Missing in Action.. For Just a Little Bit

I know I've been quiet. Is pregnancy fatigue a good enough reason?

Guess not.

Probably just boils down to laziness. I really take my hats off other mummy bloggers who have to juggle family and takes time to write very meaningful and interesting posts.

But I did have some good days that past since B's birthday weekend. Most of these I've updated on Instagram (follow me: https://instagram.com/paulineee84) which I'm a lot more active. We went on the Duck Tour which was fun but hot hot hot. We took a cable car ride and became Faber-licensed, i.e. basically signing on to be member that allows us a year of unlimited rides. It was quite a no-brainer for us because the roundtrip ticket for an adult is $29 while the membership is $39. Thankfully I signed on the spot because once B got onto the cable car, he didn't want to alight! So can you imagine if I had to carry him to buy tickets at every station and pay $29 each time which totally didn't make sense. So we got our membership card on the spot at the Mt Faber membership counter and just went on the ride until I got a little sick and had to persuade him down. It was really fun actually. If anyone is interested, that membership card somewhat acts like the Sentosa Islander card, you get a whole bunch of discount on Sentosa including free admission via car.

Now this week, DH is away in Japan and I told my mum I'll camp over at her place. Actually, mainly for dinners so I don't have to cook. I made no effort in going to the market last weekend since I had zero intention to cook with DH being away. So last few nights B and I came home late after dinner at my mum's, I showered him there just in case he sleeps in the car on the way back. Tomorrow, I'll take him with me to Dr W for my check up. 31weeks now, not long to go.

Will have more details tomorrow... and it will be my turn on the SMB blog train, giving you a sneak peek at a day in my life.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Bradley! Plus Updates on Baby Clara

My baby is turning 2 this Sunday! *cues confetti and tears*

We don't have any big plans for this weekend but DH and I did plan on taking him on a couple of activities which we know he will love it. So the weekend is packed to the brim with activities and I hope he will enjoy!

I also did a mini birthday celebration for him in playgroup because I know how much he enjoys going there and what better than have a group of like-minded kids hang out and sing birthday song and stuff themselves silly with sugary cupcakes. I bet the parents are all cheering at the sugar rush. Oops! :D

Cupcakes made by Mess With Cakes, who also baked Bradley's 1st bday cake last year. Very yummy and I've requested for less sugar to humour everyone.

He was surprised when I brought out the cupcakes to show him before leaving for school and he loves it. Kept asking "what's 小鸟 doing?". He hasn't gotten over the bird from the SQ ride where they gave him the plush toy.

We decided to give him the birthday gift from daddy a week earlier because we had ran out of things to do with him last weekend and we were too lazy to go out.

He absolutely loves painting and we figured this during the art and craft sessions in playgroup. So I guess this is a good way to keep him occupied at home. Except he wants "mummy sit here" while he paints. Oh well. It won't be any longer that he wants me around I guess.

Now moving on.... updates on Baby Clara! 

Did the glucose test this morning... argh. My memory did not fail me, I hated it still. With the first pregnancy, I don't know why I chose to finish the drink at a shot, but I remember nearly vomiting halfway through it. This round, I was given a straw (more demure I guess) and told to finish the drink in 5 minutes. Well, I guess I finished it within 1 minute but took a few breaks in between. It still sucked as much, and I still feel sick afterwards. Not sure if it was from the sweetness or the fasting. Anyhoo, I passed the test and we managed to see more defined images of Clara!

As commented by Dr W, she has a very sharp nose bridge, and I agree! Even sharper than B when he was in utero. I am damn relieved because I was so worried she would inherit DH's big nose... oops.. sorry darling! I love you and your big nose and all, but not so nice for a girl to have such big nose right? And we don't have to worry about her coming to us in the future saying she wants a nose job!

Physically, I've put on close to 5kg to date which I'm really happy with. I did not make a conscious effort to control my diet, but I guess with a toddler to care for and not having the luxury to eat as and when I like it, this is understandable. I just hope it doesn't compromise with the nutrients Clara is getting.

But she's at a good weight - 1.2kg at 28 weeks. I don't have B's weight when he was 28 weeks but at 30w, he was 1.6kg, so I guess it's about right. 

The doctor visits will now come more frequently, every 3 weeks and shit's getting real!!! Technically in about 10 weeks time, we will be seeing Clara. I have only started washing part 1 of bag 1 of the clothes Karen passed to me. The nursery is not done, there are still things to buy!

*zen* *breathes in and out* *ohmmm*

Ok, I better get the scrapbook going before one day Clara asks, "mummy why kor kor has this book and I don't?!"

Replicating School Activities at Home

What happens at school...

What happens when we try to replicate it at home....

Abit far from what was meant to be... but never mind... we still had fun!

Lucky Girl(s)

My friend Karen packed a whole bunch of baby girls clothings for Clara and we went to pick it up from her last Friday. It was 4 bags full and I still haven't got down to sorting them out. Thank you so much. That saves us a lot of time and money in buying new clothes for C. She had also wanted to kindly bless us with the baby cot, which I had initially accepted, but seeing B no longer sleeps in his and is in fact too big for the cot, we kindly declined it. So now, everything is pretty much sorted. We have the big items stuff all ready - cot, car seat (also from Karen which B used it before he turned 1), steriliser, breast pumps, rocker. These are mostly from B's time and we hardly need to buy anything apart from maybe some new milk bottles and a couple of newborn clothes for the first few weeks. So blessed, thank you to all my lucky stars.

I am now 26 weeks, which leaves us about 14 weeks left. It is crazy how time has flown. Everyday, I'm just enjoying my moments with B because I know inevitably when mei-mei arrives, this devoted attention to him will have to be split up. Sorry my baby, but always always remember mummy loves you a lot.

I tell him everyday how much I love him and how I always will. Its very cliche and cheesy but it is the truth. DH observed how special a bond B and I share and this is something that will never change.  He is turning 2 in a few weeks and sometimes we look at him and get completely thrown away at how grown up he is, and yet his childlike character brings us back to reality that he is in fact only just 2.

His ability to speak in short sentences and phrases make things a whole lot easier in understanding him and communicating with him. Sometimes, out of the blue, he will say something that catch us off guard and have us laughing uncontrollably. Just a few days back:

B: Mummy carry

DH: Come, daddy carry and let mummy rest

B: Ok

2 minutes later...

B: Mummy carry

Me: Daddy carry you is the same right?

D: No, mummy carry. Don't want daddy carry.

Hahahaha... I couldn't help but laughed out loud and DH gave a -_-" face. He said his son "no give face".

The things he say, I should try to compile them so that I can look back and have a good laugh next time.

Mini Holiday

Greetings from Jakarta!

We tagged along daddy's business trip and are now in Jakarta. Actually I'm napping now so mummy's updating on my behalf. Since mummy's doing that and I don't trust her enough, I shall let the pictures do the talking.

So where are the airplanes mummy been promising? Which way do I go?

I got my map and ready to explore!

Oohhh.. you mean we can actually go and sit in that big plane?

Thanks but I will just have cheezels for dinner

They gave me Skully on the plane. Turns out I really like him alot. He went to bed with me last night 

Disappointment and Bewilderment

With the school holidays this week, I am running out of activities and places to bring B to. We generally avoid indoor playgrounds like a plague because of the crowd and also the higher possibility of the already-high-chance of germs spreading.

So this morning, we drove down to ECP for some sand play. It was really a lovely morning but B decided he had enough after about 30 minutes and started going "mummy carree". That signifies the end of our outing. Haha.

So we drove back home around 10am, taking KPE, which has a speed limit of 80km/h. At this time of the morning heading towards home, traffic is super light. I was on the right lane and driving at 80. About 4-5 cars distance ahead of me was a taxi. Out of nowhere, a black car appeared behind me and started tailgating me. I'm used to idiotic drivers tailgating, they usually just run out of patience and overtake me. This car was so near to me I can't even tell the make of the car, but judging from its headlight, I think it could be either a Mazda or Audi. Not sure.

The middle lanes had some slower moving traffic so tailgater couldn't overtake. All this while I was at 80 and I had my son in the back seat. I've also been caught on camera twice on the KPE for exceeding the speed limit by less than 5km/h, so I'm extremely careful especially near the speed cameras. Anyway, when the fellow finally had the chance to overtake me, he wound down his window and gave me a thumbs up sign, held it there for like 5 seconds and sped off.

Wow.

I was speechless. If you were wondering, no I wasn't angry, but I was really bewildered. What was his point? Does it really make him a lot happier when he did that? Was he trying to prove something?I don't get it.

The fact that these people are on the roads everyday, everywhere. Doesn't it say something about our society? They are other people's children, they could be parents themselves. So when behaving in such a manner, what message are they trying to convey to their children?

Can you see why I'm so baffled? I really do not understand his point. I texted DH and told him about it. He has his theories - he thinks people who behaves this way are generally full of angst, things not going smoothly for them and small actions like these make them feel superior. After that few seconds of self happiness, they are back to being angry people again. Well, perhaps he's right.

I hope that fellow feels happy today about having done that. As for me? I just feel sorry for him.

Playgroup For Bradley

 Finally we found a parent-accompanied playground that's not too far from home, not too expensive and not at an inconvenient time. I don't know why this place didn't pop up before when I was doing a Google search but nonetheless I'm happy we've found it.

Playdays has 2 outlets, 1 at Sunset Way and another at Mountbatten Centre. I knew there were many childcare facilities at Mountbatten Square and Centre area but I had no idea it was THAT many. We went for a trial yesterday and I was pleasantly surprised with the environment. What I liked about Playdays:

• Location - took us 30 minutes with peak hour traffic
• Class starts supposedly at 9:15am but the people starts strolling in around 9:30 and even with that, there is still time for free play. That means we don't have to rush in the morning. When we went for Bibinogs trial, class starts at 9 and we had to leave our home at 7:30 only to get there at 8:30, in time to have breakfast before heading up.
• Teachers were more flexible - if they noticed the kids in class were exceptionally active that day, they will change their program to cater to what the kids might be more interested in. I witnessed what was meant as a storytelling session changed halfway to sing-and-dance because all the toddlers seem to be on a high!
• A good mix of local and expats kids as well  as a local teacher and native English teacher.

I guess the only thing I'd have preferred Bibinogs was its bilingual program, but it wasn't enough to make me want to travel to Bukit Timah every week during peak hour. So, we got ourselves a weekly playgroup which I think B thoroughly enjoyed, and I have to say, I did too.