Monday, December 30, 2013

Christmas Photoshoot and Playdate

Our mummies support group organised a post Christmas get-together and had a photographer come to take pictures of our bubs. With about 20 over adults, more than 20 babies and toddlers, needless to say, it was chaotic. But boy was it fun. Gone are those day where the babies just lay quietly on the playmats, now, they're crawling, standing, screaming, crying, snatching, laughing. I wonder if they will grow up to be friends like their mothers.






Farewell 2013

Last year round about this time, I wrote a letter to B.

My emotions were in overdrive when I wrote that letter. Imagine being pregnant with your first child, full of uncertainties, unsure of what's ahead of us yet a picture perfect image in your mind.

Well, a year later, what do you know? The uncertainties are still there, we are still unsure of what's gonna be ahead of us and the picture perfect image? We're living it.

I don't know about you, but a floor full of toys lying around, towels draped over chair/cot, babies toiletries taking over your bathroom, dustbin full of soiled diapers, fridge full of fresh food for baby, sink full of dishes and milk bottles, loads full of laundry, that's pretty "stepford housewives" perfect to me.

To an even greater year ahead, thank you 2013 and hello 2014!

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Bradley's Bag of Tricks

Happy 8th month old my darling! 

It is ridiculously crazy how time passes so quickly. 4 more months and he will be one year old! DH and I are already thinking about his first birthday. I think most likely it will be a quiet affair, just the 3 of us. You know if we have a party with my side of the family, there's a chance we have to do one more with his side... so I guess to not complicate things and start any conflicts, just the 3 of us might be the best and ideal case.

At 8 months old, B has his bags of tricks. You know I'm not exactly very conscientious in stimulating or teaching baby with things like flash cards. Well, I did "flash" him 3 times a day, everyday when he turned 3 months old. Then it become once a day, then it became whenever I feel like it. But one thing for sure, I read to him everyday without fail, especially before bed time.

So I was rather surprised when I taught B how to "kok kok" our foreheads and after a few tries, when you say "Kok Kok" and lean your head in, he does the same! But this cannot, never ever, be compared to asking him to give mummy a kiss. I guess from day one he's been abused with all my kisses and whenever I wanna kiss him, I will say "come, let mummy kiss" or "give mummy a kiss". Now, when I lean in to him and say "give mummy a kiss", he leans back in and aims for my mouth. Sometimes with his mouth open! DH witnessed it yesterday and I was crazy with pride.

Oh baby, mummy loves you so much. 

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Christmas 2013

Last Christmas, I was 6 months pregnant, received compliments about how pregnancy suits me and the radiance it brought me. The family was sipping champagne and I was drinking sparkling juice. I was happy.

This Christmas, there isn't any party on eve or actual day. Most of our friends and family are like us, with young kids and our engagements have all been pushed to post Christmas, which is fine by us. No baby bump, no radiance but a whole lot of happiness and blessings.

2014 will be great!



Monday, December 23, 2013

Namaste

I'm a yoga rookie. The first time I did yoga was during my honeymoon and the resort offered complimentary yoga on certain days. That session left me handicapped for the rest of my honeymoon. Ok maybe I exaggerate, but you get the gist.

5 years after that session, I signed up as member of a gym near my office and took advantage of its lunch time Yoga 101 classes. But it was usually too rushed for me so I ended up using the gym more instead of the classes.

I always wanted to be religious in practicing yoga but I guess you can say there was never a right time and place. When I got pregnant, I was very keen in prenatal yoga but Dr W felt that unless I have been doing yoga for awhile, I should probably not attempt to start- not for fear of hurting the baby, but more of injuring myself. 

Up until recently, a new yoga studio opened next to my mum's place! That's a sign from heaven to stop finding excuse! I jumped at the opportunity an wet for the trial class today. Love it despite being in so many aches and pains now. The one hour of solitude really did me good. I felt rejuvenated afterwards and best part? It's next door to my mums! How convenient?

Looks like I'll be doing some stretching moving on!

Saturday, December 21, 2013

New Hobby?

Extremely fed up that I lost B's taggie twice, I decided to attempt to see one myself.

Taggie blankets are cuddle cloths, with ribbons of different texture in a loop surronding the sides. It is believed that babies love playing and fondling with those tags of different colours and textures.

I first bought one for him when he was about 3 months old but it wasn't until recently that I saw him playing with it intently, fingers looping through the ribbons, feeling them. And then one day, the taggie went missing. Not wanting him to miss out "exploring" the taggie, I bought another one, exactly the same, only to lose it a few days later!!!! Boy was I upset. So I decided maybe I could try and make one myself.




Excuse the terrible needlework, minky cloth is very hard to work with, plus I don't have the right equipment. So needless to say, I was very happy and satisfied with the end result.

I got the materials from spotlight and have enough to make at least 5-6 more. I'm already planning to make one of a different shape. Should be fun!


Friday, December 20, 2013

气消了

果然。。。是一时看不开,被怒气冲昏了头,说气话。

雨过天晴 。

女人嘛。。。

Thursday, December 19, 2013

该化解怨气了

心里头的怨气,有时还真会令人冲昏了头。可能自己没自己想像的那么伟大吧。 

怨他可以从早到晚有自己的空间;怨他又可以和朋友出去; 怨他不百分之百明白带孩子的累和压力;怨他以为一切轻而易举;怨他不明白怒气后的真正原因。 

说实在,和朋友的聚会他是推掉很多,因为他选择陪我们母子。就是不甘愿他可以有那个选择。而我是直接别多说- 只要是过了6点就免谈。

虽然常提出要我独自出门享受一下, 将孩子交给他,我实在是不放心。就因为他毕竟只有真正在周末才朝夕相对,不完全了解宝宝的习惯。即便我在家,有时一个简单的任务都无法以我想要的方式去做, 可能他认为他的做法比我“苦尽甘来”察觉到的方式来的好些吧。

怨。真的很怨。

必须想尽办法解怨,不然当我的嘴巴不留情时,肯定两败俱伤。

今天真的要爆了。 是大姨妈的关系吗?

Go away.

Welcome Back, AF

Yep, after 16 months of absence, Miss AF is back. Oh boy, I sure did not miss you. For all the agony you caused me while we were TTC, your absence was truly appreciated. Now that you are back, I guess some normalcy is returning?

This question has popped up many times - "are you guys planning to have another one soon?", "better now than later ", "chop chop get it over and close shop".

Well, truth is, I'm undecided. 

I want B to have a sibling, preferably a brother, but at this point, I just want to give him my full attention. At least until he's 2.  Then again I'm not sure if I like the gap to be too big, because I'm not sure if I want to go through this whole sleepless thing all over again. Yeah, it's for totally selfish reasons.

DH and I spoke about it. We want another one, but now is not the time yet. I don't dare to let nature takes it course this time for I hear women are rather fertile in the first year after child birth. Someone from our April mums' group is already expecting!

But, the thought of being pregnant and going through it again..... happiness.

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Mummy's Little Man

Today was a great day! I had planned on taking B to Paragon as I saw something from Mothercare there which wasn't available at other outlets I've been. And then there's the CNY clothes shopping for B.

After his nap and porridge, we drove to Orchard, which by the way, traffic was f---ing unbelievable. I got so fed up stuck in traffic for so long I decided to just park at Triple One and walk to Paragon. B enjoyed the stroller ride as there was much to see. We had lunch at Big O and it was really enjoyable having B as my lunch date... Provided he was in a good mood. He napped again when I was wearing him, which gave me time to shop at H&M for his clothes. Spent about a hundred bucks and everything for him! 

By the time we are ready to head home, it was nearly 3pm! 3 hours shopping date with my boy. Simple pleasures in life.

A shot of him when he woke up from nap and having a snack of pumpkin purée.





Monday, December 16, 2013

Busy As A Bee

I had a busy week last week with DH traveling and only back for the weekend and now strutted off to Jakarta back tomorrow night.

B and I have our own little routine when daddy's not home, but like me, B is always happy to welcome daddy back. To the extent I think daddy is now his favourite person. His eyes lit up when he sees daddy and he kicks in excitement. Sadly, he also sleeps worse during the night when dad is around. It's true, whenever DH Is around, B doesn't sleep through and fusses a lot. But when it's just us two, the night breezes by. I came to the conclusion that he associates Dad with play and Mum with food and sleep. Because when he fusses at night, whatever daddy does it futile. But when mum takes over, he quietens. Sighs. So daddy gets the good, fun job of playing while mum has to do the "dirty" job of waking in the middle of the night. Cest la vie.

At 7.5 months, B is keeping me real busy. He crawls whenever he gets the chance, flips whenever we put him down and whines whenever he's unhappy. He loves meal times, thank goodness. What was once a challenge of feeding him his dinner is now gone. Besides his 2 meals, I've incorporated snacks of various fruits and veg purée in between his meals and milk. I don't think he's ready to increase the milk intake yet but that's fine.

As for me, I think I'm coping ok. I have ventured further with him - driving to town and expo instead of just home and my mums. B seems to get that there's no point grumbling, he's stuck in the car seat as long as we are in the car.  He has even on a few occasions fell asleep on his own in it. 

Watching him grow daily is a privilege. Seeing him learn new tricks is priceless. Oh what wouldn't I give?

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

The Stars Are Telling You Something

Fun Fact #1: Bradley's zodiac - Taurus

"Though you are usually stable and sensible, sometimes you need to break out of that middle ground and try something crazy. Today is perfect for wild schemes, so go for it"

Fun fact #2: Mummy's zodiac - Virgo

"Ease up on that one kid who drives you crazy - criticism is doubly ineffective right now. Exercise a little patience and he may come around without you having to say a word".

Oh boy, aren't we in for a fun day today? Especially when daddy is gonna be traveling today and back on Saturday. 

Yay.

Monday, December 9, 2013

Mother's Instinct

"Trust your mother's instinct", a friend told me.

I was contemplating whether to bring B to his pd. He wasn't exactly unwell (thank goodness), but he has been pooing a lot. By a lot, I mean 5-6 times a day. I didn't pay much attention to it in the beginning because B is a master pooper in my eyes. Since day 1, he poos a lot. Until about 4 months he started to have one mega poo a day, which I thought was great. Then came the introduction of solids... Well.. That's another shitload of issue, puns intended!

Anyway, for almost a week, he has been pooping a lot. The texture were normal except for 1-2 diapers a day where it was somewhat watery. Other than this, he was perfectly fine, eating normally and his usual self. But the frequency and duration had me worried, so I was thinking wether to see the pd or not. My gut feeling told me he's fine, but my paranoid-mum brain told me to play safe. Lo and behold, on the day of his doctor visit, he only pooped once so far. Doctor's diagnosis? Probably something he put in his mouth since I didn't introduce anything new. He ruled it out as diarrhea but gave probiotics anyway.

So my friend's comment was right, trust your instinct. But then again, I'm no doctor. I rather pay to buy a peace of mind.

That said, like most mothers, I think I've graduated with a major in poology.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Keeping A Positive Mindset

What a long day. On days like this, I doubt my parenting skills and question the patience that I am oh-so-proud of when it comes to my baby.

The last few days, or even couple of weeks had been great. Since his teeth cut through, he was less cranky and doesn't cry in the middle of the night. I have even managed to "wean" him off the swing cradle *self-pat*. Not letting him nap in the yao lan took a lot of patience. After two days of hair pulling during nap times, we kissed the cradle good bye. I have also cut down his day time naps from 4 naps to 3. When he was napping 4 times a day, each nap was only 30 minutes, 45 max. Now with 3 naps, he has at least one nap that's about 1.5 hours. That gives me a window to get the chores done.

Today, however, was a different story. Sighs.

Long story short, he dragged 2 of his nap times an hour later. I had to can my plans of taking him to Suntec for lunch and people watch. His last nap was too close to his bed time and missed his dinner. He wanted to continue sleeping but I didn't let him because it was almost 6. When I finally did give him dinner, he couldn't finish and started to get cranky because he hadn't had enough sleep. All in all, the last hour before he went to bed killed me.

Yes I'm exhausted. Yes I wish I had help. Yes I would love some solitude. 

But right before he dozed off, he stared into my eyes intently, hand holding onto mine, smiling. All my exhaustion and frustrations just went away. Just like that, I realised...

I am in love with a manipulator.