Monday, 28 July 2008

It's been a while since we took some nice pics of nat, so I'm glad we managed to capture some good pics over the weekend. This weekend, we brought nat to the zoo. Visits to the zoo seem more fruitful these days, as she can actually "appreciate" the animals better, a far cry from her first visit when she was 6-7 months old.

We also brought her to Botanic Gardens and later met our good frens at Dempsey. Again, I'm juz really glad that my good frens all like nat and don't find her too bratty :) There was some kind of carnival/flea market going on, with free popcorn and bubbles, so nat had quite a good time running around. She could even sit down at the kids table for 15 minutes doing some colouring ... haha although you'll notice, everyone else was colouring within the lines while nat was just scrawling away ... my creative little baby.

Nat's favourite word of the week is STOP, something she kept repeating over the weekend. When you do something she doesn't like, immediately she yells stop, so commanding hor ... tsk tsk. Her favourite food is surprisingly Japanese soba, just like her daddy. We had Japanese food for dinner on Saturday and surprisingly, she enjoyed slurping away at the soba. It's odd, because to me, soba/udon are rather tasteless.

Anywayz, in a flash, I'm already at 32 weeks. I'm looking forward to the arrival of #2, also a bit sick of feeling fat and clumsy. Let's pray that #2's arrival into this world will be as easy and unstressed as nat. Nothing dramatic, please ...!

Wednesday, 23 July 2007

Babies get high on sugar, myth or fact? I used to think it was a myth ... that is ... till yesterday. Brought nat along to meet a good friend for dinner. We had Japanese steamboat and nat ate heartily, I would if I were her, after all we were having wagyu beef. After that, we went nearby for ice-cream, where nat enjoyed feeding herself.

Her sugar high came almost immediately after we were done with the ice-cream. As usual, with nothing else to entertain her, she struggled to get out of the high chair, so we allowed her to wander around the ice-cream shop. When the rock music in the shop started to play, we were very amused to see her dancing to the music. Initially, I thought it was a spur of the moment thingey, but she continued her dancing for at least 10 minutes. My friend and I sat there looking on, thinking it was really hilarious! Pity I did not manage to catch her dancing on video.

Even after we got home, she was very hyper, running around the house and chuckling away. Mind you, this was about 10pm already. She finally feel asleep after a while but woke up from time to time crying ... sigh ...

My advice: Feeding babies ice-cream is alright once in a while, just don't overdo it and definitely not late at night. Tsk tsk ... the things you gotta learn on the job. Check out the pic below, nat has 2 cups of ice-cream and 2 scoops in her little hands!

Tuesday, 22 July 2008

Yesterday, I took a leisurely walk to Rail Mall together with nat. Was quite a nice walk, wind blowing ... just after the rain. As I walked along, I was just thinking how rare this would be in future, to bring my 2 babies for a walk together. After all, with #2 still in the tummy, it's still managable. Once he is born, I don't think I'll be able to manage two young babies alone. So better enjoy more of these nice walks with nat while I still can. She loves it when I sing to her. Also, these walks help to pacify and calm her down. I realise that when Nat is cooped up in the house too long, she gets fidgety and whiney. It's quite important to bring the kids outdoors even if it's just for a short walk around the neighbourhood, breathe in some fresh air and take in the interesting sights and sounds all around!

It's a real hassle ... but once you get out of the door ... you'll start to enjoy it.

Monday, 21 July 2008

My little sweetheart has been progressing along very well. Physically, she's eating well, enjoys chomping away at her organic biscuits and loves porridge and macaroni. She walks and runs around everywhere, depending on her whims and fancy. She understands most things that I tell her and listens intently when I read to her storybooks. She can even say "apple" with a slang haha must be that American website that I keep showing her on the PC. Last night, before she tromped off to bed, she voluntarily ran towards Gary and me and gave us a goodnight kiss each ... so affectionate hor!

Here are some pics of her, apologies, have been a bit slow in uploading the pics these days.

Thursday, 10 July 2008

It's finally the 3rd trimester! It is definitely a time of anticipation as we await #2's arrival. However, it is also a time when the hormones rage uncontrollably and I get tired a lot more easily. Little things at work get me down and most days I fall asleep by 9 or 10pm. Only problem is that the early sleeping hours forces me to wake up by 3am, and I often wonder what to do with myself. The little one is very active and is always kicking me at all hours of the day.

At the same time, I also try to spend as much time with nat as possible. She's reached a stage where she is constantly testing boundaries to see what she can get away with. Overall, she's a real sweetheart and she loves it when I read to her every night.

Recently, we bought a DVD from the musical The Sound of Music. I love this musical and my mum always sang the songs with me when I was a little girl. Initially we thought that nat may not like it as it is not in the form of a cartoon. Surprisingly, she loves it. Her favourite songs are My Favourite Things, Do-Re-Mi and The Lonely Goatherd.

Having nat is one of my biggest blessings in life. Everyday I look forward to going home after work. While I may be too tired to play with her for long, it's nice to just sit there and watch her pottering around the house. Am sitting back and enjoying this maternal bliss for now :) Meanwhile, do bear with me if I'm grouchy, it's not me, it's the hormones.

Sunday, 6 July 2008

It's been a while since we went to Sentosa. I remember when we were younger, gary and i used to drive to Sentosa to hang out at the beach. Chilling in the sun, sipping a cool iced drink, dressed in bikini and board shorts ... ah that's the life! I did tell him that when we had kids next time, we must bring them here as well.

So this morning, we brought nat to sentosa. We drove to the part of the beach where people love to bring their dogs, knowing that would make nat very happy. True enough ... she loves walking along the waves, looking at the many doggies swimming in the sea ... playing with the sand and picking up silly knick knacks along the beach.

We left when the sun got too hot. I think it's age, but somehow I don't really like to bake in the sun anymore, something I really did not mind too much when I was younger.

Anywayz, enjoy the pics. As usual, nat made a new doggie friend. Her name is Freyer and she's from Norway. Her friendly owner tells us that she's a superb swimmer as these dogs are bred for duck hunting overseas. Interesting huh!

I especially love the pics of nat with her daddy, shows just what a hands-on daddy he is! It's no wonder my little girl loves to play with her daddy and when the two are playing together, she always ends up in giggles.

We also showed her the big Merlion in Sentosa. Now, she cannot stop "growling" like a lion whenever we say the word Lion. Haha ... she's really a cutie pie.

Also have a video of nat dancing to a tune being played on the computer. This particular tune never fails to make her get up and groove hahaha!

Wednesday, 2 July 2008

It's 4am and I've been up since 3am. Wonder whether it's because of #2, he really has some powerful kicks! Are baby boys really bigger in size? In the past month, I've been really quite conscious of my food intake and have been taking walks every night, but still gained 2 kg in 4 weeks. Sounds scary, huh! Oh well, will just have to work harder to lose the excess weight after baby is born. Just had my check up and baby's growing well. He's 1.2kg now, almost doubled in weight in just one month.

Having 2 kids is really not easy. I was just telling Gary that I sometimes miss those days when we were younger, without any responsibilities, where we could just take off and go for nice relaxing holidays any time. For now though, I've got to manage the brood, which includes making sure I spend enough time with nat ; Managing the maid issues, my maid will be going off in a few months' time and within these few months, I've got to source for a new maid, which let me assure you is no easy task ; Debating whether to continue working. It is definitely easy to make the decision not to work, who does not want a relaxing tai tai life but the lure of financial independence is also very attractive.

Haha, with so many things on my mind, it's no wonder that I'm up at 3am every night.

By the way, nat is a big bully. When she plays with other little kids, she will snatch their toys and grab their food. But I guess it's a phase they all go through. While some of her playmates cower away in fear, others stand up to her, and that's when she backs off. It's good training though, she's got to learn not to be so spoilt. In hindsight, maybe having a little brother will teach her to be more caring and sharing. She's still my sweet little baby and I love all the moments that I have with her.

Anywayz, gary just downloaded some photos of nat from his hp. We had a good laugh, forgotten about these pics already. Enjoy!