How We Are Coping So Far

When friends and relatives found out that we'll be spending a year overseas, we generally got two types of reaction. The first reaction would be from relatives and friends who are married with kids. They would say, "If you are not bringing your maid along, how are you going to cope with a toddler, a newborn, cooking and housework?". The second reaction would be from friends who are single or married with no kids. They would say, "Oh my, what will you be doing in Denver while your husband was at work? You'll be so bored!" or "You'll be able to spend all your time going shopping and watching TV!". Seriously?!?

Anyhow, we're coping well, I must say. Generally, I get DS involved in my household chores, but I must say I feel bad for him when he wonders around the house aimlessly at times. I think he is used to being engaged in play WITH someone (since I was also previously mostly a SAHM and then there's the domestic help and the grandparents to entertain him) that he's not used to spending so much time alone while I'm busy doing stuff. DD, on the other hand, is either sleeping in her crib or sleeping on me. I have to say that a baby carrier is a life-saver. In the pictures above (sorry about the self-taken pics though), I'm using a wrap to carry DD upright (otherwise she spits up a lot) and my hands are free to do other things. There are many different types of baby carriers around besides the Baby Bjorn, which is supposed to be not too ideal for baby's back. There are ring slings, mei tais, pouches, wraps, etc. If anyone is interested, hop over to http://www.thebabywearer.com/ . This website is so full of information on babywearing that it can be overwhelming at first. But you will be able to find almost everything you need to know about babywearing there. But be warned - it is very addictive.

We've also been cooking our own meals, which is great. My only complain is that my personal time, ie. time after the kids are in bed, are non-existant at the moment. For some reason, DS has been unwilling to go to bed until very late at night. He just can't seem to stay in bed and gets up to turn on the lights, open the room door or closet doors until past 12 midnight. I'm just hoping it'll pass soon.

Snow!!!

2 Sundays ago (21 Oct), it snowed for the first time since we arrived in Denver. The above is the view from our windows. DS was so excited because it was the first time he saw snow. I woke him up before 7am just to see the snow because I was afraid that it would stop snowing and that the snow would melt when the sun came up, but it ended up snowing for most of the day. I can't wait for more snow so that we can go build a snowman with DS.

Cranky Baby Update

I posted 3 weeks back about DD, who was cranky at night. Well, just to update everyone that she is generally back to normal after our first week here. I think it was a combination of all the reasons that I listed that was causing her crankiness. She's mostly happy now and spends much of her time sleeping. :)

Activites for Toddlers

I am so sorry for not posting for so long! We have been busy settling into our new apartment and I have been trying to get organised so that I will survive after my parents leave tomorrow. Anyhow, I have compiled a list of activities to do with DS, who is 32 months old. As you all know, I am not the most hardworking SAHM around. So, I guarantee that these activities need minimal preparation and materials. No going to the library or having to buy 10 craft supplies to keep my toddler entertained. Yay! Hope these will help someone. As you can see, my indoor activities are far more than my outdoor activities. Yes, I'm too lazy to go out all the time with a slow toddler and a hungry 10 week-old. So here goes:

Indoor Activities

1. Bath Paints – use food colouring mixed into shaving cream to make “paints”. Paint using a brush or hands onto walls or bathtub.
2. Clean coins – use old toothbrush, some soap and water. Brush coins to make them shiny. Can add some salt and vinegar to water. But supervise to make sure vinegar doesn’t get into child’s eyes.
3. Keep away dishes from dishwasher
4. Setting the table
5. Sort the laundry before washing
6. Fold laundry (toddler may manage easy ones like small towels)
7. Washing windows and tables – give child a spray bottle (mixture of a little white vinegar with lots of water) and cloth.
8. Make small fabric bean bags to play tossing into laundry basket. Put beans into Ziploc bags first, before putting into cloth “pouch” (made by sewing 2 small pieces of fabric together).
9. A guess box using empty cereal box with small hole cut into it. Place items in it for child to guess what it is.
10. Hide and seek using kitchen timer. Hide kitchen timer which is turned on so that child looks for ticking sound.
11. Treasure hunt using special small toys/ snacks.
12. Do a family photo collage
13. Colouring – book or print out special colouring pages from the internet.
14. Make frozen fruit. Cut up bananas, grapes and berries. Lay out on plate and put in freezer. When frozen, can eat straightaway or place in plastic bag.
15. Indoor tent. Place sheet over table. Put special snack or even toddler’s pillow/blanket in tent.
16. Picnic in living room. Spread tablecloth on floor. Place food/snacks there to eat.
17. Make playdough – 1 cup flour, ½ cup salt, 6-7 tbsps water and 1 tbsp vegetable oil. Store in airtight container in fridge.
18. Play with playdough.
19. Indoor camping. Large sheet over chairs.
20. Making applesauce- place quartered up 3-4 sweet apples (remove core), ½ cup water, ½ tsp cinnamon in covered saucepan, simmer for 10 minutes and then mash with potato masher when cool.
21. Match the bones. Print bones from here: http://tinyurl.com/22fj2y
22. No-dye coloured eggs. Decorate the shells of hard-boiled eggs with non-toxic crayons.
23. Read books.
24. Sprout seeds (e.g. beans)
25. Songs – sing along, dance or march
26. Blow bubbles
27. Finger painting
28. Set up store with play money, play food (e.g. use empty milk carton, etc)
29. Play with boxes of different sizes to make “blocks”
30. Simply play with a box
31. Writing and drawing

Outdoor Activities

1. Collect leaves, paint them and make prints on paper
2. Blow bubbles
3. Take walks

Cranky Baby

DD, who is just the sweetest and sleepiest baby ever, has been really cranky at night ever since we arrived in Denver. It's so unlike her. The first night we were here, we couldn't put her down at all. She was just so fussy and so unhappy. She would sleep while someone was carrying her, after being pacified from all the crying. But put her down on the bed and she would start wailing all over again. Well, that night, DH and I took turns to carry her. The next night, she was almost the same, just a little bit better, but I didn't get to really sleep until 8.30am the next day, when DD was willing to be put down to sleep. I've never felt more tired in my whole life!

Well, last night, she was definitely better. She slept by herself most of the time, only being fussy from 12 midnight till 4am. At 4am, I decided to swaddle her (well, in the words of my DH, "Just try it out! What's there to lose?") and she slept for 3 hours straight. I felt wonderful this morning, after 3 solid hours of sleep!

So, we think there might be many reasons for her crankiness:

1. Stress. Everyone's just a little stressed from the move.

2. New environment

3. Cold. She hates the cold. Even in sunny Singapore, she's all wrapped up.

4. Dry air. Here in Denver, where the humidity is almost non-existant, our throats were parched when we first arrived, even though we were drinking lots of water. I can't imagine how bad DD must have been feeling.

5. Blocked nose. I think due to the low humidity, DD's nose has been having lots of crusting. We've had to drop in normal saline and aspirate her nose on an average of once a day.

6. Missing her nanny. My confinement nanny looked after her for 7 1/2 weeks before we left for Denver.

7. Missing her cloth diapers. In Singapore, DD was mainly cloth-diapered. We used prefolds or traditional cloth nappies (muslin cloths) on her and always changed her immediately when she's wet or soiled. We also practice Elimination Communication (EC) and always pee-ed or poo-ed her in the sink when we felt she needed to go. She might just be fussing because she's not used to being in disposables and being ignored when she has eliminated. When wearing disposables, it's difficult to tell if she's "wet" or "dry".

To find out more about EC:
www.whatisec.com
www.pottywhisperer.com

8. Reflux. We think she has reflux because she spits up a lot. Being born early at 37 weeks, it is also likely that she has an immature gut, causing her to have reflux and spit ups. During the nights here in Denver, she spits up more and looks uncomfortable generally.

Anyhow, her night time behavious has been improving. I guess hope all will be back to normal before my parents leave in 2 weeks' time and I have to care for DD and DS during the day by myself.

We're in Denver!!!

We arrived in Denver on 8 Oct. It was a good journey here, but I'm also glad we won't have to travel such a long distance again until 6 months later.

Just a very quick update since it has been a while since I last posted. Well, the last few days before we left Singapore were absolutely chaotic. There were just too many things to do - send the maid off, sell the car, clear the fridge, packing and more packing. Thankfully, my parents helped to babysit DS a lot so that he was out of the way and we could get things done much faster.

Here in Denver, we are very fortunate to have Aunty Bee (my good friend Elaine's Aunt) help us settle in. Aunty Bee stays 3 hours away from Denver, in Aspen, but she will be here in Denver until tomorrow (12 Oct) to help us out. Seriously, I don't know how we'll manage without her. She has been driving us around Denver to view neighbourhoods and apartments, hunting for a used car and showing us where to find Chinese food, amongst other things. We've managed to get so many things done in a few days, all because of Aunty Bee. We even managed to open a local bank account, which makes it much easier for us to pay rent with its checking facilities. We are very thankful for all her help. And of course, thanks to Elaine too, who introduced her Aunt to us. :)

Today's the Day :(

I will miss my confinement nanny. Today's the day that she'll be leaving. We've had her for 7 1/2 weeks. Can you tell we couldn't bear to let her go after 4 weeks? I feel that she genuinely cares and loves my baby. She actually sings to DD! Cuddles her too. Not to mention the fantastic food that she cooked for me. I even get a nutritious super at 11pm everynight. It's no surprise that I'm 7 1/2 weeks post-partum and all I've lost is less than 2kg.

It's past 2am now. I had better go get some rest since there will be no one to help burp baby and wash her little bum after she poos.

Abbreviations

I do realise that not everybody will be familiar with the abbreviations that I will be using. Here is a list of abbreviations that I will be using. I will update this list as I go along:

DH - Dearest Husband
DS - Dearest Son
DD - Dearest Daughter
EC - Elimination Communication
SAHM - Stay At Home Mum

My First Post!

Can I say 'Procrastination' with a capital P? I'm definitely a major procrastinator (my DH will attest to that) and I've never denied it. You see, I've been thinking about starting a blog ever since becoming a SAHM, but just never gotten around to doing it. Since we would be going away after DD was born, I thought blogging would be a fantastic way to stay in touch with friends and relatives and to keep everybody updated about our happenings. I really wanted to get my blog started before DD came along. Of course, I didn't get around to doing that before DD was born - she decided to make her entry into this world just as I turned 37 weeks. For those of you who haven't been pregnant recently, 40 weeks is full term.

We are now just 5 days from moving to Denver, 3 days to my domestic helper returning home and 1 day to my confinement nanny leaving. Can I say that we're all getting a little stressed around here? Including DS, I think. He has been waking up crying every night for the past week.

More later.