Why a Mummy?

A fellow mommy brought it up a few months back and it caught my attention. Apparently, her maid had posed her the question.

It is a very good question. I did not manage to think up an answer. So I asked Viv on MSN.


Me: You know the way we refer Mother as Mummy?

Viv: Yes. Why?

Me: Aren't mummies wrapped up corpses?

*a moment's silence*

Viv: Wow... I'll never see you in the same light again. BAWHAHA...

So Viv had no answer why we were taught to spell Mummy instead of Mommy.
But I do make it a point to always spell mOmmy from then on.

Fruit Tart and I

Hm... so, this is my birthday tart.

Ok, let's try to eat it.

What? You mean that's not the way to eat it?

What do you mean ONLY this brown thing can be eaten? Why didn't u tell me earlier?

Gulp. Too late. *BURP*

1/2 Year Old Now

HH turns 6 months old today! A major milestone in both our lives.

Early morning, I dressed her in her new white dress. And her new headband.


Then after her afternoon nap, we went out together and bought her a lovely fruit tart. Papa said he had wanted to order a chocolate cake for her. Luckily he didn't. It would have made HH drool more and Me fatter.


"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to HH, Happy Birthday to you!!!"
Gram, Mom, Bro and me, the four regulars in her life at the moment, celebrated her life with her.


The Birthday would not be complete without a phone call from Papa, who sang her a birthday song on his own, to which she listened intently. :)


Today she got a special treat too. I rinsed and mashed a little of the peach from her Bday tart and added it to her dinner cereal. So she really had a slice of her bday cake!

The Offending Breastbone

Any idea where the breastbone is? Or more specifically, where the tip of the bone is?

I never really cared. Until Sunday.

Mom had discovered HH has a rather protruding bone located where the ribcages join. It doesn't protrude as in jut out, but it can be easily felt when you feel her chest.

This was a few weeks back.
Then, I did not register it as anything too major. Because HH obviously does not hurt from it and she appeared very delighted when Mom, me and Bro all surrounded her and took turns to touch her chest. Although I am unable to locate the sharpness on myself, Bro said it was normal.

Saturday night, it suddenly occured to me to ask the mommies to check their babies since we were all going to meet in class the next day.

After class, I got the mommies to feel HH. While we were dicussing if the presence of the bone was normal, Mommy K's new domestic help who was a nurse, came up to feel and declared it was ABnormal. In fact, she obviously felt it important enough to warn me a few times. "Must see doctor. Very Important."

The seriousness of her tone gripped my heart. And got me pretty worried.

I started to imagine the worst.
What if the doctor shake his head, call for xray, put HH through other tests, and finally surgery???

The images were heart wrenching. The entire evening, I kept hugging HH close.

*******************************************************

On Mommy K's suggestion, I called for a PD appointment early in the morning and got one scheduled. HH is almost due for her Hep B jab anyway.

HH was routinely checked for weight, height, head circumference and had her development progress recorded. (W: 7.9kg, H: 67cm, C: 43cm)

The PD examined her and said lightheartedly: Oh, that's the tip of the breastbone. In some, it can be quite protruding. But it's ok. Nothing to worry about.

Within the span of the 10 mins in the PD's office, HH had her thigh poked and I had my worries put to rest.
We left with teething gel and medication for constipation.

Constipated Butt

HH is definitely constipated.

The signs:
1. She shows her gek sai expression several times a day, but when we check, her diapers are clean.
2. She gek and gek on the potty only a teenie weenie bit of hard like plasticine stool comes out.
3. When I remove her from the potty, her entire little bums are covered with perspiration.
4. Lying her down to encourage her to poo, I witness the tip of the plasticine trying to pop out, but failed.
5. Her little constipated butt is all red from all the gekking.

The rescue plan:
1. Fed her diluted prune juice twice since yesterday. To which she takes with a scrunched up face because it's so sour.
2. Gave her the 1st dose of the constipation medication after tea. Hopefully it'll relieve her poo.
3. If all else fails, I fear she'll have to go to the PD for an enema soon.

The documentation:

Subject makes the 'URRGH.....URRGH....' sounds.

Subject appears tired after the gekking.


Subject is force fed prune juice.

Subject's initial reaction to the juice.


Subject's final reaction to the juice. We fear temporary facial disalignment.

Crossing my fingers

Worried about something.

Mommy K's new domestic help got me pretty worried with what she said.

I will need to find out more tomorrow.

When Grandma's missing her Motherly Instincts

I always believe that Grandma K would most likely faint or hit the roof should she see Grandma T at work.

Below are some of the reasons:

1. Grandma T had no issues with aircon/ shower/shampooing at confinement.
2. Grandma T was the one who started training HH's arm muscles by having HH in flex arm hang position, at around 3 months.
3. Grandma T snipped HH's skin off her little finger while trying to trim her nails.
4. Grandma T had HH toppled face down while holding her in her lap at around 6 weeks. And then she laughed.
5. Grandma T returned empty EBM bottles to the fridge without washing, thinking that's where I keep them.
6. Grandma T attempted several Formula1 stunts, with HH as an unsuspecting passenger.
7. Grandma T has no idea what most of Grandma K's pregnancy/confinement/childcare rules mean.
8. Grandma T would most likely laugh at the same things Grandma K would be anxious about.

Am I glad Grandma T is the one I stay with.

Mama's the Chef!

Mama = Me

Chef = Great Cook

My culinary judge = almost 6 mth old HH


I can see HH's learning to enjoy her food. I figured it has to be she has come to appreciate my culinary skills.

I used to need to aim correctly and time my movements precisely before shoving the spoon into her mouth. I miss quite often, and her food gets onto her cheeks, nose, forehead, into her nostrils and once even stuck on her eyelashes.
These days, she expertly opens her mouth in sync with the advancement of the spoon, sometimes even before I can heap the next scoop. She has also been caught waiting for the spoon with her mouth wide opened.

I used to need to wrestle the spoon out of her mouth as she would bite hard on the spoon and refuse to let go, while both her ten fingers grasp eagerly on the spoon handle. More effective than prying her fingers apart, I resort to sliding the entire spoon through her palm. Not a very clean and hygienic way of using a spoon, but I figured she usually needs a bath (again) after her meal, so what the heck.
Now, she no longer insists on grabbing the spoon and getting her hands grubby. Instead, she plays with the buttons on her walker and only occasionlly attempt to feed herself when she thinks I'm too slow for her liking.

Not that she has mastered table manners, but she has definitely become much easier to feed.

I gave her mashed avocado. Upon tasting, she gave me a strange look. Nonetheless, she swallowed it. She did the same with the second and third mouthful. Only after I mixed the avocado with apple puree did she stop making the funny expression.

Today, she tried homemade whipped potato. (I was told potato cannot be blended as it becomes very starchy. Paying heed to others' experience, I added 3 spoons of EBM to the blender before blending. The result was fantastic. Think KFC whipped potato without the sauce. You got it.) As with every first time food, she paused to taste the flavour. She gave a strange look again with the potato. I tried a second mouth. This time, she showed her approval. She smiled and started to coo.

Another masterpiece. Hehe..

Tooth Fairy Visits

Discovered this little sharpness on the lower gum.

She smiled at me as I rubbed her gum, drowning my finger with her drool.

But I can't see the pearly white yet. Maybe in a day or two.

A big girl now.


Oh oh! Now I worry about the breastfeeding....

Potty Time

After I found out about potty training for tots at this age, I was most eager to try on HH.

Finally bought her a potty on Wednesday at Bedok. (Actually I bought 2, 1 to use here, 1 to fly to Dubai. I doubt I can get a SGD1.80 potty there.)

Yesterday, she did not poo. Despite me being very encouraging during her Lunch. (She has developed this tendency to poo halfway through lunch.)

But today she did.

She slowed down her eating and showed her gek sai face. An intent look of concentration with her lipspursed into a straight line. Even her face turned red. I quickly took her out from her feeding walker and removed her diaper to check. Nothing yet.

So I brought out her potty and had her sit on it.

We all went "URRGH......URRGH......URRGH......." She probably felt a bit disoriented sitting in a potty for the 1st time in her life. Which was why she lost all urge to poo.

Removed her, diapered her and we continued lunch. Halfway through, she stopped eating and showed my favourite gek sai expression again.

I quickly jumped into action. And I did the "URRGH....URRGH....URRGH" with a most encouraging smile for her. It took a little while, but I was rewarded with a "BRR....POOT...POOT....BRR". And then she looked up and considered herself done.

I peeked into the potty before Mom removed it for washing.

Hehe... a gross but rewarding view.

The Battle With the Invisible Bottle Snatcher

Taken on 20 Sep 2006.

Blog Outstationed

Decided to create a new blog and leave the beta premise for a while.

Was getting very troublesome to post.

But I suggest my readers to retain the original url, coz I intend to migrate everything home when I am better equipped.

For the time being, got to bear with this new shabby squarter quarters.

And this is to facilate movement,

http://tictactoh.blogspot.com

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