Sunday, 14 September 2008

Milk flow is starting to trickle in, it's always a nice feeling when your milk supply is kickstarted, it means baby is finally going to get more milk and nutrition. Today, we tried letting baby lucas sleep on his front and he seems to like it. He managed to sleep through most of the morning. Nat is a real sweetheart, she loves her didi and even offered to carry him ... haha ... maybe later when is a bit more sturdy.

Saturday, 13 September 2008

Baby names - a subject we'd been mulling over for months prior to the birth of No. 2. Many good names, some compelling, others unremarkable. We'd earlier decided to name baby Isaac, but fate has pushed his name back to the original name we'd liked and loved many months earlier - Lucas. In a sense we've come full circle :)

So there you have it - baby Lucas. Just hope there won't be any more changes before the 2 week name registration deadline is up!

Saturday, 13 September 2008

A quick update on life as a mummy of 2 :)

Nat seems to have adapted well to life with didi around. When didi cries, she runs into his room excitedly, running circles around us and attempting to climb up the cot to see all the action. When she realises that the cot is too high, she will turn to me and say "carry" ... so demanding hor. With the frequency of breastfeeding Isaac, I sometimes feel that I am not spending enough time with my darling nat. Although she doesn't seem too affected, I do feel guilty. Hopefully this will pass, I guess the most difficult period is these first few months, once we settle back into a routine, things will be fine. Meanwhile, every morning, I ensure I go into nat's room and tell her how much I love her when she wakes up in the morning and in the evening I always make sure I kiss her when she goes to bed.

Isaac is starting to show his fiesty little personality. When he demands milk and he doesn't get it fast enough, he lets out the loudest wail possible. I certainly do not recall nat having such a loud voice. Whenever you put him near the breast during feeding, he will open and close his mouth, chomping excitedly. He is definitely a night owl like his daddy. Come nightfall, he is curious and alert and always ready for milk. Luckily, I am used to surviving on little sleep.

I guess after the excitement of delivery, the hormones start to kick in again and I find myself being kind of moody. I guess it will pass, for now, do pardon me if I am being crabby.

Thursday, 11 September 2008

Here's baby Isaac's birth story:

Our darling Isaac was born on 9 September 2008. On Monday, I had gone to my doc for my regular check-up. Was getting mighty irritated as there wasn't any sign that baby was coming. At the clinic, got hooked up to the CTG monitor to check on baby's heartbeat and contractions, but it seemed rather unlikely that Isaac was ready.

Surprisingly, when doc did a check, she said I was already 3cm dilated. Goody, finally some action. She said that we could wait and let baby decide when he wanted to come out or I could just pick a day and she would break the water bag and induce baby to come out. Of course, i chose the latter. Was getting quite uncomfortable and grumpy already.

So, we chose to have the baby induced that evening. It was quite stress-free as we made our way to the hospital after dinner. My doc dropped by at about 8pm, broke the water bag and got the action kickstarted. As usual, I asked for epidural very early on.

This time round, the epidural seemed very strong and I drifted in and out of sleep. Din feel much pain anyway due to the epidural. Before I knew it, I was already 9cm dilated. This time round, I had some difficulty pushing the baby out, could be due to the numbness from the epidural or the fact that Issac is almost 500g heavier than his sister. Anyway, I huffed and I puffed till my face turned red and he was still not out. Doc decided to use a vacumn to assist me as baby's heartbeat was showing some distress. A good move, as I was getting tired and I seriously doubt I could have continued pushing him out on my own. With the vacumn, Isaac came out in 1 or 2 pushes.

Seeing Isaac in my arms, hearing his first cry and having gary there to support me through both Nat and Isaac's births ... these are truly blessings in life that I am forever grateful for.

Thursday, 11 September 2008

We are back! With a new member added to our brood. Meet Isaac :)

I'll blog about Isaac's birth story later ... it's a bit more dramatic than nat's birth story ... but nevertheless once again, I am glad for this little blessing in my life.

P.S: Doesn't Isaac look like a little gary? Especially in the second pic.

Thursday, 4 September 2008

It's me ... still here ... haven't popped yet. I guess it's too early, only 37 weeks. Have experienced some tightness in the tummy, but nothing too indicative that #2 will be here this week. So patience I guess ...

Nat is currently going through this phase where she likes to scream. Anytime she doesn't get her way, she screams ... it drives me nuts! I try to be stern with her and it seems to work sometimes, but 5 minutes later, she's at it again. Well, let's hope it's just a passing phase.

On a positive note, she has been talking more lately. She is quick to learn new words from us and chatters all day long. We bought her this DVD called Leapfrog Letter Factory about 2 weeks ago, and she loves it. I think it's a great way to teach kids the alphabets and phonics. After just 2 weeks, she is able to articulate the sounds of A (ah), B (ber), C (ker) ... etc. The interesting thing is that she never gets tired of watching it. I fall asleep watching her watch the DVD haha!

Well, I hope #2 decides that he's ready to come out soon. I'm kinda tired!

Monday, 1 September 2008

Still here, haven't popped yet. Not too fond of this waiting game, hope #2 is finally ready to come out this week. They say that walking induces labour so this weekend I've been walking around, everywhere, let's see if it works.

On Saturday, my old maid finally went home. Brought nat along to send her off at the airport. As expected, Nat cried when she went off through the gantry, it's amazing how an 18-month old toddler understands that the maid is leaving and never coming back again. Anywayz, she got over it 10 min later when i bribed her with some MacDonalds.

The new maid has been quite good, but I shall reserve from praising her too much, it's early yet. One thing though, she's not a bad cook. Last week, she cooked fried noodles for dinner, this week, she cooked chicken rice. It's quite yummy!

All in all, have had quite an ok weekend, now just waiting for #2's arrival.

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!

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!

Monday, 23 June 2008

I thought I would quickly blog about this lest I forget. Nat has a favourite pet phrase.

On Saturday, we were having a spring cleaning of our house, something I've been meaning to do for a while. Home is starting to look like a pig sty and our guest room was becoming a storeroom, where we chucked boxes and plastic bags of all shapes and sizes. I'm glad to share that after a whole day of packing, the house is a lot neater.

Anyway, when Nat came into the room in the middle of packing, she went "Wah ..." . Later, when she saw the mess of plastic bags that I lugged out of the storeroom and piled up in the living room to be thrown, she went "Wah ..." yet again!

Sigh, my little girl is picking up Singlish at such a young age. Haha ... must be my fault, it's one of my pet phrases as well.

Monday, 23 June 2008

Nat is a fearless little girl. When we bring her to the supermarket, she happily walks off on her own, the intrepid explorer and doesn't even look back to see if we are following behind. Most times, I'll let her explore on her own, until I find that she is getting into some mischief.

Over the weekend, we brought her to Botanic Gardens. There was an outdoor concert on at the amphitheatre known as Opera in the Park. She did not seem to enjoy the opera all that much (tsk, tsk no arty flair in her) but she sure did enjoy walking around. Daddy seemed to be enjoying the concert a lot more, snapping photos of Nat. The lighting of the park in the evening is really quite conducive for nice photographs.

She also loves dogs. This weekend, she met a new doggie fren, a Westie called Cameron. It's one of the gentlest dogs I have ever seen and Cameron and Nat had a good time entertaining one another while Gary and I had coffee with friends.

Natalie's physical development has reached the stage where she is very comfortable on her feet - she now darts around the house. Her strengthening limbs also mean she is more into climbing - she gets up and down the sofas and beds all on her own.

Interestingly, at 16 months she is also developing character or personality traits, some endearing, some funny, others exasperating.

As the omniscient Daddy figure I am offering valuable tips for those who are interested in getting to know Nat better.

She has this coquettish (i.e. coy, bordering on flirtatious) smile that she reserves for folks she wants to impress, e.g. Mommy's friends. She certainly never throws these our way! To be sure you are in her good books, you need to get one of these.

She likes to repeat certain words/phrases read to her from the mountainous stack of flashcards that Mommy has made. In fact, she does a fine job generally of echoing words, but here's a little secret I'll share - you need to offer the right bribes. In fact, once you do so, you won't be able to get her to stop.

She is getting over her usual dislike of strangers but still likes to be warmed up to first. This is hereditary (and not from me). You need to approach her with something more distracting than the prospect of a big bad stranger in mind - that means some adored creature like a cat or bird or fish or some cool object.

She has a penchant for throwing unruly tantrums at bedtime. This is also hereditary. So do not be offended if she is cross past 9pm. After all, even her adult version has the same predilection.

The Wife and I will attempt to offer more photographic and videographic evidence in the days ahead.

Thursday, 19 June 2008

Did I forget to mention? Nat had a haircut last week and she now looks like someone put a ricebowl on her head and trimmed her hair. Very cute, when I have the time, I'll put up a picture of her in the blog.

I was just lamenting to a friend, the 20s seem to pass by quite slowly. Yet, the 30s seem to zoom right past. It seems like just yesterday that Nat was a little baby and now she's already 16 months old. In 3 months, she will have a little brother. In fact, I was just telling Gary that it doesn't seem so long ago that we were preparing for our wedding. Life seems so different now, I feel a lot more responsibilities on my shoulders but it's not all bad. Nat is a joy (when she is not whiney) and I'm sure #2 will be to. At this phase in her life, she is already testing boundaries, throwing tantrums to see what she can get away with. Most times, I try to talk to her calmly although sometimes I do give in to her tantrums. Gary's the o'le softie though ... and nat knows it.

I am also very blessed to have a mum that is always there for me, helping to take care of nat and just giving me all the support I need :)

Monday, 16 June 2008

Do all little girls naturally like to be pretty. At the grand age of 16 months, nat is learning to be "vain". I once lent her my hairband to play with, and she popped it right onto her head and walked around parading to everyone how pretty she is.

I also bought her a little baby bear dressed in a pretty little frock yesterday. Immediately she took out the little ribbon on bear bear's ears and placed it on her own hair, haha, that really got me laughing.

I really enjoy the time spent with my little baby and I hope that when #2 come along, I will be able to still give nat the full attention and devotion she has from me now.

Thursday, 12 June 2008

I'm quite curious. What is it about Flash Cards? Why do we have to flash it at lightning speed? Theoretically, wouldn't the kids absorb better if one slowly flashes the card and explains each card one by one? It baffles me, but I really don't have much time these days to do research into it.

Anyway, flash cards have become one of nat's favourite activities for the day. Every evening, when we reach home, I'll ask her to fetch the DIY cards which I've done up for her. I've managed to accumulate about 100 cards (about 10 themes). Interestingly, she actually enjoys it and when I'm done flashing the cards, she'll make me do it all over again.

There are 2 particular pet topics for her i.e Insects (don't know wat it is about spiders, cockroaches and beetles that turns her on, yuck!) and Things you wear (she gets really excited and keeps repeating the word "wear" when I get to this topic)

I'll try to add on 2-3 themes each week. Like when we had a trip to the zoo, i came back and did a topic on the zoo. At the end of the day, not sure if she's really learning anything but well, as long as she enjoys herself, I'm happy.

As nat reaches 16 months old, she's also getting a very feisty personality. She has no qualms about showing her temper when she doesn't get what she wants, and recently she has got into a habit of hitting other kids. I don't think she really means it, I think she's just trying to hug them but she can't really control so she ends up looking like she's trying to hit them instead. I'm wondering what to do? I do think I need to discipline her a little, my greatest fear in life is that she ends up being one of those brats that goes around being rude and rowdy, and worst of all, their parents actually think they are being cute. But I also do think that scolding is not the solution as she is really too young to understand.

Anywayz, I'll trudge along and see how it goes.

Monday, 2 June 2008

It's been another hectic weekend, but we had fun. On Saturday, we brought nat to the new HortPark at Alexandra. If you are a serious walker, you'll head towards the direction of the Alexandra Arches. The energetic trio (gary, me and nat in her pram) made it all the way from Alexandra up to Mount Faber and back, all in 1.5 hours. Not too bad, considering our trio comprised of a sleepy gary, a preggy me and nat in her pram. It's quite a child-friendly place and you can basically push the pram all the way through. Be prepared for a good and sweaty workout though, after all, the whole trek is about 5.6km. Thinking that I would be all tired out, gary was looking forward to a nice lazy Sat nap. Haha, not me! We left nat at home and went shopping again. It was no wonder that gary fell asleep really fast that night.

The next day, gary suggested bringing nat back to the HortPark to check out the other side, which is basically a big floral garden with lots of green areas and playgrounds for kids to run wild. It's also a photographer's paradise. Nat enjoyed herself exploring the area, playing with the many doggies at the park. She also made friends with a cute little pair of twins ... nat really loves playing with other kids ... especially those slightly older than her. Oh well, pretty soon, she will have a sibling to play with, although I wonder whether jealousy will set in.

Sunday, 25 May 2008

It's been a shopping weekend, thanks to the Great Singapore Sale. I'm quite proud of myself, I resisted buying all the cutsie stuff that I saw for both nat and #2. Sigh, they really have too many clothes already. I told Gary to stop me from buying more, and he did! Sob! We shopped from 10am-3pm on Saturday. Impressive huh, for someone who's preggy and with nat in tow.

Here's more ... after that ... at night, we went to Boat Quay for dinner and to view a free Artsfest performance by the river. I think I'm not really an artsy person, didn't really know what was happening. But Gary enjoyed taking pics using his SLR camera. It was a nice 'pak tor' night for both of us, without nat, something we haven't done for quite a while. After that I was still not tired so guess what? We went shopping some more! Walked to Raffles City and shopped till their closing time at 10:30pm. After that, we had an Oreo Milkshake (yummy) before heading home at midnight. Needless to say, we were both knocked out the moment our heads touched the pillow.

On Sunday, we decided to pop by the Singapore Flyer, not to take a ride but just to check out the surroundings. It could be that I was just tired or because the place was not air-conditioned, I didn't really enjoy myself. Or maybe there wasn't enough shopping to satisfy my materialistic impulses, so we didn't really stay long. Nat did like the little man-made rainforest at the lobby area though. For me, it was too hot and I got grouchy. Lucky, daddy was around to entertain nat, while I sat on the bench to rest. Spent the rest of the day sleeping and recharging.

Tuesday, 20 May 2008

Following a recommendation from another mummy, I brought Nat to the National Museum. They are having a children's exhibition. My impressions of a museum have changed. It used to be a serious place, where kids are not allowed to shout, run and basically be themselves. However, the children's exhibits at the museum were definitely interactive and nat had a great time running around, touching, exploring and basically enjoying herself. I guess this is what they mean by learning through play. One does not really have to sit down, read a book to learn new skills and knowledge.

Nat's first stop was at a magnetic board, where there were magnets stuck onto bowls, saucers, spoons and other types of cutlery. She enjoyed pulling them off the board and sticking them right back again. And to me, the beauty of it was that I could just sit there and observe her having fun. Our next stop was at an interactive playground, where she played with these hanging metallic pots and pans. Basically, the kids were encouraged to hit the pots and pans with a stick and hear the different sounds they emitted. When she was tired, she adjourned to the corner for a scribbling and scrawling session. What I liked was that they even had some young people on duty there who entertained the kids and taught them how to draw.

I'm glad I decided to bring nat there today. Although sometimes people wonder why I bother to lug nat all over the place alone, it is something that I do not regret. Whether it is to nurture that bonding between us or to see that bright smile on her face, I don't really know. What I do know is that I do get a deep sense of satisfaction at the end of the day, knowing that nat enjoyed herself during her day out with mummy :)

Tuesday, 20 May 2008

Nothing very much to update this weekend. Brought nat shopping and she had fun. It was quite a doggie weekend for her, as she made friends with a golden retriever named Elvis and also had fun being chased by a friend's shih tsu. I'm really glad she has not inherited my childhood fear of dogs.

Wednesday, 14 May 2008

I just discovered this nugget of information on a documentary recently ... did you know that a cesarean (c-section) is named after Julius Cesar, because he was thought to have been born that way. I wonder whether its the truth, but interesting, huh? Why this topic? I really don't know but recently I've been thinking about why people opt to do c-section instead of natural birth voluntarily? It's quite freaky thinking of someone cutting you up, while you are still awake isn't it? I'm blessed to have had a natural and painless birth with nat and hope that my little boy will give me just as easy a birth as his sister. Let's cross our fingers.

Recently, he's been kicking me a lot more, since we've reached the 20 week mark. It's a nice feeling, you know. Whenever he kicks, I do talk to him and we sometimes have a mini conversation. This bonding time between the both of us is good. The other day, when I was at Botanic Gardens with nat, I thought to myself, it's the 3 of us here, enjoying the music and relaxing for the day. It's good to keep your baby in your mind, even as you go about your daily activities. I'm also trying to be happy and not let irritating things get me upset or down ... after all, they say a happy baby in the womb is a happy baby out of the womb.

Well, enough ramblings for the day. Looking forward to Daddy coming back soon.

Sunday, 11 May 2008

Thought I would be a bit more diligent these few days in updating the blog, so Daddy who is overseas can have a peek at what his little girl is up to. We spent the morning at the airport, nat got really excited. It's actually a great place for walking toddlers, as there is just so much open space and interesting things for them to look at.

The morning at the airport wiped us out, so nat and i fell asleep at home in the afternoon, a power nap! Later, in the evening, I brought nat to Botanic Gardens. Was thinking of having a quiet walk in the park with my baby, but coincidentally, there was a concert in the park. Armed with our picnic mat, my baby and I plopped down on the grass, soaked in the atmosphere and nat had her dinner, lovingly prepared by her mummy. We had quite a nice time, think we'll come again when Gary is back.

My little girl is really growing up, nat tried to feed herself during dinner. She's actually not too bad, once I scoop the rice firmly onto her spoon, she actually manages to direct it into her mouth quite easily, pity I couldn't capture her doing it on camera.

Check out what I cooked, a nutritious porridge meal
with chicken, fish and vegetables.

My friendly baby, waving bye bye to a stranger
and even giving a flying kiss!

Sunday, 11 May 2008

There is only one word to describe yesterday - wiped out! Yesterday, nat met her baby frens at vivocity. It's interesting, these days when we meet, there are only 2 things that we take into consideration: baby friendly restaurants and big open spaces for the babies to run around. We walked past a few restaurants and the one who managed to dig up 4 baby chairs and sitting room for 8 adults got our business.

After lunch, we all proceeded to the big and open waterplay area at Vivo. It was quite a good day for the outdoors as the weather was not too hot. Nat and her friends really enjoyed themselves. It's more fun now to look at them running around now that all of them can walk and even run. Although, it gets really more tiring.

We ended the day with a short walk around Toys' R Us, Nat's current favourite place. She loves to explore all the toys in this place and gets really upset when we try to drag her away ... can't help it ... Gary and I both need a power nap after this outing.

Thursday, 8 May 2008

So the detailed ultrasound at Mt Alvernia declares I'm a Dad a 2nd time, this time to a boy :) The experience is somewhat different - with Nat the overriding feeling was the fascination of going through everything for the first time, but with No. 2 there is this quiet pride. Different, if equally positive, feelings :)

Fatherhood has been more enjoyable than I expected. Nat is growing to be a well-adjusted, bright, and enthusiastic toddler with an insatiable curiosity. It seems (at least at this early stage) that her brother is going to be a bit larger, heftier, in keeping with his gender - so Wei is going to need a bit more pampering for all that extra weight :)

We're also thinking of ways to make No. 2's impending arrival in September more fun and memorable, so don't hesitate to drop me any interesting ideas!

Thursday, 8 May 2008

Nat is going to have a baby brother :) I've been trying to introduce this new idea to her, but she stares at me blankly ... haha she is still too young to understand I guess. I look forward to every visit to the gynae, as it's a chance to see my baby ... in the initial months, when baby looks more like a little prawn then anything else, it is hard to be too excited. But now, as we approach 5 months, he is looking more and more like a little person. And it's nice to have this little person growing within you, feeling your every heartbeat ... hearing every sound that you make.

This hasn't been as smooth a pregnancy as for nat, i'm more tired, more moody and work stresses me out at times. But one thing I am always grateful for is that I have been blessed with 2 healthy babies, a husband that does his part in helping to take care of the kids and a supportive mum that is always there for me. And these are things that should never be taken for granted.

Tuesday, 6 May 2008

Today, me and nat had a leisurely stroll at Botanic Gardens. It wasn't hot, she wasn't too cranky. We had a short walk, then sat down by the lake to admire the scenery, while she munched on her grapes. Ahh ... this is the life ... it's like what my pediatrician told me ... blink an eye and they are 1 year old, blink another time, and they are 3 ... before you know it ... they may not wanna hang out with us old fogies anymore :)

Meanwhile, i'll just treasure these times I have with my baby nat, when she still wants to be cuddled and kissed by mummy.

Sunday, 4 May 2008

My baby nat had some frens over for a playdate yesterday, and boy, did they have lots of fun! It's great to let the babies interact and mix around with others, although, they are still not really at the age where they enjoy playing together, just yet. It's more of snatching toys from one another and walking around exploring the house.

We were just sitting around reminiscing about the times when the babies were still young, in fact, we only first met when the babies were 3 months old and now just look at how they have all grown. It's really amazing! It's like what my fren says in her blog. At times, when nat is cranky and irritating and crying, I feel ready to toss her aside (metopharically speaking) ... but then you remember the times when she is a sweetie pie (most times), her falling asleep on your shoulders, her giving you a big fat kiss on the cheek, her sweet smile ... then you learn to be more patient. After all, she is just a baby and doesn't really mean to be naughty.

Friday, 2 May 2008

Nat, the teaser. Yesterday, we met up with my girl frens for some quick ice-creams treats in the night. Since they hadn't seen baby for a while, I brought her along. She was in a mighty good mood, licking ice-cream off everyone's cone and flashing her million watt smile, something even I hadn't seen before. Pity i did not manage to catch a picture of her. Thank god that Gary was there to "baby-sit" her while we caught up with our girly-talk. He chased her up and down the corridor, making her burst out in fits of giggles. He really is quite a good Daddy.