Monday, 25 August 2008

I'm 36 weeks and so ready to pop. Getting tired a lot more easily and backaches as well. My new maid just arrived over the weekend and my current maid is going home next weekend. Lots of new activities over this week, like settling the new maid in, getting nat accustomed to her, re-organizing the furniture in the house in anticipation of #2's arrival, settling outstanding stuff at work. Quite tiring just thinking about it. Due to a sudden lack of energy, it's been harder to handle nat these few weeks. So i'm hoping I'll pop quickly.

With the impending arrival of #2, it's also dawned on me that life will be different with 2 kids, of a young age running around the house. It's quite intimidating and scary at times you know? But I guess that whichever path we take, we just have to grit our teeth and embrace the experiences as they come along. Of course, there will be stress but we shouldn't forget the joy that will accompany these experiences too.

Monday, 11 August 2008

Nat learns Chinese. We've been speaking English to nat since she was born, she listens to a French boy choir and sleeps to Malay music on the radio (courtesy of my maid). We realise we have not been exposing her to the Chinese language. My mum decided to teach her a Chinese nursery rhyme, just to see how she would react. It's very interesting, kids are just like sponges and they absorb just about everything you teach them. Here's her favourite and only Chinese nursery rhyme she knows:

排排坐
吃果果
你一个，我一个
妹妹睡了，留一个。

Nat's really cute. She loves to fill in the blanks for me, so when I get to the part that says 吃 she will quickly follow up with 果果 and then she will go on to say 妹妹. Only thing is I have been trying to teach her to say 弟弟 instead, but she's been quite resistant ... haha ... well ... she's gotta realise she is going to have a didi after all.

Monday, 11 August 2008

Yesterday, nat had a great time. We met up with her baby friends at Go Go Bambini, an indoor playground for kids. And the good thing is that the entry fee for babies below 2 is free till 31 August 2008. What a good deal! These days, when we meet up, we always have to think of a
kid-friendly place where our growing brood of 4 toddlers and 1 infant can run around and have fun, while we adults chat. This is the perfect place!

It's been a while since I met up with these friends and their babies. How everyone has grown, they have all become toddlers, who can walk around independently on their own and can even say a few words. It will probably be the last time we meet for a while, till i pop anywayz so it was nice that everyone could make it.

My friend brought along her 2-month old infant, a beautiful little girl. I had forgotten just how small infants are ... too used to handling my struggly, squirmy nat. Infants are nice, they just sit in your arms, sleep, eat and coo/smile at you when they are in a good mood. Realised that bringing 2 kids out is really stressful, with one super active toddler trying to run off half the time, and a fully dependent little infant slinged 24/7 onto you, it really is no easy feat.

I'm officially 34 weeks now ... mentally ready to pop already. Sick of carrying this heavy tummy around and of course, looking forward to #2's arrival. One thing I am happy about is that nat seems quite open to the presence of an infant. She enjoyed playing with my friend's baby and was quite gentle too ... haha ... so unlike her usual self. I hope that when didi is born, she will show him that kind of gentleness as well. Was just telling gary that we must make a conscious effort to ensure that she is not neglected and that she knows everyone still loves and adores her just as much.

Wednesday, 6 August 2008

I was just looking at my ticker tape on the blog. Baby nat is officially 18 months/1.5 years old already. Time seems to have passed by in a flash. I remember the time when she was first born, the helpless pimply little thing wrapped up in a blanket. I used to spend hours just staring at her, sleeping in her cot. My little baby has grown so much since. She has her own likes and dislikes e.g she only eats apple without skin; oranges and grapes must be peeled; she can hold her own little cone when eating ice-cream; she bestows you with a kiss only when she is in the right mood; she dances to rock music.

I just read a friend's blog, a friend who had been in a dilemma about whether to go back to work or continue to be a stay-at-home mum for her 2 kids. I'm glad that she finally made her decision to stay at home with the kids. Sometimes, I wish I had the courage to do it as well. For now, I'm just glad that nat has loving grandparents who are willing to spend the time caring for her. Of course, that doesn't lessen the guilt I feel sometimes, but well, life goes on ...

Monday, 4 August 2008

I think it has reached that stage in the pregnancy when things start to get mighty uncomfortable. What this means is that the tummy is big enough such that it makes it hard to sit down for long and one gets breathless easily. Sleeping is an intermittent thing as one is always waking up to pee and backaches become very common. Yesterday, when I went for my daily walks with gary and nat, I felt kind of tired. I suddenly had this panic moment when I wondered what would happen if I was walking alone with nat and #2 decided it was time to come out to see the world. I guess all these just indicate that the big day is coming and I'm starting to get jittery. I don't think I felt so insecure with nat. But gary just reminded me that in the last month before nat was born, this was exactly how i felt too. Hmm ... oh well ... another month to go ... wish me luck!