnt to call her grandpa and papa before one year old and continued with grandma. She even could call my mum and dad when they came to visit her last week. Also recognised her second uncle and auntie (LK's elder bro and sis). Except me!! She could even recognise pictures and read aloud.

I wondered why she would not address me until now. Saving the best for the last?
Whatever the reason is, I am happy!

Love for Daddy

We went to Melaka during Hari Raya holidays from Tuesday to Saturday last week. We did not visit any place, not even Jonker Street. We stayed at a relative's home. Her bungalow was huge with spacious yard to Tian to consume her pent up energy. We spent our time eating, chatting and the guys played 'Mahjong'.

The day before we came home, my husband fell off from a bicycle (yes, bicycle and not motorcycle) while trying to compete with his brother. The chain on the bike came loose when he accelerated. He went to see doctor and had a tetanus shot but his wound was healing very slowly.

I suggested using the painful and faster way for him. That was to apply a Chinese ointment bought at Chinese medical hall. I voluntered to apply the ointment for him (I am sadistic).
However, Tian cried two days ago when she saw her Dad struggling with pain so we had to bring her away.

After dinner just now, I helped LK to apply the ointment again and Tian cried again. She knew it meant pain as she said 'shao' (hot in Mandarin). For her, pain and hot means the same thing because she accidentally poked her finger into a lotus paste bun before and got burnt. It was painful and hot for her.

New Bed

I spent whole day today cleaning and tidying up my home. I cleaned to put away Tian's 2 playpens and one of her stroller. Reason is she hates sleeping in her confined playpen and will end up waking up in middle of night to demand to be carried to our bed to sleep so that she can roll about. Even before she started walking one month ago, she does not like to be put in stroller while we bring her walking around our neighbourhood. So I decided to put away some stuff that is not needed anymore. Oh dear, my baby is growing up fast!

As I am typing away, I am observing her sleeping on her new 'bed'. Just a mattress on the floor. I have been searching for a bed with sides but without posts, in case she climbs out and falls off her bed at night but the furniture shops insists that I have to buy the whole double decked bed to get the upper deck that I want. I have only one child now and it makes no point to buy two beds now. Furthermore, I have read somewhere that letting children sleep on double decked bed is not good for the one sleeping below because of 'chi' that cannot circulate when he/she is sleeping. Sleeping on the floor is not a good idea either. That is why i insist on finding a bed without posts for Tian.

I saw Tian turning to the edge of her bed just now, almost falling off onto the thinner mattress that I placed beneath the thick mattress that she was sleeping on. She felt nothing beneath her head so she turned back to her mattress. I have no idea how she knows she was falling off.

One thing I love about Tian is that she adapts to changes easily without making any fuss. This includes going to relatives house to stay, taking nap in the car while travelling, changing her routine etc.....

Feeling of Emptiness

I am not feeling exactly happy this weekend. Not angry, not resentful, just a feeling of void.

I know I should be contented. I do not face problems some people are facing about losing jobs, financial problem, family problems. I have an attentive husband (despite my moodiness this weekend) and an adorable daughter who is always the centre of my attention.

Maybe it is because I am taking weekends for granted. I let it passes by every week without making the effort to do something meaningful. Except that we brought 'Tian'to McDonald's yesterday and she had a great time!!

Since I will be having a 5 days holidays this Hari Raya Puasa (a festival celebrated by Muslims in Malaysia after fasting from morning to evening for 30 days), I hope to use this time to relax and reflect what I should in my life. Another thing that makes me jealous is that my husband is having 2 weeks Hari Raya Puasa holidays in a row. Huh!

Learning Curve

Tian has been able to recognise words that we read to her and point at the pictures on books a few months back. Her understanding of words has expanded. She has been pronouncing words like 'apple', 'au-au' (dog), 'car', 'lorry', 'key', 'sh' (fish) while recognising the objects when she sees one up to 'to-to' (tomato), 'lion', 'co-co' (coconut), 'papa-ee' (papaya), 'baam' (van), 'bum-bum' (motorcycle).

We have been trying to teach her new words lately but she does not seem interested. Only then, I realised that she is now learning to listen to us rather than learning how to talk. We will ask her if she wants milk and she will respond with 'yao' ('want' in mandarin). If we tell her we are going out, she will get her socks and shoes for us to help her put on. When she hold a food container and wants us to open for her, she will say 'key' to indicate 'open'.

These few days, a few nouns that she could point correctly at the pictures are 'duck', 'egg', 'moon', 'orange', 'rabbit', 'xylophone', 'zip'.

This evening we told her to bring her 'apple book' (books containing apple and other pictures) from a basket at the corner of our living room, she really walked there and brought the book for my husband to read for her. After reading, we told her to put back to the basket and she really did it!