Saturday, December 31, 2011

A Year Gone By

It's the time of the year when I usually reflect on my experiences of the past twelve months and make some decisions about my goals for the new year. 

The highlight this year has to be the arrival of Olivia, my bundle of joy that is also a dream come true.  

While I may not be in a good place just days ago, I know all it takes is to find the strength in me and good days will be just moments away. 

For the new year, there shall be new challenges to tackle and exciting developments to look forward to. 

I shall embrace them all. 

With plenty of Faith, Hope and Love. 


CIMG1425

CIMG1421

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

The Trio @ Xmas 2011

Look at the camera. Over here!

Yoo hoo, everyone, look here!!

Smile! No monkey faces please!

CIMG1368CIMG1369CIMG1370CIMG1373


After about 10 shots, we gave up! 

But I still love these photos of our trio's first Xmas together. 





Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Babylicious

I'm so loving the array of quality online boutiques. 

In the last 4 years, I bought 90% of my boys' apparels through online shops and most were grabbed during their MAJOR sales. How does 80% discounts sound to you? 

Online shops these days offer such fantastic quality and designs at just a fraction of the prices our local shops and departmental stores would charge. No queues. No mad rush. No need to carry anything home. 

Lately, I had so much fun shopping for girly pieces for Olivia. Three (and maybe more) packages are waiting for Vpost consolidation and delivery. I can't wait to receive them! 

More eye candy spotted.... 

I have a weakness for flowers....

And lots of polka dots.... 

Where do you shop? 



 


Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Propped

When the boys were infants, I remember feeling really frustrated with our inability to get them to fall asleep on their own. On most days, they needed to be carried and patted till they were sound asleep before we could transfer them to the cot.

But with Olivia, I feel different.

It's not that she is making things any easier for us. Like her brothers, she also needs to be carried and patted at naps and bedtime and would only fall asleep in our arms. In fact, 99% of the time, she would only settle when I keep her company at bedtime.

I'm sure if we really want to, or rather, if I really want to, we could train her to fall asleep on her own. There are tons of books out there with strategies for desperate parents to follow. We didn't follow them wholeheartedly when the boys were little because E and I couldn't see eye-to-eye on the methods, which in a way, sabotaged our success rates. But with Olivia, this isn't an issue since I'm the one who handles nearly all her naps and bedtimes.

However, I have decided to indulge this baby.

The truth is, I am enjoying every moment of it. Even though it means spending many hours a day just carrying and patting her and having to be around at her naps and bedtimes, I remind myself to cherish these moments. After all, she is my last baby. And she will never be this small, ever again.

In those quiet times as I held her close and watched her drift into dreamland, I count my blessings. Just humming her lullabies and pausing every few minutes to kiss her forehead makes me happy. 

If only we could bottle up her her beautiful smell and store her cuteness for future enjoyment!! 

Here was the baby taking an afternoon nap on a weekend. E cuddled her and after a long time she finally settled. I peeped into the room to find her all propped by our pillows. Hee... 

CIMG1270
(Of course we will never leave her alone like this!) 





Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Olivia: 14 Weeks

CIMG1275

I didn't realize how much I've forgotten about the early months until now.

It is easy to remember the major milestones, but there is so much fun to remember the little details too. By the time I started this blog, the boys were already toddlers and I had already forgotten much of their newborn and infancy days.

I shall do it differently with Olivia and make a bigger effort to jot down these bits and pieces.

Since we haven't done our 3-month checkup, I brought her to the clinic for a quick weighing and measurement yesterday. Weight 5.85kg; length 60cm. I am surprised she isn't over 6 kg yet. But considering how small she was at birth, this is probably a good weight gain since she is just 150g short of doubling her birth weight.

Other development...

~blows bubbles and drools a lot

~loves stuffing her fingers in the mouth

~babbles a lot, as if holding conversation

~smiles easily at anyone who smiles and/or talks to her

~loves looking at faces; studies my face when I am changing nappy

~stares at her own reflections in mirror and will smile and coo at my reflection

~lifts her head up at 90 degrees when placed on tummy

CIMG1376

~ just about able to roll over from back to tummy

~laughs out loud (yup, no longer a quiet bunny!)

~loves looking at the Cats in the boys' room, smiles and coos at them

~plays with her hands; tends to bring both hands to the mid line of her body

~shows excitement by kicking legs and change of breathing pace when she sees a toy that she likes

~ shows preference for certain music that E plays for her

~ absolutely adores Marcus who has a big soft spot for her too... :>

CIMG1283


Thursday, December 15, 2011

Nursing Rooms

I have been to a few nursing rooms so far and the one that I like most is still the Baby Room at United Square. The worst has to be the one at Polliwogs

Whenever I plan to take Bunny out, I have to check on the nursing facilities before I even leave home. A destination without a reasonable nursing room in a mall nearby is a no-no for us. 

This means we can't head to open areas like parks and beaches. Not yet anyway, until I can confidently nurse in public, which I suspect will take another million years.... Urgh! 

Well, it is not due to any lack of nursing skills as she latches real well. But since I have no intention to risk exposing myself with jets of milk spraying all over the place whenever she pulls away to suck her lips, I don't see how I can avoid nursing rooms altogether. Using nursing cover actually makes it harder for me to manage the mess. :< 

Just as I am considering heading to Somerset 313 for brunch and shopping, I found this awful feedback about their nursing rooms. Cockroaches .... Eeks! 





Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Privacy

Every few months, the thought of privatizing this blog will enter my mind. Like now.

Sometimes I like the idea of sharing with friends and strangers alike. It is especially encouraging when readers tell me they are motivated and inspired by what I've shared and are influenced in a positive way.

I like it that I can help and encourage others, even if it means a few at a time, in this small way.

But there are also times when I would reconsider the pros and cons of making my thoughts and certain aspects of our lives so exposed, to just about anyone.

Maintaining a blog is also sheer hard work. For the blog to remain meaningful, even if it is just to me, means I must be able to keep it up-to-date with our lives. Presently, this alone, is an insane goal to meet.

I have never thought of shutting the blog down though, simply because I enjoy writing. Penning my thoughts and views on matters, which sometimes for different reasons I don't/can't really talk about, also gives me clarity and closure. Blogging can be so therapeutic.

More importantly, the main reason I blog is to record the big and little things about our days, our world and my world. Things that may be mundane to others, but meaningful to me.

Often, I will re-read my old posts to be reminded of the beautiful little things that I have forgotten. And each time, I am grateful that I blogged about them.

I want to stay true to myself and to the things that I'm passionate about. I want to be able to look back years from now and remember the life that I have led and the issues that have mattered to me. I want my kids to read in depth and hopefully appreciate and understand my perspectives of our lives.

But as the kids grow, I find myself more hesitant to talk about them so openly. I always and already have reservations about sharing certain aspects of our lives, so if I start censoring even more, this blog will no longer serve its original intent.

That's my current dilemma.

And I'm still deliberating.







Monday, December 12, 2011

In Their Eyes

My boys absolutely adore their little sister. 

To them, she is the cutest baby and the prettiest little thing they have ever seen.

Before Olivia was born, Chip was the one who showed interest, asked questions and talked to me about her. He lovingly made her shoes and blankets and wanted to make her clothes when she is older. 

M rarely mentioned anything about the unborn baby, except for the few occasions when he would stroke, hug and kiss my expanded belly. 

The first time they set eyes on her was when they came to the hospital a few hours after her birth. They were mesmerized by her tininess, but weren't that impressed with her otherwise. After all, she was just a bundle that hardly moved or made any sound. 

As the weeks went by, it was obvious that their love for her has grown exponentially.

CIMG0934

Nicholas singing a rhyme to 6-weeks-old Olivia.

M has been especially affectionate, kissing her every time he sees her. 

When he comes home from school, the first thing he does after taking off his shoes is coming straight to my room to see his baby sister. With a big sweet smile and gentle-looking eyes, he would gaze lovingly at her, wave his hand and greets her with a high-pitched 'Hiiiiiiiiiiii Baby O' before planting a kiss on the head. I always have to shoo him off to wash hands and shower.  

During the school holidays, he came to see her the moment he woke in the morning and kissed her goodnight. Throughout the day, whenever I called 'Marcus, help!' for all kinds of favours, he would drop everything that he was doing and dash into my room to help. It could be to fetch a tissue or towel, grab something from the kitchen or just about anything that I ask for. 

Basically, as long as the favour has to do with helping me look after Olivia, he does it immediately and I never have to ask twice. It is not the same with anything else though. 

Whenever I was caught up with something and couldn't be with her the moment she cried, M would dash to her side and begin singing her a song. He has learnt that talking to her and just giving her face time often calms her down and he takes great pride in soliciting smiles from her. 

CIMG1140
Olivia @ 2 months

CIMG1230CIMG1227
Olivia @ 2.5 months; 'talking' to Baby Pig which M had placed there to entertain her.

When they heard the dad cracking jokes or calling Baby O cheeky names, they defended their precious sister. E pretended to administer 'tickling torture' on her one day and they both jumped up from their chairs in a flash to shield and protect her, working together to wrestle and tickle the daddy instead. 

I can't say enough how pleased I am to see how much the brothers love their baby sister. I just know, deep in my heart, that my blessed little gal will be very pampered (hopefully in a good way) by all the boys in the house. 


Sunday, December 11, 2011

5-year-old Chippy

*Very belated post*

This little piggy had two birthday celebrations this year.

On the actual day, we had a cosy home-affair with a fancy and yummy chocolate cheesecake from Canele, which daddy chose that didn't suit the kids' palate. But at least Chip received the present that thrilled him to bits.

IMG_4493

A week later, we threw a party at Polliwogs and the birthday boy invited his friends from school. The cake that we brought to the party pleased the boys in both designs and taste.

CIMG0989

The Polliwogs party package is a lousy deal though and I certainly won't recommend it to anyone. You are much better off just paying entrance fee for your guests and order food directly from the cafe. 

It's a real shame we didn't have proper photos as I had to carry Olivia nearly the entire two hours of the party and unfortunately, E was also too distracted. Nevertheless, the kids had tons of fun, which is probably the only thing that matters.

Looking back at some recent photos of Chip just reminded me how much he has changed physically since his 4th birthday. He really looks very grown up now with more serious facial expressions. He has lost all his baby fats. Sob! I miss those cute cheeks (though they were never that chubby in the first place) and his round tummy. Now he just has the same incredibly skinny frame like M. 

CIMG0587

CIMG0343

CIMG0680

Chip is still the clown in the house. He has a good sense of humour and also enjoys making up jokes and riddles. He still hasn't gotten over toilet humour yet and will not pass up any opportunity to sneak in some when he thinks I am not listening. 

Everyday, we are bound to hear something from him that cracked us up. 

When out with daddy and was lazy to walk, he grumbled, 'my trotters are tired'.

To my exclamation that Olivia is such a sweet princess, he corrected 'She is not a princess! She is a baby!'

The boy may be precocious, but he has a firm belief in Santa and his magic. He whispered to me a week before Christmas of his plan to stay awake on Christmas Eve so he can peep at Santa. And since we have no chimney in the house, he believes Santa will come through our air con vent. He can always use his magic to make his tummy small enough to squeeze through. 

One of his most used words right now is 'nonsense'. He doesn't hesitate to say we are spouting nonsense whenever he hears things from us that he doesn't like. So when M told him there is no such thing as Santa and it is the parents who leave presents under the tree, he uttered a crystal clear 'nonsense' to M.

He gets a thrill from testing everyone at home on all kinds of quizzes that he creates. He is still drawing complex mazes for Grandpa to tackle. His recent hobby, other than playing Gesundheit and creating his games, is designing Word Search puzzles on an average of two a day. They are presented to us as gifts or challenges. 

He always seems to have a favourite topic of the week which he would talk non-stop about to anyone who cares to listen. Sometimes these are themes that are discussed in school, and from the details he is able to share, it is obvious he has been really attentive during lessons. He takes great pride sharing his knowledge. And the more he shares, the more he gets excited by the topic. Hence he would read up more on it or asked to be read books on them. 

CIMG0858
Above: A puzzle he made on his own during the 'Ring of Fire' week when he would talk non-stop about volcanoes and the Ring of Fire.  

His favourite colour is still pink, though now he will not wear pink clothes to go out anymore in case his friends laugh at him. 

He still loves anything to do with pig. A present that has a pig on it makes him really happy.

Last but not least, his favourite person in the family now is Bunny. 




Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Gesundheit Surprise

Shortly after my blog post on Chip's obsession with Gesundheit, E dropped a line to the game creator just letting him know how much the boy loves his game. 

E used to be in that industry, so I suppose he understands how much such feedback would be appreciated. I thought it is a really nice gesture on his part. :> 

What I didn't expect was the pleasant surprise we received from Matt, the game creator, who replied with a lovely email and attachments of his own sketches of the game. These are such wonderful keepsakes for Chip. 

> Thanks for getting in touch--that's amazing!!
>
> I actually saw the blog post earlier today--my mom occasionally still
> googles my stuff, and she was the one who first sent me the link. I
> can't tell you how much it made my day to see Chip's drawings of all
> the Gesundheit characters (even the boss!), and his levels are really
> complex--must be a talented guy!
>
> When I was that age I would design levels on paper for my favourite
> Nintendo games, so I admit I'm having a little bit of a
> circle-is-complete moment. And as a matter of fact his drawings
> actually look a lot like the sketches I started off with when
> designing the characters and levels for Gesundheit (attached are a few
> early doodles to show you what I mean).
>
> Anyway, I just wanted to thank Chip again for the coolest fan-art I've
> ever seen, and best of luck with future game design ideas--sure there
> could be a bright future there.
>
> :)
>
> Matt

Monday, December 5, 2011

Olivia: Nearly 3 Months

She never fails to make me laugh when she

~ sucks her lips noisily as if they are the tastiest morsels;
 
~ strokes her hair gently with her left arm (always this same arm!);

~ tries to suck her thumb and ends up punching her nose instead;

~ places her thumb on her nose instead of inside her mouth and makes noisy sucking sounds for a few seconds before looking confused. Ha ha!

I love how she looked so relaxed and happy in these photos. 

CIMG1206CIMG1210

CIMG1213CIMG1221

CIMG1245CIMG1246

CIMG1254CIMG1250

E thinks she is really a mummy's gal. 

It is obvious I'm her favourite person. 

The moment I walk into the room, her eyes light up and she would flash me a big smile straightaway. Immediately after that, her eyes will follow me everywhere I go. Should I walk away from her or if I didn't go towards her after a minute or two, she would start to utter small sounds while maintaining her eye contact with me. As if she was calling me. 

Such a sweet little bunny.  

CIMG1258


Sunday, December 4, 2011

Bullying and the Fathers' Perspective

Months before M started Primary school, I was worried if he could stand up for himself, particularly in bullying situations. 

I was told many little boys get picked on by older children and this is a common experience for children taking the school buses. 

It was tempting to walk him to school instead to avoid these potential nasties. But after some thoughts, we decided we really don't want to bubble-wrap him. 

If there are bullies or nasty situations, we shall teach him to handle them. After all, we want the kids to know how to handle unpleasant people and situations. The sooner one is exposed to them, the earlier one can learn to cope. 

Chances are, at this age, the unpleasantness will still be manageable and having teachable moments and hence, opportunities to learn through experience is essential. 

To begin with, we as parents have to agree on the acceptable behaviour and responses that we are expecting from our son in bullying situations. 

Let's just say mums and dads have very different views with regards to bullying situations. As a result, the expected responses can also be poles apart. 

My view (also shared by both grandmas):
Unless one is in grave situation, I discourage the kids to hit back no matter what. Use words, not fists. Report the matter, tell an adult and avoid the bully. And ALWAYS inform the mum when he gets home.

The fathers' views:
At first, both E and his dad disagreed with my view, which they think would be perceived as a sign of weakness and fuel further bullying. The boys should fight back, hit back, push back and shout back etc etc.... Basically, they think the right reaction should be - 'an eye for an eye' and nothing less. 

Needless to say, there were a lot of discussions between us so we don't end up confusing the boy instead. 

In the last few months, there were also quite a few teachable moments. Though they were all small incidents, especially on hindsight, there were plenty of lessons to be learnt. 

For the boy and us. 


Thursday, December 1, 2011

Obsessed with Gesundheit

CIMG0669
Ever since he discovered this Gesundheit game, Chip has been totally hooked. He asks to play it every day.
Very soon, his obsession with the game is manifested in many ways. He draws them on papers. Like this one.
CIMG0672
Sometimes he dashes straight to the table to draw first thing in the morning. It's as if he has some big inspirations and needs to produce it on paper before he forgets. :>
He arranges big Lego pieces to form mazes and traps and adds other toys and props, either as the monsters or the pig.
He utilizes our Blokus pieces for the same purpose.
He will talk non-stop about the game with incredible enthusiasm, as if it is the most fascinating invention in the world.
Then one day, he picked out his favourite 'Gesundheit games' that he had drawn on papers and compiled them into a book after adding a cover and content page. He was immensely proud of himself. :>
CIMG1112CIMG1113CIMG1114CIMG1115CIMG1116CIMG1117CIMG1118CIMG1119CIMG1120CIMG1121CIMG1122CIMG1123CIMG1124
A week later, he created another booklet that contains the instructions to play the game. Haha...

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...