Happy 5 months Rowena

taken 20 Sept

Rowena will be 5 months on Monday (25 Sept).Since I wont be around, I thought I will blog it now. It feels like I just blogged about her turning 4 months. Have been so busy with work the past month as we had a big event last weekend and everyone has been working day and night for it. Now that it is over, things are slowly getting back to normal.

Harvynna has been really naughty lately – her terrible 2s syndrome at her peak. She does things like running across the road in front of the babysitters house, lying down on the ground wherever she is, hitting people, hitting Rowena’s head and calling her ‘Ding dong’!!, throwing food on the floor (she pushed my bowl of cereal on the floor the other day), taking off Rowena’s clothes. When I scold her, she will say, I tell my daddy to beat you very hard’. If daddy scolds her, She will say, ‘ I tell my mummy to beat you’ or ‘ Go away, I don’t like you’. It must be a mix of terrible 2s and sibling rivalry.

Back to lil Rowena. She has not rolled over yet – she can turn to her side, though.

She is a smiling baby. She smiles all the time except when we take her photos. She will stare at the camera. By the time the camera goes, ‘Click’, the smile has disappeared.

She squeals a lot now (like a rat) and makes lots of noises. She tries to have ‘conversations’ with us and loves it when we talk to her.Rowena has not started solids as yet as we were told to start her at 6 months due to her allergies. Her allergies seem to be getting better and she does not get nappy rash anymore. Thank God for that. Her case of nappy rash used to be really really bad. It was very very red.

She is still quite bald as her hair fell off due to her cradle cap.

She loves to pull things especially Harvynna’s and mummy’s hair and drools a lot.

She stares at my mouth intently when I am eating and sticks her tongue out and moves her mouth trying to imitate me. Then she gets irritated and starts to fuss – probably because she was not offered anything!!

She seems to love sitting upright (with support, of course) and keeps looking everywhere. Looks like she will turn out to be a ‘kaki jalan’ just like her sister.

She knows her name now. When we call ‘Rowena’ she will turn to look at us.

She keeps pushing herself backwards, so we have to be very careful that she does not end up falling off the bed or from her rocking chair.

My 2 girls

Taken on 9 sept
taken on 20 Aug
taken 23 Aug

Besides asking Rowena to jump into the crocodiles mouth, Harvynna is getting used to having Rowena around. Sometimes, she still gets very jealous especially when all attention is focused on Rowena. More so now, since Rowena is such a smiling baby and loves to squeal and 'talk' that we tend to focus attention on her and Harvynna feels it. Her faces goes all funny like she has been hurt.

Of course, when we cuddle Rowena, Harvynna tries to join in but ends up squashing her!! Whenever I give Rowena anything e.g. a toy, book or doll, Harvynna will immediately come to grab it and claim it is hers. After persuading her, she will give it to Rowena.

That's why I dont take Rowena for Harvynna Musikgarten classes as its Harvynna and mummy time. Everytime before the class, Harvynna will tell Rowena, 'next time when you are tall, you can come for my music class'. I think I will bring Rowena along once she can sit up as I found the Musikgarten classes really benefited Harvynna. The instructor says that the earlier you expose the child the better, so lets see!!

Laughing Rowena

Rowena is laughing and squealing in delight. She loves it when we kiss her cheeks, or kiss her foot and looks forward to her favourite rhymes. She seems to be ‘singing’ now and talks to her self a lot.

We took her for her first swim yesterday and she absolutely loved it. She was laughing and smiling all the time. I was feeling so cold as it was already past 6 pm and there was a strong breeze. Looks like she will be a water baby just like Harvynna. Harvynna was being a big bully and tried to pull Rowena’s float down all the time.

Harvynna has a new song for her sister:

Row Row Rowena
Gently down the stream
If u see a crocodile
Don’t forget to scream!!!

Talk about sisterly love .

Rowena is 4 months old today!

How time flies! Our little Rowena is now 4 months old. She’s getting bigger and bigger and quite heavy to carry. I ordered the baby sling to carry her around but have not really used it as havent mastered the art of it yet. It came with a demo CD and looks so simple, but I am not so good at following instructions.

Rowena takes 7 ozs of breast milk every 3-4 hours plus a bottle of 5 ozs formula everyday. For local clothes, she uses size 6-12months or 12-18 months and international brands she can get into 3-6 months (not for long) but more comfortable with 9-12 months. She’s going to be just like Harvynna. Bought Harvynna a t-shirt from mothercare for 3-4 years and it was too tight!!
I am into dressing them alike – buying them similar clothings. I thought they would look cute but my friends who have sisters say that they hated it when their parents did that to them!!

Some of Rowena’s milestones:

Able to sit up straight if propped

Raise head 90 degrees when placed on stomach

Be able to roll from back to one side (and stays there – too heavy to roll back I think!!)

Try to reach objects with hands (may commonly overshoot)

Play with rattle when it's placed in the hands and keeps hitting her head with it!

Be able to place objects in mouth and chews on it like its super delicious

Have beginning eye-hand coordination

She seems to be laughing (by her facial expression) but without sound. Hmm strange!

Begin to show memory - gets extremely excited when she sees me or hears her favourite rhyme. For now it is 'Round and round the garden' and 'Twinkle Twinkle little star'

Demands attention by fussing - pulling everything around her e.g. the cot bumper, pillow and bolster over her head, then starts whimpering and whining

Easily distracted – when feeding, she will stop to look around at whats happening around her

Loves to play with her feet – holds on to her feet and finds it amusing

Rowena's jab

Rowena went for her 3 month immunization. (triple antigen)

It was such a hot day that she was feeling out of sorts. She wailed when the jab was given and was squirming around after that. The dr confirmed that she has exzema. Poor gal! No wonder, she gets irritable when she is hot and gets heat rash. We have to be careful when introducing solids to her as she may be allergic to certain food. Now, she has to bathe with water only (no soap allowed! So much for the Eubos soap which cost me RM55). She is on a one week mild steroid treatment.

On Saturday night, she scratched her head till it bled, probably due to the cradle cap.

Other than that, she is perfectly healthy. She has been putting on weight steadily - 1 kg every month and is now a whopping 6.85 kg. She’s going to catch up with her sister soon!

Harvynna, on the other hand enjoyed the visit to the dr. She loves seeing the dr and keeps requesting, ‘I want to see dr’ or ‘Monday, we go see dr ok.’

She entertained herself while the dr was explaining Rowena’s skin condition by doing some acrobats. She was waiting for the dr to give her a sweet.

Last night, Rowena was feeling a little uncomfortable and I mentioned that we need to give her some medicine. Harvynna overheard me and asked, “the medicine for me ah?’. I said, no, its for Rowena. She then followed me to the fridge and started coughing, then said, ‘Mummy, I coughing – I must take medicine’. She kept repeating it a few times, so I let her lick the spoon. What a crook!

The Children's Zoo

Have been so stressed lately. The babysitter that my girls go to now have a total of 12 kids!!!!!! Its more like a day care center now. When Harvynna first started 2 years ago, it was just the 2 of them and subsequently there were 4 which was not too bad as its like a playgroup. Then one of the mummies had another baby, and the sitter took another 2 kids. This year, with the addition of Rowena and another baby, I thought that was ok. Before I realized, she took in another 3 kids including a 6 month old baby. Actually, one of the additions was recommended by my dear husband. Could have strangled him for opening his big mouth.

I am not so worried about Harvynna as she is bigger and more independent. But little Rowena is only 3 months and needs to be taken care off. What more with her sensitive skin condition.. Lately, the girls have been coming home with some other clothes (not hers) that are too small and I get so irritated. Here I am buying the girls nice clothings all the time and they end up with rubbish.

Also, Harvynna’s nails are really long and she’ s been scratching everyone. Rowena’s is also long and has been scratching her face. Her face looks so red and blotchy.

Really don’t know what to do. On one hand, Harvynna absolutely adores the babysitter and is very comfortable there as she has friends, on the other hand I worry about Rowena.

Harvynna the little grandmother!

Some articles on toddlers showed that around age 2, children love to do play acting and like to mimic adults behaviour and its so true.

Harvynna now, likes to play cooking and cleaning (a good housewife!) She will play with her cooking set and come and ask me:
Harvynna: Mummy, you want rice?
Mummy: Ok
She will go pretend to make some rice and bring it on a plate for me.
Then:
Harvynna: Mummy, you want some water?
Mummy: Yes, mummy is thirsty.
Harvynna: what else?
Mummy: Mummy wants ice-cream (and I get up to go do something)
Harvynna: Mummy! Your ice cream getting cold!!!

She loves to clean the house with a broom.
Harvynna: The house so dirty. Must clean properly.

And just like a little girl, she loves to dress up and put make up on. The other day, I gave her my old bottle of nail polish and she was so excited.
Harvynna: Mummy: put nail polish for me (putting her feet on my lap)
(and I put some for her)
Harvynna: for my fingers
Harvynna: I want put nail polish for you (she paints my toe nails and my toes!)
Harvynna: So pretty mummy!
Mummy: Tomorrow you show your friends your nail polish ok.
Harvynna: I show Saranya. Don’t show Hansini (her rival at the baby sitters). Don’t let Hansini touch.

The next day, she actually remembered to bring the nail polish to the babysitters to show her friends and was so excited telling me in the car about it.

As the mega sale is here, I went crazy at my favourite shop, ‘Kids Oasis’ at Bangsar Shopping center where I bought lots and lots of stuff for the girls. When I brought it home, Harvynna was so excited at all her new clothes and tried on all her clothes.
When she saw Rowena’s dresses, she asked

Harvynna: Is this Harvynna’s?
Mummy: No, that’s for Rowena.
Harvynna: Is this Harvynna’s skirt? (taking out the skirt from the bag)
Mummy: Yes, it is and she immediately put it on.
Harvynna: I want to show my friends. (and again) – Don’t show Hansini. Hansini naughty girl.

This morning as we were driving to the babysitters, she claimed that her finger was caught in the seat belt.
Harvynna: My finger stuck. Mummy! Mummy
At the traffic lights, I turned behind to console her.

She grabbed my hand tightly and said, ‘Mummy, drive the car. Don’t disturb me’.

With 2 kids at the back seat now, sometimes it gets uncontrollable with Harvynna singing at the top of her voice and Rowena Crying. Whenever Rowena cries, Harvynna either says:

Don’t cry Rowena – we almost there. Little while more

Or

Rowena – Hold your horses!!!