One pacifier gone. One more to go.

Since 23 Dec 2011, A1 has stopped using a pacifier. I would not have thought it would be so easy.

Once the boys reached a year old, we would leave the pacifier at home when we went out. They could nap in the car seats without a pacifier. But at home, they were allowed to use their pacifier any time though I prefer to limit the usage to bedtime.

Since toddler A1 had full set of teeth, he had been biting his pacifier. I had to change his broken pacifier so often that I tried to make him stop using it. I explained to him that he was a big boy; his teeth would drop if he uses a pacifier (this worked for a friend's son) etc. But each time, he cried for one. And since there was always spare at home, I would sterilize a new one for him.

Last Nov, I told him that the new red pacifier was the last one he was going to get. If it was broken, there won't be a new one. I was not sure that he would abide to my rule. On 23 Dec, I discovered a tear on his pacifier and told him that it had to go to the rubbish bin. He obeyed and threw the pacifier into the bin. I told him that he won't get a new one. He was sad but said nothing. And he never asked for a pacifier from me after that. I was apprehensive when it was bed time but he went to bed with his comfort toy "OB" and slept easily. He had asked for a pacifier from his father and the nanny but each of them told him that he did not need it. He had on a few occasions used his brother's pacifier. I guess it was more for memory sake and not a need because he removed it after a short while.

Now, there is only toddler A2 using a pacifier. Hope he will get rid of it once he has his full set of teeth.

Baby A2's room

As promised in my earlier post (the one on toddler A1's new room), I'm showing you baby A2's room.

This used to be toddler A1's room. When baby A2 came along, the two boys shared the room. However, they both woke each other up and we decided to separate them.

The color theme of the room is blue and yellow. The lampshade is blue and the curtain has yellow flowers on it.

This photo was taken by toddler A1. We got the carpet from Ikea. The fire engine truck was a gift from Ah Ma when toddler A1 was in Singapore this april. The drawing board was a gift for baby A2 from friend in Singapore. The orange helmet was from the boys' uncle. Yeah, toys are randomly lying around. And due to limited storage space, I put them as near to the wall as possible.
Baby A2 is walking really well. I have to make sure the toys do not get in the passage of baby A2. In the photo below, the 2 boys were playing with a plastic fan until toddler A1 walked away with it leaving baby A2 staring after him and bursting into tears.

A2 is walking by himself

At 10 months old, he was on his two feet. He cruised around the appartment holding onto furnitures or our hands. He was getting more and more confident though often, his butt weighed down on him and he sat down after a few steps.

2 weeks ago, he could walk steadily by holding onto our one finger. He just needed assurance.

Last sunday, we went to the park. While his brother was running around, he took 2, 3 steps all by himself to get his hand on the tennis racket. He then sat down, took a break and when we lifted him up, he took a few steps again.

Today, he walked from the kitchen to the living room. What a joy. He walks at 12.5 months old. Almost 1.5 months earlier than his brother. But that also means we will have other issues to worry.

Already, he could climb up the sofa. Something that toddler A1 never tried until much older. Baby A2 tried to stand on his brother's stool to reach the object on the table which we deliberately put out of his reach.

He is a very determinded boy and we could tell that his brother has a strong influence on him. That just explains why he is doing things at an earlier age than toddler A1. Baby A2 has someone to copy. Just hoping that toddler A1 will be a good example. At 2.5 years old, it is just impossible to make him behave in front of his brother.

What is he saying?

Toddler A1 is more than 2 years old and I have to admit with regards to speech, he is on the slower side compared with kids of his age. Recently, he is making progress and his vocabulary has improved each day.

At the age of 10 months, he was babbling with 'dada papa blah'. He was saying papa by then and effectively called out for his dad each time. He was really close to his father and it was Seb who put him to sleep each evening if he was available. The fact that I was pregnant with baby A2 and after that took care of the new-born might contribute to this closeness between son and dad.

Finally at age of 2, toddler A1 called me 'mama'. It was such a joy to hear that. Now that I am working 80% (part time), toddler A1 is closer to me. I put him to bed half the time. He starts calling me 'maman' (french) recently.

Except for the word 'mother' which he says 'mama' (chinese) or 'maman' (french), all other words he says are in one of the three languages. Yet, he understands us when Seb speaks to him in french, I speak to him in english and the nanny speaks to him in chinese.

He knows I meant water when I say 'water' but he replies 'eau'. At Brittany, he told his grandmother he wanted 'pi'. I thought he meant to say 'pen' in english but mispronounced it. Then it hit upon me that he was speaking in chinese. I translated to Seb's mother and she gave him paper and pens to keep him occupied.

Another occasion, he was out with his grandmother. He pointed at a car and said 'car'. His grandmother corrected him and say 'Ce n'est pas un car. c'est une voiture.' (It is not a coach. It is a car.) Then she realised that he was speaking in english.

Each time we go out and buy things, I will tell toddler A1 to say 'thank you'. He will look at the person and says 'xie xie'. Gosh. People are generally amused when they realise that I speak english to toddler A1. But they must be confused to hear something as greek as 'xie xie'. I just don't bother to explain that it was chinese.

Here are some of his vocab.
In English
'Pain' and then pointing to where it hurts
'Bye bye' and doing a flying kiss
'cold'
'up'
'bird'
'car'
'bus'
'No' and 'Yes'

In chinese
'Yu' while pointing to the fish in the book (fish)
'Di di' (younger brother)
'Nehneh' ( grandmother)
'Bing' (biscuits)
'xie xie' (thank you)

In french
'papa' (father)
'maman' (mother)
'Cou cou' and waving (hello)
'Pipi' (papi for his grandfather)
'Encore' (more/again)
'çaça' (poo)
'pas là' (not there/here)
'là' (here)
'veux pas' (don't want)
'eau' (water)
'balle' (ball)
'bus' (bus)

To be corrected
'Bei bei' for all cats (Bao Bei is our pet cat)
'Moo' for cows
'Woo woo' for dogs
'Té té' and pointing to himself
'Barba' for Barbapapa

These are what I can think of at the moment. From the list above, I gather that he chooses to say words that are easiest to pronounce among the three languages.

Not forgetting baby A2, he is 10 months old and starts to babble about 'Dada papa blah'. Hm... I do hope he says 'Maman' soon.

Grounded

We are suppose to be on the plane heading to Singapore at this moment. However, baby A2 is having chicken poxs. All thanks to his brother who passed it to him. This is about the 5th day so it is still contagious. We postpone our trip by a week.
Seb and I are so looking forward to our vacation. But life with kids is full of surprises. So we just have to be patient for another week.
Toddler A1 is healing well. He have lots of spots all over his body but they are drying up slowly.
Baby A2 is starting to have lots of small spots on his head and body. We put mittens on him so that he would not scratch himself but he is not too happy about it.
We will have another few sleepless nights before heading to Singapore and hopefully get some rest since granny is more than happy to take care of the babies.
Counting down the week. . . . .

Life's routine

Can't believe that it is already March. For the past two months, we had settled into a nice routine. Each morning, toddler A1 wakes up at 5am. It is his bio clock and we can do nothing about it. Either he manages to doze off or Seb would give him his milk bottle. With luck, toddler A1 would fall asleep until around 6.30am. By then, baby A2 would wake up for his milk feed. I would start to prepare for work and leave the house by 7.15am. I start work at 8am.

Seb would take care of the 2 boys until Ai Yi comes at 9am. She is usually early which means Seb zooms off on his scooter and reaches office by 9.15am. Ai Yi takes good care of the 2 boys and we can tell as toddler A1 would rush to the corridor to greet her when she presses on the inter-phone. Baby A2 breaks into a smile when he sees her.

At 6pm, I would be home and Ai Yi updates me about the happening of the day. She notes down everything too but in chinese so it is really just meant for me. I would update Seb when he comes home. During the day, Ai Yi prepares the meals for toddler A1, plays with them, change them, bath them, do their laundry, educate them. She cleans up after toddler A1's mess. If she has extra time, she could vacum or even mop the floor. We always return to a neat home. But after she leaves, within 15 mins, toddler A1 would be messing up the living room or his playroom again.

Seb comes home after 7pm. I would cook diner for us with toddler A1 standing on a stool "helping" out. I invited him once and am now stuck with this routine. Now, he would rush to the hall and push the stool to the kitchen when I start cooking. Baby A2 would be in his bouncer watching us patiently. He loves to watch his brother. Once diner is prepared, we would stay in the living room and entertain ourselves silly with music, books or the laptop until Seb returns.

On the days when I am not working, I would bring the kids to the park if it is sunny. With Ai Yi, toddler A1 has a routine. But with me, it just does not work. He does not want to nap with me around. Once he dozed off on his high chair while having his afternoon snack. He was too tired to resist. We were talking to my mum on skype and she witnessed it direct. Just way too funny.

By 8.30pm, toddler A1 has his evening milk feed (he loves milk and milk products) and Seb would put him to bed. We would relax a little until the last milk feed for baby A2 between 9.30pm to 10.30pm. Then lights out!

There are evenings when Lukas would be at our place or toddler A1 at his place for some play time togather. We would miss our neighbour very much when he moves in 3 months time.

Many people wonder how we cope without family help around and with 2 young kids. We survive. I admit that having a good nanny is a luxury as we can have peace of mind at work.

Big revamps in our lives

Over the weekend, it snowed in Paris. This is not very usual for beginning of Dec. The snow did not stay as it rained after. However, it did snow heavily and my balcony had a layer of snow. It was a beautiful sight from the living room but I think my flowers had froze to death.

Baby A2 is getting better. Despite the cold, we had to bring him for theraphy sessions to clear his lungs. I'm glad that after 2 sessions, we were told that he was in the pink of health. For the next months, we would keep ourselves warm at home and avoid outdoors unless necessary.

With baby A1 at the childcare, there are some organisations to be done. Seb brings him to childcare and in the evening, my neighbour, whose son is also at the child care would help me to bring back baby A1. I won't have to take baby A2 with me to pick up his brother. This arrangement would last for these 2 weeks. After which, Seb would be on his 11 days of father's leave. Yeah, another work benefit in France.

Then comes the new year. Major changes would occur come 2011. We were disappointed that baby A2 did not have a place at the childcare. So the best decision for us was to pull baby A1 out of childcare and enaged a nanny. We found a chinese nanny who would come to take care of the 2 boys at home. She would speak chinese to them. She would work every weekday except wed and alternate friday.

For me, I will stop working full time. By law, yeah, another work benefit in France, I can reduce my work hours to 80% and get some financial help from the governement. This means I get to spend every wed and alternate fridays at home with my boys. The loss of income is about 10% after aids from govt which ends on the third birthday of the last child.

France is really a social country. I just realised that with 2 kids,I get about 120€ from the govt each month. I did not realise this until I checked my bank account a few days ago. The amount increased with the number of kids. No wonder some people just keep having babies to get this aid.

At the moment, I'm on maternity leave until 20 Dec but I decided to start work on 2011. After all, I still have 5 weeks of leave. I hope to be fresh for year 2011. I'm just exhausted now and nursing a cold. Hopefully, I won't pass it to the babies.

He is back in hospital

Baby A2 got bronchiolitis and was hospitalised since monday. His condition is not serious. As he is so young, he is kept in the hospital for observation. Still, it is tedious for us. Seb's mom is helping to take care of baby A1 while I spend the day by baby A2's side. As the hospital is nearby Seb's workplace, he would come to visit during lunch time. For the night, we take turns to sleep over. Seb would shower at the hospital before going to work the next day. Today is my turn to sleep at home.

We are keeping our cool. We got to know the doctors and nurses there and know that baby A2 is in good hands. Still, with the extreme cold weather, I would prefer the whole family to be cozy at home. I wonder when the little guy will be back home. The prediction was a week to 10 days.

We are not alone. We see so many other babies just as young who were admitted for the same problem. Gosh, babies are so fragile during winter.

I hate Nov

At this time, I should be resting and sleeping but somehow I just could not. Instead of choosing to watch TV, I decided to take 5 mins to write this down. Maybe that will help me to go to bed easier.

I had spent the last 2 nights at the hospital staying by baby A2's side. He had fever and it was worrying since he was less than 2 months old. It started on tuesday when he had fever of 38.2°C. At the hospital, he had his blood drawn thrice. His urine and stools were examined. He had a lumbar puncture done. But all test results did not show up any virus or bacteria.

Poor boy was in great discomfort and Seb and I took turns to be by his side. His tempertaure had not stablised and this morning even shot up to 38.9°C.

Last year this time, baby A1 spent 5 nights at the hospital. This time round, it's his little brother. I hate Nov. I pray that baby A2 will recover soon.

5 mins up. It's time I go to bed and try to get to sleep. Let's hope that we can have our baby home with us tomorrow.

Sleeping arrangement

A few months before the arrival of little brother, we bought a junior bed from Ikea for the big brother. Though he was only 16months old, we decided to make him sleep in the junior bed instead of buying another baby bed for the little brother. The little brother would instead be sleeping in the existing baby bed.

We installed the junior bed but big brother did not want to sleep in it. It took him a month before he slowly accepted sleeping in it. Now, he had no problem sleeping in it. I think he knew the advantage of sleeping in the big bed. He could get out of the bed early in the morning and came looking for us in our room. In the baby bed, he would have to wait for us to come get him. We no longer needed to set the alarm clock as we could hear big brother getting off his bed and walking along the corridor at 6.30am or sometimes earlier.

For little brother, I decided not to put him in the baby bed yet. The 2 boys would be sharing a room and since little brother cried so often as all new borns do, I did not want him to disturb his older brother’s sleep. I rented a maternity baby bed for a month. We could easily move the baby anywhere we want. Furthermore, we could see the baby through the transparent cot.

Another week and little brother would be a month old. I'm hoping that the 2 boys would sleep well when they are both in the same bedroom.

The wait is over

My second boy had arrived on sunday. He weighed 3kg100g and was 48cm. He arrived at the same term as his older brother; 39 weeks + 2 days.

Baby boy's name starts with an A, like his older brother. So I guess I have to call my Baby A, Baby 1 and this new born, Baby 2.

As usual, we engaged the services of Adela, my mid-wife and Dr Sabban, my obstetrician. I stayed at Sainte Isabelle Clinique as I enjoyed the service there for Baby 1. This time round, I took the suite since the room was entirely paid by my mutuelle. The rate was like that of a superior room in a 5 star hotel in Paris. Very expensive. The suite was spacious. I should have done that for my first stay instead of opting for the single room.

I stayed 3 nights there and though the food was alright, I longed for kebah and sushi. Seb delighted me with the best sushi he knew in Paris. (That was when he was still eating fish.) The fish were really fresh. I guess I had more craving for food than when I was pregnant.

We are all home now and as usual, mum is doing confinement for me. I can hardly wait for the confinement period to be over so that I can be FREE. Mum is not that strict but still, confinement is confinement!

Baby 1 takes well to Baby 2 and even kissed him. Baby 2 is adorable so far. Not a fussy baby. Or maybe because this baby business is not new to us, we are less stress up.

Oh yeah, when I was at the clinic, I met a nurse who did an internship at KK Hospital in Singapore. She knew about the confinement practise and we discussed a little. She was surprised to have a patient from Singapore and asked if my mum was going to sleep with me at night. I told her that my french husband would never allow that.