X'mas Day = Children's Presents' Day

The children have already been asking for the presents placed under the Christmas Tree. They have been asking since the day the presents have been placed there.

So, on the very day of Xmas itself, the children couldnt resist anymore (as we told them to wait till Xmas Day to open the presents) and asked for the presents again. This time, they got their wish granted. Hooray! Immediately, they started the mission of tearing the layers of wrappers, hoping to see their "wishes come true". Indeed, the process of unwrapping the presents is like having a war.....wrappers are thrown everywhere in the house as they are deemed "useless" as compared to the toys they are holding in their hands.

The children having "war" with the wrappers

Sometimes, I wonder whether the children understand the true meaning of X'mas. To them, it could jolly well mean Presents' Day. No one can deny that they are the happiest lot on this day as they receive tons of presents from their loved ones. Like Trenyce, she received about 10presents in all! Thats a record for this year. I believe there are many more children like Trenyce out there and I do hope they will understand the meaning of "giving" on X'mas Day and not regarding it as "Presents' Day".

Here's wishing everyone a very Merry Xmas (though I am a few minutes late) and Blessed Year 2008! Cheers!!!

Unforgettable Xmas 2007

It has just past Christmas. I have just returned from Orchard Road, bringing my PILs and SIL & family to view the beautiful decor. This was the first time I ever walked the entire stretch of Orchard to view the decor on Christmas Day itself as most of the time I would be in Labis at this time of the year. There were crowds of people and it was a challenge for a heavily pregnant woman to complete the entire stretch. We walked from GoodWood Park Hotel all the way to Centrepoint and boarded the MRT at Somerset back to Ang Mo Kio. The train was not as packed as I expected it to be, perhaps its still early....We left around 8plus but the kids and this heavily pregnant mama were already exhausted and couldnt walk any further.

Anyway, it was a Christmas unforgettable. Unfortunately, I have forgotten to bring my camera along so I couldnt snap any nice pictures to post it here.

Pre & Post-Natal Massage Contacts

Called up a few massage contacts gotten from momsinmind website and decided to post it for reference. SO any mummies are welcome to refer here..…here's my update:

1. Mdm Dolly Lim
- Contact: 97386081
- only do postnatal massage
- $50 per session (around 60 to 70mins)
- booking: prefer 3 weeks in advance

2. Mdm Naini
- Contact: 94562817
- prenatal $65 per session (60mins)
- postnatal package $450 for 6 sessions + 1 body scrub
- booking: she asked me to call next week to book though my delivery is in Feb08.

3. Mrs Hannah Wong
- Contact: 96319557
- $68 per hourly session or $98 for 90 minutes for both pre & postnatal massage.
- For the wrap or binding (mainly for post-natal), you will have to pay for the two pieces of cloths which are $9 each.
- Booking: advance preferred

4. Mdm Jamilah
- Contact: 91862917
- prenatal $70 per session (1hr 15mins)
- postnatal package $490 for 7 sessions (1hr 15mins)

Meeting up with MeowMeow

"So sorry dear meowmeow, you got to come all the way to Bishan to meet me. Although this is supposedly to be a birthday treat for you, I have to make you travel so far. Thank you for your understanding. Its really difficult for me to travel nowadays. Even walking for 15mins could tire me ot very easily...."

Met up with Cat on the Hari Raya PH. Havent seen her for a while and also owed her a birthday treat....She is one of the few friends I have managed to keep in touch with even after I got married and with kids. Its not easy to maintain the contact and I truly appreciate this friendship of ours.

We had a simple lunch at the Froggie restaurant (Sakae Sushi) at Junction 8. Hubby and Trenyce tagged along because of changes in plan going back to Labis. Anyway, its good too because it was raining very heavily on the day and hubby could give me a ride hehe....

Trenyce with MeowMeow

Trenyce enjoying her kid's meal..

Dinner at Swensen - 18th Dec 2007

Got some vouchers from company today and decided to "reward" hubby for being a stay-at-home dad today :p

We had quite a feast - spagetti, fish baked rice, cheese sticks (finger food), salad and an ice cream fondue....wow yummy yum yum....we enjoy the food and so does Trenyce.

Look who's the pussy cat here?

Attacking the fondue...

SAHM for a Day

I was on leave, taking care of my 3yo at home few days ago (17th Dec). This was the 1st time I was left at home with her alone since I got preggie. Little girl is very sensible nowadays. When she wants to pee or poo, she will tell and she will go to the potty by herself. When she finishes her milk or food, she will bring the utensils to the kitchen. When I am doing housework in the kitchen, she will play by herself in the hall.

Overall, she is considered a well behaved girl except that she will sometimes get lazy and refuse to keep her toys and put the utensils back to the kitchen. Then she gets nagging from her very-strict mummy. I don’t generally help her do all the keeping as I believe that by doing so will encourage her to be "lazy" more often. What I normally do is I will get her to keep the toys together with me or I will impose rules like if she refuses to keep her toys then I wont bring her downstairs to go kaikai or something. So far it works for me. Anyway, little girl knows no tactics work for mummy so she will obediently do what is being told. She will only "tey" daddy or the grandparents (if they are around) to do things for her.

Anyway, we didn’t go anywhere yesterday except going downstairs to buy some grocery to cook the lunch and dinner. We had plans to go library initially but had to call it off as it was raining the whole afternoon.

Shopping at RC on 16th Dec 2007

We didn’t do much today except going to Robinsons Sales at Raffles City. Hubby said he had not been to RC for a while already. Hubby got himself a pair of business pants from Ashworth and 2 business shirts. The purchase is very worth it cos member gets an extra 20% discount! Also got a shirt for FIL as Xmas present.

Trenyce also had her fair share of entertainment. She managed to take a picture with a Santa Claus at RC and caught the Barbie Princess performance at the performance hall. She was lucky as it was the last day of the 30-min show. In the end, mummy is the only one who didn’t get anything at all. Sigh! Hubby said its because I am too fussy :p

Picture with Santa

Trenyce waiting eagerly for the princess performance.

Trenyce very engrossed in the performance.

The beautiful Princess Rozella

The performance gang

Eventful Saturday (15th Dec 2007)

My PILs had left home for their annual "holiday" very early in the morning, around 6+am I think. I was still sleeping when they left so didn’t really catch their departure timing. We tried to clear some of our leaves every end of the year to take care of Trenyce ourselves so that PILs can have some rest. Usually, hubby and myself will rotate our leave schedule during this period. This has been our annual practice since Trenyce arrives. Yah, hubby is considered quite capable as he is able to take care of Trenyce by himself such as bathing and feeding her. And I am really proud of him :)

We also went for our routine visit to Dr Goh in the morning. Baby is now 30 weeks old and according to Dr Goh, Kaden now weighs 1.5kg and everything is normal. Mummy now weighs 70.6kg, gained 2.4kg. I also did the blood test and it showed my glucose level slightly on the high side. The usual reading is around 6 whereas mine is 8+. Dr has instructed me to cut down on sugar and carbo...ohoh..and my routine checkup has been changed to 3 weekly from the next appointment onwards as I am reaching the last 10 weeks of my pregnancy. Anyway, finally met Tabitha as it so happens our appointment date is on the same day :)

In the afternoon, I had my prenatal massage with Mrs Hannah. My whole body is achy and I was looking forward to a good massage. Unfortunately I was told I couldnt do a "hard" one so her strokes were rather gentle. So not really "shiok". Overall, it was ok but would be better if she could increase her strength a little....cos after one day, the effects of the massage are gone already...

In the evening, we attended my nephew's wedding. A bit amazing right? He's my eldest nephew, 26yo already. Cant imagine we are only 4years age difference. He can be my younger brother already haha. This was the first time Trenyce attended a traditional wedding dinner. She was amazed to see so many people and at the same time I think she must be curious why was that so many ah yees and jiujius popped out suddenly and most of them she had never seen before. In her little mind, I suppose she could only recall one jiujiu and one yeeyee that’s why she seemed a little reluctant to address these new yeeyees and jiujius.

Prenatal Massage

I have just booked a prenatal massage session this coming Saturday. Really excited. This is the 1st time I am doing a prenatal massage cos really cannot tahan the aches anymore. Dont know why this time like feeling more heavy than my first pregnancy. Wonder if its because of the additional 5 kg I didnt manage to shed off after giving birth to Trenyce? Just weighed myself today, I am tipping 71kg already...wahwahwah....thats my weight when I had Trenyce and I am still about 2 mths away from my delivery... hohoho....duno how heavy I will be?

Anyway, looking forward to Mrs Hannah Wong's massage session. I will share more on the prenatal massage after my Saturday's session.

Thank you strangers

***********
Dear strangers,

I have been taking MRT to work everyday. Even though we do not know each other, I thank you for being such considerate and kind soul for volunteering your precious seat to me. Thank you for your understanding and I truly appreciate that kind gesture of yours.

Yours truly
***********

Ever since being preggie, especially after the 2nd trimester, I have been receiving seats from strangers on MRT everyday. I suppose the bulge is more obvious now. But this is really one thing I am trying to get used to.

I did not have this experience when I was pregnant with Trenyce as I hardly take public transport. My kind sister would send me to work everyday because her little boy was studying somewhere near my office. However, this time round, I am not as lucky as my office has shifted to the city and I have to jostle with the crowd in the MRT everyday. It was difficult initially because I was having morning sickness and no one volunteered their seats to me likely because my bulge was less obvious then. Travelling to work everyday then was a chore!

Besides that, receiving seats from strangers does not happen every now and then, ok. Its only under special circumstances like being heavily pregnant etc. I admit it was quite embarrassing initially when people offered their seats to you because it seemed to mean that you are more "vulnerable" than them. But at the same time, I am truly grateful that they are giving their seats to me cos standing with a big bulge is really tiring! My weight escalates as the pregnancy progresses and is taking a toll on me as I can no longer bear the additional weight. My leg hurts from the standing and the journey to office seems forever....actually only 20mins + 5mins walking. But when you are unwell, 5 mins also seem eternal, agree?

Trenyce coughing again

Trenyce is coughing again. She has been coughing since coming back from Labis and she only coughs at or in the middle of the night. People called this "cold cough". We have fed her with the chinese medical coughing syrup and hearing less coughs these past few nights. In fact, on certain nights, I dont recall hearing her coughing at all. So I thought she is alright already and have stopped the chinese medical coughing syrup. But heard her coughing again just now while in her sleep. Hmm..getting a little worried.

I remembered receiving an email that gives special remedy on curing night time coughing in a child by applying Vicks Vaporub generously on the bottom of the feet at bedtime then covered with socks. It was mentioned that "even persistent, heavy, deep coughing will stop in about 5 minutes and stay stopped for many, many hours of relief. Works 100% of the time and is more effective in children than even very strong prescription cough medicines. In addition it is extremely soothing and comforting and they will sleep soundly."

Wow, sounds like miracle. Not too sure if it will work but am going to give it a try tonight. Cross my fingers she will recover soon from her coughing...plsplspls... Mood: Worrying

At ah yee's wedding...

At ah yee's wedding on 23rd Nov 07. This is the first time Trenyce attended a wedding tea ceremony and collected an angbao from a new family member....

Hiding in the room, waiting for the bride and groom to arrive..

Serving tea to "new" uncle

Curious at wnat the new uncle is going to do with the teacup...

Cousin ah yee (bride) and the new uncle (groom)...

Mood: Interesting

At the Airport...

Sending mummy's extended family to the airport (T1) on 24th Nov 07.

With cousin Michelle...

Group pic with my cousins...

With my ah Yee...


Mood: Relaxed

New Clothes for Kaden

It is indeed not easy to get clothes for boyboy. After some shopping one day at Jaya Jusco in JB, I only managed to get these for Kaden. The one on the very top is for Kaden when he discharged from hospital and the 2nd one is for his full month celebration. I like the 2nd set more. Very cute but I realised most boyboy clothings are either in brown or blue..not much choices in terms of colours. Compared to the time when I go shopping for Trenyce, I am so spoiled for choice!

Anyway, Kaden will have his fair share of new clothes too since he is of different gender with his sister...so Kaden, just bear for the inital period, wearing jiejie old clothes k....

Ambitious Task

I am going to take on a very ambitious task come April 2008, taking care of Trenyce and Kaden all by myself. Its going to be a challenge and my MIL is actually quite worried :p

Well, this whole thing came about because my PILs will be going to Perth to visit my SIL, and will be staying there for probably a month or so. And since I am still on my maternity leave, there is no time better than this period for them to take the long holiday before they have to revert to the mundane task of looking after our two kids. They havent got such long breaks for 3years already, ever since they helped to look after Trenyce for us...the most is about 2 weeks break so I think they really shld go for this holiday.

Actually, they have volunteered to bring Trenyce along but we have rejected their kind offer. You can say that I am silly to reject such good offer but hubby and I seriously think its not a good idea to separate Trenyce from us during this period when Kaden has just arrived. Young she may be, she may harbour thoughts in her little heart which we do not know. She may think mummy and daddy are ditching her after the kid brother arrives and that we dont love her anymore etc etc etc, which is what we really dont want her to feel that way. And furthermore, this is the best time for both of them to bond with each other since this is the first time she becomes the jiejie..

But seriously, I dont think its an mission impossible bcos my mother also took care of me and my 2 siblings all by herself and so if she can do it, I really think I should be able to handle as well. Moreover my mother is staying just a few blocks away from me.....anytime I need help, I can always zoom over to her place..hehe very optimistic heh. Well, I just feel that this is part of motherhood too. Hubby has also promised to work 4-day week during the period when PILs are not around to help me out. Things should work out fine, I think.

I suppose the only thing I am more worried is how to keep my temper in control espc when Trenyce is so active now and very often she will purposedly do things to irritate you...

Dear Lord, pls grant me peace and calmness so that I will be patient with the little playful one at home. Amen. Mood: Optimistic

On breastfeeding again

I am still a little bewildered on BF. Alot of people I spoke to told me to feed baby on demand and then naturally the supply will come. But....how to BF on demand when we have to consume ginger and alochol stuff during confinement? The last time when I went for prenatal classes, the nurse mentioned that either you BF before you ate these "special food" or wait 2 hrs later to BF the baby. For very simple reason, ginger will probably increase the "seriousness" of jaundice (as we all know all babies no matter what will surely get jaundice in the initial period) and taking alochol will affect the quality of the breastmilk as the alochol will pass on to the baby when you BF (which is harmful to the baby).

If feeding on demand is the key to BF successfully then I really have a big problem here. How am I going to BF on demand when at the same time I have to consume food that will affect the well-being of my dear child? Sighhh.....

Milkmaid Tea

I suppose not many people heard of EarthMama & AngelBaby. I first heard about the products from my sis-in-law. She specifically recommended milkmaid tea to me on our visit to her when Matthew was borned. She has heard about the product from those mummies' forum and decided to buy some from Babyloft to try out. She only uses it for the inital period when the supply is low and after that the milk just come so she doesnt have to rely on it anymore. According to her, she used 2 bottles of the milkmaid tea. It seems to work very well for her and I am really tempted to try on Kaden especially when my first attempt with Trenyce didnt work out.

I havent checked with Dr Goh on the ingredients of the tea yet so I am waiting for the coming appointment to clarify with him before purchasing it. Though my sis-in-law did check with her gynae back in Malaysia and was assured everything was fine, which it was indeed the case judging by how well both Matthew and her is doing now. I am still a little concerned because I found shops in Singapore selling EarthMama & AngelBaby products in KK hospital and United Square shopping ctr but they just dont carry this specific product which really leave me wondering why....so for curiousity reason, I will check with Dr Goh first before purchasing the product...

This is the milkmaid tea.

My Wedding Anniversary Celebration

Last Friday was my 4th wedding anniversary.

Took leave on the day. Not to celebrate my anniversary but to attend my cousin sister’s lunch wedding. Coincidently, she had her ROM and traditional wedding on the same date as mine. So I brought Trenyce along for the lunch makan since she's on school holiday, idling at home. Everyone said Trenyce looked like me when I was young. I hope that’s a compliment :p

When we got home from the makan, it was about 2pm already. Both Trenyce and myself were so exhausted that we slept the moment our heads touched the bed. We had a long 3hrs nap! Haha….
When we woke up, it was 6pm….about time for dinner. Waited for hubby to return from work and went for a simple dinner. Not exactly a celebration, just dinner with hubby and my family - my inlaws and Trenyce. We went to one of the famous “chi zha” restaurant along AMK Ave 3 at St 22 (Blk 233) for their popular crab dish.
Ordered thai-style spicy fried chicken, yam ring, spinach with abalone mushroom, the famous soupy beehoon crab and a fried ngoh hiang dish. PILs only knew that it was our anniversary after the dinner. Wanted to catch a movie with hubby after the dinner but couldn’t find any interesting films so in the end we just went home and sleep! Haha.

That’s our anniversary celebration. Not bad. At least we went out for dinner. :p

1 million Bumbo Baby Chairs Recalled

1 million Bumbo baby chairs have been recalled. Omygod! So scary! I was still thinking of getting one for Kaden when my friend complimented about how good the chair is....

According to an article from Babycentre: "There have been 28 reports of young children falling out of the Bumbo chairs, including three reports of skull fractures. These injuries were due to children falling out of chairs that had been placed on tables."

This is the picture of the recalled baby seats.



When I saw the header of the article from babycentre, I really got a shock and was having second thoughts about getting one. When I read further, the problem is really how the parents handle the usage of the chair. If they have heeded the advice from the manufacturer, many accidents could have been avoided.

Hmmm...so do you think is the product problem or parents' problem?

Lonely Us

All of a sudden, all my family members are out of town, leaving only me, hubby and of course kaden, around in Spore. My PILs have brought Trenyce back to Labis for a week long holiday whereas my extended family have gone to China.

The house seems so quiet suddenly. I appreciate this tranquility I am enjoying. It has been a long time since I get some peace haha. But I missed my little girl. We called every night and I could sense she missed us too.

Both hubby and myself have been very busy with our work this week. We had late dinner almost everyday at about 8pm. I guess time passed faster when you are busy. This week was amazingly fast. Before we even knew it, its already Friday.

Hubby decided to set off tonight to Labis to see his little princess. He said he missed her smell. We will set off after work.

Hopefully the causeway wont be as jammed.

Hopefully we will be able to reach before Trenyce turns in.

So here we are coming, Labis. Wait for us!

Visit to the Animal Resort

Brought Trenyce to The Animal Resort at Seletar West Farmway 5 the day after her school concert. It was a Sunday and the carpark is already quite packed when we reached. The carpark is rather small but luckily we managed to get the last lot available.

As usual, I was the photographer again. That's why most of the time you wont see me in the pictures :p



Trenyce had lots of fun feeding the goats, geese and rabbits. There werent many animals in the animal resort but its enough to entertain a 3yo hehe….



See, she's busy feeding the animals...

Baby at 26 weeks+

10th visit to gynae, Dr Goh. This was a routine checkup. As usual, Dr Goh went thru the detailed scan to show me where’s the baby’s head, eyes, nose, mouth and also his penis (haha). I duno why he had to show me the birdie every time I visit him perhaps to assure me that baby’s genital is growing well. The scan also shows that the baby’s head is now at the top of the abdomen, not down yet. Hopefully his head will turn down when the time comes. Baby is now 26 weeks+ and weighed about 900g. Its another 3 months to go before he is dued. Will baby reach 3kg by then? Hmm….Anyway, mother now weighed at 68.2kg, gained 1.5kg as compared to the previous visit. In total, I have gained 9.2 kg till date.

My wedding anniversary

Its going to be my 4th wedding anniversary in 2days' time. Our marriage is so young but I feel like I have gone thru a lot with my hubby. The first 2 years were roller-coaster years…….I wouldn’t want to go into details of what has happened as the past is already history...

Anyway, I have already applied leave for that day as it coincides with my cousin sister's wedding (yeah, our wedding date is the same! haha) and we are invited to her wedding lunch. So in a way, its like she is celebrating my anniversary for me haha….The only thing is that my groom (hubby) is not around with me for the wedding otherwise, it really looks like my wedding anniversary makan…hahaha..

We havent decided how to spend our anniversary yet. I was just asking hubby in the car this morning how he planned to celebrate and he just gave me a smile, meaning he hasnt planned anything yet. Sigh! I grumbled to him in th car, for the fact that we are only married for 4 years and he's already this borchap….not romantic at all.... I am not even asking for diamonds or anything from him, just probably a nice dinner. Sigh! In fact, we have never celebrated our anniversaries. Sad huh. Usually, couples will celebrate their 1st 2 or 3 anniversaries..but me none! :'(

On our first anniversary, Trenyce was only 2 mths old and as a first-time mother I wouldn’t bear to leave her at home and go out to celebrate. Moreover I was the full-time caretaker then and I didn’t have anyone else to babysit for me……..

On our 2nd anniversary, my PILs were already staying with us and we were still trying to get used to them staying with us, felt a little awkward to get them to look after Trenyce while we go out and enjoy…and this awkwardness continue for the 3rd anniversary as well.

For our 4th anniversary, I don’t think I want to let it past just like that. I don’t mind even if we have to bring Trenyce along for our celebration, anyway she's part of our "marriage". Just that we will have to find some kiddy friendly restaurant. Then next year, we will have Kaden to join in the wagon hehe…. I think for all the efforts we have put into this marriage, we both deserve a pat on our shoulder and should celebrate the day!

Breastfeeding

I didn’t succeed in BF Trenyce previously. Though I managed to do partial BF for the first 3 mths but by the 2nd mth, the supply was getting pathetic. I didn’t nurse her directly as I chose to pump the milk most of the time, thinking it will be the same. But it wasn’t. The lesser she was nursed, the lower the milk supply will be as the milk ducts are not stimulated as often as it should be.

I was actually quite upset initially because I have been reading so much on BF before Trenyce arrived and I knew the many benefits that BF can give my kids. My main aim is not to save money on formulas or slimming programs but more so on providing the best for my kids. I was veryvery sad, and getting worried, when Trenyce refused to latch on so hubby told me to pump the milk instead. That’s when I began my BF journey, pumping faithfully every 2 hrs…but as the day passes, the milk supply gets lesser and lesser. At the peak, I only managed to get 4 ounces of BM per day and at its low, just 1 ounce. So you can imagine how discouraged I am.

I really envy those who manage to do it successfully. For example, my sis-in-law and Shoppingmum.. My sis-in-law managed to nurse her two sons for at least 6 mths whereas Shoppingmum did it much longer. Yes I can turn to my sis-in-law for help on BF but she is not in Spore so its really difficult for me to get help from her. If only she's in S'pore huh……….

I guess there are a lot of reasons on the failure. Perhaps I didn’t know the techniques of latching her properly and so she got frustrated and fussed a lot whenever I tried to nurse her. Perhaps because I didn’t get help early. Perhaps because I am lack of support from people who actually nurse their kids as most people surrounded me didn’t nurse their kids and in a way, they didn’t "pressurize" themselves to do so. Perhaps and perhaps….there's just too many perhaps.

I am determine to succeed in BF this time as this is also probably the last time I am able to do so for my kid. For the moment, hubby and myself are quite contented with our 2 kids thuogh we would very much like to have 4 kids, so unless "accident" occurs otherwise this will jolly well be my last pregnancy. One colleague told me that one of the ways to make BF possible is to invest in good breastpumps (as everyone knows its not cheap!) so you will heartpain the money and die die make BF possible! Hahaha…..But I guess by not buying things that are "formula-friendly" i.e. milk bottle, formula milk…etc will also help to "push" myself harder to make BF succeed cos you wouldn’t want your baby to starve right?

So, perhaps I should do some shopping to get prepared for BF:
- Breastpumps (Shoppingmum pointed this web in her blog, click here)
- Nursing pillow
- Nursing Bras
- Nursing clothes
- Cooler bags
- Cool pads or ice bricks for milk storage
- Cups/bottles to store the breast milk
- Nipple cream

Of course, not forgetting that we must get the latch on technique correct. Thanks to Shoppingmum, she pointed breastfeeding.com in her blog. It gives very detailed latch-on steps.

Decorating the Kids' Room

Hubby has finally decided to do something about the baby room. We bought some paint last weekend to repaint our study room (originally is our master bedroom), which will be the future baby's room....actually the kids' room because eventually Trenyce and Kaden will be sleeping in that room until we decide to move out of this house.

We got the paint from ICI (aka Dulux). The paint we chose was specially meant for use in baby or children's room. Perhaps it uses less chemical? Anyway, hubby decided to use apple green as he felt that green is soothing for the children's eyes and not too loud for the kids....though father-in-law thinks otherwise. He felt the colour was a little bland and we should use more vibrant colours but didnt exactly spelt out the colours :p

Hubby took one whole afternoon to paint half the room so the other half of the room is still in the "old" colour. We also went to Ikea the same weekend to get some ideas to decorate the kids' room. We chose a few furniture and decided to go back home to do the measurements before we confirmed on the items. In fact, to 'overhaul' the study room means we have to shift the furniture in our bedroom too otherwise there is no way we can put in the baby cot. We are likely to get a chest of drawers (6 drawers) and a bookshelf, perhaps a CD tower too. The chest of drawers to put the kids' clothing and the bookshelf is to shift all the books from the study room to our bedroom. We are still heistating whether to get a kid's wardrobe......hmmm....

Anyway, shall wait till hubby completes the painting this weekend then the real decor can begin......

Uncle Heng's 60th Birthday Celebration

We had a dinner invitation the same day Trenyce had her concert. It was Uncle Heng's 60th birthday. It was a causal dinner (2 tables) with just my cousins at a Teochew Restaurant at North Canal Road and we were seated at the VIP room leh....

This is the birthday cake me and sis got for Uncle Heng.

The children simply enjoyed standing in front of the cake. Its as though its their birthday...hehe

The children enjoying themselves.

All of us at the dinner. ...

Trenyce Very 1st School Concert

We attended Trenyce's school concert on 3rd Nov. It was her first "public performance" and we can see that she's very excited about it, kept asking me to make-up for her..haha...yah, because the school has asked the parents to do makeup for the children before bringing them to school.



There were altogether 13 performances put by the children, from playgroup to K2. Trenyce's class, being the youngest of all the classes, gave the 1st performance of the day. I suppose the teachers must have worried that the young kids, already all dressed up, may get impatient and so they get to perform 1st. The 1st performance was "Small Hand" (a mandarin song titled "Xiao Shou"). It was a very cute because the few kids that came out all stood there staring at the crowd. None of them moved a single bit at all except Trenyce. She seemed to be the only one who remembered that she's supposed to be up the stage performing. She moved her hands and danced, I supposed as what she had rehearsed, not bothered that her friends are not moving....then slowly another girl besides her started to move along and so the entire performance only Trenyce and the other girl "moving". Bravo Trenyce! Well done!



All together, Trenyce was involved in 3 performances. The 2nd performance she did was called "Row Your Boat". This song required 4 groups of kids in 2 to hold their hands and pretend that they are rowing the boat.





The final performance she did was the grand finale where all the children will come out and sing 3 songs together (2 english and 1 mandarin songs). The english sings were "Kid's Prayer" and "Never Give Up". The mandarin song was "Met the God" (mandarin translated "yu zhu xiang yu"). Initially, we were not able to take pictures of Trenyce on stage as she was arranged to stand at the back row, I supposed its because of her height. Hubby was standing, along with the rest of the people, busy snaping pictures of his little sweetheart. I was sitting down, allowing the people sitting in front of me, standing up blocking my visual. The only way for me to see what's happening on the stage is thru the big screen on the stage. Anyway, Trenyce was standing at the back, I thought to myself. Then suddenly I heard hubby said, "look at the little girl, she came to the front by herself...". Upon hearing that, I quickly stood up trying to catch a glimpse of what hubby had told me. Yes, indeed this little girl appeared in the front row now! hehe... Smart girl, she knew thats the only way daddy and mummy could see her and take pictures of her!

Overall, it was a very entertaining performance. The children put up a good show and really makes us laugh. Hmm...I know laughing at them is a bit mean but they are really hilarious. Some of them performed very well while some of them went up the stage not knowing exactly what they should do and stood there looking at the crowd. Most K1 and K2 can perform very well except the junior ones like N1 (Playgroup) and N2 (Nusery).

This is the first time both hubby and I attended such concerts and we are very impressed because the little girl managed to remember all her steps and coordinate well with her friends. She seems to have a flair for music. Maybe we should start grooming her, our future star...hehe

Worrying about little girl

Little girl asked me a few questions over the dinner yesterday. Everyone else had left the table then except Trenyce and myself. I was feeding her with some glass noodle soup which my MIL had cooked. Suddenly, she just popped the questions to me.


Trenyce: Mummy, do you like me?

Me: Yes, I like you dear and I love you too.

Trenyce: Mummy, can you stay at home?

Me: Why?

Trenyce: Because I like you.

Me: Then papa leh?

Trenyce: Papa goes to work loh.


This is not the first time Trenyce had asked me to stay at home with her but recently it has became very frequent. I am not too sure if its because of my pregnancy and so she's getting a little insecure, for fear that attention may be taken away from her? Especially now my tummy is getting more obvious so reality hits her more harshly? That having a kid brother is not just a say-say from the parents but a reality that is coming true? Not only that she even requested to hold my hand to sleep and has been coming back to our bed to sleep with us these past 2 months.

No kidding, I am really worried how the little girl will feel when the kid brother arrives. I mean it is for sure that I will devote most of my attention on him. Will she cling on me and cry then? I have been telling hubby that he must paid alot of attention on her when Kaden arrives so that she will not feel neglected and he has promised so. Luckily hubby has got 1 week paternity leave, I hope that helps to soothe the tricky situation.

Dear lord, pls grant Trenyce peace and calmness in her little soul so that she wont get frighten because of the arrival of her kid brother. Pls give her strength and love so that she will be able to handle her emotions when the kid brother arrives and she will love him as much as we love her. Amen.

Records of My Gynae Visits So Far...

6th August 2007, MONDAY, SINGAPORE3rd visit to gynae, Dr Goh. Baby#2 exact size is about 4.36cm. The due date is now 24th Feb 2007. I guess, it will always be somewhere between 19th and 29th Feb 2008. Mother’s weight remained unchanged, it is the same as the previous visit. Must be all that vomiting that’s why I am not gaining any weight..

20th August 2007, MONDAY, SINGAPORE
4th visit to gynae, Dr Goh. It was a last minute decision as I was not feeling very well, vomited twice already in the morning and experienced some abdominal pain yesterday so decided to see Dr Goh to reassure myself that everything with Baby#2 is alright. Dr Goh gave me 2 days mc to rest at home which was good as I get to spend some time with Trenyce too. Baby is now about 13weeks+ and mother weighed at 61.6kg, gained 1.1kg.

1st September 2007, SATURDAY, SINGAPORE5th visit to gynae, Dr Goh. Did the triple blood test as per what we did the other time when I carried Trenyce. Just to get some assurance and hope that everything with Baby#2 will be fine. The due date is still 24th Feb 2007. Baby is now about 15weeks+. Mother’s weight remained unchanged.

10th September 2007, MONDAY, SINGAPORE6th visit to gynae, Dr Goh. I had very bad constipation. This morning I just noticed some blood stains on the stool, gave a ring to the clinic and Ms Lim asked me to go down for a check to see if there’s any pus or something.

Think its god’s will. The nurse informed me that my results from the triple blood test had just come back this morning. Everything was normal except that it showed high risk for DS. The odd is 1:70 whereby for my age, the odd should be around 1:800+. I was under the norm odd (1:250) by 1/3 at least. I got so worried and called daddy to come down to the clinic. I needed him to be around to hear what’s Dr Goh is going to tell us in case we need to make decision for further testing. True enough, Dr Goh recommended amniocentesis. Though he didn’t make it compulsory for us, we decided to go ahead just in case anything. So Dr Goh helped to arrange for the test to be taken the next day at Thomson Medical Center.

11th September 2007, TUESDAY, SINGAPOREWe arrived at the clinic at 8.30am as instructed by Dr Goh. Took a detailed ultrascan by the sonographer before we proceeded for the test. The sonographer spotted the little birdie and informed us that it’s a boy! Tears were streaming down my cheeks uncontrollably when she was doing the detailed scan, describing to us every details of the little fellow. Daddy saw me tearing and looked at me with one kind of expression as if telling me not to worry too much. The whole process took less than an hour. The withdrawing of the amnio fluid took only 10mins. Thereafter I was given 3 days hospitalization leave to rest at home. The rest now, is really to wait for the results. I was told that it will take 10days. Sigh, the wait seems eternal….

27th September 2007, THURSDAY, SINGAPORE
7th visit to gynae, Dr Goh. Finally, we received the amnio results from Dr Goh. Glad that everything was fine except that they found 4 XX chromosomes among the 34 cells they tested. We were told that the results took a little longer becos of the XX chromosomes, the lab wanted to wait a little longer and see if it will turn XY or something. Aiyo, made us worried like mad. The lab recommended a retest if we want to double confirm on the XX thingy. We decided to drop the idea as the wait is simply too much for me and Dr Goh has already said that its very likely that the XX chromosomes belong to the mummy since baby and mummy are of different gender. Its almost 99% that the baby is fine and the ultra scan has further assured us that the baby’s organs are growing fine…what needs to be there are there and growing well! Anyway, it was confirmed that the baby is a XY!

See entry of similar subject here.

29th September 2007, SATURDAY, SINGAPORE8th visit to gynae, Dr Goh. This was a routine checkup. Dr Goh did a very quick check of the baby’s general growth. Baby is now about 19weeks+. Mother weighed 63.7kg, gained 2.1kg.

27th October 2007, SATURDAY, SINGAPORE9th visit to gynae, Dr Goh. This was a routine checkup. Dr Goh did the usual scanning to check on the baby’s general growth and we also saw the penis hehe. Baby is now about 23weeks+ and weighed about 600g whereas mother weighed 66.7kg, gained 3kg. (No wonder I have difficulty walking nowadays, too heavy I guess!)

The Grief

Just heard a very sad piece of news from my good friend in msia. She has lost her baby few days ago. According to her doctor, the foetus has no heartbeat so she has to go for induced miscarriage (likely a D&C). Sigh, just a couple of weeks ago she had happily called me to inform me about the good news and now this has happened. People called this "missed miscarriage".

Also heard another sad news from her. Her sister's prematured baby has passed away. The little girl borned at 6.5mths old gave way to virus infection after 14 days on earth. Her poor sister must be sobbing like mad. So sad. Thru the entire pregnancy, she had obediently stayed at home hoping to get a healthy baby but alas this has happened.

I hope both of them will get over it soon.

Free Baby Journal & Music CD

I just heard from one of my friends today about national libraries giving away free baby journal and music cd. Being a kiasu singaporean, I went down straight away today after dinner. I went to the AMK branch and luckily there's still some stocks, only 3 sets left actually so I'm really happy I managed to get one. Very nice journal to jot down the baby's milestones....cool! Thanks Evonne!

Anyway, I asked the librarian and she said its available at all libraries while stocks last....So good luck to those who havent got any!

Here's the gift I collected from the NLB :)

Preggie buddies

Life is interesting. I have 2 other friends getting pregnant almost the same time as me (besides Geak Sang). One will give birth in Jan, mine in Feb and another one in Apr.

For them, it’s their first pregnancy and me, it’s my second. Hence, I think they are more “enthusiastic” than me in this pregnancy and eager to find out more on mothering :p I think they are very lucky cos they have more friends around them who are experienced parents. When I was pregnant with Trenyce, I hardly have friends with kids. In fact almost none…..those that I know with kids, I am not very close with them so quite difficult for me to ask them questions…then those I know either just got married or still single. The only few I constantly turned to for advice are my sister and sister-in-law. My sister has 2 boys and my sister-in-law has only one boy then (now 2 boys!). Yeh, my family are surrounded with young hunks and another on the way heh! :p

Anyway, the two mummies-to-be occasionally will pose some questions to me. Its good (hey mummies, pls don’t feel shy to ask…you know who you are :)) that they ask cos can also help me to “revive” back those days and prepare myself for the coming bb. I sort of forgot some of the things already so when they asked, it kind of prompted me to dig into my memory bank. People say preggies are forgetful and yes I completely agree…I really forget where or how to start with to prepare for my pregnancy except looking for gynae and confinement auntie. These are just the 2 things that naturally come to my mind and the most expensive of everything :p For the rest of the things, I just buy whatever I can remember haha..…a bit lazy to do up my shopping list cos there isn’t any major things I need to get loh. Things like baby cot, playpen, stroller, sterilizer, infant clothing, mittens & booties....etc are already all in my storeroom. Well, so far...I only managed to pile some packets of wet tissues in my wardrobe that’s all hehe :p

Well, I think I am not really in the mood to do shopping yet bcos we havent quite settled the baby room....must wait till hubby set up the baby room then think I will be in the mood to get the baby things up :p Anyway, thats no excuse for me not to do up my checklist otherwise cant do my shopping at all. Okay okay, will do soon.....

Anyway, nice to have friends getting preggy at the same time cos we can get each other informed of any lobang hehe....

The King & the Princess

I found these really cute pitures today while sorting my digital photo collections.

See what I found - The King and the Princess!



The Princess trying to take a picture of her King.

Baby's name

I got a few names for our baby while on HL staying at home. Actually we already got a few names much earlier when we conceived Trenyce. But hubby decided not to use the 2 names we shortlisted then (Keith and Keane).

Here are the names I shortliseted:

1. Kesler
The meaning of the name is Independent And Energetic
The origin of the name Kesler is American

2. Keith
The meaning of the name is Warrior Descending
The origin of the name Keith is Celtic/Gaelic
Baby names that sound like Keith are Kit, Kitt and Ketti. Other similar baby names are Leith, Heath, Jeth, Keh, Keiji, Keir, Kennith and Seth.

3. Kegan
The meaning of the name is Bright Shining Flame
The origin of the name Kegan is Celtic/Gaelic

4. Kingston
The meaning of the name is From The King's Town
The origin of the name Kingston is English

5. Kiran
The meaning of the name is Ray Of Light
The origin of the name Kiran is Sanskrit (India)

6. Keon
The meaning of the name is God Is Gracious
The origin of the name Keon is Hawaiian

7. Keagan
The meaning of the name is Son Of Eagan, Fiery
The origin of the name Keagan is Celtic/Gaelic

8. Kristofer
The meaning of the name is Bearer Of Christ
The origin of the name Kristofer is Greek
(same as kristopher, kristoffer)

9. Kris
The meaning of the name is Follower of Christ
The origin of the name Kris is English

10. Keane
The meaning of is "fighter; sharp, keen wit or eye".
It is of Irish, Gaelic and Old English origin.
Keane has 4 variant forms: Kean, Keen, Keene and Keyne.

All the names started with "K" as we have mutaully agreed that all boys will follow "K" whereas girls will follow "T".

However, hubby doesnt like those names. He selected another name for our baby. In the end, we decided to call him KAYDEN. Kayden meaning "fighter". We want him to be a brave boy who will march out with all his might to achieve what he wants to obtain for himself in life.

Then one day, SIL called. She and BIL googled from wikipedia and found out that some porn actress is also using the name and informed us. After some search on the www, we decided to keep the name as we are quite used to calling the little one with this name but with some slight changes. Instead of KAYDEN, we are using KADEN. We went in to wikipedia and double confirm that no funny people are using this name before we retain the name. Thank goodness there isnt any! Except for the missing 'Y', the meaning and pronounication of the name remain unchanged.

Anyway, thanks Maykim and Michael for informing us! Cheers!

on Blogging...

A group of my colleagues went to OZ this yr and started a blog. I think its very neatly done up. If you are thinking of conquering Melbourne, maybe you will like to take a peep there! cheers!

Planning for Dec Break...

I am planning for a nice little getaway from home during Dec, also to bring the kids out for some fun since my sis-in-law and her family will be coming from Perth...yah but I cant really go anywhere with my big tummy so Iam thinking of getting a chalet or something...Hotel is a little expensive though it will be nice. Anyway, I googled and a few choices appear:

1. Costa Sands resort (East)
They have 3 locations: Downtown East, Sentosa or Pasir Ris. Both DownTown East and Pasir Ris are not far from each other. But DTE has more facilities whereas PR is nearer to the beach...hmm...Roomwise, it is a little small with 1 Twin bed with 2 pull-out beds so the most can house 4-5 person. Like that, may have to book 2 rooms already...

Price: Costs $89 per night for NTUC member or not $125! Luckily I am a member.

2. Chevrons (West)
Seems not bad. It has double-storey, fully air-conditioned chalets with outdoor BBQ pit. It has 1 queen size bed and 2 single size mattress. Hmm...so can house about 4-6 person. Only thing is its not near any beaches...

Price: Quite reasonable. Costs $240 for 3D2N for non-members during peak and $160 during non-peak.

3. Aloha (East)
Looks great for large gathering. They have big bungalows and terraces.
They have 2 locations. one at Changi and one at Loyang. Loyang would be better since its near to Pasir Ris Park. THey also come with full kitchen facilities, a BBQ pit, dining and living rooms, and 2-4 bedrooms. Sounds just nice for us! Odear, did a search, only left the terraces...no more big bungalows already. Haiyah, terraces only have 2 rooms, somemore it comes with double-deck beds.... not very convenient for family gathering lah...looks like we dont have much choice already...

Call from Msia...

Today I was on the phone with my good friend in msia. Err…very paiseh...actually she's the one who called me. Yah, most of the times she's the one who called me. Well, I do call her when I went back to msia for R&R lah but its more convenient for her to call cos she is helping her husband running the family business back in Pahang....so....

Very happy to hear that she's pregnant too. Now 2 mths…well, I am still faster than her hehe….Gee, I am always a little bit faster than her :p Our first child's age difference by about 11mths…and now about 3mths, at least much nearer than previous time. Hehe…. Anyway, I am so glad we are going to be mothers again in the same year…both our babies are born in the Mickey/Minnie Mouse Year! Mine is a Mickey and I hope she can get a Minnie. Yes, it is the reverse cos my first child is a girl whereas hers is a boy..keke..

Geaksang, if you read my blog…..here's 3 cheers to you! :)

Hi5 concert at Singapore Indoor Stadium on 8thSep

Added another Hi5 performance pic. Also another new Hi5 slide added at I am 3 .

Our heartfelt thanks to the Lord

Dear lord,

I will like to thank you for all the wonderful things that have happened to the family recently. It must be you who have been watching over us.

Thank you so much for blessing us. We have finally conceived our 2nd baby successfully. We are very delighted to have the new addition to the family and look forward to receiving the child in Feb 2008. It may not be easy juggling two kids but we believe with your guidance, we will be able to manage. I admit that both Kel and myself are not the best parents on earth, and perhaps the most impatient ones but we promise we will try our best to be one that our children will be proud of.

We also like to thank you for blessing the little one with good health, waiting for the amnio results was the most difficult period in my 2nd pregnancy. I couldnt sleep well during those days, fearing the worst may come true. I remembered the time when we discovered Trenyce with torticollis. You were there too, giving us strength and determination to see thru those days.

Thank you Lord. Thank you for everything.

John 14:1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God"

Finally...

Thank god, its finally over.

We received the call from the clinic assistant, Ms Lim, this morning and was told that my gynae wanted to speak to both myself and my husband on the results. She didnt give me any details but told me that she saw something like "retest" when I asked her on the results. "Retest?" My heart sank when I heard that. I called my hubby and within 2 hours, we reached the clinic.

Anyway, thank goodness everything is alright...except that they found 4 XX chorosomes among the 34 cells they had tested. Doctor said it is possible that the XX chorosomes belong to the mummy and it is especially obvious when the baby and the mother are of different gender. Phew! Though the lab suggested a retest if we want to double confirm, we decided to go away with the idea. The wait for the results is simply unbearable and I have told myself I am not going to do it again.

Dear lord, I thank you for watching over the little one residing inside my tummy. Thank you for blessing him. Amen.

Mooncake festival Celebration 2007

The school organised a mooncake celebration last Saturday. It was also supposed to be a parent-teacher get-together session however we were late so we didn’t get much chance to linger with the teachers. Worst still, we only got 20mins to work on a lantern where others got almost an hr to do it…haha must be the pregnancy syndrome, I totally forgot about the event! Just before the function, we even brought Trenyce to Serangoon Swimming Complex swimming...almost going elsewhere for dinner but then we decided to go back home first to put down the swimming stuff. Called my mother then I remembered about the event! :p

This was the 1st time we get to see Trenyce singing with the other kids. Can see that she really like singing and dancing….this really prompts hubby and myself to send her to a singing & dancing school.

On Sunday, we had another gathering at my sister's place which was just a block away. My cousins brought their kids and some of my sister's friend turned up as well. We had all the mooncake novelties i.e pomelo, yam, "unicorn", chinese tea….and the not-so-mooncake food - fried chicken wings, herbal tea etc. The children had lots of fun....they even had a mini lantern walkabout at the void deck! The children enjoyed themselves so much that they cant bear to go home! haha!

I am 3! Celebrating in School!

Birthday Celebration
Last Friday, we celebrated Trenyce's 3yo birthday at her school. Mummy didn’t have the strength like last yr to host a birthday party for her at home so celebrating at school was the best alternate choice. She wanted an ELMO cake so we ordered one from Polar Cake Shop the week before from J8. She chose the design herself. I packed 50 party bags and prepared some 50 fishballs for her to bring to school. She was so excited that the night before, she just couldn’t sleep and kept talking to me until about 11pm….so in the end mummy had to force her to sleep by shutting her chattering mouth…This explained why she couldn’t wake up on time and we were slightly late for school…

Both hubby and myself joined in the celebration at her school. Coincidentally, there was another girl celebrating her birthday, however hers was on Saturday so Trenyce got the privilage to have her birthday song first. She was emotionless when the cake was presented in front of her. When I asked her later after the celebration was over, she told me she was shy…. Gee, a 3yo knows what is shy?? Hmmm... But we could tell she was very happy as she jumped and hopped around the room when the celebration was over….
[video]


That was not the end of her birthday celebration. We brought her to the Zoo in the afternoon. It was about 4pm when we reached, 2hrs to tour around before the Zoo closed. Luckily we managed to catch one of the animal performances. Well, the other bonus we got was we saw James Lye and Diana Ser with their little boy! What a coincidence huh!



Presents
Trenyce had long redeemed the birthday present that daddy and mummy had for her ---- a bicycle, the Hi5 concert and a $10 balloon! It was the most expensive balloon we ever got for her. When she saw every kid passing her holding the balloon, she couldn’t resist the temptation and pestered hubby to get one for her..haha… We caught the show on 8th Sep07 and the hall was pretty packed. Kids nowadays are so fortunate huh.

Grandmother bought her the helmet set complete with knee and elbow protectors, and a ring bell.

Grandfather bought her a battery-operated bubble set.


Grandma bought her a Thomas-the-Train set. Actually, mummy was the one who went to purchase the toy. Initially we thought it was a battery-operated moving train, however it turned out to be a "manual" train...have to use hand to push the train. Trenyce only played a while and lose interest in it already :p

Mood: Gleeful Milestone: 3 years old