Manki's Matrix

Plum and Bum

2008-08-18T17:58:00.002+08:00

Yesterday we asked Lucas to pass us some grapes and plums. Lucas took me some green grapes and a big purple plum. He pointed to the plum and said 'Mamei, this is a big grape!'

Then I replied him it was actually a plum, not a grape. Then he said, 'Mamei, this is bum bum...' He was pointing to the centre line of the fruit.

I explained, 'No this is not a bum bum, this is a plum.'

And then he further commented, 'mamei, this is gu gu (a slang of penis in Cantonese).

I couldn't reply anymore......

Happy face

2008-08-18T15:41:00.003+08:00

Linus is always cheerful. When he smiles, he opens his mouth wide, and squeezes his huge eyes into lines.

I always feel this is one of the most rewarding moment to see babies' happy faces. This is a 'prestige' to be a parent.

When I feel upset, I always remind myself to learn from Linus, to be happy and carefree anytime.

It is a bless that he grows into a strong baby, you cannot imagine how tiny he was after birth. I could still remember the hard feeling when I was standing in front of his incurbator.

Work hard boy, I am proud of yourself.

A letter I wrote long time ago

2008-08-18T14:33:00.002+08:00

I am tidying up files in my computer, then I 'fished' out this one. A letter I wrote to unborn Lucas when I was in my first pregnancy.

Being a working mom?!

Dear baby,

You know, I am planning to be a working mom. A lot of friends suggested me to be a full-time mom, and someone ( I won’t count this person as a friend) even attacked me verbally as he thinks stay-home mom is the only way a mother should behave.

However, I do believe all decisions have merits and drawbacks. I am sure I love you devotedly since the first time I saw you in your first ultrasound picture. However, having a career in the same time doesn’t make me I love you lesser.

In an on-line forum of a group of working moms, some of the ladies do feel guilty to leave their new born baby at home, and feel jealous when they see their kids develop the intimate bonding with the maids. However, they stress that QUALITY TIME to stay with the baby is much more important. And impressively, they believe that their working life could also provide a positive model for the kids. Financially speaking, some of them of the main bread winners, and that is why they would not consider to quit the jobs, and other claimed that working hard to gain money is also for the good sake of their children, they want to save the education funds for their future.

For me, I would not limit my decisions; I plan to be a working mom because I want to connect to the outside world, and to continue my social personal growth. I do believe this will bring you and me a positive effect. And I can further safeguard our family financial security and provide you more opportunities for the future education.
Striving balance means that I have to choose, but the decision is not all-or-nothing. Since the first moment you appear in my life, I should face the fact that my career development will be slow down a bit, but I don’t care, I love you!!

It is really sweet.. and I am really lazy in my work.... How can I type such a long letter during working hours?

Linus can lie on his tummy and head up

2008-08-12T22:33:00.002+08:00

What a great achievement. Linus can now lie on his tummy and raise up his head!!

We believe he can crawl soon!!

It is not easy to be a mother....

2008-08-03T23:29:00.006+08:00

Lucas loves tunnel, but he was scared to go into this tunnel by himself, so I squeezed into the tunnel with him, which actually big enough for kids only....

Little brother love to eat solid food

2008-08-03T23:14:00.003+08:00

Every evening I love to hold Linus while having dinner at home. (This is the secret tip of getting slim, as you cannot concentrate on eating anymore, haha). It is funny that he keeps moving up and down and tears off the plastic table cover. (now you know why I cannot be laid back and eat). Sometimes he even screams, then we know actually he wants to eat our food also.

Since last week we had tried to feed him baby cereal. He did not really know how to swallow the food, but you can tell he is learning.

This morning we had breakfast in Pacific Coffee, I fed Linus little pieces of bread (it is like feeding bird). He tried hard to keep the bread in his mouth and then spitting out and sucking in. He was satisfied and showing cheerful smile.

Did I tell you playing saliva is Linus's recent hobby? He does this when he is happy, also after eating.

Baby massage

2008-07-29T22:45:00.002+08:00

Despite the long working hours, if possible, I would do baby massage in the evening.

I have finished a can of L'occitane Mama-bebe cream, it is no longer available in the stores. Then I switch to Julique Baby's calming massage oil, which contains chamomile and lavender essential oils.

My sister said the kids are really having great life, and Jeff is jealous about it.

Baby massage can achieve bonding between parents and children. Tonight when I was squeezing Linus's arms gently, he rewarded me a big sweet toothless smile!!!

I wish I could spend more time with them.

Maturity

2008-07-10T23:36:00.003+08:00

This is a conversation between our domestic helper and Lucas:

Helper A: Will you go to Po Po (Grandma)'s home tonight?
Lucas: Yes.
Helper A: Who tell you?
Lucas: Mommy and Daddy
Helper A: Are you sure?
Lucas: Sure! (Confident, calm, stable and confirmed)

Lucas behaves like other toddlers in front of me, but he is actually a young man when interacting with other people....

"All good mothers are addicted to their newborn babies."

2008-07-09T11:45:00.003+08:00

Accroading to a study show that monthers will getting high when they see babies smiles.

In a study of 28 first-time moms, seeing pictures of their babies' smiles
activated parts of the brain involved in rewarding certain behaviors — such as
finding food, water or a mate — that are vital to the species' survival, says
co-author P. Read Montague, a neuroscientist at Baylor College of Medicine in
Houston.

I am sure that you are addicted to both new bron and two years old babies! This study make me understand why you always like to see the ablums.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-07-07-babysmiles_N.htm

Blissful babyhood

2008-07-03T23:05:00.003+08:00

Several months ago I bought a book called Your Happy Baby. It guides parents some simple ways to contribute a blissful babyhood, such as massage, aromatherapy and baby yoga.

I massage Linus whenever I have time. He loves it a lot.

Then, Lucas starts to feel interest to be massaged. He disliked it when he was a few months old. Now he enjoys lying down and let me squeeze and sliding his delicate skin.

I tried massage oil before, but I found Loccitane Mom & Baby Balm is also fantastic. It is 100% vegetable oil, no artificial scent, and smooth.

If the boys are irritating at night, I will use essential oil to create a comfortable atmosphere. I diffuse several drop of mandarin, lavender or sweet orange in a electronic vaporizer. These three essential oil are good for babies. Chamomile is also an amazing oil, which can even heal gentle skin problem, however, it is same as Rose, very expensive if you look for high quality one. I hope I will have one 100% chamomile essential oil one day.

There are many interesting baby yoga postures demonstrated in the book. Some pictures are stunning, such as the head stand. I tried several moderate one, such as tailor pose and swing. Both boys love that little movement and stretching sensation.

I do hope all these can give the babies some little happy memories.

Lucas's favourite website

2008-06-21T21:44:00.003+08:00

Lucas's recent favourite website are:

1. www.google.com - to search for whatever he loves, such as cars, trains, Little Einsteins, etc.

2. www.youtube.com - he requested me to search Thomas train from you tube once.

What a generation in internet era.

Linus is making good progress

2008-06-18T11:09:00.001+08:00

It is almost five months since the birth of Linus. He is growing fast. The chubby cheeks are still lingering at each side of his face.

He is doing great. Last night he saw me when I got back home from work, he looked at me with a knowing smile, it seemed he was saying ‘Mamei welcome back home!’

Life is more beautiful to have a baby welcome you warmly everyday after work..

I am sure next time he will wink at me when he grows a little bit bigger. He is that type of cute boy.

Monday Blue

2008-06-17T11:49:00.004+08:00

Lucas was suffering from Monday Blue yesterday. This is not an exclusive pain for working people.

Every Sunday night, he refuses to sleep because he knows too well that mom and dad should resume work the next day.

He is very sensitive, takes every comments too personally. Yesterday morning Grandmom simply asked him to drink water as Nanny had reminded him many times. He then burst into big fat tears.

And then he squeezed Linus's legs during nap time and made the little brother cried.

Lucas insisted to sleep with me last night. He waited for me until I blew dry my hair after bathing. I lied next to him, then he said 'mamei' gently to me, and closed his eyes with a softest grin I have ever seen.

Dance Dance Dance

2008-06-16T15:01:00.003+08:00

Last Saturday we celebrated with mom-in-law for her birthday in the dancing place. My parents-in-law just addicted to ballroom dancing, they go to that night club three times a week, plus all anniversary/ birthday celebrations.

We brought Lucas this time. Linus is too small and cannot take such a big noise and dazzle lighting effect. Nanny stayed with him at home.

Lucas was stunned by all pairs on the dancing floor. He suddenly took my hand and led me out. We held hands and formed a circle, we kept turning and laughing along with the vibrant music. I stared at his eyes, I found the genuine happiness.

He looked through my eyes, laughed happily, it also seemed this was one of his most joyful moments.

This is LOVE!!! The love between a little mother and her little boy.

I hope such pure sweet memory can imprint in his mind. He may not able to remember what exactly happened that night, but at least he can recall this loving feeling throughout his life. He will remember that mamei loves him unconditionally always.

Black Friday vs. Happy Friday

2008-06-13T23:02:00.003+08:00

After a fed up working day in this rainy black Friday, I just had had a nice evening with my family to celebrate the Father's Day. We had a nice dinner in Telford Plaza.

Nothing is better than surrounding by your beloved ones after a tough day! The two gorgeous babies melted my frowning face immediately, it is like a icing cube reaching fire.

Daddy, happy father's day.

Jeff, you are doing great and I am on behalf of the two boys to say happy father's day to you!

Linus wanna stand up!!

2008-06-10T17:12:00.003+08:00

If you put a finger in each of Linus's palm, he will grab it tight and bring himself up, with his little mouth open, like those weightlifters. To keep the balance, he will even move one step forward.

He is such as gorgeous baby.

I always want to bring Linus out to open up his eyes, but he just keeps his eyes shut literally, because he always falls asleep when people carrying him.

When four of us go out, sometimes people pass by turn their shoulder to look at Linus, and then Lucas, and then the whole chunk of us, with their eyes wide open. We can tell they are astonished by our reproduction effectiveness.

Milk tea foot spa

2008-06-02T22:24:00.003+08:00

Yesterday was Sunday, Jeff and I walked down the hill to a tea restaurant for breakfast, with the two little boys.

I looked after Lucas and Jeff carried Linus. We tried our best to show people we could cope with the whole thing casually.

After the serious punishment on Saturday night, Lucas dared not playing mischief when eating. He ate by himself decently.

Finally, we were getting move, Lucas accidentally pushed the ice milk tea down, then my right ballerina shoe carried a 'shoe full' of milk tea, and my foot soaked in the milk tea foot spa.

Playgroup and Marriage

2008-06-02T18:28:00.003+08:00

There is a plot in Extreme Motherhood: Jackie brings her toddler daughter Saoirse to playgroups. She finds it is pointless because the kids even do not play with each other in this age, they just practise what the expert called "parallel play" - "ignoring each other and carrying on in their own little world" - this is what she says.

So, Jackie supposes playgroups are actually the preparatory class of MARRIAGE.

This woman really gets a brain!!

Talking about preschool learning, I do not have a concrete planning about how to cultivate Lucas. Frankly, I do not have great interest to spoon-feed my sons all those super intensive talent developing classes. No one sent Einstein to any of these institution, he was still a genius. You see what I mean?

陽光男孩

2008-05-28T17:59:00.003+08:00

有時相片唔駛太清,要有feel ,陽光永遠係最自然的光源.

Milk production in downward trend

2008-05-27T21:49:00.002+08:00

I resumed work last than a month, my milk production has already slipped gradually from 1200 ml per day to 700ml this week.

Tiredness is the key reason of the reduction.

Which may not be bad, at least it is still enough for Linus's consumption, with the provision of reserved milk I save in past two months. And I suffered lesser from breast engorgement.

With the reference of last experience, I would not force myself too harsh, but I wish I could generate breast milk for 6 months.

Folding

2008-05-26T23:27:00.002+08:00

Linus is very very chubby... I just realize it brings a small problem...

This afternoon, my domestic helper found a little wound at the "fold" hiding in his neck. As Linus is too cheeky, moisture is easily trapped under his neck, and then with the mix of sweat and bacteria, a mild infection caused.

Luckily it is very easy to alleviate, we just need to apply some baby powder around his neck, have a thorough clean after every feeding, and let his head tilt a bit backward when lying on our thighs for better 'ventilation'.

Big Big cheek Linus

2008-05-21T23:49:00.006+08:00

Linus has good appetite, he could drink 150 ml per feeding.

I think he is one of the fattest premature babies. My sister said his cheeks could not resist the force of gravity, which are closer to the ground than his chin.

It is worth for me to continue expressing breast milk.

*******
I joked with Samantha that I am running a dairy product business. I have sophisticated systems of expressed breast milk production, which include:

Production - we invest the best machinery (the cutting edge Medela swing pump), the around-the-clock milk production everyday.

Storage - milk that would be consumed within a day would be stored in the fridge. I produce approximately 1200ml a day. The surplus milk would be frozen and saved in a freezer. Currently we have around 100 packs of frozen milk bags. Inventory check twice a month.

Transportation - A reliable cooler with ice packs to keep milk I generate in office to maintain its freshness.

Plus the systems are flexible and adjustment is possible according to consumer (Linus and Lucas) needs.

Okay, I have breastfed Linus for almost 4 months, just 2 more months to go. Hope it can be accomplished.

Happy birthday Lucas

2008-05-21T23:41:00.003+08:00

Today is Lucas's birthday. We had held birthday partIES in past two weeks, one with my parental family, another with my in-laws. We are on behalf of him to donate part of his birthday red packet to Sichuan.

If you ask him how old he is, he will tell you he is TWO years old.

How do you define "AFFLUENCE"? When I look at my two happy healthy kids, I feel I am an affluent person!

Yuen Look-alike Meter

2008-05-13T22:41:00.002+08:00

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebs - Collage - Morph

See? Technology tells the truth, hahahha.

Coming up, testing Linus in the next entry.

I bite you

2008-05-12T22:22:00.008+08:00

I was wrestling with Lucas during dinner. He refused to eat but demanded to get food from all dishes. If I tried to deliver a small piece into his mouth, he just pushed my hands away.

I was furious then punished him. He was forced to stay in a little carpet for 2 minutes. He cried and struggled. After the punishment, he was willing to sit still and ate a little bit more. After the meal, I wanted to hug him again, but he just rushed to Daddy.

I felt quite exhausted and desperate. Maybe I was a bit moody, I just thought too much... I worried I would not be able to communicate with my sons when they reach adolescence, and I could not manage their radical and rebellious behaviours partly due to the enormous hormonal changes inside their bodies?

Tears dropped and crawled down my face.

After awhile Lucas came back to me, I held him tight. We watched Playhouse Disney together, Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck were speaking English. I understood Mickey perfectly but I could not hear even a word from Donald... Well, was he speaking human language? I wonder.

It was time to feed Linus. I was holding this chubby angel, he could drink more than 5 oz. each time. After the feeding, I talked, sang and massaged him. He was a cheerful and simple baby, he smiled back to me always. How could I take my eyes off him? He was just too adorable.

It was sleeping time of the kids, I said "I love you" and kissed their foreheads and lips. Lucas could not pronounce "love" correctly, instead, he replied "Mommy, I bite you!" and smiled sheepishly.