The Day She Calls Me 舅妈

My youngest niece "A" has been addressing me "umh ma", when she is supposed to say "jiu ma" for 舅妈，which is the term to address the wife of her mother's brother. For some reason, she has no problems saying "jiu" when she addresses Quop as 大舅 "da jiu". But when it comes to me, she could not put the "jiu" and "ma" together. Her mum and I have tried many times to get her to say it right but she'd innocently still say "umh ma". 

It was a Friday morning in February when I was caring for her while her mum went to work. "A" is in the clingy phase where she'd miss her mum a lot, even though she has been prepped that she will be spending the morning with me and she loves me. Whenever she thinks of her mum, she'd cry for her and I found it difficult to distract her mind away from it. Hence that Friday, I made a last minute decision to bring her out even though I did not have any errands to run. I brought her to Ikea where I think we could walk around and spend 1-2 hours and not be bored. 

At the carpark of Ikea, I got "A" to say 舅妈. She surprised me by being able to say "jiu" properly for the first time when she addressed me! Nothing has changed in the way we have been getting her to say it right. For the rest of the day, I noticed that she will still address me as "umh ma" when she needed my attention but when I say "Say 舅妈", she'd be able to pronounce it correctly. I felt like it was an achievement that I made for teaching her to say it right :)

"A" enjoyed her time at Ikea. There was no mention of "ma ma" (mum) nor crying. But there were moments that she just got lazy and wanted me to carry her. Generally, she was quite good. She ate a fair bit of morning tea I brought along and befriended a little aussie girl (2 months younger than her) who shared the same name as her mum. She is quite a darling in befriending little children (not so much for adults). 

Incidentally, I learnt later that my sister-in-law has not been daring/comfortable to bring "A" to Ikea to shop. I guess she realised that it was not that difficult to manage after all. Or again, it might be the case that "A" would make things more difficult for her mum and be more well behaved with me (not her mum). 

Growing Girl

Our youngest niece, "A" is coming 20 months soon. She has grown quite a bit... not fat and chubby but in her height and her development. Amongst our 3 nieces, she is probably the easiest with feeding - eats almost everything, no known allergies and generally eats well. Hmm, except when she is over at our place, she'd insist of sitting on my lap while I feed her. With the yummy and healthy food she's eaten, it is no wonder that she is growing well and tall (that is partly in her genes with a tall daddy).

In the past month, hubby brought her swimming in the pool in our complex. Other than her mum, hubby was probably the first person who brings her into the water. Usually, she is not too willing to be carried or interact with hubby (her 大舅). She would cry/whinge in protest whenever hubby attempts to carry her. However she would hug and kiss him goodbye when we part. Hence, it was quite a little milestone for hubby to carry her into the pool to swim. We started out by getting hubby to carry her and/or hold her hand as we walk to the pool. She whinged a little but was okay quite soon after. She likes swimming and was excited to enter the pool. However, when we got to the pool, she seemed to have second thoughts and wanted out. After a bit of coaxing and assurance, she finally was able to enjoy the dip. I don't blame her for being a bit cautious and scared since it has been her mummy who brings her into the pool for a dip. I am glad she enjoyed it after all... but I had some trouble bathing her (crying in protest and refusing to be bathed) after the swim. 

"A" loves the swing in the playground. She is rather cautious with other play things in the playground but with the swing, she almost has no qualms about getting on. The swing at playground we went to, its safety chain (to secure the child) was broken. But she was careful about it. I pushed just a little for her to enjoy some swinging motion and watching to make sure that she does not fall out of the seat. I think she was happy. She'd know when to say "come down", meaning she's had enough. 

In general, I have to say that "A" is not the easiest of our nieces. She often expresses her displeasure/discomfort/unhappiness by crying (as with all other kids), but sometimes you know that she will be ok but she is just not happy. However, she is generally not difficult to care for, compared with many others I have seen. "A" is very cute though. I think she is the most extroverted of our nieces. I am sure many things await her as she will soon be 'upgraded' to being a 姐姐 (older sister) :)

A Tale of 2 Nieces

I brought 2 of my nieces, 17mo A and 22mo C to shop for groceries on Monday. My in-laws are away and so I cared for A while her parents worked. C's sister, B has her regular swimming lessons in the morning and my MIL is not around to care for C. I reckon they both will love it if I bring them out on my regular Monday morning shopping, instead of just staying at home with them. This is the first time for them that they come out with me (have never brought C without B coming along, and it is my first with A) and the first time that both of them are out together (without B). 

I told A and C they have to be good and obedient so that we all can enjoy this 街街 'kai kai' (cantonese slang which refers to "shopping") session. The girls were so happy and excited in the car, as I think that was the first time they were both in the same car together. A was especially thrilled to have C sitting beside her in the car, since she has been the only child passenger in any (her parents') car. She would giggle every now and then and grins when C hums and sings along to Colin Buchanan's songs played in the car.

On arrival at the shopping centre, I was very surprised and pleased to see a duo shopping trolley available. I could have both and infant and a toddler sit together, side by side with each other. I sat the younger A on the baby compartment (a little unsafe because I could not strap her in with her sitting up most of the time. I have to keep a constant eye on her) and the older C in the normal seat compartment. 

Our first stop: the newly opened Aldi at the shopping centre. I told the girls that I would not let either of them down because I only intend to spend a short time there. They were quite good, just looking around curiously and I would engage them to help me choose fruits and veggies to buy. 

At Woolies, they were allowed to take turns to come down the trolley. A was first given the chance to help push the shopping trolley - something which her mum said she love to do and would tire her out. 

Within 5 mins, A is tired and she comes to me and signals for me to carry her (that was cute! - because A used to not want me to carry her :)) When it was C's turn to push the trolley, she gave all her energy into it! She alone could push the trolley without me! And when she hits an obstacle, she is able to turn the trolley by herself and continue to push. Often, I have to say "妹妹, stop pushing. Wait, I need to pick up something." She has energy like a bull for her age! (cute :))

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They were very cooperative, helpful, obedient and well behaved. I'd enlist their help to put my purchases in the trolley. I think they really love this new experience of shopping with their 舅妈 :)

'Reward' of morning tea at the end of shopping

I had about 3 to 4 Aussie ladies asked me if A and C were twins. The truth is that they are 5 months apart :)

Would I bring them out again? I think so. Don't you think they are super cute? ;)

A Better Babysitting Experience

Last Friday, I babysitted my youngest niece, A for 2-3 hours in the morning while her mummy runs some errands and shopping. The first and last time I babysitted her (with hubby then) was when she was only 6 weeks old. Her parents had gone out for about 3 hours for dinner to celebrate their wedding anniversary.

A, when she was a couple of days old. She already knew how to pose when she sleeps!

Our first experience with babysitting A was not a totally easy and good one. Her routine was disrupted earlier that day that by the evening, she was tired and not fully fed even though mummy has fed her. Read the encounter here.

This time, my SIL made sure I came at a time that A is having her morning nap. It happened that she did not sleep well the day before and hence she is a bit knocked out by that Friday morning. Since she is sleeping, I happily used and exercise on the Wii with Wii Fit :) Had a really good workout (was perspiring and all) for about 30 minutes when I heard A talking to herself via the baby monitor. The cute thing about A is that when she wakes up, she will not cry/winge to get attention (like her cousins) but she will talk to herself... I certainly do not understand what she says :p About 10 mins of talking, she decided to winge/kinda cry and then I know it is time to go carry her out.

A was a little surprised to see me but I think she does recognise me (even though I have not really carried her for a while because I was a little afraid of her sudden cries and I don't know why and I cannot humour/calm her down). I carried her to the rumpus to be with me. I was feeling quite sleepy then. I thought I will put her down and she can play by herself while I take a cat nap nearby. But the moment I put her down, she starts to cry. So I picked her up and feeling really tired, I sat on the couch, with my left arm holding her and my fingers holding onto the toy that she is playing to amuse herself and my right hand nearby in case I need to catch her from falling off me. I really was able to have about 10 mins of cat nap where I was semi-conscious and A was still happily amusing herself :) I must say this 'skill' was probably attained through my naps on the bus on my way to work and I was still able to know what is happening around me and when I have to alight the bus.

A at 7 months old, looking a little more like mummy in this photo

A is quite clever now. She is able to listen and seem to understand you. Her mum forgot to tell her that I was coming and hence she was surprised to see me. A was a little impatient when she was hungry but I had to heat up her milk. Carrying her in my left hand and trying to heat up the milk with my right hand, she is quietly observing what I was doing. When I told her to be a bit patient to wait for me to heat up the milk, she seems like she understands. At one point, I have to put her down on the rocker for a few seconds while I need both my hands to take out the hot water from the microwave. Telling her "you wait here for a little while while I prepare your milk" seems to keep her from her little winges of wanting to start to cry because I am not carrying her.

She drank 30ml of her milk from the bottle, which was quite a feat. She has not been wanting to take milk from the bottle. Her dad, grandma, mum tried but also in vain. This time, she drank half of the quantity before rejecting it. I tried a few more times but she is still adament of not wanting the bottle. Well, at least she drinks some! Her mum was surprised but happy that she drank 30ml on the bottle.

Now that it isn't so bad, I do not mind babysitting her more often. Saw her for a bit today at my in-law's and she waved bye bye to me (she looked like she was gesturing "come here" with her fingers opening and closing) a few times. That felt nice :)

Babysitting A 6 Week Old

(photo taken using my mobile phone) She looks a lot like mummy here but she usually looks more like daddy

Last Friday, hubby and I offered to babysit our 6 wo (week old) niece tonight while her parents go out for dinner to celebrate their 4th wedding anniversary. It was quite an experience!

Bub just visited the doc that afternoon for her routine check up. Because of that, she lost her usual routine and one feed. Just before my SIL and hubby went out, she breastfed bub. And the story was that bub should fall asleep very quickly after her feed if she has had enough to keep her full. Of course we were also given instructions on how to watch out for her spews, changing nappies, warming up cold breast milk, how she will feel secure, etc.

When SIL left, bub was still awake... and after a while, she cried and wailed real bad. No matter what I did, did not help in settling or pacifying her. And I'd say that I am generally confident and quite good at handling and caring for bubs. It did not scare me but I just wonder how else I can stop a wailing bub. I figured that she could be hungry and true enough, she was eagerly sucking and licking my finger knuckle when I put it in her mouth. we warmed up 30ml of milk and fed her, which she drank up fairly quickly. It seems like she was still hungry and so we gave her another 30ml soon after. But her eyes were still quite wide awake and she was supposed to be sleeping!

Bub soon began her cries after she stared blankly for some time. I knew that she was really tired but surprised that she did not sleep no matter how I carried her, cuddle her, sing to her, etc. I decided to ring her parents up to ask if I should give her more milk. Just as I was on the phone, hubby carried her... and soon after, she somehow fell asleep as I warmed up a 60ml feed for her! Well we thought to let her sleep in hubby's arms until she is soundly asleep before we put her down in her cot. We reckoned she only slept for about 15 minutes at the most and she woke up and began to cry again. I quickly fed her with 60ml milk which she gobbled up in no time. And guess what? She is still awake!

By then, she'd have drank 120ml of milk... but it did not require help to make her drowsy to sleep. All these while, she'll cry and wail and stop for a bit and repeat the cycle again. I thought I will give her another 40ml milk... but it did not quite work. In the last 30 minutes before her parents got home, I was sitting on the nursing chair, singing to her and rocking her (even though I generally do not think children should be rocked too much) to try to settle her cries. I found out that if I pop my finger knuckle into her mouth, she will stop crying and she really sucked and licked it pretty vigorously. I suppose that is why pacifiers or dummies worked and helped to settle babies. That also tells me that she is still hungry but I thought I will wait for her mummy to come home to feed her...

My SIL finally returned home and went to feed her immediately. They must have thought that I was traumatised by the experience but really, I was not. If I knew that she was that hungry, I would have fed her a lot at the beginning. The staggered feeds did not satisfy her as she required a good feed at one go. Maybe that was why she was unsettled throughout the 3 hours. But well, my SIL just fed her to almost a full feed before she left and hence I only gave her some later as a supplement. The fact that she missed a feed earlier in the day probably explains why she was really hungry. Well, at least I know that her parents would have done similar to what and how I have handled her.

The night's experience rendered me tired and my back and arms were aching from all the carrying her. Hubby had a true experience of a crying-non-stop baby. Her wails sound soft but when you are carrying her, her wails can be pretty deafening! This gave us a glimpse of how life will be like when we have our own children. I think we recognised that we will have more arguments and quarrels and being impatient with each other at those stressful moments. Well, at least we know that it will probably happen and gives us a chance to be prepared and talk about it now while we are still sane!

But otherwise, it was a great experience to babysit and we would not mind doing it again :)

Hubby with bub and watching tv at the same time

My ABC Nieces

I now have 3 nieces - A, B and C. No kidding, their names begin with those letters. A is d/o (daugther of) my SIL G and B and C (in the photos above) are d/o my SIL W.

The 2yo (year old) B can be rather talkative now and interaction with her is really fun and makes my day. 6mo (month old) C is getting very heavy and catching up with her sister B. She is smiling a lot now and would listen to you as you talk to her.

A is turning 1mo tomorrow! More photos of her next time.

I wonder if the next child's name in the family will be a "D", then an "E", etc... then again, maybe not "D" nor "E" since there are already 2 Ds and an E in the family. The next in order should be a someone's name starting with "F" :p