The Love of My Life...

3 weeks 2 days and flipping herself over

2011-10-02T22:04:00.003+08:00

I always knew she would be an active baby, nothing less than her brother, when she was still in my tummy. Her movements were always so "big", you could hardly miss them when she was tumbling and rumbling within. They were also frequent and long-lasting.

But I never foresee that she will be this strong. She was able to turn her head at will right from day 1. Soon after, she showed her ability to lift her head off the mat and turn it when she was on her tummy while we were "suntanning" her. Today, she took it a step further, by flipping herself over when I put her on her tummy, not once but twice!

New Addition - Baby Ying

2011-09-09T19:18:00.108+08:00

The girls just love to take their own sweet time, don't they?

Baby Ying's delivery was a planned one, as contrary to her siblings who both decided to make their way out when they hit 38.5 weeks, she simply refused to make her entry, even when it got really cramped in Mummy's tummy, and Mummy was practically finding it a chore and pain sleeping. Perhaps, being frequently squashed and squeezed, coupled with all the noise even with the insulation, she decided it was safer to stay within. So, it was decided she should be hurried out on 9 Sep 2011, and we should report early at 7am in the morning at the Delivery Suite (just 2 days short of her EDD).

With every delivery, the time taken should be shorten right? At least that was what happened when Kang came along (approximately 6 hrs vs En's >12 hrs). Alas, this theory was totally taken apart, when she proved that she must beat her sister in the competition to resist leaving the comforts of Mummy's womb. And she certainly didn't do too badly. I would say she more or less evened the record.

Schedule of events:-

Slightly before 7am: Reported at Delivery Suite.

Ard 9am: Inexperienced Doc came in, took hell of a long time and a great deal of PAIN, did 2 blotched-up needle insertion on both my hands (which is still bruised after > 1 week), before announcing he would get his senior to do the job - faster, lesser pain and most importantly EFFECTIVE!

937am: Here comes the glucose drip.

1245pm: Dr JT broke the water bag. Oxytoxin followed soon after.

2pm: Started epidural.

Ard 430pm: Doc came in to check. Approximately 4cm dilated. Still not ready. He mentioned it'd be fast once it crossed 5cm.

718pm: Finally, OUT!

Within a span of 2+ years, much has changed at KKH. Now, they encouraged bonding by placing naked baby (san diapers) on Mummy's body right after wiping her clean. Mummy and Baby will then remain together in the Delivery Suite for about an hour before moving to the ward, where Baby will be moved to the Nursery. That was when dear Baby Ying decided to poo, letting Mummy touched her first pot of "gold". Another obvious change was in the renovation. The ward must have been updated recently to the likes of a 5-star hotel. What greeted me was a huge 40" (or 46") LED/ LCD tv. The decor exuded a luxurious and cozy feel. Best of all, for the accompanying Daddy, he didn't have to squeeze into the not-that-big wooden, make-shift "sofa bed" anymore. It had been upgraded to a larger leather-like day bed type of settee.

However, I certainly hope this will be my last stay there......

20 mths - Blabber, Blabber, Blabber

2011-02-25T06:16:00.002+08:00

These days, the little Prince has grown to enjoy books. It used to be, when I was reading to sister, he would insist on taking the book and just flipping or attempting his other antics on it, anything but reading. Now, he actually brings books to me to read to him, not just once but repetitively each time. Of course, he has his favourites - seems he likes Sesame Street characters most, as his 2 most frequently picked choices suggest.

He has also decided that he wants to be "better understood". It used to be, he was pretty much contented with spouting words that related to things that interested him like nene, ball, bir (bird), papa, mama , jiejie etc. However, he has gotten smarter. Saying "share" gets people to give him food and toys, "拿" when he wants to have his bowl and spoon to feed himself, when prompted he also asks people to "给", "谢谢" and more. Recently, his journey of exploring with the spoken language has exploded further. When we read to him, he will usually copy the last word of each sentence. "Ha" (house), "bah" (bug), "ah" (up), "dow" (down)....... and he knows what usually follows when people says certain words, for e.g. when jiejie said, "Ready...", he'd follow up with, "Go!" The cutest thing is, he has always been a very expressive boy, so when he speaks, it's also filled with different pitches and intonation, making it a joyful sight when you see him go.

This little rascal has grown and progressed so much, Mummy is having a tough time catching up (literally!). Luckily, he is always better behaved when he is alone with me (he knows Mummy is no push-over. Smart!). However, when there's someone around, even his jiejie, the house turns upside down, as one is a super loud-mouth, while the other Mr Destructive. When they play together, it's "BANG"!!!

As age catches up with me, sometimes I really wonder, will I be able to manage in the months to come??

十大生孩子的理由

2011-02-06T14:45:00.004+08:00

1。这是人生的必经阶段 -- 毕了业，找份工作，然后赶搭婚姻列车，接下来当然是升格当父母lor。

2。生一个来玩玩，因为别人的很cute。

3。什么是condom？结果......

4。人家有，我哪里可以没有？Singaporean kiasu mah......

5。政府给bonus leh，不拿白不拿。

6。哇！通货膨胀那么厉害，生个孩子，下半辈子就靠他了！

7。天理循环，人家生我，我生别人，这样人类才不会绝种嘛。

8。阿爸、阿妈要，就生一个给他们lor。

9。新年才可以回本！！

10。就是喜欢小孩，愿意无私为他们付出，用心教育这些小生命，并期盼他们茁壮成长，将来成为负责任、有爱心，贡献于社会的人。

政府应该鼓励哪一类的家长？还是来者不拒，只要充得那数字，管他是好竽、滥竽。结果推出的措施，只注重于一时的成效，缺乏针对性，或长远的考量。

If you do not even know your target audience, how are you to achieve the desired results?

妈妈的新年愿望

2011-01-22T16:43:00.000+08:00

关关难过，关关过。

今年，要抱着比以往更积极的态度，相信“天将降大任于斯人也，必先苦其心志，劳其筋骨，饿其体肤，空乏其身，行指乱其所为，所以动心忍性，曾益其所不能。”——《孟子。告子下》

所以，尤先向阿咪学习，今年的座右铭既是：-

把吃苦当吃补

要修身，必先养性。有太多缺点需改进，能丢的就丢，丢不掉就设法收敛：-

1。各人有各人造化，避免做无谓比较，珍惜属于自己的福气。

2。活得更自信，别太在意他人怎么想、怎么看。重要的是，问心无愧。

3。让心情更平和，无论对人、对事，尽量能不发作，就不发作。

4。常提醒自己，清洗脑袋，把不好的记忆刷，刷，刷，全都扫出去，留下美好、值得珍藏的东西。

5。少管闲事。别人家的事，干我屁事？？！！！何苦如此动怒，既伤神，又伤身。神经病！

老天爷，新任务，我接下了！

言尽于此，希望接下来的日子，能更努力经营好我的人生。

Potty Training for No.2

2010-12-21T15:52:00.003+08:00

Oh ya, it's the moment again...... but a wee tad early I guess.

My dear lil' Mr Cheeky usually signals when he is going for the big business (well, most of the time). Recently, he pointed me to the potty a couple of times in the mornings, for which he just pee-ed only. So I thought, could he be ready (though experience with the Princess taught me it was too early)? Anyway, you never know unless you try......

Here goes......

Yesterday, on the 黄道吉日 that I chose to mark this important milestone, I dug out the training pants that were his sis', told him how nice n pretty the bear appliques were. In order not to wet them, he had to let me know when he felt like peeing. Well, within the hr, both pairs, including his top was sitting in the basin, waiting to be washed.

Then I decided to put him back on diaper for his afternoon nap, as I was almost certain he would definitely wet his sarong. True enough, his diaper was quite wet after he woke. Nonetheless, I decided to give him another chance (success = saving $$$$!!!). On went his yellow Brightbot. So off he went, putting on Jiejie's dress, and then, Gong Gong said, "他的裙子湿了". That was the last training pants we had......

And so, till 3 mths later......

My Poor Hands.........

[Btw, following En's performance at United Sq, I didn't manage to catch a better video on the day of recital which was on 5 Dec, as there were more kids, and we were seated further away. This recital was different from the one staged by Utah Dance Artistes 2 years ago, as all classes involved performed to one single plot (The Little Mermaid), while the previous one followed a common theme but with individual titles. It was no doubt an entertaining night, as they managed to introduce different dance genres (ballet, hip hop, modern dance etc) into one storyline. A job well-done.]

18-mth

2010-12-04T14:21:00.003+08:00

In 2 mths, he has progressed a great deal both emotionally and in his cognitive abilities.

He used to ignore me when I asked him for kisses, sayang etc and carried on with whatever he wanted to do or was doing even when I scolded him. These days, he kissed most of the time when requested (many times on his own initiative too :)), "choops" both his parents to sleep with him (I sleep with En, while Daddy sleeps with him after he stopped breast-feeding. But now, he always get me to sleep with him and I can only move back on the bed after he dozes off), gets jealous when we carry his cousin or show more attention to jie jie, pretends to cry or pouts when he gets scolded and wants me to carry him (just like jie jie).

And he is super-skilled at playing with the i-gadgets, Angry Bird being his favourite game. He goes "Bir Bir" when he wants to play with the game. This boy is stuck to the goggle box and he typically switches off when he is watching the programme. Sometimes, he made strange request to turn on both TV in the living room, even when he is only watching one. And he has a knack for all things BALL (anything round is a ball), even programme with balls in them, sports session in the newspaper etc. At one point, he was super attracted to the theme song of the auntie show "爱", that whenever it played on the TV, he stopped all things he was doing and climbed immediately onto the sofa to watch. This worked out to be an advantage to us, as when he refused to eat his meal, we just had to wait till the song started playing and fed him everything (or almost) within that 2 mins or so. Ya, no joke. He can finish his meal within such a short time, as his attention was so caught up he simply opened his mouth and ate whatever that was shoved. However, he has grown "smarter" now and this doesn't work anymore......

My little charmer... u are so, so cute.

The Little Mermaid Ballet Performance @United Sq

2010-11-30T23:42:00.003+08:00

The beginning of the Year-End Holidays marked a very busy start for me. Now, I have to keep the big one entertained n cook for TWO kids instead of one (have to really squeeze my creative juice to come up with delicious, wholesome yet healthy food (minus additional seasonings, additives etc) that can satisfy the palate of the picky ones). In fact, the younger one is harder to please (is it with boys???)....

Not forgetting the Extra-Curriculum, as En is involved in this year's recital for her ballet school, this translates to more practice sessions and rehearsals. Sometimes, I have to be out from mid-day till late in the night. Many times, these sessions run consecutively for a few days and it can get very taxing and tiring for both of us. Another issue will be with the arrangement for baby-sitters as many of these sessions either stretched for too many hrs or happened to crashed with Kang's nap-time.

This performance is a prelude to her actual recital on 5 Dec and she is starring as one of the starfishes. The costumes for this performance are really colourful and pretty, albeit very, very costly too.

There was just a small glitch before she was to perform. When I just arrived at the stage where they were stationed, one of the staff came over and told me she was crying. She thought it could be due to anxiety but I was thinking that wasn't quite possible as she is EXPERIENCED. When I met the teacher, apparently it was due to something else. A little brother of one of her fellow starfishes was mimicking whatever she was doing and she got upset about it. I don't know why. Guess it's another of those kid-thingy adults can never really comprehend.

Anyway, here's some pictures and video for the day.

Meanwhile, I hope I'll be able to catch a better video of the actual day performance. Crossing my fingers..........

Zoo again

2010-11-13T23:18:00.000+08:00

We had been to the Zoo many times this year, since we got the zoo pass (short, frequent trips to accommodate the boy's napping), but never really got to use the waterplay area (except for En who did it once).

So, this was the first time Mr Kang got his chance. Oh boy! He had THE time of his life (and yummy cheese n ham sandwich from Ben n Jerry's for lunch. We had KFC)!!

BPMC 2010 Graduation Concert (121110)

2010-11-12T23:25:00.000+08:00

Has been missing many updates lately, as there was problem with my laptop's adaptor and I couldn't charge it. Finally, my new charger "returned" from US, then, I realised it was the travel adaptor that was giving trouble instead!

The day for En's kindy's Graduation Concert finally arrived (a week before school closed). This year, it was also in conjunction with their 25th anniversary, so everyone was given some souveniors (fridge magnets) after the event. Cool!

Last year (at Newton Kindy), she was chosen to be 1 of 2 presenters for her class's item, but was dropped last min (as they decided 1 is easier to manage). It was a bit of a disappointment. Nonetheless, she was given the opportunity again this time round again :).

A pity I couldn't get the camera to focus and missed the opening of her "speech". It was quite funny, as her co-presenter (coincidentally her best friend, with a love-hate relationship), tried to take the mike from her hand, while she wrestled away her attempt and told her off that there was another mike on the floor. Everyone broke into a laughter.

The title for their song cum dance item is "Make a Joyful Noise".

Till the next concert, when it's truly her turn to Graduate......

I pray for a strong heart

2010-10-23T23:38:00.001+08:00

I pray for a strong heart
Carry me through
I pray for abundant love
Let me be
The beacon, the cove, the strength
For my beloved two
Take my love
Engulf them
Let them be forever gay

'我的爱情已进入了坟墓'

Sent from my iPhone

Roseola

2010-10-15T12:54:00.005+08:00

This is the first time I came upon this condition.

Kang was down with high fever over the weekends that lasted around 4 days. Prior to this, he had very mild diarrhoea since mid-week. He kept waking up in the night (<1hr between each session) and paracetamol, regular sponging and bathing didn't seem to do much to bring down the temperature. So we brought him to the doctor after 2 nights (Meanwhile, En also caught a mild runny nose and cough). He was prescribed Ibufen, which proved much more effective. However, as his fever was recovering, his diarrhoea took a turn for the worse (although not as bad as when hit by the rotavirus). The day his fever fully subsided, his body broke out in red spotty rashes, even on the side of his face and neck (the sister spotted them first in the morning :)).

We decided to bring him to the doc again if condition failed to improve by the evening. Meanwhile, I ran a check on the internet to see what could have caused the spotting. One particular condition seemed to fit the description of his symptoms most - Roseola. Sudden high fever spanning 3-5 days, may have vomitting or diarrhoea, red spotty rashes (non-itchy) after fever subsides, poor appetite.......

Apparently, this is caused by a type of herpes virus (albeit non-sexually transmitted). It usually hits tots between 6 mths - 2 yrs (adults carrying the virus usually show no symptoms at all). Since condition is usually suspected only upon appearance of rashes (by then, it has already past the most contagious period), it is almost impossible to curb it's transmission (like most virus, it is transmitted by saliva or respiratory droplets — when an infected person sneezes or coughs, for example — or by fecal-oral contact).

Treatment is symptomatic so we'll have to let the virus run it's course (we got some lacteolfort for his diarrheoa). The good news: Once your child has had roseola, he'll probably have lifelong immunity to it.

For now, although he is almost recovered (with diarrheoa improving and the rashes), he is grumpier than ever. Owwwwwwww.... sleepless nights and hair-raising days.....

2010-10-02T23:45:00.002+08:00

I asked a question, "How much do you love me?"

After a momentary pause, "I used to love you very much -- till we have kids. x% went to this, y% went to that, so...."

It hurts.

I never knew that is how Love is. I thought Love has no limits. I had a baby gal, now I have a new boy. But it never felt like my love for her has diminished in anyway because of a new addition. Love just grows and grows, to accommodate more.

That was plainly a statement to "justify" or "legitamized" his lost love.

Then he said, "Don't try to misinterpret what I said. If you can't accept it, then don't ask me such a question."

Did I interpret it any other way? Wasn't it simply "I love you less"?

"You have a right to your opinions, but sometimes what you said can hurt people. The day when what you had just said no longer affects me, is the day when you really have to start worrying."

I know that Love may diminish over time, even soured or be completely obliterated. On the other end, Love can flourish, be enhanced and be in abundance. Love can change it's form, from red-hot passion, to a more subdued familial form - To Love him as a husband, a father to my kids, a life partner (unfortunately not as soul mate, for we are too alike in areas which I had hoped not, that it gets stressful to voice what I truly feels ever so often. It would have been better if we had been complementary. That, would be another story.). And that, is a more powerful Love - one that is meant to last and bind.

And thus, it hurts, especially when the message is masked under unfamiliar notions of x, y ,z%......

The 16 mth monster

2010-10-02T23:29:00.003+08:00

My boy - he just turned 16 mths today.

At 13 mth, he took his first steps - delicate and careful. Within a mth, he was not just running, but also exploring ladders and such, frequently surprising me of what he is capable of, including pulling himself up a flight of steps to a loft bed!

Today, he picks his own shoes, brings people to where he can find snacks, urges others to bring him out of the house, calls his jie jie and gong gong when he feels like it, swinging himself in his sarong, wanting to feed himself, washes his hair and body, insisting on eating whatever other people eat....

However, some things never change. He is still as stubborn, wakes at night, and loves his daddy the most, despite they being separated for almost 3 mths.

I do get jealous, of cos, being the one that care for him primarily. Would you call that “缘”? Sigh, I'm glad I have my Princess.

Cheap Remedy - Split nails

2010-07-29T13:16:00.003+08:00

I have the problem of snagging my nails - quite frequently, that is. Sometimes, I did not even know when/ where/ how they split, especially after I began my life as a SAHM. Of cos, the easiest way to get around it will be to simply trim it off, IF the split had not already gone into the portion where the flesh is. Unfortunately again, this happens almost everytime.

So how? Initially, I had to rely on the professionals - the Manicurist. Ya, and u think they are just there to beautify your nails huh. Sometimes, they can be "life-savers" too. What they do is to patch up the tear with acrylic powders , forming something like a fake nail over your natural nail. The one that I last visited charges $7.50/ nail - a hefty sum for someone that's relying on another person for "income"! It would have been well worth the cost if that could last me till the nail grow out enough to be trimmed. Alas, that NEVER happened. Having to return for "re-servicing" every week (at best fortnightly, for people like me who use their hands excessively for cleaning, washing etc. For true blood Tai Tai, ya, the patch will probably last much longer. In the first place, I don't think they even need such a service, unless of cos, they so carelessly snag their beautifully manicured nails while trying out clothes at Dxxx, Pxxxx etc), and I think they charge you for removing the existing/ failing acrylic layer, that simply translates to "Option Denied".

Sure, I can learn the art of manicuring and just purchase the tools. NO TIME. Luckily, there's an easier n cheaper option available. Orly carries a Nail Rescue Kit that includes a small container of acrylic powder n glue. What u have to do is to simply apply the glue over your entire nail, dip into the powder, wait a while for it to dry, then buff the surface till it's smooth. Walah! Brand-new nail! Ok, the kit doesn't come cheap (think it $20+) and the glue was already dried up when I opened it (apparently a common complaint for this particular item), but the powder can really last. The first time I tried it (after purchasing another nail glue of other brand, which is just a couple of dollars), it didn't work well. The second time, I decided to apply extra layers, and it worked marvelously. Lasted much longer than those salon-done ones, though it wasn't as pretty. But it's sturdy. Worked for me.

Here's the catch - how to remove them when they start to wear off? First time round, I paid some "school fees" again and bought those artificial nail remover that comes with a plastic container n sponge from the same brand. I soaked n rubbed n soaked n rubbed... in the end, I had to use the nail file to try and remove the failed job as much as possible. The liquid dried up before I got to use it for the 2nd round. Then, I read on the web that I just have to get a normal nail remover that is NOT acetone-free, drench a piece of cotton pad with it, wrap it over the nail, and cover the whole thing with foil for 15-20mins. Just tried it earlier. Voila! Nice n Clean!

So, the morale of the story? Cheap and simple solution may very well turned out much better than fanciful (expensive) ones.

Lesson learnt:-

If u r often in the same predicament as me, u may want to take note of the following -

1. Just buy the Orly powder, WITHOUT the glue. U can easily get more affordable and reliable nail glue elsewhere.

2. You DO NOT need a separate remover. Just use your regular one as recommended above. They work just fine, if not better. If yours is the harsher version, u may want to apply some Vaseline on your cuticle to prevent them from drying.

Hope whoever finds this article, can get some value out of it.

If there is a God...

2010-06-29T10:38:00.003+08:00

... Why does he have to take my husband away

... Why does he afflict me with such a stubborn virus

... Why does he make my children sick

... Why does he make my baby lose his appetite AFTER I start my course of steroids n antibiotic

... Why does he let my son reject formula now n only wants to be breastfed, when I cannot offer him that comfort

... Why doesn't he touch the heart of that certain someone, so that he will come home and offer some relief, when he is most needed

... Why am I left to fight this battle alone

... Why does the harsh medication seem to have lose their effects

Because he set trials to make people stronger?? So we can overcome ALL the hurdles thrown at the same time and be a changed person overnight???

If there is a God, he is a callous God.

So this is it?

2010-06-28T09:02:00.004+08:00

Yesterday was the last day of June Holidays, it may also mark the end of my breastfeeding days.

The doctor finally decided to put me on a course of anti-biotics and steroid as my body is not responding to the regular medication. Thus, I would not be able to breastfeed boy till 1 week after I stopped taking the steroid.

I was intending to take out my pump, in case my breasts get engorged. Last evening, sometime after taking my first dose, I felt a strong letdown sensation and thought that I might need to express. However, feeling my breasts, they weren't hard/ full at all. This morning, I realised my breasts had shrunk significantly overnight, so much that they could actually fit comfortably into my pre-pregnancy bra. Did my milk glands "died" overnight?

Although my initial intention was to stop breastfeeding after boy turned 1, and I'd switched him to partial formula since he turned 10 mths, when the time finally arrives, I still feel a tinge of lost and sadness.

Just now, as he saw me pulling up my shirt, he wanted me to breastfeed him and cried when I refused (kept tugging and pulling my shirt up). Sorry, my darling boy. Mommy would have fed you if I could. Mommy's milk will be doing you more harm than good now. Meanwhile, as we go through this transitional phase, pray that we may all recover from our illness soon.

(Our last breastfeeding session - 27 June 2010, Sun morning)

2 new skills

2010-06-20T16:15:00.004+08:00

Besides being pretty adept at stuff like getting down the bed on his own, wanting to kpo n feed himself n standing n playing around his sarong stand, he actually did something new yesterday - to be exact, he offered two surprises:-

1. He blew the whistle. Though not quite loud but he actually did that a few times.

2. He stood on his own. He was standing by the toy boxes when he let go n started fiddling with a rubber band. It was till I raised my voice n warned him to be careful when he got startled and sat down.

I hope he starts walking only when we'd all recover from our illness. Else really no energy to race after him.

Changes along the way

2010-06-14T16:17:00.005+08:00

This is so strange......

Even though I know babies n young kids change their habits all the time, but it seems little Kang decided to schedule them all right after his birthday celebration (later than his actual birthday).

He used to be less fussy about missing naps or irregular nap times (something which was an absolute no-no for his sister since Day 1). Right on the day we held his party, he decided to "flex his muscles" and showed what he was actually capable of. He woke up in the middle of the night (which is still pretty common even after we started to introduce partial formula feeding in the night, another strange habit I presumed should have stopped if I weaned him off night-feeds) and wailed inconsolably, even refusing his favourite Daddy's attempts to carry him, waking his granddad from his sleep, again rejecting his offer to carry him and clung on to Mummy (which was definitely not his favourite character before that, only choosing me when he wanted his nene). He pushed and struggled and screamed non-stop and it took him really quite sometime before calming down. I contributed the episode to a mixture of over-tiredness, over-stimulation n a bad tummy due to all the forbidden stuff fed to him by doting uncles (hmmm, u know who u r right ;p). The following few days were difficult, when he refused his food n bottle etc... However, yesterday, during our weekly visit to my ILs, they decided to bring him for a walk during his nap time. I thought since we would be there for less than 3 hrs, I'd just keep quiet n let him catch his nap in the car. It was an absolutely BAD decision. He started grouching when we got into the car and all hell broke lose while we were approaching home. It didn't help when I removed him from his car seat, as he continued to struggle and nearly strangled me with his pushing. I had to hang on to him fervently, for fear that I dropped him while holding my umbrella in the other hand, making sure both kids were sheltered from the rain, as I make my way from the carpark to the lobby. He fell asleep soon after being dropped in his sarong - a sign of extreme tiredness. But that wasn't the end of my woes. He started grouching and wailing again after waking from his nap and refused dinner and was partially consoled when offered my breast. It didn't last. In the end, I had to bring him down for a walk before he finally settled down - a whole 2 hrs saga. At around 1+am, he woke up and duplicated the episode we had on the night of his birthday celebration!!! And finally went back to sleep ard 3am. That left me sleepless for the entire night......

Another incomprehensible act is that, he had decided to boycott the bottle after being introduced to partial formula since 2 months back. The frequency of him refusing to drink his formula has been increasing these few days and he had not taken anything from the bottle for the past 3 feeds, shaking his head whenever being offered one, and getting upset if we repeated our attempts. Suddenly, he decided he wanted to pick up signing "nene" (after simply ignoring all attempts to get him to do so for months. This boy picks on what he wants to learn n shakes his head or ignores u when u're trying to teach him something he's not interested in) and it is only to be used exclusively for Mummy's milk (he did that just now after his swimming session, when it was time for his afternoon feed).

Now, he understands quite a fair bit of what we r talking about. For e.g. when we say beat beat, he'll hit himself on his bum with his hands, when we ask him to drink water and praise him, he'll take his bottle and sip it. Of cos there are more instances.

The Mummy whom wasn't one of his first few choices when it came to playmates, all of a sudden seems to become his close pal. I believe it's probably due to the fact that he is starting to display separation anxiety. Could this be the reason he is refusing his bottles?? Maybe...... I guess my plan to slowly wean him may have to be sidelined for the time being......

Whatever the case, with the changes coming along, I have no choice but to play the bad guy again. It beats tiring myself to death and stretching my boy beyond his tolerance. Afterall, we r the ones to suffer while others simply remain blind to all that happen beyond their scope of view. Sometimes I really feel the strain of having to ferry my younglings all the way down n up every week on my own. Each way is >30mins drive n I know very well the way home will be a torture on most days. Perhaps when something bad happens along one of these trips, then will somebody be "enlightened" and show us some empathy......

我的太阳不见了

2010-06-12T15:28:00.002+08:00

漫长的80+天，不知道要怎样过下去？等待、等待还是等待...感觉自己好似急诊室医生，唯一不同的是，I'm on PERMANENT shift, 24小时，每时、每分、每秒都过着紧张，不眠不休的日子。病人时时刻刻都需要我的关注、照顾 and there's no one to take over。Weekdays r bad, Weekends r unbearable. Staying at home is stifling but it beats going out and watching others having their whole family together.

太阳不见了。地球变得冰冷，渐渐失去了她的生命。没有了太阳的地球，到底还能存活吗？

去年的今天

2010-06-02T13:33:00.003+08:00

。。。。你这小蛋蛋决定提早出来看世界。好一个凶悍的家伙！你那震耳的啼哭声，如今还在妈妈脑子里响着。

一年下来，你证明了一点--陈颖康是个名副其实的小伙子！只要醒着，你没一刻静得下来。如今会爬，会抚着家具走，更是让妈妈时时都心惊胆战。驾车、骑马、踏脚车、下床、爬桌椅。。。你无一不通。冲凉凉也像大孩子一般，直接用花洒往头上冲。吃东西，喝奶奶总是等不得，一股气把食物快速解决。破坏力更是一等一，别人建，你砸，风扇弄坏了两把。骂你、说你两句，就摔东西，还会跟人吵架，动手。看来，妈妈是不用担心你长大了会被人欺负。

小家伙呀，你怎么那么有主见？无论是吃饭，玩耍，还是往哪个方向走，你总是充满主导性，不愿依他人的意思办，说不吃就不吃，要玩什么，任谁想把它换掉，绝不是件易事，想要往西，要让你往东，恐怕要一番苦战。

妈妈可爱的小儿子，无论你多捣蛋、多调皮，妈妈都欣然接受，心里唯一不太舒服是，为什么你喜欢爸爸多过妈妈？？？

Meet-The-Parents Session

2010-05-19T15:27:00.005+08:00

Just came back from the Princess's kindy's MTP session. True enough, there wasn't any major surprises. Ya, she's a social butterfly now and super TALKATIVE - something both teacher affirmed. Hmmmmm....

On the positive note, she's:-

1. Confident of herself, something I'd always wanted to develop (being a victim of low self-esteem myself, this trait has always been the No.1 thing I want to build-up in her).

2. Has great influence over her friends, esp. the girls = ring leader (what her form teacher said. Sounded negative, though teacher mentioned it's a compliment. Ring leader??? Like head of gang). Yes, put to good use, this can take her far in life but I reminded her it's a double-edged sword and she should always use this strength for good causes.

3. Can articulate her thoughts well.

4. One of the stronger ones in Chinese class, though she obviously prefers to converse more frequently in English (but it's very difficult to teach her to recognise English words, though we read every night. Could it be the genes???)

5. Last but not least, she eats her meals provided by the school. Sometimes she'll even ask for more. That's good, for there was a period whereby she asked to bring snacks from home but used it as a lunch replacement. Till I found out and forbade her to do it again.

Frankly speaking, I'm quite the hands-off Mom, meaning I don't study with her a lot (esp. after the arrival of No.2) nor send her for loads of enrichment to build her brains. Being a Singapore Kid is stressful enough, my belief is that she should enjoy her childhood as much as she can, while she can. Once she enters P1, that's when she'll be pushed into the inevitable fate of Studying, Studying, Studying, like all the children of our nation, just so she makes the cut and becomes a "successful" person, someone whom her family can be "proud of" (of cos the term "family" does not only include your father, mother, brother etc.), more so she can be an acceptable part of our elitist society.

She may never be the brightest, or the smartest, with tonnes of awards under her belt. But she can feed, dress, bath herself (and many more) and helps to take care of her brother sometimes. Occasionally, she came back telling me her teachers praised her for being able to clean-up the mess independently and that "Mommy has taught you well". Raised in a society of 衣来张手，饭来张口 kids, I'm glad she surpasses many in these basic life skills (although this is also very much forced by the circumstances we are in).

Darling, Mommy is PROUD of you.

Horse riding

2010-05-12T12:35:00.001+08:00

The exciting part was when he stood on the seat of his horsie!! Didn't manage to catch it on video. Scary!

难

2010-05-10T10:47:00.005+08:00

再也无法忍受那群以华文“难”为前提，势必逼迫华文一而再，再而三地降级的无根浮萍！

生、养、教育孩子不难吗？那就不生lor。英文，数学，物理，人文等等等，难道没人喊难，没人因此受影响，总比分被拉低吗？也不见得有什么英文B、科学B等课程的出现（当然了解数学有分为E、A等等。可是要明白的是，即使是我们的基本数学，已比许多欧美国家的水平来的高）。

Ok！如果你要说，以上科目比较有实际用途，我想你的想法应该已落伍了10年吧！以目前的形势而论，接下来的20年里，中国要成为龙头老大，已不再是天方夜谭。到时才来搞华文复兴，把CL1提升为必修课？？？太迟了！

怎么会有人把自己的优势转为怠势？Why choose to be monolingual when the system had been set in place for you to pursue an effectively bilingual (even trilingual n multilingual, considering the structure of our society) education and lifestyle? And the irony is, many of those who go all out singing the tune that they do not know their MT, actually cannot communicate effectively in their oh-so-beloved English (put them with the native speakers and you'll get what I mean).

7

2010-05-08T11:20:00.003+08:00

Now he has 7 teeth, this time discovered by Jie Jie again.

The 7th, is a Canine on his upper right gum:

4CI (2Up + 2L), 2LI (Up), 1Ca (RUp) = 7

OUCH!!! He bites oh, so frequently when I breastfeed him these days.

Why doesn't he EAT?

2010-05-06T08:55:00.002+08:00

Or should I say, "Why doesn't he eat his normal meals"?

He used to be a good eater, finishing his food within lightning speed of 10-15 min during most meals, till a few days ago.

Since last Friday, he'd been sleeping with Ah Ma, as we are trying to sleep train him by disassociating sleep with breastfeeding. At around the same period, he started losing interest in his meals. I tried changing his food, even giving him rice instead of the usual porridge but he just wouldn't eat. Even with fruits like papaya, pears n apples, at most he'd just manage a little n simply refused to take anymore. However, he liked milk. Initially, it was just breast milk during the day n he'd only drink a little if offered formula. Now, he loved both. N "junk" - plain bread n baby biscuits.

Why? Why? Why?

Is it bcos of the changes to his sleep arrangement? Or due to teething (but he already grew 6 n hadn't been bugged by this problem before)??

This time round...

2010-05-05T16:03:00.003+08:00

...frankly speaking, I'm not looking forward to it. B'cos:-

1. We will not be going.

2. I'll be stranded with 2 kids 24/7.

3. He's leaving in early June, missing the school holidays (they actually wanted to whisk him off on his son's 1st birthday!!).

4. It will be for a good 3 months, I foresee (It was bad enough when he wasn't around for a month the previous time).

The only silver lining that I see -- (online)shopping in US, fully sponsored (I hope)!

My family is "breaking apart".

Watch me drive

2010-05-03T11:44:00.001+08:00

Get me a License!

2010-04-30T14:14:00.007+08:00

At 10 months, the Boy can ride a horse, a tricycle and drive a car. Don't believe??

Watch this... (ahhhhhhh I can't upload the video no matter how many times I tried... gotta make do with the pics then)

Haha!! Of cos it isn't the real deal.... but he is really steady compared to his sister. These were toys she had after she past the 1 yr mark. To begin with, she needed more help and attention and she was going backward for quite a while before learning how to go forward. However, she was a much better learner when it came to signing and other cognitive related stuff. So, I guess girls and boys do develop differently?? At least for mine....

2010-04-17T11:41:00.003+08:00

A little stress
A little down
Mommy's tired, somewhat forlorn
A little love
A little hug
My Darling Babies
My Strength and My Snug

Plus 2??

2010-04-16T14:03:00.002+08:00

From the last update, he has at least 2 more teeth popping on his upper gum (though I seemed to have seen more). En was the one who spotted the additions. So the count is :-

2LC + 2UC + 2UL (upper lateral incisors) = 6

But I really think there are 1 - 2 more visible on top......

2010-04-12T15:23:00.004+08:00

Woo Hoo!!!!!! I can finally upload files on my laptop again!

K needed to send a document with pics via email. I was insisting that it couldn't be done on my laptop as I wasn't even able to upload a simple, small, text document and this problem had been bugging me for so long. Even the computer experts I sorted couldn't find a solution. I was almost down to the ultimate, much delayed and hated proposal - reset my laptop to factory setting.

... When surprise of surprises, this time round, he actually managed to attach the file to his email and sent it! I tried doing the speedtest and it passed!! Come to think of it, the only thing I changed on my laptop recently was the anti-virus programme, which I had installed since Day 1. Strangely, it must have created some kind of conflict after months of usage. If Microsoft had not decided to do away with it and introduced another software, this problem would probably stick with me forever. Phew!!! Probably the decommissioned programme had too many bugs in the first place.

Ha! Nothing can stop me from uploading pics again!!!

5th Birthday

2010-04-08T10:24:00.003+08:00

This year, the Princess's birthday coincided with Good Friday. So, we decided to do away with celebrating in school and just have our own little family fun. However, Ah gong mentioned that they would be doing their tomb-sweeping on that day (but ah ma ordered us to stay away as she felt it would be too smoky for the kids), and the grand uncles and aunties would like to hold a little celebration for her after that. Thus, she had double FUN!

In the morning, we went to the zoo again. This time round the weather was great, simply perfect for our objective - to let her have a go at the Rainforest Kidz Water Play Area. Therefore, our route was planned along that line and we made a couple of stops at the cheetah enclosure, polar bear cove, giraffe holding... before we finally saw IT!

While Sister changed and got ready for her Splashing moments, Mummy had to feed Brother (which was convenient, as there were nursing facilities right there). This was by far the best Water Play Area that I'd encountered, much bigger and varied than the one at Science Centre. She went on the playground, down the slides, through the tunnels, between the fountains, under the showers, on the wet ground.... She was truly entertained and enjoying herself. The best part was, she showered herself so Mummy did not have to get wet :).

Everyone was tired, especially the baby. So we went home for a rest after our lunch at KFC.

Afternoon arrived, we made our way to Taigong's house. This was probably going to be the final gathering there, as it was recently sold (time flies, my dear grandpa had passed on for more than 2 years). We were late as due to brother's nap (really, really apologetic for making everyone wait). Brother had some fun with his little cousin, N, who was a month older. Sister was totally pleased with all the presents and Ang Bao she received. But she was most delighted as she got to play with her favourite cousin, C and his sister C (double Cs haha). They are a year apart from each other, with Sister being the middle one.

All in all, Sister had a great day. However, she mentioned she will want a celebration in school again for her 6th birthday. Sigh... more work for Mummy...

Finally fulfilled my promise

2010-03-31T16:30:00.003+08:00

Last year's March holidays, I brought En to the Science Centre. That was our first visit. Well, technically speaking, we only made it to the Admission counter.....

I was into my third trimester then. By the time we made it through the MRT ride, walk from the station to the SC in the extreme heat and humidity, I was half-dead. To make things worse, the queue at ticket counter was LONG. After standing in line for a couple of minutes, I really felt like fainting. It was worse than the walk there, much much worse. Somehow, I just couldn't tolerate standing still during my last pregnancy. My heartbeat would always race like crazy, and I would feel totally breathless and faint. In the end, we decided on McDonald's :p.

This year, I was determined to pay it back. Indeed, we made it, with both the Princess n Prince in tow. Though it wasn't a long visit, she didn't manage to play at the outdoor Water Play area (as I was the only adult and the weather wasn't permitting too) and Mummy wasn't able to walk/ talk her through all the exhibits, nonetheless, she really enjoyed herself (asked me to bring her there again on 2 separate occasions). The space exhibit, with the interactive corridor and pond, was one of her favourite. Of course, we spent a considerable time in the nursing room hehe (rather well-thought out, with toys for accompanying tots, even comes with shower foam and powder in case u need to cleanse the baby).

Tuesday was spent at the home of an ex-schoolmate (from N Kindy) as T, the mum of a pre-nursery kid, was going back to US this coming Easter. Another short visit but it's great to know we have made some long-term friends :). It was really thoughtful of M to organise the event.

Wednesday was another gathering session with my NIE kakies P n M. It was really nice and accommodating of them to come all the way to YT to meet me, as I had to lug both my darlings along as usual. En tried to behave and was generally ok while Kang was quite a handful. So I had to let him play with some plastic spoon and plates, while clutching on to him all the time, making sure he kept his hands off whatever that's on the table, nor diving off the bench etc... Truly tiring but definitely worth it.

Hmmmmmmmmm, what did we do on Thursday?? My old, hazy brain can't quite recall... Was it swimming or something else??? Anyway, I'm quite sure we had some entertaining activities...

Friday was the grand finale, when I finally didn't have to be the ONLY adult. Daddy took leave and we had our sandwich-making session in the morning before we set-off for the zoo! Although we didn't get to do much again, besides the tram ride and one show (thanks to our wonderful weather), at least we got the zoo pass! So, we're going this Friday again, to celebrate En's 5th birthday. Yeah!!

Let's hope that was a good start and I'll continue to bring them around during the school holidays despite them being so energy-draining and challenging.

I Still Miss....

2010-03-31T12:54:00.002+08:00

..... the snow-capped mountains and white flurries in the cold winter months

..... the trees of white, purple, pink following the thawing of the ice

..... the wonderful summer days when kids come out to play

..... the dazzling red and orange, betraying the tranquility that surrounds

Not forgetting...

..... the Wonderful people, the Peace, the Family life that I treasured and once beheld.

"We have gone one full cycle. Opportunity knocks again. Truth be it, I wish for another chance, even if it may be a short one. However, deep inside, I have a feeling it won't be the same. This time round, we probably won't go......"

Mummy Beware

2010-03-31T12:21:00.004+08:00

I must say, Boys and Gals do develop differently.

Before he crosses over to being 10 mth-old, he has quite gotten the hang of cruising around, be it crawling, pulling himself to stand on furniture and walking while hanging on. This week he went a step further as he learned how to go from a crawling position to sitting upright. He has also gotten to putting tiny things like his biscuits n stickers into his mouth (Horrors of horrors! Where did he get the stickers?? From the stacker drawers, which he readily tore off, where his dear sister had painstakingly pasted and "decorated". This is also one danger spot he enjoyed pulling himself to stand).

Greedy as ever, whenever he watches people eating, he gets angry after a while, wanting to taste whatever others put into their mouth, even when he had just been fed. This boy has an adventurous attitude for food and anything at large. That spells TROUBLE, for I know there are people out there ever ready to shove him anything, including Ice Cream!!! Especially, he has a penchant for SWEET stuff, that includes sweet nothings haha. For if naughty Mummy is to raise her voice or scold him, he spares no effort letting the entire world knows by wailing as loud as his little lungs would take him, and it's not just for a while u know.

Putting his excellent motor skills aside, this rascal certainly should put in more effort on his cognitive skills. Though I had frequently signed with him "milk", "eye", "nose" etc., apparently he picks what seems more interesting only, like his “鼓掌”(clap hands) and "Bye Bye". With his “鼓掌”, he tags his own meaning and usages too. For e.g., he claps when his happy, excited, wants to be carried, sometimes when he wants milk.... The sister was the other way round, probably due to the fact that she was more focused as a baby (getting more and more distracted as she grows :().

As always, I'm looking forward to his new adventures, although it gets tougher for me to rest and sleep. But that's also where all the fun comes in, one day when they are all grown up, at least I have these memories to accompany me :).

2 + 2

2010-03-17T21:57:00.003+08:00

Yes, he has 4 teeth in total now - All 4 center incisors are out. Strangely, the first upper incisor which popped later than the two lower incisors is growing faster. Now, it's a really funny sight with that one, single tooth clearly more visible and attention-catching than the other three. Match that with his “奸臣” (translate into hokkien for a more vivid picture of what I'm trying to paint) laughter - the "heh heh heh heh heh" gong gong laughter (which sounds presently musical, sweet and de-stressing to me) he loves making whenever he knows we're going gai gai, it never fails to bring a smile to my face.

He has gotten quite mobile by now, and DANGEROUS. Put him on the bed, before u know it, he is ready to plunge down. Once, Daddy had to dash from the loo, just in time to catch him diving off the bed. However, it was a tad too late. Although there wasn't a big "bang" but the damage was done. He grazed his head on the ground and tore his skin. That sent him wailing for quite a while (it must be really bad for he is usually quite "immune" to pain). Did he learn his lesson?? How I wish he had.... Now I can't even sleep in peace (besides his regular wakings), as he flips around so much, he's either kicking me all the time, else I'm plain worried he may fall off the bed, even with 2 pillows stacked. Put him on the floor and he aims for wires, door stopper, fan etc. What happens when jiejie n Mum need to bath? I put him in his tub (emptied n dried) with some toys and kept him in the toilet so he can see us, at the same time, I can keep an eye on him. Guess what? He toppled over. Does he still enjoy "walking"? U bet he does! And he's still as reckless, just 冲、冲、冲 and bull-doze all the way - typical commando style.

PHEW.

2010-02-24T22:59:00.003+08:00

The boy did get on to crawling a little this week. Sometimes he'd get on his fours and lunge forward, or moving backwards without quite lifting his legs off... though it's truly getting very tiring for me, as he wanted to "walk" all the time, as long as he's awake.

More Teeth

2010-02-22T10:21:00.003+08:00

The Upper Central Right Incisor is out too. Looks around the same size as the lower ones. Didn't quite see the left one. Probably will be a funny sight if he ends up with one tooth significantly longer than the other while they are growing out :p

Total Count = 3 (2 x LC, 1 x UCR)

再出发

2010-02-20T10:00:00.003+08:00

送走懒洋洋的牛，迎接猛虎的到来，是重新出发的时候了。这一年多的光景，对他而言，应该是卧薪尝胆的体验。如今，也是拨云见月的时机了。无论如何，相信这会是个好的开始。希望接下来的日子，他能够如鱼得水，再创高峰，活得更快乐、更自在。

对于小公主，妈妈还是要对你说“对不起”。你可能会以为妈妈对你的爱少了，越来越没耐性，也没什么时间陪你。其实妈妈心里也感到很抱歉。请你对妈妈多点忍耐与包容，等弟弟大一点，妈妈再好好补偿你。

小王子呢，你就像姐姐baby时，一样可爱，也是个万人迷。性子跟妈妈一样急，超好动，也老爱自顾自地玩，妈妈教你做什么，你都好似“你教你的，我做我的”。也无所谓啦，只要你开心、健康，未来的日子还很长，就慢慢来。

妈妈呢，请你收敛收敛你的脾气，对孩子多点耐心，少点责备，对老公多点体谅，少点埋怨，对父母多点孝顺，少点理所当然，对公婆多开一只眼闭一只眼，少点挑剔。这样，别人多点开心，你也少点烦恼。

也希望所有人能多多包容妈妈，关怀妈妈，让她在忙得没时间照顾自己，睡眠超不足，越来越像黄脸婆的同时，知道还有许多人爱她、appreciate她。

8 mths

2010-02-19T09:55:00.003+08:00

Finally decided to "upgrade" his Mag Mug to a Straw-Top. The Daddy was questioning if he's "up to it". Well, I started Princess on hers when she was about the same age, besides, it was stated on the packaging that 8+ mths will be an appropriate age.

3 days ago, he had his first taste of how a big boy drinks. YO!!!!!!!! He got it right on his first try and started sipping from the straw pretty soon. Other than the occasional choking (which he does when he was drinking from spoon too), all has been well so far. In fact, he's drinking more as compared to the Spout-Top, which I have to admit, we have little mileage out of it.

Oh, he just had his first snack too. Yesterday, I got him some baby puffs. It was hilarious when I put the first one into his almost toothless mouth (his 2 lower incisors which sprouted not long ago r still pretty much TINY), his face scrunched a little, as if questioning "What the xxxx is that ??". Then, he started sucking it. Strangely, though he enjoys shoving stuff into his mouth, he hasn't quite figured that he can put the puffs in there n would rather play with them. Guess it won't be too far into the future before he finally gets the hang of it :p.

Although he can get on all his fours and lift his tummy fully off the floor, he still prefers to roll around to get what he wants, instead of crawling. However. this Demolition Boy (he tore a blade off his spinning fan 2 mths ago) really likes to "walk", always wanting to get on the floor (even when he's on the bed, he will want to push himself off head-on), and "walk" around. Though he can stand pretty well when he is hanging onto furniture, but he definitely cannot be "trusted", for he'll simply let go n lunge if something catches his attention. Danger, danger!

Oh dear, I wonder what amount of trouble is he going to get into real soon......

I think I saw them....

2010-01-28T12:54:00.003+08:00

...very faint, almost translucent thin strips on the lower gum - where the 2 lower central incisors should be when they sprout. This was the first time I spotted them, yesterday. Perhaps because they were not exactly on the upper most portion of the gum which is clearly visible, and the fact that he enjoys thrusting his tongue out when he opens his mouth. Nonetheless, with the drooling increasing, and his ever growing interest in putting whatever he can get his hand on into his mouth to bite (YiYi was a victim when he tried to chew her arm while she was having her dinner). As much as I await his first tooth to cut with anxiety, I'm sure I will miss the wide, toothless, charming smile that he is ever ready to share with me now. Bless be it that I am able to log this beautiful picture in my mind forever.

Many Chinese believe that teeth cutting causes diarrhoea. Coincidentally, Kang has been having the runs since last Wednesday. When I mentioned to my mum about his sprouting pearlies, she immediately drew the connection between the 2 events (not surprising huh). Well, I guess there must be some form of "scientific" explanation available. Let's put it this way - When babies are teething, the gum discomfort causes them to frequently pick things to bite and chew, including their own hands and feet. Thus, the chances of them catching virus and bugs increase, therefore we see more cases of diarrhoea happening around teething babies (With Kang, I guess it's worse cos he grabs at everything n anything all the time. Plus, he enjoys going around "seducing" strangers to play with him n carry him). Sounds logical right? So u see, the activity of teething does not cause diarrhoea in itself, it just raises the possibility of the baby's exposure to the virus (Doc Tan and her theory... haha). Anyway, this on-going episode has severely reduced whatever sleep that I can get to almost Zero (my poor Panda eyes). Looking on the bright side, things seem to be a little better these 2 days. Hopefully, this marks an impending end. On the side, the funny thing about this boy is that other than being more grouchy when the pain comes and excessive wakings n "bombings" (easily more than 10 changes of nappies per day), he's still generally happy, eats well and ever-s0-energetic (even with a super sore bottom)!! Count that a blessing.

I think I saw something else too - he seemed to "tell" me he wanted milk milk yesterday. While I was getting him ready to bathe yesterday morning, he just wasn't pleased (unusual) and was wailing even after I took off his clothing. Then, I saw it - his little fingers opening and closing like what I would show him at times when he's having his feed. Although suspicious, I tried offering my breast and WALAH, it worked!!! Perhaps another coincidence.........

Who's the New HERO???

2009-12-03T15:12:00.004+08:00

Find out now.... There can only be 1!

http://en.tackfilm.se/?id=1261325382816RA86

The Little Helper

2009-11-18T09:39:00.003+08:00

The Prince literally left me in a big puddle of SHIT today, after his 3rd "bombing" exercise in the morning. Romper, bed sheet, mattress protector and his chou chou (his bean pillow), all weren't spared from the attack.

"Best" part of it was when he started getting grouchy from waking up earlier than usual. So I popped him into his sarong before going around clearing the "site". U think that's the end?? With the little devil, of course not! He wasn't going down quietly, someone had to swing him. And it's Big Sister Princess to the rescue. She swung him amidst the wailing so Mummy could do her stuff, while she was watching her DVD -- no complaints. Not to mention I was halfway through tying her hair into nice little plaits when the "commotion" happened.

The Princess was exceptionally good today. She volunteered to bathe herself after breakfast and did a pretty good job. It's a pity my network has been giving me problems uploading pics and videos......

My little darling, you really brightens my day. It's the last day of school, go enjoy your class party and bid sweet good-byes to your friends and teachers. Next year will be another fresh beginning.

Mommy, why does everyone want to be your friend??

2009-11-13T10:33:00.018+08:00

That was what my Princess asked me yesterday. My answer to that -- Everyone wants to be your Di Di's friend, not my friend.

Those were the days when strangers came up to me to chat and play with my baby, commented about how chubby my precious was (with drum-stick thighs), wanting to carry her. Even when we were traveling, the language barrier was almost non-existent when even Japanese would come up to me and we would just "talk" with our hands and actions..... I thought those were the days long gone, till......

The Prince came along. I had always felt that the Princess was cuter, thus No.2 would not get as much attention. Apparently, I was WRONG, very WRONG. With those big round eyes and oh-so-familiar chubbiness, the Prince never fails to attract strangers wanting to be his "friends", especially when he's just so friendly, he smiles at practically anyone who coos and talks to him. Some of his funny antics, like pulling off his socks and chewing them in his mouth certainly adds to his "popularity" =p. So now, talking and smiling to strangers has again become part of my everyday life.

Hope that "Innocent" stare of yours can get us through immigration customs quicker if we should go overseas someday ; ).

~passport photo taken at 4 months

He Loves To......

2009-10-22T11:17:00.001+08:00

As he grows and blossoms each day, he brings about new surprises. Together, we embark on our journey of discovery. Through it all, it is with his laughters, his smiles, that bring me tremendous happiness amidst the difficult times.

Here are some things you love to do now, my little one, and I love them too :)

You love to SCREAM - When u want attention, when u r displease, when u r happy....

You love to LAUGH - Especially when u see Jie Jie n Mommy laughing at u

You love to GRAB - Your hands, your feet, anything that u can reach, and shove them into your mouth

You love to EAT - Ya, anything n everything u can get ur plump little hands on, and staring at people eating

You love to GET OUT OF THE HOUSE - Seems it's getting harder to entertain u

You love the AIRCON - And hates the heat

You love KICKING - That includes scratching your little feet against each other n cutting them

You love to be KPO - Even when u're feeding

There are just too many things that interest u now but I hope u'll always be interested in me.

My Baby Kang, soon u'll be 4 mths old......

2009-09-30T16:33:00.002+08:00

It's been quite some time since I last blog about my little Princey, least talk about uploading his pictures. 2 more days n u'll be officially 4 mths old......

From the tiny little guy plagued by jaundice, frequently feeling tired n spending most part of ur days simply feeding n napping, suffering from colic n reflex thus wailing during almost every feed, wanting mummy n daddy to carry n rock u to sleep everytime and that BIG hernia on ur tummy...... it had been a TIRING yet truly FULFILLING time, especially having to struggle with another kid who needs equally much attention.

Today, the hernia is almost gone (merely a small stubble as compared to the 1 inch budge), u've gone from a tiny 3kg kitty to a respectable 7.7kg (as of last Fri). Although u're still pretty "gassy", it rarely bugs u. Much as I would like u to be able to sleep on ur own or through the night, u still need some help like swinging in sarong, breast feeding etc, however, I'm seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. For e.g., after u wake from a feed on the bed, sometimes u can go sooth urself to sleep again, though the frequent shaking of ur head against the bedding is probably going to cause some balding =P, u went to sleep this morning (n last evening) in ur rocker while I was making a rackets with the toys on them (Funny boy, with all the noise...).

Oh boy, some thing has not changed since Day 1 - u r one Greedy Pig. The Princess always needed to feed for at least 45min, even from the bottle. While u, my darling, needs just 5-10mins to finish ur meals most of the time. Good news is, u know when u're full and reject whatever attempts to feed u after that. But do u know that u can be really impatient during feeding? Nowadays, everytime b4 Mummy's milk let down, u'll be frustrated till the milk comes flowing fast. Baby, I'm not a TAP. Just look at u staring at others eating. U're not ready yet, at least not for another 2-3 mths. Look at u gulping down ur probiotics! I can't catch up with u with a spoon!

Ur plump little hands, they are OH SO CUTE! To think Mummy hid them behind tiny mittens for a full 3 mths, all bcos u scratched urself so badly with those razor-sharp nails and we were too scared to trim them, in case we snipped ur little fingers (Daddy was guilty of that :( ). Once they were out of their little prisons, it didn't take them long to go on their escapade of exploration - aren't they beautiful? U never stopped marveling at them. U love to hold them together, as if u're praying, whenever u're feeding at my breast (thanking God for Mummy's milk??). It's ok if u love to tug at my shirt, bra etc but please my darling, don't PINCH me... sob sob... It'll be great if u can spare whatever u can get hold of from that little mouth of yours. Having ur little digits n clothing soaking wet with ur drool is more than "appetising" to look at already.

Mummy know that u do not like to be on ur tummy n hasn't quite gotten to flipping over yet, but u'd been doing a good job turning, getting on ur back from ur sides since u were 2 mths. Must be due to ur round, fat limps (like rolling a ball haha). And those back muscles, aren't they strong, trying to do sit-ups in ur car seat, rocker etc. Opps! Be careful! And u fell flat on ur face while sitting on the bed. Who asked u to lean forward?!

Soon, u'll be as big as jiejie. How I'll miss ur baby antics then...

(Been trying to upload pics n videos but can't seem to do so... sigh)

家有贱狗

2009-09-18T11:13:00.001+08:00

很少提到我的长女--Fur Fur。

其实，有关她的故事还真不少！

这小捣蛋贪吃得很，只要一有机会，决不放过任何夺取食物的良机，即便是骨头，一旦被她刁到，你甭想能从她嘴里搅出。每当看到某人在进食，她一定凑过来，目的有两个：博取同情，摆出可怜兮兮的样子，盼能骗得你施舍些许食物给她。其二，则是趁人不备，从对方手中抢夺，并以迅雷不及掩耳的速度，将战利品吞食入肚。所有人都曾哉在她口下，特别是恩较小的时候，就常因此与她发生“口角”。

更厉害的是，她总会等到家无一人之时，跳上餐桌，只要让她嗅到一丝食物的气味儿，她一定用尽一切方法，将之取出，我们也因此折损了好几个塑料盒/罐。

不仅如此，她的性子跟一般小孩儿一样，如果太长时间被忽略，便会开始作“坏事”，如乱撕报纸，随地拉撒等等。最近一次，就发生在昨夜。我们吃了晚餐回来，一打开门，便看到满地的奶瓶盖、奶嘴......原来她弄翻了灭菌器，还刁走了瓶奶头去玩。这已不是第一次，在恩小的时候，她也曾偷过恩的奶嘴去吮吸，那画面还真搞笑！平时，她破坏一番后，一旦有人回来，便会“识相”地找地方躲藏。这回却更胜一筹，居然还搞离家出走，夹着尾巴头低低的往门外钻，不敢回来，直至她老爸把她抓回来。一进屋，便躲到长椅下，想必她也知道这次的篓子可闯大了！

可她也有可爱的地方。由于她是个大声婆，又挺“鸡婆”的，不管是电话响，还是有人回来，或是水沸了，她都要大声报告，结果不是吓倒康康，就是吵醒他。下场呢，就是被“封嘴”。一到下班时间，或是任何时候，我们事先知道会有人到访，一定会先裹上她的嘴，从那时起，她会变得惨兮兮、无精打采地趴在地上。通常她一看到有人拿出她的裹嘴带，便会找地方躲。今天，她却一反常态，在恩的爷爷来接她上学之前，竟然自动自发刁了她的裹嘴带给我老爸。难道她是要为昨天的过失赎罪？还是已经认命了？

真是家有贱狗！

我永远的宝

2009-09-15T12:39:00.000+08:00

近几个月，脾气越来越暴躁，很容易为了小事发火，对恩也特别没耐性，无法忍受较高分贝的声量，下巴总是潜意思地咬得很紧，导致偏头痛。更可怕的是，对于自己的情绪，越发难以控制，真的感觉好像已经患上了--抑郁症。

为什么我会对孩子的多话感到厌烦？面对她的发问，总是表现得那么没耐性？动不动就对她吼叫......曾经何时，我变得那么恐怖、那么面目可憎？我真的很害怕，害怕在她的成长造成无法弥补的阴影，害怕从此失去这个孩子。这不是我想成为的母亲。

我的宝贝，如果有一天，你不再爱妈妈，认为妈妈讨厌你、不疼你，我希望你能原谅妈妈。

妈妈对你的爱，永远不会变。

"Kindly" Advice

2009-09-09T13:14:00.001+08:00

Be it with the Princess or the Prince, I'd been "blessed" with people who'd come to me with their "kindly" advices - u shouldn't carry/ rock the baby to sleep, u shouldn't/ should use the sarong, sucking the hand is better/ pacifier is better, u should supplement with formula etc etc.

Many a times, these "words of wisdoms" turned out to be contradictory, as they were based on the individuals' experiences n beliefs. But they were all done with the same motive - trying to tell me that I had done the WRONG thing. And that if I had started off with their method(s), things would have been easier....

U can say that I am difficult to "educate" or I'm plain stubborn, but the fact is, if I listened to every one of the well-meant advices, wouldn't my kids be totally confused? In the end, being "right" in the eyes of some, simply meant that I'm still doing the "wrong" things and I'd end up with frustrated kids who needed to be re-programmed again n again.

Who wouldn't want to do things the easy way, let the babies sleep on their own, "teach" them to sleep throughout the night, ensure they r free from colic/ reflux or whatever that's causing them discomfort? Before u start "sharing" ur "expert" views, do bear in mind that all babies r born unique, into families of differing cultures, made up of parents n grandparents having their own sets of beliefs, tolerance level n working manner. It would be really kind to share some experiences with people u see facing the same child-rearing difficulties, for e.g. "My baby had the same prob. I tried XXXX n it worked. Perhaps u may want to give it a try." But if ur intention is otherwise....

Imagine when u're trying to sooth a cranky baby to sleep, rocking n carrying him in ur arms, walking around. For those who r blessed with sleep-on-their own babies, u probably won't understand how frustrating n tiring this can be. How would u feel if someone comes up and say, "U shouldn't be rocking him/ her. That's y he's/ she's so used to it now." In the first place, if the baby can go to sleep without fussing n wailing ON THEIR OWN, why would anyone want to make life difficult for themselves? Anyway, such an "advice" does not offer any solution, and only serves the purpose of trying to "CORRECT" someone. If that's all the kindness u can offer, PLEASE, LEAVE ME ALONE!

I'm blessed with 2 kids that give me joy, to be able to see them daily, sharing their smiles n love. Though they r definitely not the ez-to-take-care type, both needing extra extra extra efforts to get them to sleep (though the prince seems a little better), I do appreciate some empathy n people willing to share ways they'd tried n worked, however if the best u can offer is pointing out my "mistakes", it will be most sympathetic of u to just zip-up.

THANK Q!!

The Yardstick of Life

2009-08-30T17:58:00.000+08:00

How much does a human life cost? Difficult to quantify right.. I would have to say, it all depends....

Let me quote an e.g., Baby LOVED - born with multiple disabilities to a set of parents Bob n Jane, already tied down by mounting housing loans, credit card bills n loans from meeting everyday basic needs. The medical bills to be incurred for treating Baby LOVED, or just to extend his life for maybe a couple of years, perhaps just months or days meant that the family would be thrown into a spiraling whirlpool of financial distress. But never for a second did Bob n Jane stop to contemplate the course of action they should take. For them, it's a simple decision - No matter what they have to give up, they were willing to go forward, even if it meant that Baby LOVED could have just 1 more day left, they would make it the happiest day for him, whatever the cost. Baby LOVED died soon after, because Bob n Jane couldn't afford to send him to a better medical facility.

Just 2 streets down the road, in a pristine district where every household was guarded by high walls n stringent security, Baby Posh, born to Charles n Chloe, was given the best the moment she entered this world - clothing from the likes of LV, Ralph Lauren etc., Nursery decorated n furnished with the softest of silk.... but Daddy n Mummy were hardly at home. Well, Baby Posh had an entire cohort of servants, nannies to serve her, so it didn't matter. Once, Baby Posh fell n to the horror of her care takers, it left a scar on her pretty chin. When Charles n Chloe were informed of the mishap, they swiftly dialled the number of their trusted Aesthetic Surgeon. Within a couple of weeks, Baby Posh couldn't be any prettier than before.

Why, Baby LOVED's life is worth so little, some may say. It's just his "luck" to be born to parents like Bob n Jane. While Baby Posh, the princess of Charles n Chloe, with just a tinkle n her skin is bright as porcelain again.

How can we compare the value of one whose life is worth ALL the love of his parents to one whose just worth whatever money could buy? I know many beg to differ...

Ultimately, how much is my life worth?? For some, perhaps as much as the air we breathe (I certainly hope so) or for others, less than the few shillings in their pockets lying in a stash of notes???

I Wish

2009-06-16T17:21:00.006+08:00

I wish upon the stars,

to watch upon my precious,

keep them safe from harm,

let them sleep in peace.

I wish upon the wind,

let my troubles fly,

as far as u can,

let me be free.

I wish upon the bright, bright sun,

shine upon me, with all your might,

cast my gloominess aside.

Show me a path, to the paradise I so longed for......

Why is there such a person????

2009-06-15T17:34:00.002+08:00

I really don't understand, is it so difficult to respect other's privacy, leave them some breathing space?

Why? Why? Why? When I show u some degree of friendliness, u have to test that limit, comes over everyday, always around dinner and to top it off - WITHOUT INFORMING ME!

Can't u learn to respect other's time? I may not be free, I may have to feed my baby, I may want to go out?

Can't u respect other's space? I may not wish to entertain guests, I may want to do my own things, I may simply want some quiet time.

It's really dejavu, cos I had seen these images clearly in my mind before, and it's happening real time now. And I'm absolutely pissed cos it has been proven again that he will always be someone else's son.....

我的心情很“忧”

2009-06-12T10:16:00.004+08:00

刚生产的产妇，心情较为郁闷是可以理解的。在这段期间，更需要家人的体谅与关心。

不幸的是，不仅因为初期伤口所带来的不适，而无法好好休息，孩子又得进出医院，而一切得由我一人包办，自己到医院、诊所去，一天上下好几回，身心本已疲劳不堪，更糟的是，还得被他人的情绪所累，搞得心力交瘁，甚至很想就此放弃，带着两个孩子远离这是非地。

9年的光景，我终于忍无可忍，发了一通我早该发的简讯。我做好了最坏的打算，一通挂上白旗，宣告投降，为的仅是换回我与孩子过宁静日子的权利。希望他能懂得珍惜那不被重视，但是却十分孝顺的儿子，祝他快乐。

其实，我并不期待他会有任何反应，更不想再纠缠下去，正好他打电话来时，孩子在哭闹，也就顺理成章的不接来电。他还是来了，我们谈了一段时间，把累积在心里的话说了出来，虽然是有些许的帮助，解除了燃眉之急，但是从这次的交流，其实我能感觉到，大家仍是有自己的一套理解与做法，要真正达到共识，绝非一件易事。更重要的是，我们之间的那道桥梁，扮演着极其重要的角色。如果他始终无法尽这沟通之桥的重任，情况恶化的局面，在所难免。

我不能因为别人的老思想，而为我的人生作出妥协。更讽刺的是，他明知道这是老派思想，话里行间讲的都是“面子”问题。当你要别人顾及你的面子的同时，你可曾照顾过他人的感受与立场？

看来目前的情况只是缓兵之计，无论他有多好，始终还是别人的儿子。

Finally...Home

2009-06-10T11:23:00.005+08:00

As usual, I woke up and gave the Nursery a call to check when is Baby's next feed at ard 6.30am. Was told that he just had his milk, and that I'd just need to go at about 10am. That's kinda a long stretch from his current feed so I thought I'd just go earlier. After checking with the nurse, I was told that I'd probably only know if he can be discharged at 10+am after the doc checks him. So I have to lug his EBM supply with me. Since he may be going home later on, I decided to pack his clothing, mittens and wrap.

Left the house with all the barang barang at 8.35am and reached KKH at 9.10am. Decided to get a magazine first least I may need to wait for Baby to be certified for discharge later. By the time I reached the Nursery, I was told that the doc will be giving him his check and that I can feed him after.

Yeah! He can come home today. So I got about to feeding him, before changing him. The nurse briefed me about feeding him more frequently today so he excretes more, as I'll need to bring him down to the polyclinic again tmr for SB check. Also got a surprise - his umbilical cord had fallen off.

So I got about packing the EBM (which was left in the Nursery's fridge just after I arrived), Pampers, wet n dry tissues, then lugged 2 big bags on each shoulder, scooped my darling and headed for our drive home. Not bad huh, doing everything alone. Haha... the senior nurse commented I was an efficient mum. Great to hear that hehe....

Ahhh... Home Sweet Home....

The Naked Batman

2009-06-09T12:35:00.003+08:00

Called the Nursery this morning ard 6.30am to enquire when is Baby's next feeding. They told me he was just fed at 6am so the next feed will be ard 9am. Thus, I canceled my postnatal massage appointment, and started getting ready to visit him at 7.45am. Of cos I brought with him my 3 bottles of frozen EBM, packed in a tuppleware of ice and drove myself there.

It was close to 9am when I arrived as there was heavy morning traffic. However, the nurse told me that he was sleeping. I told her it's his feeding time and I was informed to come down at this timing. Thus, they allowed me in and when I got to see him, what greeted me was a little naked Batman (dressed only in his diapers and sleeping on his tummy as if he was kneeling). Ya, he had this white mask ard his eyes... Poor thing.

He refused to wake up no matter how I nudged him but finally decided to suckle and feed with his eyes closed. After feeding for about 15min on one side, he refused to open his mouth when I tried to get him to latch on the other side. No matter how i teased his mouth, he just won't open it. One stubborn fellow. So I had to give up after trying for about 5min and passed him back to the nurse, as I was told that it's better not to carry him away from the light for too long.

Apparently, he was put on 2 lights instead of 1, which was discussed previously and they just switched to 1 light this morning around 8am. This meant that he had to be monitored for another 24hrs before we know if he'll be released. His jaundice level did drop to abt 260, which is still not good enough.

Sigh, guess I'll drop by the hospital again this evening with Daddy to top up his EBM supply and give him one night feed. Hope to see a less "yellowish" n more alert boy....

"Vital Statistics"

2009-06-09T06:58:00.005+08:00

Decided to record down some numbers, just so that if there's a "next time", at least I have something to refer back to sooth my worries:-

Baby's First Poo - early morning the next day in hospital. Was informed by the nurse when she passed him to me for first feed in the morning. Then he stopped totally and I had to check with the nurses from KKH's Call-a-Nurse helpline when he was 3 Days old. Was told to monitor one more day, and if he still hasn't poo by end of next day, then we'll have to bring him to the doc. God bless he pooed a little nearing end of his 4th day. From then on, there's no stopping him.

Photo-therapy - admitted after 2nd SB check-up at polyclinic (6th day after birth. SB level had jumped from 147 to 297). Told by doc his weight is fine so he'd only go on one light, which translated to an earlier release. However, he'd need to be under the light for min 24 hrs. So earliest possible timing for discharge will be 5pm this evening. Crossing my fingers.

Mummy's First "Cake Baking" Session - Tried once in hospital, just couldn't make it. All I felt was more pain from the pushing and was advised by the nurse not to do it, so that I don't hurt my wound. Was informed by Doc that patients will usually only start again after discharge from hospital. Guess wat? Even with the liquid paraffin, it just wouldn't work. Finally, my poor contipated xxx got it's relief after 5 whole days! Trust me, the whole area felt so much relaxed n the pain more bearable after the episode.

Itching - Was down with the ITCH for both times. Though the symptoms were different. First time was hives, now rashes. Looks like heat rash to me, but the affected area is huge, spunning almost the entire body. Cause(s) unknown as of now.

Perineal pain - started getting excruciating after effects of epidural wore off. Taking 2 types of pain killer (paracetamol n Mefenamic acid only helped that much). Gotten much better only after the first major loo visit.

It's totally UNBEARABLE

2009-06-09T06:36:00.003+08:00

Just when I need more energy and strength, why do I have to break out in rashes???

The intolerable itching is really killing me, especially when nothing I tried works - showering, creams, antihistamine, heat rash powder... what else???!!!! How did the rash come about? The last time I had hives during confinement, and now..... am I fated to itch after birthing??

Ahhhh! And I have to take my milk down to KKH for Baby and breastfeed him. The GP won't be open till 8.30am. Don't care lah, guess I'll go down to the hospital first to feed him before proceeding to clinic. Just gotta bear with it.

Sianz......

Jaundice AGAIN!

2009-06-08T19:30:00.005+08:00

The same thing happened to En 4 years ago.

Baby Ying Kang was diagnosed with SB reading of 147 the day after his discharge from hospital. We went for a review today at CCK polyclinic and the numbers shot to 297.

Frankly speaking, I had expected something like this to happen, cos this was exactly the same case for En. He looked really yellow since a few days ago and I had more or less predicted that he might be admitted to KKH for photo-therapy during today's visit. True enough, this was the case.

Even though this has been something which I had anticipated, it pains me to have to send him to hospital and leave him there alone. Everytime I see them pricking his little foot and squeezing blood from him, it just felt so bad. And if it's going to be anything like En's experience, he will have to go through this painful process for the next 1 mth plus....

The only thing that I can do for him now is to express as much milk as I can for him, so that he still gets Mummy's love when I can't be around. I will bring them to him tomorrow morning and pray that he can be discharged by evening.

Mummy loves you.

老公，我真的要对你说声谢谢！

2009-06-07T20:16:00.002+08:00

很多时候，我都会在这里发发对你的牢骚，其实我要让你知道，在我心里，你还是很不错的。

就拿这几天来说，自从小颖康呱呱坠地，你就一直陪在我身边，无论是扶我上厕所，帮我拿水、拿食物、药物，半夜起床把Baby抱给我，替Baby冲凉、换尿布、抱抱他......没有你的照顾，关心，这些日子我真的不知要怎样过。

明天，你就要回到那地狱般的工作，虽然有妈妈在，可是我真的不敢想象你不在的日子。特别是，我的伤口还是很痛、很痛，痛得连在床上翻个身，都有问题，更不用说坐立或上厕所。

What will I do without u, my Pillar of Strength??

陈颖康 - 终于看见你的脸

2009-06-07T18:47:00.006+08:00

2009年6月2日 - 日盼夜盼，我的小颖康终于决定来报到。

1am：起床，再无法入眠。

2.30 - 4.30am：数数数，大概每5分钟就一次阵痛。是时候叫爸爸起床了。

5.30am：到医院报到。这次较麻烦，要在一楼登记，再到二楼的Delivery Suite。回答了一些诸如几时开始阵痛，多频繁等等等问题，终于到产房报到。接下来就是换衣，让护士检查，继上monitor，等待Dr JT的到来......

医生穿着T-shirt来报到，接下来就是刺破羊水袋，吊点滴（包括催生剂Oxytoxin）。Dr JT说如果要注射epidural，最好是8时过后，用一剂就好了；p。心想，没问题啦，结果7.30am左右，阵痛越来越剧烈，终于忍到八点，注射了epidural。

之后，JT 又来检查了一次，大概只dilate了3cm。他说前5cm较慢。果然，11+时许，几分钟内便从5cm扩张到10cm。接下来，就是push,push,push,等医生来接生。终于，护士叫我别在push了。12时后，JT来了，再推几下，Baby终于出来了！这次我真的看到他出来的过程！12.15pm - 你终于来了。

What a feisty fellow! 一出来就发出响亮的啼哭声，一直到做了所有的清理工作，量体重、体积等等，Baby到了我怀了，开始喝nene，才安静下来。

~ 产房里

~ 一天大

~ 父子

~ 四天 - 与姐姐在一起

~ 四天

This Is It....

2009-06-02T02:55:00.003+08:00

This is the last time I will see my Baby in 2D B/W.

Had felt my baby really low yesterday afternoon, just above my vaginal... then I felt like peeing every 10 mins or so.... By the time I left home to fetch K for my Gynae check up, the cramps on my lower abdomen became really frequent and it lasted hrs even after the check-up. I had a feeling it couldn't be too far...

True enough, Doc JT "certified" me as 1.5cm dilated. Baby is going to come anytime during the next few days. So he gave me 2 options:-

1. Let nature takes it course - set appointment for next Mon and get ready to go hospital anytime

2. Fix appointment to go hospital on Fri

I'd been experiencing loads of discomfort for the past days n practically having 3 hrs or less sleep each night, so I told him ASAP.

Guess what he said??? Then come in hospital on Wed 7.30am and we'll induce u (so there was a 3rd option).

Ok lor, Baby will come out latest tomorrow......

As I'm typing away, I can already feel the contractions coming n going between 5-10 min interval (not the lower abdomen cramping)... it could be today... and I certainly hope so.. Had been up since 1am... It's a good timing he's coming when En just started School Holidays, so that I can fetch her to school in 1 mth's time... though En will probably have to miss her "promotion" to Pre-Primary Ballet class this afternoon... will wait it out at home today... Guess both my darlings will be out in 38.5 weeks....

Bless us :)

Memories

2009-05-28T21:05:00.003+08:00

As I was sourcing for Buffet Catering for Baby's First Month Celebration (kiasu haha), I decided to visit Rasel's website, where we catered for our ROM Poolside Reception 5 years ago. We had a good experience with them as they had a very flexible, international menu then, whereby we can select a very individualised menu based on per item per head count basis. The best part was that the pricing was really attractive and they were able to provide a Thematic setup for us.

However, they no longer provide such a flexible menu anymore, though the selection is still generally attractive. As I was screening through the various tabs, I came across their Wedding Galleries. When I clicked on the "By The Pool" tab, it all looked so familiar... Hey! Isn't that my wedding setup from 5 years ago??! And I didn't even know they took pics n posted on their website. Anyway, thanks to them, I have some nicely taken pics to remember the special event by (my one n only wedding function).

~ pictures extracted from http://www.rasel.com.sg

安静

2009-05-26T19:15:00.003+08:00

我是个需要安静的人。

很“不幸”的，我身边却有一对大、小蜜蜂，无时无刻在我耳边嗡嗡响，搞得我心烦气躁，有时连吃顿饭、看份报纸或上网都不得安宁。

有没有试过，一个小时内，连环炮似的三、四通电话，都是同一人打来？一个人，一踏进门，毫无“惊喜”的，第一件事就是念念念。不管做什么，还是念念念。叫她不要做，还是念念念......更糟的是，还会跟小孩子一起“争锋吃醋"，“抢”你的注意力，两只蜜蜂一起出击，小的已显出不快，大的那只还不知退一步，继续与她争妈妈的注意力，叫我不发火都难。这还不是致命伤，恐怖的是，大蜜蜂极度敏感，很喜欢通过别人的语气（比如电话里啦），乱加入自己的解读，在找你开战。一旦她盯上你，无论你说什么都没用，非抖个两败俱伤，才能收场，屡战屡试，不见倦色。

小的那只呢，真是“悲哀”。为什么偏就得了隔代遗传，好传不传，就中了“碎碎念”这绝症。她很喜欢重复性地讲同样的事件，讲了又讲，乐此不彼。无论在讲些什么，先决条件是，一定要你参与。参与的定义就是，也要跟着讲，不可以只点头、摇头等，不然她就对你发飙。

本人的忍耐指数超低，碰到这两只贴身蜜蜂，有时真有“生不如死”的感觉。嗨，苦海无涯，回头也找不到岸......

Will this be IT?

2009-05-25T12:32:00.002+08:00

As I'm typing away now, I'm wondering if my Baby is going to come out real soon. Had been having the runs since this morning. 4 Times already.... Moreover, last night, I could only sleep ard 2am. Prior to that, I was getting out of bed like every 15 mins to empty my bowels. Was also experiencing more n more pressure beneath, especially when I'm lying down and shifting my body position. Was particularly bad last night.

Could this be it?? Well, I really can't be sure, cos the last time, it was due to leakage of amniotic fluid so I didn't quite get to monitoring my contractions after induction of labour. Though it quite felt like feelings of wanting to pass motion too...

It's 37 weeks n 2 days now.. Baby is safe to come if he wants to. Just hope I don't end up delivering in the house/ car ;p.....

"Promotion"

2009-05-12T19:32:00.000+08:00

We missed a ballet lesson last week cos En wasn't feeling well (high fever of 39.8C, vomitting etc) since Sun night and I decided to self-quarantine her for entire week to let her fully recover from her long standing flu (how long u may ask.... close to 6 mths since we returned from States... on/off, on/off.. ahhh).

After reaching the mall, En requested to change in the toilet instead of the studio, so we did just that. Then, we proceeded to class. As we entered the school, the admin lady was busy making phonecall. She asked," Teacher Melissa just got into an accident, I called u to inform u about it." "I didn't receive any calls," I replied. "But somebody did answered n said the maid has already left with her gal for lesson." "Then it couldn't have been me cos I do not have a maid." Think she marked the wrong name on her list. Anyway, what's important was that the teacher wasn't hurt. Couldn't blame her as she received the info abt 10 mins ago, for which I had already reached the mall anyway.

Then, she proceeded to inform me that En's teacher actually recommended that she be promoted to Pre-primary class (for >5yrs) as she was very attentive in class n could follow the instructions well. I asked how many in her class was promoted and she replied 2. Well done, Gal (though she's probably at an advantage cos she had done ballet for abt 1.5 years as compared to the rest)! But that would mean that she'll have to adjust to a new teacher n classmates, and she may not like it, as she chose to attend this class after attending lesson by her current teacher. We shall see. Anyway, currently there's no classes with suitable slots for Pre-primary, so I'll continue to keep her in Creative till new classes commence.

Btt, the admin lady was really nice. Firstly, En's MC was for Mon (ballet is on Tues), but she happily accepted the MC. Then, when I checked with her regarding the topping up of fee (as Pre-primary cost $10 more/ term as it's 1 hr session, instead of 45min) as En just started her new term based on Creative's fee, she readily mentioned that we do not have to pay extra, as it's just abt $10 difference. Though the amount may be small, nonetheless it's really nice of them to be so flexible n accommodating (I had previously asked if I could defer her lessons when I go on confinement n the answer was "Yes").

2009-05-10T05:18:00.003+08:00

它，是一种五味杂陈的情感。

它，可以是自私的，激发人心的妒忌，让你无法忍受与任何人分享，怀疑自己是否就是他心中的“第一”。

它，可以使你陷入万劫不复痛苦的深渊，变得歇斯底里，变成魔鬼，吞噬掉全世界造就你痛不欲生的一切，甚至于自我毁灭。

它，可以撕心裂肺，犹如一把利刃，一次，又一次，再一次。。。。。。不断地，重复地刺入你的心，直至血肉模糊，血流不止，一滴、一滴、一滴。。。。。。

它，可以使你万般牵挂，牵肠挂肚，不舍、思念、期盼着过日子。

它，可以使你愤愤不平，甚至于愤怒，为的是他所受的不平等待遇、欺压，只恨自己无力解救他于这水深火热。

它，在当你望着他那苍白的脸，被病魔缠身，无法摆脱时，当你知道他在为你们的将来打拼，承受无比压力，你心里的痛、流的血、掉的泪会比所有一切深百倍、千倍、万倍。

尽管它未必荡气回肠，尽管它可能淡如止水，它却是这般缠人，就只因为“爱”。

Riding the waves....

2009-04-23T13:10:00.003+08:00

It had been a challenging time since we came home, esp for this couple of weeks. I guess the reasons r plenty - K's unhappiness at work, re-adjusting to life beyond our own little family, more hectic lifestyle having to fetch En to-n-fro school everyday, increase in familial commitment etc, physical challenges (we have been falling sick one after the other, consecutively, ever since we return, non-stop, so much so the doc's office had become our regular haunt. We must have visited our GP for at least 7-8 times in total since Dec), discomforts from this pregnancy (made worse by my sickness), hormonal changes, the unbearable heat that's causing me rashes outbreak everywhere...... So much so that situation had gotten somewhat out-of-hand in the last weeks, that I'd wallowed in so much self-pity with feelings of being neglected, uncared for n unloved. It must have been a tough time for K too, for I believe he's also going through a very rough patch at work. Being the sole breadwinner, with another mouth to feed soon, the pressure must be intense. Perhaps that accounts partly for his insensitivity. I tried to understand but sometimes when little things add up, over a period of time, it's just too difficult.....

After that particularly scary incident ( I'm sorry I might have traumatised En), I really felt the need to just offload all that's been bugging me, how unbalanced n disrespected I felt at times. And I'm truly surprised n touched at the outcome of my no-holds-bar confession. Something I truly need in a time like this. I hope that things can really take a turn for the better, esp with Baby coming soon (n Yes, he's still superbly active, esp as my cough is disturbing him. I guess he must be very anxious to come out).

Frankly speaking, I do foresee myself going a little crazy after birth (as with En). My dear Boy, hope that u can be my pillar of strength n give me a little extra love, patience n care. 我比上次老了，体力没那么好，又有两个小瓜要照顾，所以真的需要更多的support.

煮妇的假期

2009-04-10T13:07:00.002+08:00

我也想去一趟煮妇的假期，没有时限，没有目的地，没有人知道。只有孩子与我，两个人，去我们的疗伤之旅。

四岁的孩子，情绪其实已不只限于号啕大哭的宣泄。我怎么知道？有一回，她晓得我在生某某的气。某某拿了她的水瓶去喝，她便开始在车上唠唠叨叨，不让某某拿。以我对某某的理解，其实早已知道会发生事情。平时，我会出声制止她，可当时，我在气头上，也懒得理。

果然，接下来就是突如其来的咆哮声：“This is my car! U get out of my car!” 整辆车一时鸦雀无声。这是很不寻常的。果真，我伸手去抚摸她的小手，她转过头来，鼻头红红的，勉强挤了个笑容给我，两滴泪不由自主地滑落，她静静用手抹掉......我的心真得好痛，她只不过是四岁的孩子，怎得会和我一样暗自伤心？

庆幸的是，孩子情绪的反转，想对大人而言，是瞒快的。可是，如果事件一再发生，那种伤害始终无法磨灭。当我们作出某种情绪反应时，可曾想过，对身边的人会造成怎样的影响？留下多深的阴影与烙印？

我想真的该去悠长假期了。

永远的“大小眼”

2009-04-10T12:18:00.004+08:00

一星期前，本来是要到蔡厝港华人坟场扫墓，通知某某之后，他就一直说会塞车啦、没地方停车啦等等等。其实，在这之前，老爸早已通知我只需去阿公家拜拜即可，因为他也担心到时坟场会塞车，早早就吩咐我不用去。我却故意不说，决定“见机行事”。

到了拜拜那天，我还是决定不去了，因为老妈也提议我作罢，说是哪儿烟雾弥漫，对孕妇不好，毕竟我怀孕快8个月了。

几天后，某某突然说（他们家做事总爱last min通知）他老母跟他说今天要扫墓，而且可能要去好几个地点，他大舅可能会租巴士，全家一齐去环岛拜拜。他满心期待，说是好久没去了。我说如果需“跋山涉水”，那是不可能的，因为我即使是坐着或躺着，都经常会发生呼吸困难，更别说在大太阳底下“攀山越岭”的，搞不好岂不一尸二命。然而，他说我们可在巴士上等（呵呵）。最后，因为他外婆决定只到一处，便决定各自出发，到万里坟场。这情况岂不和我们当初去蔡厝港坟场的情况一样，得面对塞车、没停车位等问题？谁知当初的诸多不便，如今他却只字不提。这次可没父母为我设身处地的着想，ok lor，还是那句“见机行事”。

出发前，我老妈“好言相劝”，可是“忠言逆耳”，我们还是“依计行事”。结果，还未转进万里路，车龙已是见尾不见首，车子根本无法向前行驶。可又不见某人意兴阑珊，反观还主意多多，决定另觅去路。兜了一圈，从汤盛路驶入，情况虽较好，可是到了驶入坟场的交叉口，情况依然恶劣。

到了此时此刻，仍然无人作声，一旦转入交叉口，便是进退两难了，不知会堵上几小时。既然无人照顾我的处境，我只好“自保”，便提议让他父母在车站下车，与其他人会合，我们等他们拜完再来充当司机。可是某某却一意孤行，一定要驶进去。他说要我们在车里等！天啊！这一等要等上几小时，开冷气会导致一氧化碳中毒，不开冷气岂不变成炭烤烧猪？？？后来，我家婆不好意思，提议下车，他还是坚持己见，直到我家翁也决定下车，他才只好作罢。

我心里真的真的很气，不仅生气，也很不服气。我一而再，再而三的给他机会，这么多年了，他还是“大小眼”！最不应该的是，他始终不懂得关心及爱惜我，更谈不上保护。这起事件，只不过是冰山一角，我真的不再指望他会发自内心的爱护我了。

En's 4th birthday

2009-04-02T17:20:00.004+08:00

Strictly speaking, this is the 1st time that we actually have a mini party for En in her school for her birthday (last year in Challenger, all bday kids were only allowed a "Spotlight" session where we can share some pics n have a bday song. No cakes nor gift packs allowed). She was naturally very excited about it and would be checking with me when is the Day, prior to the celebration. Cos that's when she gets to have her self-chosen Chocolate Disney birthday cake and put on her Cinderella Princess costume. Had negotiated with her teacher that she gets to change into it on her bday, as we are not having a party at home so she won't get to wear it otherwise (BTW, the costume was specially ordered while we were in the States and it arrived the day before we were leaving for good. Had to rushed to Monarch Meadow's management office few mins before it closed for the day/ holiday as we were out and the package was left there. Phew! Luckily managed to retrieve it before our morning flight the next day).

Initially, I had an argument the day before with Daddy as he mentioned he wouldn't apply for half day leave. However, he called to ask me to lunch with him on the actual day. Turned out he had already requested for leave but he just wanted to spite me lor... So we set off to give darling a surprise in school, as the party was scheduled for the last 15-30min of school.

We collected the cake from Bengawan Solo United Square, then proceeded to her school. She was really happy when I got to her class and brought her to change into her pretty costume. Then we went downstairs to surprise her with Daddy.

It was time for the celebration. So we went back to her class, while the teachers gathered her classmates and got ready to sing her birthday song. Seems we ordered too big a cake, as we were told by Yu laoshi that the kids usually eat little and we ended up with abt 1kg of cake left out of 2kg. True enough, they do not seem too keen to finish the cakes.

Finally, it's time to go, which meant time to give out the party packs! En helped to give out the bags (each pack contains of specially selected pencil, sharpener and small notepad, hand-wrapped by Mummy, plus a Frugurt :)).

Certainly hope my Darling will have a pleasant memory of the day for the many years to come.

Happy Birthday my PRECIOUS!

Baby, Baby

2009-04-01T07:54:00.004+08:00

This year is certainly a Baby Boom year, at least for friends and relatives ard me :)

Since I returned from the States, I had already known of 5 new babies, with 1 just delivered over the weekend (all boys haha). And there will be more to receive in 2009 (at least 3 more, including mine, of cos :)).

Frankly speaking, not all the pregnancies were/ are smooth-going. In fact, for one of my close frens, she had pregnancy complications for her past pregnancies. However, looking at the adversities that she faced, be it through her pregnancies, family challenges, relationship issues etc, I truly marvel at her tenacity in the face of problems. Seldom did I hear her complaining, whenever she talked abt the issues she faced, they were usually in a matter-of-fact manner. Rather than lamenting on how "unfortunate" she was, she took everything in her stride, focusing on finding solutions, instead of wallowing in self-pity. It's not for me to share her challenges here, but believe me, many would have given up/ broken down if put in her shoe ( I certainly won't fare as well). For someone with her strength, I certainly hope that she'll be blessed with an easy pregnancy this time round. If God had meant for the previous experiences to be a test, she has proven herself way beyond expectations.

Perhaps due to a difference in life experiences, family background or simply character build-up, there r also some who find it tough to face up to the changes brought about by the new life growing n blossoming in their body. It is understandable that every pregnancy is unique and so is the body of every mum-to-be. Sometimes, it is ez to fall prey to the depressing feelings n discomforts, esp with raging hormones working against us ;p, not withstanding the fact that it may be difficult to get the men ( which by no fault of theirs, that they haven't the opportunity to go through the exhilaration of carrying a new life in their body, to marvel at experiencing the tiny one boxing ard in their tummy) to empathies with what we're going through and the price we have to pay thereafter (the "disfigurement" of our body - flabby tummy/ bumps, drooping b**ps, cellulite, varicose veins, stretch marks etc. They would rather invest in a new set of rims for their tyres than pay for "re-constructive" work to be done on our "abused" wares which need some extreme makeover). However, as mothers (or future mums), we have a life we need to be responsible for, to care n protect, to give the best we can n nurture for, so that he/ she may grow to be a happy n healthy (be it physically or emotionally) individual. Shouldn't we strive to be a living example n try to lead happier lives ourselves?

For me, I'm far from a saint. I have my complaints abt the discomforts of pregnancy, abt wanting more attention from my hubby. Plague by insomnia, back ache, PGP, with a bump n thighs growing way beyond proportion, breathlessness that comes even when I'm sitting, lying down or standing still that causes bolts of faintness n panic attacks and recently Carpal Tunnel Syndrome which causes pain in my right hand, I can be assured of more to come in the following mths. However, I must say, in general, I do enjoy being pregnant! This is a privilege for women. The thought of having a new life in me, someone I can call MY baby, this is enough to carry me through.

I know that when Baby 2 comes along, there will be a period where I may be going through some depressing moments, when I will feel like I'm going crazy, when I will be asking if I'd ever be able to bond with him, when even my mum will be doubting if I'll be able to handle life as a mum all over again..... however, I know one day, as I look back, I will relish at those moments just as I am doing now with my darling En. Being the Stubborn One, somehow, I will manage to raise n nurture my 2 babies, be it through more knocks on the wall, even lesser Me-time whatsoever. Simply because I am a MOTHER.

To: Fathers/ Fathers-to-be

Don't forget to show more support for your wives, pamper them a little if u can. It's never ez to go through the process of child-birth.

And if u're thinking of splurging on that new Tag Heuer, or that new car, or some spectacular sports rim, or a new golf set, or simply u have a little extra to spare, some sponsorships for "reconstructive" work on your IMPORTANT other half will be greatly appreciated, bearing in mind, u get to enjoy the results as well!!

左左人

2009-03-11T12:56:00.002+08:00

天啊，我竟然是左左人！

这是按《早报》的一项性格测试所得到的结果。

左左人--认真又冷酷的完美主义者。虽颇有女人/男人味，但却是这四种类型中，最具有男子气概的。凡事都能条理分明的理论性思考，会凭着一篇大道理迅速打败他（人）。

自尊心极强，正义感也比他人多上一倍。做为朋友是很值得信赖，但若与之为敌就会很棘手。不过，因生性认真又是完美主义者，常会让初次见面的人留下难以相处的不好印象。

不得不承认，还相当准确，但我还不至于冷酷吧？？！！果真如此的话，做起许多事来，反而不会觉得绑手绑脚，可一鼓作气把那些不知死活，惹毛老娘的人，连根拔起，捏得连灰都不剩！

政治

2009-03-11T06:53:00.005+08:00

不知不觉，恩也快四岁了，在家带孩子也有若干年。选择这条路，主要原因虽是为了能在孩子的成长过程扮演主导性角色，希望能给予她正确的价值观、教育、管教与母爱，其中也有部分原因，是不太愿意再卷入难缠的办公室政治。

可笑的是，有人的地方，就有“政治”。在外面遇到风风雨雨，还能躲进“家”这避风港。当这最后的堡垒也失陷时，还能往哪儿钻呢？

了解到，孩子在成长的过程中，培养独立的思考是必然的过程。她也慢慢意识到，自己是独立个体，时不时展示那“我要自由”的触角。这一阶段，对没什么耐性的妈妈，的确很具考验。或许她个性有点像妈妈，蛮掘的，要她buy into my logic，需下功夫。但，有一段时期，情况还算ok。最近却有变本加厉的迹象，跟她讲道理，她未必听，还经常来一段“你不喜欢，我偏偏要做”。

昨天，我似乎有了答案--原来那称为“爷爷”的人，竟然对她说了这样的话：“不要听妈妈的话。”孩子亲口说，是“爷爷”在跟她玩时，这样对她说的。我一再求证，告诉她如果事情不是如此，绝不能撒这种谎，因为这会破坏大人之间的感情，她仍咬定她的说法。听了这番话，你可以想象我的心有多气氛吗？

从一开始，他们就不愿与我合作，不愿配合，老爱在孩子的管教、饮食等方面唱反调，这也加强了我一切都要亲力亲为的理念。即使做到死，也绝不开口要求他们的帮助。近几个月，可能他们多少也了解到that is not the clever path to take，至少在我面前也会唱一唱一些较悦耳、合拍的调子。正当我以为终于见到了转机时，冷不防原来已中了高手的冷箭！

是恩在撒谎吗？还是有一股强大的“整治”势力在背后与我抗衡？无论答案如何，都是悲哀的。

我应该怎么处理这情况：-

1。装作若无其事，just let it be???

2。也来一段“笑里藏刀”，“勾心斗角”陪他们玩下去？

3。撕破脸，当场对质？

4。取消"visiting right"以示抗议？

5。学人摆黑脸，让他自己尝尝“无辜”被摆臭脸的感觉？

6。借机指桑骂槐，给他来个下马威？

7。或放更多精力在孩子身上，希望她能学会分辨是非黑白，即使这是一条老路，路上布满荆棘，阻力重重。外来的势力，就随它去吧？

老二也快出世了，心中的压力更是往上升。“家”--为何也要沦陷？

原来如此

2009-03-05T16:27:00.002+08:00

恩恩今天有点怪。当我接她放学时，她一见到我就说很累，也不太愿意和余老师说再见。于是，我便先带她上厕所。

正当我们步向电梯时，余老师朝我们走来，然后问恩恩为什么没向她道别？原来之前，有位同学掉了发夹，恩恩把它捡了起来，不愿还给同学。当老师把发夹归还时，她便大哭起来。

当她听到老师的陈述，便又眼眶乏红，哭了起来，便一直说累。当我向她提问，希望她让妈妈知道发生了什么事，好让妈妈帮她解决。她怎么都不肯说，只是一直哭，一直答不愿意说，甚至说她忘了那同学是谁，忘了发生什么事。

我便向她解释，我只想知道发生什么事，如果恩恩有秘密不跟妈妈说，妈妈会伤心的。妈妈只想知道发生什么事，不会责骂她的。我又问她，如果她有一样很喜欢的东西，而朋友拿走了不还她，她是不是会很伤心？答案是肯定的。同样的，如果她拿了别人心爱的东西，那人也会很伤心的。经过了一轮哭诉，说着她有多么喜欢那发夹等等，我一再对她解释，无论她有多喜爱，东西不是她的，她就不应该拿。过一会儿，她便平静了下来。

后来，她终于告诉我，原来发夹是她的好朋友-惠黎的。她也答应我，明天会向惠黎道歉。想必她早前不愿道出事情的原委，应该是知道自己做错了事，怕被责骂。我想，这事件，应该还处理得相当妥当吧。

遐想

2009-02-04T12:31:00.002+08:00

或许感情这潭浑水，我玩不起

或许人际关系，我永远无法掌握

或许我根本不属于这个年代

或许我的存在是上帝开了个大玩笑

或许做人应该“笨”一点

或许我才是真正的笨蛋

或许明天会有奇迹

或许今天将是据点

或许人生仅是如此，真实的只有我那手心里的宝

原点

2009-02-04T12:13:00.005+08:00

回来之前，早已预知这种状况的到来......

本还抱着一丝期望，一年的经历或许能起着些许作用，现实总还是得接受“距离”的挑战。“距离”越近，“影响”越是如磁铁般展示着它的力量。要来的始终还是来了，我的人生回到了四年前的原点。

有些事永远无法改变，有些人只能盼“距离”这条鸿沟能把他远远地隔开。我甚至为了避开他，宁愿选择离乡背井，离开我的至亲，离开我的避风港，离开我熟悉的环境，为的只是想得到一丝平静，恢复我的家庭宁静，还原我本应有的自由与舒畅。

带我离开吧......

Ballet - Trial at Ballet & Music Co

2009-02-03T19:22:00.000+08:00

This is the 2nd trial I brought En for since we came back.

The first was at Dancepointe Taman Jurong. They claimed to have good quality flooring from Harlequin (well, I'm not an expert in this field, so I assumed it must be quite impressive). However, I was very disappointed with the condition as there were bumps around and it looked pretty old. As students and parents etc started streaming in, it reminded me of the first few lessons En had at Bukit Batok CC when she just started ballet. Many kids were clinging to mummies n crying and the trial class was so huge that even 2 teachers couldn't manage the kids effectively. It was obvious En wasn't keen, as she wasn't paying attention least talk about following instructions. Though it was communicated that the actual class would be smaller, we decided to move on, as there wasn't any point if she's simply not interested.

Abt a mth down the road, finally decided to let her try out at Ballet & Music Co in United Square, as it's near her pre-school, so we can just go after class. Initially, En told me that she would not be interested and she wouldn't want to go new class and make new friends. I told her that she wouldn't know if she didn't try and we'd not put her in the class if she really didn't like it. This school is more similar to the one in US, where parents have to stay outside the studio. However, the studio in US has a long window panel for parents to view, while the current only has a small glass opening on the door. Decided to peek for a while to see how En was doing. She seemed to be enjoying herself and paying attention to the teacher, doing what was required. I guessed this should be the one. Better checked with her after lesson to confirm. The moment she met me after class, she said," Mummy, I like this class. I want to continue." Ah! Finally found the one she liked.

Playing Mute to Blabber-Mouth

2009-02-02T19:44:00.002+08:00

Met the principal at the lift today, after dropping En off at the assembly hall. So we chatted for a while. She commented that En was doing well in class and a rather well-behaved child, who would voice her views and take the initiative to talk with her friends.

I must say her experience in the States had served her well. She was a reserved gal who wouldn't talk much to outsiders (though she was always talkative around mummy), even to her teachers at her 1st childcare. She was still the same when she first enrolled in Challenger. A few months later, there was once I brought her into class, and her teacher, Ms Jennifer told me," Don't worry, she'd start talking when Mummy leaves." On another instance, while Ms Jennifer brought her to my car, she told me that En said that Mummy would smack her backside if she's naughty. Haha!!! What a transformation! She also went telling her current Principal that we're "homeless" now, while the Principal was chatting with another student about him moving house. Though it's great she's no longer playing mute, she has become a blabber-mouth!!! No more secrets...

As I picked her up from school today, she showed me a lolly-pop. I asked if it was her classmate's birthday again (as they just had 2 bday celebrations last week, right after CNY break). She answered "No". One of her friends named Huili had 2 lollies, and she gave 1 to her. Now she has a special friend too. Not bad Gal!

18

2009-01-10T23:40:00.003+08:00

Today is K's birthday and baby's 18th week. I had planned for a night at Sentosa's Siloso Beach Resort's Roof Top Garden Jacuzzi Room. The initial plan was a getaway for just the 2 of us. However, with K starting work at his previous company (which demanded that they put in at least 120% of their stipulated working hrs, n 1 of their weekend/ week or 后果自负), and En in the afternoon session (which meant she had to drop her afternoon nap), thus having to sleep early, father and daughter hardly get to see each other. So, he requested to bring her along. Anyway, we didn't get to do much except for lazing in the room, making use of the roof-top jacuzzi and outdoor rain shower, venturing out for meals and just a short shopping trip at Vivocity.

I have been feeling really tired ever since I had Baby No.2. Though I'm into my 2nd trimester, the discomforts that I encountered during first trimester (tiredness, vomiting, insomnia etc) don't seem to be going off, while the symptoms for 3rd trimester like back ache etc are appearing earlier. In fact, this pregnancy is rather different from the first time where my morning sickness lasted only a while and my 2nd trimester was a breeze - no constipation, even my prob of gastric wind etc disappeared and I had a good appetite.

Baby No.2 is also much more active than En. I started feeling his movement while I was in my 16th week. At 18th week now, I can easily feel him moving, esp ard 10pm at night. The movement is usually quite obvious and it will come on and off for the next half hr or so, unlike En who usually just produced some light kicks here n there n would stop after that. Am I more sensitive or is he going to be one rambunctious rascal???

Anyway I'm wishing for a more comfortable pregnancy ahead and for K's company to show more 人性 (which is quite unlikely, with news of further pay cut etc... wonder if he should have just taken the severance and left initially. Well, I guess things will work out in the end. Just have to rough it out through this bad times).

A New Beginning

2009-01-05T16:34:00.002+08:00

Finally, it's En's first day at her new Kindergarten. She's going to meet new teachers and friends at her new class - Nursery Love. Judging from her track record in the States, Day 1 should be a breeze.

Alas! Her eyes started welling with tears the moment she stepped into class. There was already quite a crowd there though we were 15min before time. She clung on to me and refused to let go. Nonetheless, I decided to leave the classroom after playing with her for a while and she started to settle in a little.

As I had to settle some admin stuff with the Principal, I was waiting outside the office as the Principal was busy helping out in the classes. About half an hr or so, I saw the Principal bringing a crying En to the office. Apparently, they were about to give me a call. So, I followed her to the classroom, while the Principal tried to introduce some new classmates to her. Most of the students were with the school the previous year. Luckily I wasn't the only mum there. I stayed in the classroom, encouraging En to play with other kids, while the teachers and Principal busied themselves with the other children who were crying.

After a while, I decided to leave the classroom. En cried again but the Principal was with her. Well, she has to get used to her new school somehow....

An hr before dismissal, I finally got sometime with the Principal. She mentioned En was doing fine. I managed to finalised the switching of class to afternoon and fixed the transportation arrangement with the school bus vendor.

"RRRRIIIIINNNGGGGGGGG", the parents started moving to the lobby and classrooms. En's class was one of the last to be dismissed. She wasn't crying when I picked her.

Let's hope today's episode was due to the crowd. Tmr will be better, same teachers but new friends again. It'll also be the first day that En will be travelling on a school bus. Guess I'll be stuck in school for another 3 hrs, at least to ensure she'll be picked up from school on her 1st bus trip.

P/s: One of En's classmates today was the daughter of an ex-actress, Magdalene Chu (朱乐玲). However, she'll be her ex-classmate tmr, when En moved to N-Grace in the afternoon.

5 vs 53

2008-12-18T14:28:00.002+08:00

What do I mean???

Though I'd been ranting about the high cost of health care in the States, this is one case whereby I regretted not bringing En for it earlier.....

Sometime in June, I decided to let En have her Pneumococcal n Hep-A vaccination at Parkway Pediatrics as I had heard from other mummies that the vaccination is very, very cheap (Hep-A is mandatory for admission into certain kindergartens in US). Yes! I paid US$5/ea for the injections. Everyone knows how ex it is to have Pneumococcal jab here in Singapore.

Today, I decided to bring En to CCK Polyclinic for her 2nd Hep-A jab. Apparently not many GPs offer Hep-A for toddlers. The wait was long as we didn't make an appointment. To make matters worse, this was by far the most traumatic vaccination experience for her over the past year. She struggled while the nurse was injecting the needle and had a needle scratch of 1.5cm on her left arm, besides being injected twice. She cried for the next 20+ mins or so and voiced her fear of future injections. The bill - S$53!

It was only with a Dark Choc Gelato that she finally calmed down....

Stress

2008-12-14T12:01:00.003+08:00

A year away, I had quite forgotten what it's like to maintain an EXTENDED family life... Everything was quite simple, we plan our activities as n when we liked, had fabulous time with his colleagues, loads of breathing space n freedom. We just need to maintain the weekly call to our families, that's it.

The moment I stepped foot home, the reality that marriage entails 2 other families (besides our little one) smacked me right on my head. No matter how tired I was, there were obligations to fulfill. Besides, having to adjust to living together for 2 person of differing backgrounds is an ongoing task in itself. Now, it just seems more complicated than ever. Just 2 weeks into our new lifestyle (or should I say old... after all it had been like this before we left for our Freedom), cases of unhappiness had already sprouted (of cos not all with my ILs lah. Frankly, putting aside the initial few days, so far things had been going fine with them. Hope it continues...)...

Even though I'm blessed with a place to stay after selling our condo (thanks to the graciousness of my parents), somehow, the urge to have a matrimonial home is still strong despite the fact that market situation is expected to worsen, and we can bang on much better deals a little later. I guess I NEED that breathing space. Put fiery, sensitive, naggy, opinionated characters together, what do u get??? BOOOOMMMM!!!!! Explosions (sometimes it's the inate ones that's really scary n pressurising)!! Won't be surprised if I ended up with pre-natal (instead of post-natal depression ;p)....

It's stressful when u have to balance so many people's wants, needs, opinions, ideas etc... What about my own little family????

送老公上飞机

2008-12-09T11:30:00.003+08:00

临晨两点多就起床，K也已与周公说bye bye。再也无法入眠（that's me, insomnia type ;p)，一直到了3.25am左右，便起来梳洗。小瓜也被我的抚摸弄醒，于是便决定带她一同送爸爸上飞机。

到了T1，足足花了45分钟左右才办完登机手续，班机虽然6点起飞，但5.05am就开始登机，结果连一家人一起坐下来吃早餐的时间都没有......

K的眼睛开始发红，接着泪水不由自主地落下。他之前一直取笑我，说登机时不要哭，也不太愿意让我送他到机场，所以我决定不哭的，他却先“投降”，害得我也掉了眼泪。虽然只不过是短短的3个多星期，但自我们在一起之后，也从没分开那么久，特别是有了家庭之后，这么说来，这3个星期还算是漫长的......he won't be around for my birthday, he won't be around for X'mas......

就这样，他带着不舍离开，我带着不舍目送他独自飞回遥远的美国......唯独小瓜，依旧non-chalent......

KJE, BKE, PIE - 3个人的路程，PIE, BKE, KJE - 两颗心的期待。

最后一天

2008-11-27T00:02:00.004+08:00

今年的冬天来得比较迟。原本还希望在离开之前，能再一次经历在雪地里游戏、堆雪人、跟小瓜打雪战（上一次下雪，她要求出去玩，可是积雪不深，没让她出去）......可惜！

两个冬季，一样的离别之情，一样的依依不舍，不同的是，当初带着一股对未知的期待，而今则是对回家的期许。

有些人会说，兜了一圈，还不是回到原点。我却觉得这一年是我人生不可或缺的转捩点，不可多得的经历累积。真的没有后悔当初的决定。看到了孩子的成长，变得更独立、活跃、友善，真正过着独立的家庭生活，没有干扰。相信这将是回国后最怀念的一环......

还有就是由他州友善的居民，这里的购物环境（商场宽敞，任何东西买了不喜欢，都能随意退还，factory outlets-super 廉价名牌货），农场和活动空间，到处都是高山的自然景观，小孩的活动......

家，是一定要回的，但绝对会带着一丝不舍......

一切安好

2008-11-11T10:52:00.002+08:00

浏览了一些过去的日记，不知不觉，选的都是一些感性或不太开心的回忆。现时今日，忆起往事，还是会掉眼泪，我想有些事，无论埋藏得多深，一旦触及，还是会痛。

或许近日来身体不太舒服，荷尔蒙有点失调（哈哈），枕边人也因为就快变成无业游民，态度较恶劣，导致我的心情也起伏不定，比较grey一点。

哎哟，don't worry lah,一切安好。Looking forward to going home. That's where my support base is.. hehe...

巨变

2008-10-13T09:07:00.000+08:00

此时此刻，几个星期来的不稳定，终于有了答案。

一个简讯，打散了不知多少人的期待？摧毁了不知多少家庭的稳定？

接下来何去何从？

下雪天

2008-10-12T23:43:00.001+08:00

刚才迈入秋的季节，怎的下起雪来了......

这个周某，因此哪儿也没去，却也不无惊喜。:)

Thunder Storm

2008-09-02T10:15:00.002+08:00

The temp is about 14C outside. It's expected to be pretty cool (or cold) this couple of days.

We just experienced a thunder storm on Sunday. The sky was pretty gloomy and overcast. Suddenly, the wind started howling furiously (weather reports forecast the speed to be as high as 70mph. That's easily past 100kph). It was forecast that there might be hail too. Luckily this time round, we only experienced heavy showers. The good thing is, it past almost as quickly as it came.

The aftermath??? Snow-capped mountains again! Have not seen them for months.... K was lamenting the cold winter is coming soon (even though Autumn hasn't quite arrived yet ;p)...

Usana International Convention 2008 - Changing Lives

2008-08-30T19:10:00.007+08:00

I would not have gone for Convention if I had not been in Utah. I would not have gone for Convention if K's stay here had not been extended. I would not have gone for Convention if I had not started my 3BCs which comes with free event passes. But somehow, there's a greater power out there and things just flow along....

I would have made the STUPIDEST decision if I had not gone for Convention.

I learnt that this is a business that has no discrimination - whether u're 18 or 80, whether u're blessed with health or disabled, whether u have no education or a PhD, whether u're white, black, yellow etc, whether u can speak English or not, whether u come from the slums or r born with a silver spoon, whether u're a widow with mouths to feed or a happily married taitai, this is a business for everyone, as long as u do not QUIT.

I learnt that I'm working with a company with conscience, one that not only takes from society but gives back even more - go green initiatives by changing the packaging of it's products and installing solar panels for 3rd phase of headquarter so as to cut down on environmental pollutions to truly fulfill their mission of providing True Health, working with Children's Hunger Fund to help provide food and vitamins to less fortunate children around the world, giving to orphanages and more.

I learnt that Usana's pay plan is indeed the Brilliant Compensation, the best I'd seen in my entire life! --Matching bonus that the company matches, up to 100% of your sponsored associates income who meet requirement, for 32 whole weeks (besides Singapore government's baby bonus ;p). That's on top of commissions you get from your sales volume. Profit sharing for Top 25 income earners etc. And they r here to stay. Am I hearing things???

I learnt how Usana's products made changes to people's life by giving them True Health and True Wealth - how an HIV positive lady who was in desperate need of building up her immune system through supplementation but had allergy towards binders used in common vitamins, that nearly cost her life found light through Usana's high quality nutritional supplements, through it, managed to build her residual income that allows her to prepare for the day she may not be able to work in a common job anymore and needing money for medical bills, how it took a 70 over year old mountaineer all the way up Everest, how Olympic gold medalists trusted their health and career with it...

Yes, I TOTALLY enjoyed Convention! It's Mind Changing, it's Life Changing and best of all it's FUN. From this day onward, I devote myself to sharing Dr Myron Wentz's vision:

"I dream of a world free from pain and suffering.
I dream of a world free from diseases.
The USANA family will be the healthiest family on earth.
Share my vision.
Love life. And live it to it's fullest in happiness and health."

My life changed and I wish I can help many others change their lives for the better. For if u knew what I know, u'll join me in a heartbeat.

Temple Square @ SLC

2008-08-24T23:52:00.005+08:00

This is the second time En n I went to Temple Sq, the first for K. Our first trip was in Dec, with K's colleagues. This is the site where the Temple of LDS Church is. It's a historical ground for Mormons, where you'll find the Beehive House (where Mormon pioneer, Brigham Young stayed), Tabernacle, Salt Lake Temple, Joseph Smith Memorial Building etc. For more information, visit http://www.visittemplesquare.com/.

Pictures speak a thousand words.....

Though Beehive House looks small from outside, the interior is huge, with many rooms and the furnishings are really exquisite, with some being imported from France.

"Reading" Story

2008-08-23T23:31:00.002+08:00

En's "reading" her Sophie book again...

If u're marveling at how she can recognise so many words at the tender age of 3, well, she simply memorised them (as with her other story "reading" episodes)...

Cottonwood Heights Outdoor Pool

2008-08-16T23:18:00.001+08:00

Heard from a mummy here that Cottonwood Heights Recreation Center has a huge outdoor pool, so we decided to give it a try before it closes (the outdoor pools here generally close by 1 Sep Labour Day).

True enough, there are quite a number of pools there, including kids play area, slides and even diving platforms. Though it was a summer day, I wouldn't suggest those who are afraid of cold or have too little fats to insulate them to give it a try. Reason being, even though it's hot and sunny, the wind can be quite a chill.... K certainly didn't enjoy it..

What about En? She had a thing for the kiddy slide. She went on it for so many times, I lost count (of cos after the initial "I'm scared, I don't want episode").

Community Party@ Monarch Meadows Apartment

2008-08-13T23:49:00.007+08:00

Ever wonder when my entries about FREE summer activities will end?? Certainly not yet!!! Haha ;p

Monarch Meadows Apartment held a Community Party on 13 Aug (6-8pm). It was a great opportunity for residents to mingle and mix and the best thing was, we got to have FREE food, drinks, snacks and plenty of playing for the kids!

Though En was kinda a scardy cat. She only got on 1 Bouncing Slide with a big koko.

Well, she climbed this ride about 3x but never went through with it...

Happy Family

Little friends

Beautiful summer evening...

Hail

2008-08-10T23:10:00.002+08:00

Do u know what it's like when it's raining hail???

Sandy Balloon Festival

2008-08-09T23:16:00.003+08:00

If I'm not mistaken, this should be the 2nd Sandy Annual Balloon Festival. We missed the morning events but decided to go for the evening session. However, the weather wasn't that suitable. Though it was rather rare to be caught in the rain in Utah, especially during summer...

Luckily, there's a Super Target nearby, so we decided to avoid the rain there. An hr or so past, luckily the rain stopped. We proceeded to the Carnival ground. There was a concert going on. This little gal of mine decided to show her stuff...

Finally the wind had settled enough for the balloon to fly! Phew, wouldn't it be a waste to come to the Balloon Fest with no balloon in sight??

While they were trying to inflate the 2nd balloon (which seemed to be in the shape of a dog), the wind started blowing furiously, so the task had to be aborted. They deflated the 1st balloon too, as it can be a potential fire hazard. There was a fire engine on standby. The crowd started to disperse soon after... our 1st balloon fest....

I Love SINGAPORE

2008-08-09T12:35:00.000+08:00

It's the time of the year my beloved Homeland, the place I call HOME celebrates her birthday again. 43 years and she's grown better than ever. Even with the inflation, ever rising housing prices, how many places in this world can beat her stability and security?

Distance certainly makes the heart grow fonder.... even though Utah is beautiful and I wish I can spend more time here, however, deep in my heart, I know this will never be home.

I'm proud to call myself Singaporean. It's a blessing many can only wish for.

"We, the citizens of Singapore,
Pledge ourselves as one united people.
Regardless of race, language or religion,
To build a democratic society,
Based on justice and equality,
So as to achieve Happiness, Prosperity and Progress
For our Nation."

Happy 43rd Birthday
Singapore!

First Swim Lesson

2008-08-03T06:39:00.009+08:00

Me: "Hurry n finish your breakfast. We're going to the pool with the indoor play area for swimming class."

En: "I don't want to go. I'm scared."

Well, En usually loves swimming. Just happened that her first experience at Dimpledell Pool was somewhat "chilling". Dimpledell pool is an indoor pool in Dimpledell Recreation Centre. It has a nice Children Play Area and a long slide for the older kids/ adults, swimming lanes, bridge and an area for water aerobics. However, the first time we went there was in Spring and the indoor temperature wasn't well-controlled. It was kinda chilly, even for adults. Very soon, En's lips turned purple and she was shivering badly.....

Anyway, we did go for class on Mon. The Pre-Guppies 1 class is small, with only 4 students and 2 teachers! All those who are thinking the fees must be super ex, well, we paid US$33.50 for 9 sessions. How about that? (This was my 3rd attempt at registering her for swim class. I woke up at 5.15am to register her online at exactly 5.30am when registration started. The Pre-guppies level always get taken up real FAST! I was the first haha.)

The little ones joined their teachers, Ashley and Diane in the Play Area. They were told to move to another section. Next moment, En was under water (trying to swim as if she had her floats on)!!! I was a little shocked cos she was scared to dip her head under water and would never try it. Phew, she quickly stood up, with a surprised look on her face, and started SMILING :)... Good start. No anxiety whatsoever.

It wasn't the case for one of her classmate. There was this Caucasian girl who was crying for her mum the entire lesson, even with the teacher carrying her. Nonetheless, En wasn't affected (though she was a bit KPO, always looking at the crying girl). This first lesson was aimed at creating water confidence. The kids were asked to run and pick their water toys at the side of the pool, threw them, then running in the water to pick them again. They were also introduced to paddling, kicking their legs. The teachers also carried them to the deeper end to get them accustomed to floating etc. Soon, it was time to go (the lessons are 30min long only). En thoroughly enjoyed herself!

It was shower time... Woow, COLD water.... En was struggling and crying to get out of the shower. But I had to shoved her back to wash away the shampoo (I realised on the 2nd lesson that if I had turned the shower knob more, warm water will flow. Silly Mummy! Sorry..). Finally it was over...

On the way for lunch, En said she will definitely want to go for swim class again.

P/s: En's only guy classmate was a Chinese boy. His mummy was a native of Wuhan but she had already stayed in the States for 10 yrs. They just recently moved to Utah. So we made some new friends.

During her 2nd lesson, En was introduced to partially submerging her face into the water. We tried it at our apartment pool the next day and she did it! I bobbed her whole head into the water for 4 times! Yeah! That was awesome, my little baby!

We had gone for 3 lessons so far... it's just getting better.

Park Silly Sunday Market @ Park City's Historic Main Street

2008-07-27T23:58:00.003+08:00

Park City - The PLACE that gets me really excited!! Why??? Bcos that's where the factory outlets r - CK, Osh Kosh, Gap, Banana Republic, Ralph Lauren, COACH, Aldo, Nine West, Nike, Adidas, Tommy Hilfiger, Fossil, Gymboree, AE, Aeropostales....... discounts, discounts, promo, promo... now u know y we ran out of drawer space ;p

Don't be mistaken, that's not all of Park City. This is where most of the Ski resorts are located. We are talking about the official location of the 2002 Winter Olympics k! That doesn't mean there's nothing to do during summer (besides outlet shopping).

There is ONE thing that can only be found during summer - Market Place. Farmers' markets, artist markets, weekend markets.... So here we r at the Park Silly Sunday Market. It opens from mid June to mid Oct only. The stores feature many unique items like bags made from recycled material, hand crafted bibs, handicrafts, unique children's clothing, art work etc... of cos there must be food - BBQ stores, beer....

Movie in the Parks

2008-07-21T07:21:00.003+08:00

Yes, summer is HOT!! However, it's also the time for many activities, some unheard of in Singapore, for e.g. Rodeos (we'd been to 1, however, we weren't prepared for the cold. Rodeos usually starts at 8pm. When we saw the locals showing up with blankets, quilts, fleece throws etc. we were truly caught off-guard. Besides the location was 2 hrs from home... so we left abt an hr plus after event started. Too COLD!), farmers' markets, fairs, city days and FREE movies in the parks!!!

Just went for one at Monarch Meadows Park, within walking distance of our apartments on Fri. Movies usually starts at dusk so we brought our fleece sleeping bag, which can open up to be a throw, water n snacks with us. There was already a moderate gathering there, many brought quilts, pillows, blankets, chairs, even air mattresses!!!

We met K's colleague and she had her little gal who was same age as En with her. Well, En was in her generous mood and shared her shrimp crackers down to the very last bit... so proud of her generosity :).

The movie we were watching was Waterhorse. En commented we tried to catch the show, but it had already ended (which was true. We did try to catch it at Cinemark 24. However, they had stopped showing the movie). Sometimes I do marvel at her good memory...

As the movie started, the smell of buttery popcorn started filling the air. Initially, I thought it probably came from people eating popcorns around us. Then I realised there was a snack vendor at the pavilion besides the playground.. Too bad, we didn't have any $$ with us..

It was a wonderful feeling, sitting under the starry night sky... taking in the night breeze, just relaxing... It's very different over here in Riverton, or generally Utah, as there was hardly any streetlamps, even in the parks. Because of the darkness, the sky always seem particularly filled with stars. It's almost quite impossible to have such starry nights back home, not even at East Coast.... ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Midway through the show, the screen toppled hahaha... Well, it was actually like a blown-up kind of screen. This was quickly resolved as the men in the audience went to help.

Well, we didn't stay through the show as En needed to wake up early for Gym next day. To me, that wasn't important. This was a life I'd never get to experience back home, truly a relaxing, family time.....