Having a great support network helps immensely (good helpers to wash endless dirty bottles, understanding colleagues to schedule meetings around pumping and my great husband who pats me on the shoulder whenever I am about to give up!), and the fact that my best friend (the Avent Manual Pump) during these breastfeeding months is the savior to continue the wish to breastfeed until Benjamin starts eating solid.

But breastfeeding is probably the HARDEST act/commitment in this whole baby business.  It does not matter how people convince you that the birthing bit is hard – not compared to having your breasts on loan for 6 months or longer.  The breasts (and your body) for that matter don’t belong to you.  They belonged to Benjamin which needs plenty of sucking (so engorgement / mastitis doesn’t take place), a lot of pumping (to ensure that the supply is there) and a new set of customized shirts (as nothing fits around the breast or the waist because you can’t be on a diet).   In fact, I walk around every day thinking how to produce more milk (alongside with building a Data Center as a work project!).  I take naps to produce more milk, I eat five times a day to produce more milk… everything revolves around making milk – a true cow.  I have never asked a cow, but I reckon it’s probably easier for a cow, because she doesn’t have a day-job!

And this is the reason why we are NOT having a third child.  I am just too old to go through another round of lending the breasts as if they were someone’s property.  Mind you, I know I am doing this totally out of my own will (for the sake of Benjamin’s health and his future IQ) but it does not make it a more pleasant experience.

The human mind tends to forget how hard things get in the first 9 months of a newborn baby!    So this blog is to remind me to read it when Benjamin turns two and I get clucky about having a third child!  DON’T DO IT!!!

In the meantime, I’m off for another pumping session before having some 4 hours sleep… at least Benjamin bubba is taking full benefits of the golden milk (at four months, he is now 90th percentile in weight at 7.4 kg and 75th percentile in height 66 cm!!!)  Even his pediatrician said “Wow, Benjamin you’ve grown in the last two months!!!”  And as a mom, that’s all it takes, even if it means being a cow…

Enjoy our photos from the hot summer here in Shanghai,

Our Boy’s album – August 2010

p.s. poh poh and gung gung were here for two weeks to meet Benjamin and hung out with Michael…  It was a lovely visit as Michael got to spend time with his great sixth aunt!

Benjamin turned 3 months while we were at the mountains.  His health check up at 2-months was all good.  75 percentile in terms of weight (6.1 kg) and height (61 cm).  Benjamin is taller than his brother Michael but a bit skinnier than Michael at the same age.  He is thriving well and we love spending time with the two of them.  Michael is also adapting to “big brother” status very well, with “big cuddle and kissy” as well as “I love Benjamin” every morning!

I return to work in about 3 weeks time and am still planning to be an exclusive COW for Benjamin.  Wish me luck to persist with Breastfeeding and more pumping until mid September!

Meanwhile, these are older photos, we’ll post the mountains ones shortly:

Our Boy’s album – June 2010

Love from Shanghai,

Ian, Stacey, Michael (who loves being the “diver man”) and Benjamin (who is holding up pretty strongly!)

p.s. we also had a great father’s day – happy father’s day to my dad, KK, Rod, Ian, and Gary (my brother who is spending his first father’s day as a father to our niece Hayley!)

However life in the mountains is LOVELY - so nice that an expat wrote a book about it!  You can hear the birds chirping away and the roosters crowing at all hours.  Michael loves getting into everything and even hiked with us all the way up the mountain (but needed a piggy back on the way down!).  Benjamin is oblivious too all of this – his only reaction is that he finds it too “disturbing” to his rountines.  However all the boys slept well, so we can’t complain!

We also brought the whole house here – Ian and I had one travel bag and the boys had 7!!!

Gotta post this before the WIFI is gone.  Love from Moganshan at 5 am when the sun is up.

- when he was unwilling to go to bed and I was “forcing” him onto the little bed, Michael said “I want Dada to put me to bed!” (that’s because a much more patient dada usually will be willing to sing many songs and chat before a sleep comes!)

- we had a walk over the weekend and towards the end of the walk Michael was getting tired and wanted to be carried back.  With my substandard back, I couldn’t quite do the duties and Michael then asked “where is dada?” 

- today is day 8 and Michael got a cold (probably from the ever changing weather of Shanghai!) and was a bit cranky.  At bedtime, he said “I miss dada”…

Michael was always very close to us in very different ways (mommy knows everything and dada fixes everything!) but with Ian being gone for so long this time, it is incredibly interesting to observe how a little 2.5 year-old expresses his emotion and compassion for his father.

Well, we miss our dada and can’t wait until he is back.  Two more days to go.

Til then, photos and love from Shanghai,

Our Boy’s album – May 2010

p.s. we went to  today with Michael and Benjamin and Benjamin LOVED it!  I have never seen those eyes open so BIG and WIDE!!!  He must inherit the therapeutic (or should i say shopaholic!??) genes from his mom…more about why we were at the toy store in the next blog!

Real Mothers don’t eat quiche;  they don’t have time to make it.
Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils are probably in the sandbox.
Real Mothers often have sticky floors,  filthy ovens and happy kids.
Real Mothers know that dried play dough doesn’t come out of carpets.
Real Mothers don’t want to know what the vacuum just sucked up.
Real Mothers sometimes ask ‘Why me?’ and get their answer when a little voice says, ‘Because I love you best.’
Real Mothers know that a child’s growth is not measured by height or years or grade…
             It is marked by the progression of Mommy to Mom to Mother…
     The Images of Mother
       4 YEARS OF AGE – My Mommy can do anything!
       8 YEARS OF AGE – My Mom knows a lot! A whole lot!
     12 YEARS OF AGE – My Mother doesn’t really know quite everything.
     14 YEARS OF AGE – Naturally, Mother doesn’t know that, either.
     16 YEARS OF AGE – Mother? She’s hopelessly old-fashioned..
     18 YEARS OF AGE – That old woman? She’s way out of date!
     25 YEARS OF AGE – Well, she might know a little bit about it!
     35 YEARS OF AGE – Before we decide, let’s get Mom’s opinion.
     45 YEARS OF AGE – Wonder what Mom would have thought about it?
     65 YEARS OF AGE – Wish I could talk it over with Mom.

     The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs
     her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart,
     the place where love resides. The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole, but  true beauty in a woman is
     reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows, and the
     beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!

1.  the older one is cranky and chucking a ’leg-dance” tandrum; 

2. someone is required to supervise the bath for the older one, so that no flooding takes place;

3. someone is required to slow down that bike running a million miles ahead of you in the park to avoid any major accidents!

We have been lucky to have had wodnerful nanny / helpers in our life.  At the moment, our two helpers work beautifully to care for our two boys and I feel blessed and confident that our children are in good hands.  So this blog entry is dedicated to all our current / previous helpers as well as all the Ayis/ helpers in the world who make our lives more efficient and better quality.  Thank you. 

Enjoy our photos from the Spring which finally arrives in Shanghai:

Our Boy’s album – Spring 2010

Until next time, love from Shanghai – EXPO is starting in few days and we’re pretty excited to be part of it!

Ian, Stacey, Michael (who finally understands what it means to have to “share” his M&D) and Benjamin (who is a slow drinker like his mom when she was a baby!)

We have asked many friends that have done it before.  All of them tell us that you will love both equally.  Some have said that you will have a preference over the first just because you’ve met him / her longer.  Some have said that you will enjoy the second one heaps more because you know what to expect.  Ian and I didn’t really know what to expect.

Benjamin then took his sweet time to arrive (waiting for his Nanna to reach Shanghai first!) and did he come out fast (re earlier blog!).  We were blessed with our second son, Benjamin on a Thursday night and we were home by Saturday (I hate the hospital for obvious reasons!).  Benjamin is a beautiful baby – we expected the worst from his older brother however Michael has been sweet and kind to baby Benjamin so far.  Just like any little baby who is only a few days old baby, Benjamin eats, sleeps and poops all day.  Because he is so tiny (Ian and I both forgot how tiny babies are!), your love for them tends to be so much more gentle. 

The love for Michael and Benjamin is, infact, rather different.  For Michael, his demands for attention make the love more focus and concentrated.  On the other hand, the love for Benjamin is very subtle.  Definitely with two kids, your love capacity doubles and there is no question about loving Benjamin less.  Although the second child will suffer from the obvious hand-me-downs for everything to a delay in sending photos/writing blogs, however the love from their parents is unique.

p.s. Picasa Goggle Photos are not working in China – so here are our photos and apology for the messiness!

Mother is very well after achieving her second all natural drug-free birth.  We are very grateful to Dr Michelle Lu Ferguson who assisted Stacey’s delivery of a healthy baby boy.
 
Michael was curious to visit Mummy in hospital and was keen to meet Benjamin after talking about him for months.  Benjamin was kind enough to bring Michael a welcome gift (a camera) so we think that their life-long relationship has gotten off to a great start.  Many thanks also to Nanna and Poppa who are here specially to play with Michael as he builds his friendship with Benjamin.  In fact, we think Benjamin waited for Nanna to arrive (she came to Shanghai on Wednesday night!).

Love from Shanghai,

Ian, Stacey, Michael and Benjamin

Finally the photos:

Our Boy’s album – March 2010

Due to some visa issues, our lovely helper (Jenny) had to leave us and return to the Philippines.  As an overprotective mother and control-freak wife, I panicked.  What would happen to Michael, how will he adjust, do we go for Filipino / Chinese (fear of child abduction)?  But then, after a month of losing our helper, it dawned on me … it was me who had problems / issues with the adjustment (and still do!).  Of course, Ian being the ever wise and calm father & husband has been the pillar of strength to walk me through this month by teaching our new helper skills that she desperately needs (like what is a “sunny-side up egg”!?)

The fact that the new helper isn’t exactly as efficient or worldly as Jenny didn’t help either.  However what has been amazing is how well Michael has adjusted:

- we thought to put Michael for 5 mornings at Montessori starting Jan, so that it’d be less hectic when second bubba comes.  It proved timely and his chinese has been improving at an unbelievable speed (he is now singing mandarin nursery rhymes at bath time!)

- I (wanted to say “we” but…) thought Michael would have real issues with the new helper, but besides him taking advantage of her at times and pushing the limits (which he does to us at any rate), he is enjoying this new relationship!  English is a bit of an issue (the new filipino helper’s english isn’t great!), but he tends to just teach her the english when required!

At the end of the day, I take lots of comfort to know that Michael is okay even with this change and that he may possible be better equipped when second bubba comes.  Ian’s parents are coming soon (THANK god) and so they’ll be a great support to Michael and us.  I am about 7 weeks away from due date (and feeling it – waddling was never my favorite part!).  Michael has been sleeping relatively well in the “Big boy’s bed” despite wanting to come out when we put him down.  The next training will be to get him potty trained also, but I have learned to be “less aggressive” in mandating it!

Until next time, I have had no energy taking photos, but here is a couple of videos which I absolutely LOVE:

 http://picasaweb.google.com/staceylacy/MichaelSAlbumVideoClips 

Love from Shanghai – we’re entering into Chinese New Year soon and Michael loves saying “I am a “Lao Hu” – I am a Tiger!

- Michael is still not so sure about ice-cream as it was just too cold!
- frizzy drinks just hurt his little tongue and the face he’d make after a sip was hysterical!
- lollies looked a bit too strange and he didn’t quite want to touch them (yet)!
- chips and biscuits are just heavenly.  Michael shuffled as much of those chips/bikkies as he could at every occasion!
- the best highlight was probably the “melting moments”.  It looked harmless like a little mini-size puff pastry.  But boy does it melt.  After Auntie Tamara shared the ingredients (butter and sugar), it is no wonder why it was a hit!

Michael was also happily surprised by the amount of toys a little boy can receive in a short span!  We are not so sure how much he appreciates Santa but he sure can recognize who he is!

Just like any other visit to Brisbane, every day was colorful and eventful meeting up with Ian’s mates and friends.  To Michael, he loved visiting everyone’s home as there is again a new playground to be found (someone’s backyard)!  The quieter moments would be where he hung out with Nanna/Poppa’s new puppy Oscar who gave him many kisses and licks while he rode Ian’s childhood scooter.  Everyday was an adventure for our little yet quickly growing boy!

We then returned to Shanghai for a relatively quiet new year.  However 2010 has had a lot for us already!  Our lovely helper is leaving soon and we are scrambling to get a new one.  Plus our second baby is coming along at the end of March.  Second bubba is a little too small for his size and I am having tests again for gestational diabetes (sigh).   All seems a bit crazy at the moment but I hope that as the year progresses, we will get it sorted.  As Ian always says, as long as we’re together, we will find the right solution!

In the meantime, enjoy our photos from Christmas:

http://picasaweb.google.com/staceylacy/MichaelSAlbumMyAustraliaAdventures

Love from Shanghai,

Ian, Stacey, Michael (who loves to say “I don’t know” and “I don’t want it”!) and bubba at 29 weeks.