PonyTales

3 more days and Daddy will be back home from his business trip. Well…well…how have we cope so far:

• 1 road accident on the second week while Daddy is away. Lost some $$ but glad everyone is safe. I managed to get the side mirror replaced.
• Zoe sprouted 4 molars so far, all came out when Daddy is away. Her gums is not swollen but she has some stomach upset and excess salivating. She gave me a couple of "wakey wakey" nights making sure I suffer together with her.
• She was down with fever for 1 nite this week and next day she got rashes all over her body. Rush her to the paed once I notice her rashes after picking her from nanny. Paed ruled out fake measles or dengue. He said it is just viral infection and the body reacting to it. Zoe still look polka-dotted this morning.
• She officially shifted her sleeping time from 9am to 10+ pm this week, fussing and refusing to sleep as per her normal routine, just wanted to play and watch Barney. I began serious stern talk to her and she seem to be able to listen and quiet down. It is not easy to maintain serious talking to her while she do her puppy face pout and giving me the look as thou she is saying, "Nobody loves me anymore, you are the only one I have now…ooooh, I miss my Daddy!".
• She is drinking from a cup independently as of this week. Holding the cup with water while walking and drinking without spilling. As a result, she felt so proud she rejected all her sippy cup. But, she still do not want to drink her milk from a cup and insist I serve her milk in the bottle.
• She play her rocking thingy sitting sideways now - doing stunts with it.
• She loves to carry her biggest and heaviest book around, waving to us and asking us to read to her - but her attention span is only 5 minutes. I need to do something about that.
• She likes to follow my Dad and dance and she learn to play "masak-masak" with my Mom. She pretend to cook her ABCs and serve it in a bowl/plate to each of us. We must pretend to eat it everytime she serve it.
• She is closer to my Mom and Dad now, compare 3 weeks ago.

Looks like all I ever remember is about Zoe, how about myself? Well, I am just really looking forward to Daddy coming home - with all the goodies he got for me!!!!

I met an accident this morning, just several hundred meter away from my house. I was trying to turn into a housing estate nearby to make a u-turn to the main road. I stopped the car to see if there are any traffic from opposite side before making the u-turn. Next thing I heard, a loud BANG! and a motorbike just collapse beside my car door, driven by 2 school kid in their uniforms. They were trying to overtake my car turning into the same direction.

Once they regain their balance, the first kid use his hand to knock my car asking me to stop - I drove further up to stop somewhere safe first while the kid kept yelling at me to stop. Zoe still in the car with me - shocked but did not cry. I wind down the window. The kid that look barely 16 shouted at me, "Macam mana you pandu kereta?". I was still in shock at that moment and ask him whether he is hurt and also holding on to my car’s side damage mirror. The kid is fuming and I can see that his hand is bleeding a bit (scratched due to the collision) and he said the side of his bike is damage. I peep from my window and could hardly see any damage, probably very little.

In my mind, I keep thinking that I cannot get down from the car as Zoe is still in shock and I do not want to invite any unwanted attention. At that moment, a postmen on his motorbike already stop by to 8. I called for the boy to come near, "Adik, mari sini…" I told the boy that I have a baby with me and ask him to go see the doctor for his bleeding hand. I only have a RM100 note in my purse and a few RM1 note. I gave him the RM100 and told him to go and fix his bike too since he is complaining that it is damaged. From a fierce look, the boy expression changed and soften, I held his bleeding hand and ask him whether he could still drive to the clinic. He nodded and said in a softer tone, "Member ada, boleh…".

"Kak sorry ok, you betul betul tak apa?". He nodded again and gave a small smile. He walked away to the bike and both of them drove off. I stay for a while and watch them till they are gone. I drove off with Zoe and sent her to the Nanny. I try to see whether Zoe is okay by pointing out to the bird in the cage nearby the Nanny’s house and she responded with a smile. I guess she is okay already. I am more concerned with any trauma caused by the accident more than any physical damage as she is safely buckled to her car seat.

Now, I gotta fix the side mirror and a little dent on the car door. My car side mirror has an auto adjuster and its not working anymore on the driver side mirror. This is gonna cost a bit…sigh…

Who’s fault? It does not matter! As long as all is still safe, including the 2 boys that lost their balance and collapse unto the driver side of my car.

Reminder to myself - Always stay alert when driving and be very careful on the road. Accidents happen in split seconds and we can never know when it will happen or how. There is no point arguing but as long as all is safe…

Counting down to the day when Daddy comes home…

He will be off to Washington DC next weekend to visit a friend that he had known since primary school. The friend is so thoughtful and sent him a bus ticket for him…hahaha! This will be the first time he spend a nite at the friend’s house and seeing their baby for the first time as well. I still remember spending time with them walking around KLCC when they were back in Malaysia for their wedding - many moons ago.

Daddy can shop too! This is what I realised every morning yakking with him on msn, before he goes to sleep…lol
He will be telling me what he has bought so far and things he has seen. Looks like Zoe still got the most loots in the family - its probably a privilege being the youngest…hmmph!

Today is the 3rd day already since Daddy left for his business trip to US - he is doing ok in US and already settled down at the apartment, even manage to go for shopping. Last weekend has been quite busy but manageable. This is just a recounts on how Zoe took it so far without Daddy around:

• Daddy wave bye bye to us on Sat morning at the departure hall, Zoe held out her arms to Daddy while I am still carrying her. She was about to cry but I manage to pacify her and quickly took her away. The trip back home with Zoe and my Dad is manageable as Zoe slept thru - probably its too early for her.
• On Saturday evening when we reach home after spending time at my parent’s place, Zoe was expecting Daddy to be waiting at the car park. She call out, "Daddy… Daddy!" when our car was about to reach the parking bay. She just kept quiet and look rather serious when she did not see Daddy around.
• On Sunday, all of us went back to my parent’s place again and I notice Zoe kept mumbling "Daddy…" but she did not cry. Just saying "Daddy" with a lot of other baby talk.
• Zoe seems to attach rather quickly to my brother, letting my brother feed her and played with her. She was really enjoying my brother’s company and followed him around the house.
• On Sunday evening, all of us sent my brother to the bus station as he will be back in Singapore. When my brother left us at the lift lobby to go and get the car at the car park, Zoe cried for a good 10 mins until my brother arrived with Daddy’s car. Zoe instantly quiet down when she see Daddy’s car approaching. At the bus station in Mont Kiara, when my brother got down the car and took his luggages, Zoe cried again very badly until she choke and vomitted all over her car seat. In between her cries, she call out Daddy…
• My Mom and Dad both agreed that Zoe has mistaken that my brother is her Daddy…probably she is starting to miss her Daddy…
• This morning when she woke up, I carried her over to our bed. She rolled over to Daddy’s side of the bed, smelled Daddy’s pillow and look at me - she looked puzzled like something is missing and said "PaPa".

This is how my 1.5 yrs old cope without Daddy so far…I am doing fine with my parent’s help as they stay with me throughout this period. I hope Zoe will be able to cope well. Makes me wonder how she will react when she is 2.5 yrs old ?

Spare time is always a luxury for Moms, juggling between caring for baby, family and career. I often found myself without any time left to have a proper pampering moment like I used to do when I was still single – going for regular facial and spa at my favorite beauty center. Those sessions usually took a couple of hours and I find it very hard to squeeze that couple of hours out of my busy schedule…sigh!

I have a colleague who has flawless skin and she always looks really good. She is a Mother to a cute toddler girl too. She told me her secret of maintaining her flawless skin, organic skin care products that we can use to pamper ourselves right at the comfort of our home. Saves time, petrol and parking to travel all the way to those beauty centers. We can even do it while babysitting our precious baby at home. Most importantly, we knew exactly what we are putting on are natural skin care that soothes, nourish and revive our delicate skin. We can also be rest assured that there will be no unwanted side effects as the products are made of natural ingredients, carefully selected and tested for our benefits.

I was very excited to learn about this secret from my colleague and seeing her walking testimony. Without wasting more time, I browsed through the Internet to find for myself some good organic skin care products. After some quick research, I found that Dr. Hauschka products offers natural organic skin care range that suits my skin type. The cleansing clay mask and daily revitalizing eye cream are what I really need to do a quick perk to my tired skin. Hooray! I can now look forward to flawless skin too!!

July has arrived and I realised I have not written anything yet. There are quite a few things happening in our household for this month alone…

• Zoe turn 18 months as of 1st July (1.5 years old already!). She is getting more and more cheeky by the day. I often wonder what tricks is up her sleeve next…sigh!
• Daddy and Zoe flew back to Kota Bharu without me today - to visit great Grandma as she has not been feeling well. Their first solo flight together - Father and Daughter…just got a call they have touch down safely. Today I felt the type of anxiousness seeing my loved one fly in a plane without me - such a mixture of feelings.
• Daddy will be leaving us for a business trip to US - next week…We will not be seeing him till early August…feels so looooooooooong….
• I hope my parents will come over to stay with me while Daddy is away - I really need someone to literally watch at Zoe while I am taking bath - at least! She can do quite a bit of damage if no one is watching her…even if someone is watching her!
• About a week before she turns 18 mths, Zoe discovered the fun of unscrewing caps from bottles or tubes (her nappy cream, toothpaste or anything she can get her hand on). One evening, she climbed up to the dining table, grab her unattended bottle of antibiotic (my fault!), unscrew the cap and pour the contents into her sippy cup…
• Zoe insists on putting the nappy cream by herself now after bath - she will take the nappy cream from me, unscrew it and dab little by little with her chubby fingers on her buttock. I wonder whether any other kids her age doing this!?
• I have just recovered from a major migrain that lasted 3 days - and I am still feeling the after effect now, numb all over and not functioning as well as I could…sigh…I really need my Excedrin soon….
• Got a notice that the unit 2 doors away from our condo is up for auction, the price is very attractive at more than 40k below developer price…tempting!

Well…I hope I sailed thru July and somehow…I am still hoping for a breakthru in certain part of my life…need to pray harder!