My second child

Then
Terelle used to follow me EVERYWHERE, and i really mean everywhere. Even when i had to go to students' houses for tuition, i would cart her along, and she would play with my students' siblings or watch her dvds right beside me


Now
I hardly bring Thane out cos with 2 kids of different ages, its kinda difficult to plan activities that they can both participate in. And it doesnt help that he doesnt cooperate when i try to bring him out.

1) If i take him along to tuition, i wont be able to teach for 5min before he starts howling for attention and demanding to be picked up. If not he will be crawling around/pulling on everything in sight/putting everything into his mouth. No way would he be able to sit quietly beside me for 1.5hours.

2) He hates being confined in the car seat, choosing to cry and squirm all the way to our destination. Outside, he refuses to sit/sleep in the stroller, and usually ends up irritable and cranky.

It is a vicious cycle, because of this, he seldom gets to go out. And perhaps because he seldom gets to go out, he is not used to being taken out and gets upset by the sights and sounds, and tends to get frightened by the many different kinds of people he sees. He will stare intently and scrutinize any new face, only to break into a howl when they start to smile/wave/play/do a hi5 with him.

Sigh...i am trying to bring him out more often now. Dont want him to end up being a frog in a well cos he's always left behind at home.

Then
Hubby and I would bring Terelle out with us all the time, and show her off to anyone and everyone.

Now
We try to sneak out as often as we can sans kids and we really relish our precious couple time together. Without the kids we dont have to take turns to have dinner/feed them/change diapers/appease their tantrums/carry them till our backs ache/worry about them touching dirty surfaces and contracting hfmd...the list goes on...

What about showing off the kids? Errr...just go to our blog and see their pics.

Then
Terelle used to sleep with us every single night.

Now
Thane sleeps in his cot every single night.

Then
I experimented with all kinds of foods with Terelle, unwittingly ignorant that they might have weakened her body. (according to the sinseh - he who believes that children should not be given any fruits from A-Z, no biscuits, no seafood, no cold stuff, no fruit juices until they have built up their constitution)

Now
Poor Thane only eats porridge/mee sua/organic pasta cooked in meat broth with vegetables and plain bread as his snack. He has yet to eat a single piece of fruit nor try a bite of a biscuit. His food repertoire is so pathetic that i feel so sorry for him.
On the flipside, he does seem stronger than his sister. He seldom falls sick, even when she coughs and sneezes right in his face when she is ill. Even when he is sick, his symptoms are mild and usually abate within a couple of days. We shall see...

Then
We had no helper and Terelle only had me 24/7. I was also fiercely protective of her and abhorred the thought of a helper, lest she vie for the affections of my precious baby.

Now
I leave Thane in the capable (so far) hands of my helper while i go out to teach/exercise/shop/eat/attend workshops/catch up with friends/have a life. I do not feel a smidgen of guilt...ok maybe just a teeny weeny bit sometimes when Thane tries to reach out for me as the lift door closes in his face.

Then
I remember when Terelle fell off the bed for the first time. We panicked and hubby carried her and literally ran all the way to the paediatrician to get her checked out.

Now
When Thane fell off the bed for the first time, i was quite unperturbed cos he only cried for like 30s, had no baluku and was pretty much his normal self after that. No need to go haring off to the pd...saved me $40 too.

Then
Splurged on pretty new clothes for Terelle ever so often.

Now
Im happy with my friends' hand me downs for Thane.

Then
Flashcards! Music during naptime and bedtime! Books! Gym!

Now
Err...i do some of the above whenever im not too tired or when i feel like it.

My poor second child...please dont grow up thinking that you've been sidelined. I still love you to bits.