21 January 2008

This is the day the maid returned to Bandung, Indonesia after we terminated the contract. This is the day where we decided we do not want to employ a maid to help look after the grandchildren. Instead we decided to help our daughter to assist her in looking after the 2 girls when she is busy working.

Initially it was tiring as we were not used to long hours looking after the kids. I guess our age too is another factor. However after 2-3 weeks it was much better as we got used to the routine. Now it is already 5 months! How fast time flies.

Sept - October 2007

All of us went on a holiday to US to visit my son. It was a family reunion as I get to see my son, the brother and sister managed to catch up and also my son (uncle to the grandchildren) met them for the first time.

We took a trip to Orlando, Florida to go to Disneyworld, Seaworld and Universal Studios. The grandchildren had a wonder time meeting their favourite characters like Mickey Mouse and Barney.

April - July 2007

It was a very difficult period for the grandchildren as they were sick very often. Kay Li gets sore throat and high fever but she usually recover very fast within a week. The problem sometimes spread to her younger sister and we find that she takes a longer time to recover, around 2 to 3 weeks and also after several visit to the doctor. Only later it was discovered that she had asthma.

Around April, a piece of land nearby was being levelled and probably a lot of dust was in the air. This, too, could have triggered the asthma. The soft toys were sotred away as it is feared that they may also trigger the asthma.

Catching up

I did not post for quite some time and many things happened during this period. Hence I will try to recollect the main events.

My father passed away on 29 August, 2006 at the age of 89. He suffered a stroke 6 years ago and was half paralysed. He needed help to move from the bed to the wheelchair. I had seen his sufferings since the stroke. He sometimes got frustrated at not being able to walk, to be indepedent to do whatever he wanted. Instead he had to rely on the care givers for support. He was the kids' great-grand-father.

In September 2006, my daughter's 3rd maid ran away. My maid who was looking after my father returned to Indonesia for a holiday and to celebrate Hari Raya with her family. During that period we had no help and were managing to look after the grandchildren on our own.

On 3rd November 2006, Kay Li celebrated her 2 nd birthday.

In December 2006 all of us went to Singapore and celebrated Christmas at my cousin Raymond's place.

In February 2007 we celebrated Kay Lyn's 1st birthday. The 1st celebration was held on 11 February for her Mom and Dad's friends. On the actual day, 14 February it was a quiet affair with a small cake. Then on 21 February there was another celebration held at Malacca at the paternal grandmother's house. She wanted to follow the lunar calendar.

Also in February 2007, all of us went to Singapore to attend my uncle's 80th birthday. It was a very enjoyable trip.

Maids

The unfortunate incident of the maid running away happened again. The 2nd maid is not good, very slow and lack of intelligence. However as we pity her we decided to keep her instead of sending her back to the maid agency. After working for us for 4 months she ran off in early April, 2006. This time it happened during the day and at my house! My daughter was busy teaching her students at my house. The granny was feeding Kay Lyn and my own maid was busy collecting clothes which was hanged outside the house. I was taking my afternoon nap. The maid was supposed to look after Kay Li as she was not asleep. Suddenly my daughter burst into my room and told me that her maid had ran away. I was shocked. We discovered that she opened the back door and ran off through the back lane. We searched around but could not find her.

This incident got me rattled. The thought that the maid could run away under several noses is unnerving. I must say I am very thankful that she did not take Kay Li with her. It would be a big nightmare for all of us.

When my daughter went home, she checked the maid's room and found that several of her personal items were missing. Hence it must have been planned. Someone must have contacted her and entice her to run away, perhaps with promise of higher wages.

Looking at it from the positive side, I must say it was a good thing she ran away as we do not have the heart to send her back to the maid agency. Secondly since she ran away less than 6 months after working with us, we do not have to pay the full agency fee for the next maid.

On the other hand we have to pay a fine of RM250 to the immigration. Though we do not have to pay the full agency fees, it still will cost us about RM2000 for a replacement.

Kay Li

Kay Li is now 17 months old. She is able to speak a few words like ball, there and flower. Lately she started saying the word no. However she can understand whatever we say to her judging by her response. She says "mom mom" when she wants to eat and "minum" (a malay word) when she wants to drink.

Her keenness of observation is very good. She is very sharp and observant. She watches whatever we do and from there she learns for example like switching on/off the table fan.

I look after her on and off during the day. She is very close to me and together we have build a very close rapport and understanding. Therefore we share many happy moments together. We play together with the toys she has and there is so much joy and laughter.

One thing I cherish is sitting together and watching the Barney show. She enjoy the show very much and sometimes will get me to clap hands with her or dance. Also hearing many of the nursery rhymes and songs bring floods of memories to me. I recalled many of my childhood days where I used to read the nursery rhymes from the books that my parents bought for me.

Kay Lyn

Kay Lyn is a much easier girl to look after at this stage. She is just over 10 weeks old and like normal babies at this age, she drinks milk and then goes to sleep most of the time. The grand-mother is looking after her during the day. At night she goes back to her parent's house.

One character about her which captivates our hearts is her big smile. She smiles when we talk to her especially after she has drank her milk. Sometimes when she does not fall asleep after her feed, the granny will put her on her lap and talk to her. She responds by giving that big captivating smile.

She is fed with breast milk and supplemented with powdered goat's milk. Her mother tries to feed her with breast milk but unfortunately the milk production is low. In order to try to increase the milk supply, the mother took Domperidone which is supposed to induce milk production but there was not much response and it also affected her hearing. She said the sound is amplified. Currently she is trying the herbal supplement called Fenugreek. The production improved slightly but the supply is not enough for the baby.

Grand daughters' names

Now that I have two grand-daughters I would like to refer to them by their names. Hence I am introducing them. The elder one is named Kay Li and the younger one is Kay Lyn. It is easier for me to write using their names instead of saying my elder grand-daughter or my younger grand-daughter.

Busy Time

Oh I went through a busy period after my trip and hence was not able to catch up with many events that took place. First came the Chinese New Year. As usual we had a reunion dinner on Chinese New Year eve at my place. My brother and his family joined in as well as my daughter and son-in-law. Then on Chinese New Year day relatives came to pay their respect to my father. Then on the second day we went to visit our elderly relatives.

Then my daughter was due for delivery of her second baby on 8 Februaury, 2006. The delivery was delayed and finally it was an induced delivery which took place on 14 February, 2006. After my daughter went home I had to go there daily to assist her. I went to look after my 1st grandaughter so that her maid had time to do some house work.

The fullmoon celebration was on 12 February, 2006. Friends and relatives attended this event. The young couple invited the Buddhist monks from the Sentul Temple for Dana. The blessing ceremony was held just before lunch. The food was contributed by us and also by my son-in-law's family.

Now at 15 months

I was away for a long holiday. Of course during the holidays I went shopping and bought clothings, shoes and toys for my grand-daughter. I could not anticipate what would be her reaction when she saw me after almost 3 months. So at the first meeting I called out to her and her first reaction was to run to her mother. However a split second later she recoginzed me and then ran up to me and asking to be carried. It was such a joy to see her and certainly she looked different.

In the following days I found there was so much joy and laughter playing with her. She is so cute and adorable and is the center of attraction whereever she is. She just learn to say "bye" and wave her hand at the same time. If she does not want something she shakes her head indicating that. There is now the baby talk - babbling. Though I cannot understand what she is saying, nevertheless it is fun listening to it.

One year old

Well it had been very hectic for me the last two months and hence I was not able to post earlier. For the record my grand-daughter started to walk and prefers to walk than crawl now. She is learning to talk but for now is just some babbling that I cannot make out. Anyway we have many good laughs at her babbling. She also likes to scream at the top of her voice when she wants attention or to get things her way.

With regards to food she prefers to eat what we are eating rather than eating her cereals. When the grandma feeds her the cereals it is very noisy with her screaming and skaking her head left and right trying to avoid the spoon and the granny trying to cajole her to eat. It was a very stressful time for the granny. However when we are having dinner or teatime she likes to come and ask for food. She eats plain rice, cakes, fruits especially mango and papaya and biscuits.

On 3 November she is one year old. We celebrated her birthday on 30 October as on the actual birthday date her other grandmother wants the occasion to be held at her house in Malacca. So her birthday was celebrated twice. I am unable to post the photos now as currently I am in New Jersey for a holiday. Later I hope to do so when I get back home.