Thursday 26 June 2014

Final pregnancy update for 小马哥 and final only child update

Because we're going to the hospital tomorrow!! :)

At the examination yesterday, the doc found me 3-4 cm dilated, with some blood. He wanted me in that day but... Ok, I've got my priorities all wrong.. BUT! I had to finish up some work and I haven't had a pedicure!

Oops...

In any case, Sito is still in KL. Managed to convince the doc to let me go in on Friday morning. So while the nurses were filling in forms and calling labour ward etc, I texted Sito and he called back immediately. His flight was supposed to be tonight at 8.30 pm but he changed it to 5.20 pm. Um, not too early but well...

Anyway, so 小马哥 measured just under 3.1 kg, not much growth. I grew by 0.9 kg though *.* We couldn't see his face but his hair was clearly visible! The amniotic fluid was getting less as well - common for late pregnancy.

By the time I got to office, I have informed family and some friends. And then I spent the rest of the day catching up with friends and colleagues while attempting to finish up as much work as I could. Even managed to have three work discussions in the afternoon! Also packed up my stuff in the office - either into the drawers or into my bag. And then, suddenly, I was on the cab home!

I was happy to see curry on the stove - a nice last dinner with ZK before he is no longer the one and only. Tonight, he's eating at Mum's place and sleeping over as we have to be at the hospital by 6.30 am tmr. Also sent ZK to bed with mixed feelings. So I played with him a little more - glad to see him so happy :)

He was very active last night while I continued to work. It was a very pleasant feeling though it could hurt sometimes. Very soon, he'll be punching me on the outside!

I finally finished work by 11 pm or so! Woohoo! Very shiok to know that I won't be touching the laptop for at least another month. I'll probably log on here and there to clear emails so that the mailbox doesn't burst..

By midnight, I still couldn't reach Sito by text or Skype or Viber and so got paranoid, as usual *.* For the first time in almost two years, I called him while he was overseas. No answer :( Then I got hungry and had instant noodles with a slice of cheese :p And then he called back. He was just at dinner outside - see, I'm the paranoid wife... After his shower, we chatted for a while before I went to bed - it was past 1 am by then.

Slept for some three hours before I heard ZK. He woke on the floor and went back to his bed for a couple more hours before he eventually woke at just past 6 am. Good sleep, happy boy. I let him watch baby videos on my phone while I cut his nails. Then we went to school. He wanted to go after Teacher Andrea who was walking in as well and kept calling her name. But he couldn't go fast enough. Soon enough, he got tired and was happy to sit in his stroller.

I went into the classroom with him cos he didn't like the new teacher in the morning. His 老师 who usually receives him in the morning was on leave this week. He wouldn't let me go for a while and gave me his sad face. Then Teacher Cory arrived and he was so happy to see her! He was also very happy to wave byebye to me *.* Bleah *.* But I'm happy to see him his usual self :)

Came back for breakfast and found a bit of bleeding. Nothing soon after. No contractions too. Safe.

Spent the morning sorting out some paperwork and bringing out baby stuff before the plumber arrived. Just changing the bidet spray and shower hose set us back $140! He couldn't fix the main leak for the bidet seat cos the part was not a generic one. But he went to the shop at Lavender to ask for me! In the end, he didn't buy for me cos the part looked different. After all, our bidet seat is five years old. So I called to ask and was assured that the new part could fit. Will get Sito to go get it when he goes to ICA.

Then I headed out to get bank statements to prepare for Baby Bonus applications cos I remembered having to go get my bank statements last time. Also went to cancel our steamboat reservation next Wednesday - sighs, really no fate with it! The first time, we both had ulcers so didn't enjoy much. The second time, Sito had to work. The third time, Sito was ill. Now, we're giving birth! I told the guy to call me if a slot becomes available...

Next was pedicure! Painted my toes green :) Took the time to flip through a couple of recipe books from Mum - part of our lunch arrangements after delivery. Then met Mum to grab a salad lunch and two coconuts at the supermarket. I finally had salad! Been wanting it so much...

Then I got down to packing the hospital bag. Almost everything is laid out - just waiting for the suitcase to come back with Sito! We have others but I couldn't be bothered to take another one out. Now I'm just lazing around and wondering if I have missed out anything.. Seems a bit late to head out to Daiso...

Anyway, I've been feeling this pressure down my left side. 小马哥, you're excited about coming out soon? :) Papa and Mama are excited to be meeting you finally :)

Tuesday 24 June 2014

In pain but in love

I'm not in labour. Yet. I'm just in pain - 小马哥 is not letting up although he must be running out of space already. He just went knocking around my whole womb barely a minute before I started typing.

But I'm so in love. Call me silly but I think he's trying to communicate with me, knowing that Mama has been so distracted by the brother and by work that she hasn't talked to him very much during this pregnancy. I plead guilty... Sometimes when I think about it, like now, I feel bad.

These days, I'm often sitting in bed with some work on my lap. But I'll take some time out to feel him moving as he always does when I plonk my ass here every night. I want to take my time to absorb and internalise this feeling of him moving inside. We have no idea whether we will have another child so let me just treat this as our last pregnancy and 小马哥 our last baby :)

Two consecutive scary evenings

Yesterday, ZK came home in tears, not crying out loudly but obviously upset with his left hand holding his right arm across his chest. Y said the teacher said something about his arm so I called her - he was playing rough with A but showed no sign of pain or unhappiness until he saw a kid having biscuits and he didn't get any cos he was on his way out.

So at the dining table, he used his left hand to hold the spoon. I put the spoon in his right hand, which went limp and dropped the spoon! I was so scared!

I felt both hands - both felt the same to me; nothing broken. I gently squeezed every cm of his right hand - no scream of pain; just the persistent sad look. I asked him to lift his arms - he held both up high; probably not a dislocation. I asked him to point out the painful part - he pointed to a strap mark on his right arm caused by the stroller cos he was pulling against the strap as he sometimes would do.

I couldn't figure out what was wrong so I let him hold the spoon with his left hand - which was quite steady anyway - while I fetched, um, my bottle of Hazeline snow cream... Since we saw XY apply some placebo cream on her son's toe, I have used my Hazeline snow cream to "cure" an itchy spot, and this day, it soothed him a little.

Throughout dinner, he would have a few mouthfuls and show me his limp right arm with a whine. I had to hold his arm and sayang it to sooth him. He also seemed very tired. The one thing he did with his right hand at dinner yesterday was to pick up fishcake and raisins...

When we got to his bed, I put more cream on his arm while he watched and asked for more.. Then, as he reached for the bottle with his left hand, he held my hand with his right hand to steady himself, and he squeezed my hand - no pain showing. Probably not a muscle issue too. And then, he twisted the cap of the bottle open with his right hand. Um, seemed to be working fine. Was he just being whiny?!

Googled a bit on hairline fracture and muscle tear/strain - both would have presented swelling. So I ruled both out. I just kept checking him in the monitor before I went to bed. When he woke this morning, everything was fine. When he showed me his left hand, I decided that that was it - he was very fine!

And just now, we were in his room singing and waiting for Y when he decided to go for the door. Then, I couldn't see it from my angle but I heard the unmistakenable sound of the door opening *.* He kept opening and closing the door for at least four times after that. Sighs.. Looks like this is it - I can expect to hear that again later...

How is this scary? Just on Sunday, I was napping on the massage chair at Mum's place when I heard a little boy calling me and tapping my knee. I was shocked into consciousness. So if I don't get shocked awake by the door opening, I may wake to a little hand slapping my face and/or a little voice calling me, or I may wake to a presence next to me and open my eyes to find my little boy standing next to me! In the middle of the night, that can be quite scary *.* Though with a boy, it probably wouldn't be as scary as what TO experienced lately - she woke to her 11-yo daughter standing quietly next to her bed, with her long hair down her face *.*

The worst part of it is that, 小马哥 may also get disturbed. Sighs, we just have to manage things one step at a time!

Sunday 22 June 2014

My big baby

Love this series of shots of ZK drinking Milo:

Mama, are you taking a photo of me drinking Milo?



This is yummy...



But just how is this interesting??



Whatever, I shall just enjoy my drink...



And then he took the straw out and there were droplets of Milo all over *.*

Spent some time at CW's place last weekend. XY and her kids were there too! CW's place became a child care centre *.* With Sito being the most popular adult - XY's kids flocked to him with their iPads and ZK wanted a piece of Papa too! And as I looked through these pictures, I realised we forgot to take a group shot, argh!

He didn't bully me that day - fell asleep rather quickly in V's cot after lunch. When he woke, he held on to V's bear and cried when V tried to take back her own bear *.* Totally engrossed in the TV soon after...



On our way out, ZK gave V a hug :)



And they just stopped holding hands in this shot - think this boy must have been going around hugging his friends and holding hands in school...



Centre closure day! We went to Happy Willow where he had fun jumping around while the adults spent their energy watching over him..



He finally looked super happy in the ball pit!



And looking fat here :p



He loves to go near this cat in the morning. He knows he shouldn't touch it, I think.. If you look carefully, you'll find my big boy smiling happily at the cat :)



This cat is also quite bo chup - it just lets ZK go near and stare at it. Sometimes, he carries on sleeping and ignores ZK.

On Thursday, however, ZK went near a furrier cat in Chip Bee. It was snobbish and apparently valued its private space a lot more. After giving a couple of head jerks ("Eh, why are you so near? Eh, eh!"), he reached out and whacked ZK's forehead! I was apprehensive about this stranger cat and was standing close, ready to grab ZK but I wasn't quick enough.. Luckily it was just a warning whack - no claws! ZK was still not afraid! Argh, gotta drag him off..

Sometimes, he spends a lot of time looking at cats and dogs in the neighbourhood, or playing at the fitness corner, or simply melting down along the way. I found a way to get him away from the fitness corner - by letting him play on each machine for three counts :p But otherwise, these days, I don't send him to school all the time else I would be quite late for work.. Two weeks ago, I told Y that I couldn't go, and he seemed to understand and turned to me to say byebye - I was quite sad :(

This was yesterday at the indoor playground at Clementi Mall. Compared to our last trip there in March this year, he has grown so much - he could climb up and down the slide structure steadily, and even make his way down the slide without much supervision. In fact, he would even push other kids aside if we weren't there to tell him to wait! No longer the pushover... But his teacher was right - he's got to learn to wait for his turn!

Hello!



Look who's the boss!



Still having sleep issues with ZK.. These days, he realises about me going to 隔壁房间 and wants to go in with me sometimes at his bedtime. Sito goes to KL every Monday morning. Two weeks, I let ZK into our room at 4 am or so when he woke, hoping he would fall asleep and sleep through Sito's prep. But no, the lights kept him up.. And we had to shut our door when Sito left so that he would stay in the room. He did stay and doze off for a short while but he was up very early and OPENED THE DOOR TO GO OUT!

I was like, shit, that was it! Now we couldn't stop him anymore! But he didn't open the door again after that.. Hmmm... Lucky for us, he kind of understands the concept of quiet time and that(来)妈妈房间(要)睡觉 so most of the time, he falls asleep after some rolling around.. But he continues to sleep on the floor in his room!

One night, he decided to sleep in front of the camera...



Spread eagle!



Or on his blanket instead of his bed...



One morning, I heard noises and found him turning off the night light.. He looks so soft and huggable here :)



I just put back his humidifier this past week, and he has been turning it off in the morning as well - that's very obvious cos there's a ringtone when it's turned off. I told him to not touch the switches anymore and there were a couple of mornings when he left everything on and told me to "off" them when I got to his room.

He had Meh Meh with him - see the legs?



Reaching for the handle! He would have reached it if not for his bolster...



This was one of those rare occasions where he went back to his bed after going to the door. Well, almost on the bed..



This is how he is in the morning, if he falls asleep next to me and I wake first - my sleeping angel :) Or in this case, my Batman.. Sleep tight; Robin is on his way :p

Meal plans!

In the past few weeks, I have been excitedly planning my meals for the next few months as a stay-at-home mama :) FOOD! :)

Breakfast:
  • Overnight oats with blueberries, nuts, raisins, sunflower seeds, super expensive chia seeds - all supposedly great for milk supply; take this cold or heated up
  • Egg mayo sandwich with rockets - simply love this; and I intend to grow my own rockets!
  • Wolf berry tea - just a warm drink in the morning...
Lunch:
  • Pasta - probably with some grilled vegetables topped with some protein
  • Smoked salmon - used to stir this into my pasta back in uni
  • Grilled sandwich - finally going to utilise my panini press!
  • Beef patty - just an idea for the sandwich :)
  • Egg omelette - the runny kind, slurp!
  • Ginger fried rice - this will be from Mum. I like fried rice! As the song goes: 炒飯的味道吃過都知道好 :p
Dinner:
I'll be having dinner with ZK so it will be our usual food. But since I'll be breastfeeding, I think I'll expand the menu a little bit more and hope ZK will eat more with me. In particular, some soup is in order. Google gave me some palatable ideas:
  • Whole chicken, shallots, white pepper - boil then simmer two hours; sounds yummy!
  • Lotus root and peanuts - always good
  • Chicken and wolf berries - made this back in uni as well
  • Pork ribs and corn - I like!
  • 酱醋猪脚 - this isn't from Google; Mum will make some. Very good with rice.
Tea:
And I know I'll get hungry when losing weight breastfeeding, so I have also thought of the various tea time snacks I could have - yummy and healthy to boot!
  • Instant oats - just add hot water; very convenient in the middle of the night
  • Milo - a sweet treat
  • Toast with cheese - possible thanks to the panini press!
  • Cheese with peanut butter - had so much of this with ZK!
  • Nuts - just bought two huge packs :)
  • Raspberry leaf tea - I still have so much of this! Great for milk and thirst when I'm not too hungry
  • Double boiled papaya milk (dessert) - takes more time to make, but I have help and this does sound yummy!
I'm getting hungry just writing about food! Actually I'm not hungry but I just want to eat all the time! Juicy beef burger, baby spinach salad, pesto pasta, 板面, instant noodles, pumpkin soup, fried food, oh, and 小笼包! We missed our 小笼包 steamboat buffet on Friday as Sito didn't have the appetite. We made another reservation on 2 July - hope 小马哥 is still happy remaining inside for some days more!

Wednesday 18 June 2014

Weekly updates now!

At 37w3d today, I was told that I'm about 2 cm dilated. But I've read that I could be dilating and dilated for days to weeks before labour begins so I'm still taking it easy about getting all prepared for delivery and having this little one in my arms and care. But I'm certainly not taking it easy at work - worked until midnight last night; tonight looks set to be similar, sighs..

Anyway, back to baby.. He's 3 kg now! If that's accurate, he'll be about ZK's size by 39-40 weeks. But in case it's an overestimate, like ZK was overestimated by 500g, I'm still going to down my beef and dairy all the way to delivery. My two babies had very different diets inside - I had so much beef and milk with ZK, and mostly chicken and pork and soy milk with 小马哥...

He's still not showing his face this week so no picture to show. But he's all curled up inside with his knees drawn and a foot at his face - that foot caused a lot of pain in my right side this morning *.*

Oh, and no more cord around the neck! Finally remembered to ask :p But forgot to ask for cold syrup for me - coughing a little here and there.. Won't be fun with an episiotomy..!

As for me, I gained 700g. Probably difficult to keep my weight under 75 kg by delivery... Oh well... Had a culture done today as well. I'll upload a photo of my cute belly later. No maternity photography in the end - no time!

My cute belly which reminded me of a dolphin!



Oh, I realised I have not posted my maternity shots from ZK's time... Um, maybe later....

Wednesday 11 June 2014

The cutest 36w3d-old hand

Hi :)



小马哥 was shy and/or naughty today - we couldn't see his face properly, just the hand :)

Doc didn't mention the umbilical cord and I forgot to ask! But I suppose that should mean things are fine hur? *.*

I gained 1.1 kg in two weeks, just nice, although apparently, I was this weight when I delivered ZK... Um, I started from a higher base this time? :p He's growing well too, having taken more than 400g from me - he's 2.75 kg now. Three plus weeks to go so... GROW MORE! :)

I must be quite masochistic cos he's already pulling some pretty hard punches at this weight *.* This morning at the clinic, I was lying flat for the scan and he gave me a hard kick on my left side. It was very, very painful. Just now on the way home, he did some funny stretching and it felt uncomfortable as well. But I must say that I kind of like these movements :p

I started taking antibiotics on Monday night cos I had strep B the last time. Actually, should have started on Sunday morning but I missed that alarm :p Will be doing culture test next week - hope it's clear!

My groin is still hurting. Some nights, I woke up to go pee and had to take it slow cos it hurt when I tried to get up. Some nights, I just went back to sleep cos I couldn't bear to get up *.* This morning, I rolled off the bed to avoid waking ZK, and when I landed on my legs, pain shot through my groin, sighs...

Anyway, ZK has been coming in every night now. I thought, just as well - perhaps this could assuage any feeling of jealousy when 小马哥 arrives. The only problem is, now I only have 20% of the bed - he must squeeze me to the side even though he has the rest of the bed when Sito is away. Even when Sito is home, Sito would take at most 30% - this little tyrant took up space way bigger than his little frame!

Just got home from the second weeknight dinner with friends in about two years - the first was Monday. I'm so beat now... My feet are feeling it especially, cos I was in heels the whole day. These are kitten heels, quite low and more importantly, spacious compared to my pumps! My feet don't look swollen at all but I think they are a little swollen cos my pumps are getting tight.

Now I'm sitting in bed, waiting for Sito to Skype me - he doesn't seem to be back in the hotel yet.. Many nights, I sit here doing work or blogging or Skyping, and many nights, I feel like a little ball - 肥肥圆圆坐在这里, quite cute, haha!

Tuesday 10 June 2014

Random photos

Yes, I do take photos that don't have ZK in them :) Here are some from the past six or seven months..

I remember having a similar table - you know, the tabletop with this old-school pattern?



At a balloon sculpting event - CL make the green one for ZK and I made the yellow one, but I dropped the yellow one on the way to the cab :(



A hilarious poster around LNY!



We were waiting for the Chingay floats to come our way but they were late and we were hungry so we left before seeing anything, except for this ice cream man, who reminded me of the ice cream treats with CY every Wednesday for a while back in secondary school! That was fun but too expensive for me, sighs..



Freaky cats spotted along Holland Avenue! We were taking a walk after a date night and found these two cats staring at a spot above our heads... Lizards *.*



We didn't understand this sign - someone, explain?



The ground downstairs littered beautifully with fallen flowers soon after the rains finally came pouring down after a long absence :)



Yes, bag down!



Saw another poster lately about watching where you're going, i.e. not at your phone!

This pair of slippers broke at the T - very sad, no pretty office slippers for a while cos I kept forgetting to bring a replacement pair..



And when I did, this pair didn't last very long before the T broke off too! And they're supposed to be Havaianas! Think I bought them shortly before Kellogg.. Sad..



After again some procrastination, I now have a pair of Ipaneme slippers, slightly cheaper and way prettier than the Havaianas!

Present from Sito :)



I'm keeping that for myself but this, I let ZK play :)



Dug out my old schoolbag from JC times for our recent excursion to the zoo! First to the aquarium though - wet weather plans..



The tag is quite faded but I couldn't bear to throw it away...



On a recent beautiful morning... From our lift landing..

Saturday 7 June 2014

ZK, a little more grown

And looking more like Mama? The sales assistant at Island Creamy said he looked like me just now. I'm happy :) Everyone has been saying how much ZK looks like Sito for the longest time, not that either of us could tell very much though. But it's a good thing to look like the father first - cos the mother always know it's her kid but not nec the father hoho!

We had a parent-teacher conference this morning. There was delay so I waited outside for a while. Then ZK came out cos he saw me from inside. He had some fun on a "mini car" before it was our turn.

So, how's ZK been in school? Quite good! He can feed himself, drink from a cup, peel a banana; he is quite bilingual and has a positive effect on his good friend's Mandarin; he listens to instructions (at the beginning at least), shares things with other children, feeds them things he doesn't like until their whole mouth is full *.* But he's impatient and always wants to be the first to get things like milk. Yesterday, he tried to get into the water before he was changed into swim diaper cos he couldn't wait. So the teachers let him cry and told him to go to them when he was ready.

ZK was sitting on my lap during this and said and did cute things. I was given a little file on ZK, full of pictures and description of his progress in various developmental areas. It was a great read for Sito and me :)

When it was time to go, I couldn't leave ZK behind cos he wouldn't let me! No choice but to bring him back and have Y take care of him for a few hours while Sito and I went to my second uncle's wake - he had a heart attack during a game of badminton and passed away on Thursday night. It was such a shock cos he seemed so healthy. Exercise alone, it seems, is not enough. Genes and diet play a big part as well. And, we're really moving into the age where the generation just before us is starting to go, sighs...

Anyway.. here are some photos from the past few weekends..

Funny sleeping pose - with only the head on his bed!



Brought him to the hawker centre for breakfast - he didn't want glutinous rice or carrot cake so I bought fried beehoon. Strangely, he woudn't have any too! I ended up having two portions of breakfast *.* Then I got some pandan cake for him and plonked him onto the supermarket trolley - so happy!



I told him to smile. And he always smiles like this cos he learnt from a 招财猫 with such a smile! I always ask him 猫猫怎么笑?^.^

That evening, we went to Star Vista for dinner and saw big animals on the way out. He loved them! Sayang...



Last weekend - my boys with their gadgets *.*



Last weekend, we also had a staycation at W at Sentosa and we got a nice suite! Best part? It was all free :)

Having biscuits while waiting for check-in.



And then while waiting for our room to be ready, we walked around the hotel and found ourselves in unfamiliar territory... It reminded us of Bahamas!



Also checked out the quayside area - food not really to our liking. Just gave ZK some Milo while roaming the supermarket, which was anything but super...

Finally, we got to our room! And it was very nice, with a guest toilet at the doorway, a huge living room, a spacious bedroom and a mega bathroom. ZK was happily running about the room exploring things. Very soon, Sito hid all the glass ornaments. I didn't manage to stop him before he squeezed some shower gel on the fluffy floor mat at the basins. And later I found that he barely missed a glass jar of bath salts! Put that away immediately...

Then suddenly, ZK stopped in the middle of the bedroom. And his face turned red. Fantastic... We thought it was safest to change him on the sofa but guess what? He did his baby thing and peed just as we went about to put on a new diaper! Ok, off to the bath!

On a "colourful bus"!



ZK fell asleep on the bus on our way to RWS for dinner..



We walked a little and he woke! And of course he must sit in every car *.* But check out the sign behind him :p



Dinner was at Coca - so good so full and so rushed cos ZK wanted to sit on the display car outside, and a boy had a bring a bear to the car, which excited him even more!

Showering was a tricky business. He wouldn't let me disappear so I let him into the shower with me. He thought my naked body was funny *.* He slipped a few times while I was washing myself but nothing serious. There was ample space in the shower for him to hang around until it was his turn.

It took a while to put him in bed. I dozed off and Sito was snoring away. I thought it was early - about 9 pm - but well, we could also do with more sleep! Then Sito woke. So we ended up with chocolate waffles from room service and TVB drama on the television in the living room so we didn't disturb ZK.

The night was quite alright. ZK didn't wake very much though he sat up a couple of times and moved around as usual. He eventually woke at a very decent hour past 6 am.

And he watched his fave excavator video while Sito was in the shower!



Platinum guests got to choose a welcome gift - 500 points, breakfast or one other thing. Of course we took breakfast - the area was quite 鸟不生蛋 and there was no platinum lounge for free food :p

ZK had a lot of food - oatmeal biscuits, almost a whole chocolate muffin and more than a slice of bread!



We returned to the room where he pooped again. This time, he refused to lie down so I wiped him standing. Time for him to learn that!! And then we washed him down and sent him into the bathtub with Sito before I climbed in too - family bath! It was quite fun, especially since ZK likes water play so much. But I guess the tub was quite different from the usual water play, and it was hot water. He wanted out shortly.

Anyway, he was tired so we stayed in bed watching TV while Papa continued to relax in the bath, watching the same show in the bathroom TV. Yes, three TVs in all but all smaller than ours! Soon after Sito joined us, ZK fell asleep..

We watched TV for a bit more before Sito settled check-out during his nap so that we could up and go once he woke as we were meeting Mum they all for lunch at Vivocity. Took the W shuttle to Vivocity - grey, not colourful, but it was a bus and ZK was happy :)

ZK is really more grown-up now. This staycation wasn't all easy but it was so much easier than in India - in terms of eating and sleeping. But I think we still won't attempt another week-long holiday with him for a while...

Other signs of our baby growing up... He's talking a lot more. Sito used a very apt term to discuss his talking - 头头是道! ZK looks like he knows what he's saying, and we have no doubt he does, but we don't understand much *.* This week, he started saying 早安 to me in the morning in bed, and 晚安 when I left the room. His 早安 is especially enthusiastic! And yesterday, on the way to school, he went something like "doe a deer".. I started the song, and he finished the first line with something like "a female deer"! So fun! He could sing the last word of a few more lines :) Oh, and at Sentosa, we discovered that his "pineapple" was actually 拔萝卜!

He is also starting to choose his clothes. He has been aware of the airplanes on his pyjamas tonight for a while. He also knows the one with the giraffe and the one with a bear. Last night, Y took out the one with the bear. I no longer want him to wear that as pyjamas as that has short sleeves and he's sleeping on the floor all the time. But too bad, he saw it and wouldn't have anything else. Luckily he's a very warm boy - when he's sleeping next to me, I'll be cold if the blanket is off but otherwise, I'll sweat lor!

I think I need to change the title of my note that captures his everyday things for me to record here later. It now says "Baby ZK" but he's really not a baby anymore. He's starting to be more and more like a 小孩子 or a 大 baby.. Our son, he's grown so much and so fast :)

Wednesday 4 June 2014

Bedtime conversation with ZK :)

We were sitting on the floor next to his bed.

Mama: 长颈鹿在哪里?
ZK: 长颈鹿高高!*both hands up!*
Mama: 对啊,长颈鹿高高!*copy ZK*
ZK: Monkey!
Mama: Monkey 抓着树枝摇啊摇... *gestures wildly*
ZK: 吃...
Mama: Monkey 吃什么?
ZK: *stares at me*
Mama: Monkey 吃菜,羊也吃菜..
ZK: *stares at me*
Mama: ZK 摸羊,记得吗?叔叔给你菜让你喂羊可是你没有,那叔叔自己喂羊,ZK 记得吗?
ZK: *keeps staring*
Mama: 羊的口还亲亲 ZK 的小手?
ZK: Water lay! (nop, no typo here!)
Mama: 还有 water play! ZK 跟谁一起 water play 啊?
ZK: Papa!
Mama: ZK 要 water play 啊?
ZK: 要...
Mama: 等爸爸没有上班,我们一起去 water play 好吗?
ZK: 要...

Happy evening :)

Tuesday 3 June 2014

Five

We - Sito and mf - are five :)

This equation pretty much summarises our little family:

3/6/9 + 5 = 3 + 1

And taking stock, I realised we've spent only two out of five anniversaries together!

Year 1: Sito had an evening event.
Year 2: Together in Evanston :)
Year 3: I was in Singapore but Sito was still in Evanston.
Year 4: Together in Singapore :)
Year 5: Sito is 350 km away in KL now...

I shall look forward to spending more future anniversaries together than apart :)

Sunday 1 June 2014

To the zoo!

Finally we got to go to the zoo last Sunday! :)

"What's happening??!"



The look of wonder on his face - not the one above but when he saw this little monkey on a tree - made the long and hot trip all worth it. And that was only in the first 10 min :)

Passed by the otters and he happily sat on a fake one after going around touching every one.



Our target was to get to the kids zone and we chose the primate route to get there. The orang utans were swinging freely above us as usual, and ZK was just looking up with that same look of wonder :) Also passed by the cat zone and the Africa zone. While we were at the giraffes, the lions opposite started roaring for some reason, and the giraffes stopped moving! Instinct at work!

Finally, we got to the kids zone!

ZK kept going "some more some more" and went down the fence to touch one goat after another. But Sito was so worried about the goats chewing off his little fingers!! :p



A nice young man with his girlfriend offered ZK a piece of vegetable to feed a goat but ZK was totally blur :p But he stared in amazement when he saw how the goat ate the thing.

At one point, a goat put his mouth on ZK's hand and ZK withdrew his hand with a smile :) That was cute but the next thing was gross - he got kissed by a goat! And he didn't even flinch! *.*

I wiped him down of course and sent the boys off to water play!!



He was already very patient to sit with me instead of running to the water while we waited for Papa to get changed. I tried to keep him still by s l o w l y changing him out into his swim diaper.

But he was scared of water flowing down! I saw him hugging Papa tight quite a few times when they got near flowing water.



Think he just doesn't like water in his eyes. He hates this part of his showers...

有得玩不认娘了 - he couldn't be bothered when Papa pointed out Mama to him *.*



They took a quick rinse at the shower area and got changed for a snack! We brought a small packet of Milo for him :) He didn't want any of the food but he was quite happy feeding us.



It started raining while we were snacking. He was already tired and ready to sleep, but it was just difficult with all the distractions - rain (he'll sing!), my umbrella, the zoo trams, kids running about. So we stopped by the penguins anyway to show him real 企鹅 :)



We called for a cab and while waiting for it, my boys had fun! :)



ZK fell asleep on the cab while watching his fave excavator video. So cute :)

Interestingly, our cab ride home was about the same price as that from Bishan to the zoo; we went to Bishan for lunch. Kel said it was cos we took different routes. So let me make a note here - take BKE + Sixth Avenue next time instead of Thomson + Mandai, shorter!

And, we think the zoo trip was so much better than the aquarium trip. ZK seemed more interested and was definitely more engaged. Even today, he still remembers the monkeys and 长颈鹿高高 :) He even suddenly mentioned water play one day and linked that to Papa. Made me regret being lazy all this while and only going to the standard malls. I started thinking about nice excursions like this cos he's bigger now and cos very soon, he won't be the only centre of attention. Let's see where else we can go within the next few weeks :)