ZK is three!

Can't believe it has been three years! Happy birthday, ZK! :)

Now that he's older, it's easier to bring him out. So I ventured out with him on Saturday, the day before his birthday.

Waiting for the bus

We reached the National Museum a few minutes before my scheduled brunch hour with LS and SX, and the Masak Masak exhibition was right in front of us. So ZK wanted to play! Unfortunately, it was not open yet as the staff was still cleaning up the inflated playground.

Running about the playground and having fun anyway

Mama, this is how you do it...

Bumped into LS there. She brought mini SX and so the kids met for the nth time but no longer in slings! And this meeting really made me wonder - why is ZK everywhere?! Example - LS went to the washroom and asked mini SX to stay with me. She obliged and even let me hold her as I went after ZK who ran into the museum when the doors opened. And when LS left the table later, she was quietly occupied at the table; I was sitting right there and yet my son was running all over the place *.* Why??

ZK had some food and asked for cake when he saw the cakes. Well, it was his birthday weekend so I gave him a warm chocolate fudge cake. We sang him a birthday song too! :)

Yummy! And the boy is still....

When I wanted to go pee, he wanted to go pee too. Um, ok... So I had him pee standing - but he just had to take off his shoes and pants and underwear, and he stood such that his scrotum was resting on the toilet bowl, yucks!!! And of course, I was in an unglam mama position - kiapping his clothes under one armpit and holding his penis with my fingers *.*

Later at home, I showed him a photo of him pooping with his pants at his ankles. Thankfully after that, he was ok not to take off everything in the toilet, phew!

Had some fun with the Masak Masak exhibition and the kids area after brunch.

Hula hoops!

Playing with his "new friend", as he calls her, even today!

Took a double decker bus home - not his first time but it was the first time I went up with him. He enjoyed the view from the upper deck :)

Sleepily watching the excavators as we passed by...

Took ZY to baby spa after their nap. ZK had fun there too even though he couldn't go into the pool anymore :) But when a new baby went into the pool, he poured water over the baby's head!! Luckily the parents were quite chill about it..

Happily playing water with Papa

Learning about electromagnetic field at a science fair at Vivo - way to go, boy!

We got a cake from Bakerzin on the way home. We couldn't wait for him to blow out the candles! :)

But first, his present!

Mum and Dad got him a helmet for safety. Will upload pictures one day - it's so big on his head. And he looks like ALIEN :p

Surprise at Mum's place!

(He was trying to smile for the camera :p)

More natural :)

Eh, big boy, feed yourself leh!

ZY had some fun too! Looks so fat here!

Cake time!

ZK blew out the candle right after the song ended. RIGHT AFTER. No time for Chinese version, no time to ask him to make a wish, even if he knew what that was all about.

The little family! (While restraining him from cutting the cake!)

Yummy again!

Looks like a big boy with no top, in army pants and some underwear showing haha!

Dinner was at Long Beach at IMM cos there's a playground right outside. Pretty uneventful but I think it's a pretty good birthday :)

Hope you've enjoyed your day, my love! :)

ZY's birthday trip

Well, not really, we just happened to be on a trip on his birthday cos KS was getting married. That was why we celebrated his birthday one week earlier.

It's the standard divide-and-conquer. Sito and I took the small one while the less small sat with Dad. Mum and Y are free cells.

Standing up and not sitting or lying still, sighs..

But the toddler can sit still with entertainment!! :)

Though that forlorn look was probably due to him feeling unwell - he puked towards the end of the coach ride *.* Gave him axe oil to smell for the rest of the journey..

We arrived at PoPo's place with a smelly toddler. Washed him down before we headed out for lunch. Then as usual, we returned to wait for check-in.

Classic shot again - third consecutive such shot!

And ZY's first - what an expression!

Sito was supposed to be on reservist - his first! - in June and couldn't join us on Friday. But something went wrong and his reservist was postponed. The whole episode resulted in us booking a suite instead of separate rooms, to facilitate night time childcare without the Papa.

So with everyone together, we ditched ZY with Y and took ZK out in search of foot reflexology :p That doesn't sound so crazy if you know what's in our bag... That's right - downloaded YouTube videos *.*

We got some bubble tea on the way, endured some whining along the way cos ZK saw car rides and wanted them but we refused to give up our foot reflexology, oops... Anyway, he was ok once we whipped out the videos. Just that twice during the session, he left my side to wander into the full body massage area! The second time, I asked one of the therapists to tell him NO! And then he kept looking at her when he tried to move later :p

Dinner was at PoPo's place. Buffet spread with the yummiest dragonfruit-pineapple blend! Even ZK liked it :) We didn't stay too late as the kids must sleep. Mum stayed over at PoPo's place as she had to go with the groom to fetch the bride early the next morning.

With such a big bathtub in our room, we couldn't resist but take a bath - ZK loves the small bathtub at home which we use every Saturday, and this was a full-size bathtub! (Henceforth known as the big bathtub *.*) Sito didn't join in cos he hadn't pooped... ZK had fun with his dump truck while ZY had fun splashing water!

It was a pretty rough night though. ZK was supposed to sleep with Dad but came in for us in the middle of the night. Luckily we had a king bed so no one was crushed! First time the little family slept on the same bed :)

Woke up to a one-year-old boy in our bed wanting his milk! :)

And he got his birthday present from us - yup, library card!

We are very fair - ZK got a library card for his first birthday too. But actually, ZK has not used his yet... Oh well!

ZY had biscuits in the premium lounge while we had breakfast; he had his in the room

Got to PoPo's place just before the troop returned from KL. I had stupidly left the angbao in Singapore. Lucky we had enough SGD combined to make a nice number. I had fun at the tea ceremony - I missed out n times being a jiemei when we were in the US so I finally got to play a role at a tea ceremony! Cheap thrill :p

Pre- or post-tea ceremony play time with his cousins

ZK was probably in the naughty corner for being rude when given angbaos by the happy couple...

We headed out for lunch. There was karaoke there but no one made use of it! At least I got another cheap thrill watching MTVs and singing along to my birthday boy - I found that pop songs could lull him to dreamland...

Lunchtime nap!

Some laughs before his nap time

All rested, we went for waterplay!

Source: Dad

ZK drank some water when he slipped as he went further inside the pool. "Don't go there, later fall down..." Awww...

And then we left ZY in the room with Y and brought ZK out. He was quite ok to bring along now. Just that he remains playful as ever!! But as promised, we let him ride the car he saw yesterday.

Driving, driving in my (remote-controlled) car...

And father and son shared some Marrybrown's...

Went in search of another bubble tea and took the wrong way. Ended up with the same bubble tea. And a little cut on ZK's right shin when he fell BEFORE we reached an escalator. I wonder how... Anyway, we got back just in time for Sito to get changed to go to the restaurant - he and Jiejie were the emcees! The rest of us had a bit more time which was lucky as I took a bit to put on makeup :p

Why aren't the babies looking at the camera?? 

But the grandparents sure look happy!

As do we!

Mama with the playful tot - very handsome too!

Also handsome, the birthday boy :)

The wedding was quite different from the usual in Singapore. First of all, it was very traditional, as in hosted by the parents. The friends took only one table; the rest were relatives the couple might not even know! And the logistics were unacceptable - imagine trays rolling out of the kitchen, through your ballroom into another ballroom for another wedding! But the food was good! I even had quite a bit of suckling pig...

Anyway, ZK had somewhat of a meltdown. But it was probably cos he was tired, what with waterplay in the sun and no nap since lunch. He slept on Dad for a while before I transferred him to my lap. ZY also fell asleep and both didn't wake even when we got back to the hotel. We managed to changed ZY's diaper without waking him. Mum managed to change ZK's pants. We were lucky ZK didn't pee in the bed cos the last time he peed was pre-dinner! And ZK woke later than us the next day. Yeah! But we were up cos ZY woke early. Bleah.

We decided to head to the main lounge for breakfast as the premium lounge had a smaller selection of food though it was way less crowded. And with some time until check-out, we ditched both kids to go for foot reflexology! Or rather, we ditched ZY and ZK ditched us for AhMa.. Oh well...

And this foot reflexology was good! The previous one was Thai style. This was Chinese pattern. I could feel the effect for days after, shiok!

Went back to the hotel to rest a little before lunch at a nyonya place nearby.

My cute little tiger!

And his classic tilt-and-smile killer pose

And it's back to PoPo's place with our luggage to wait for the van back home. While waiting, we had durians - MSW, D24, D1, D2, big thorn, hongxia, kampung. I ate so much! And there are still some in my freezer! :)

Come, let's play together while the adults eat the 臭臭!

Gripped by little fingers :)

We went without a break stop and got back in time for dinner. But I was so busy with durians that I forgot to change ZY's diaper before we set off. By the time we headed for dinner, his diaper had leaked *.* And by the end of our Korean dinner downstairs, he pooped *.* Finally got to rest only after washing everyone up!

Now this Malacca trip was only a rehearsal for the long trip in October. The kids will be older but if this and India were anything to go by, we'll be all quite tired at the end of the holiday - good luck to us all! :)

ZY turning one!

ZY called me mama on Tuesday night! :)

I didn't pay much attention. Only heard him crying out from the baby monitor but when I got out of my door, it hit me that he was calling for ME!

I remember that with ZK, for quite a while, it wasn't clear whether he was calling me or just going mamamamamama. But on Tuesday night, it was very clear - he called out "Mama! Mama! Mama!" when he woke at 9.45 pm.

Me happy :)

ZY could say three other words before this: uh-oh, 哥哥 and nen nen. For uh-oh, it's more like making the sound without making an O with his lips but it's very clear cos he says that about things on the floor :) And similarly, he looks at ZK when he makes 哥哥 sounds. I used "nen nen" with ZK for a while but not with ZY so I think he was trying to say 奶奶 - and this is every morning and night for his first and last bottle!

And he's not even one! ZK only spoke a bit later but guess having him talk all the time helps introduce more speech to ZY.

So ZY turns one this Saturday! But we had an early celebration on Sunday as we will be in Malacca this weekend.

We started with presents, then shoe wearing, then picking a job (career? :p), before heading out for lunch at Swatow...

Papa, the shoes are on the wrong side!

Don't worry, GuGu will right it for you!

Now let's walk!

But I want to take a closer look! You call them shoes?

The dinosaur is ZY's present but think ZK is the one playing with it mostly, with ZY looking at it longingly by the side..

I introduced the items to him before letting him loose. And he chose....

Ball! Ok, do we have a tennis national team?

He picked up the pen next, touched the abacus, threw the rulers and pick up the stethoscope.

I'm Dr ZY...

With Mama on the way to lunch

Happy birthday, ZY! :)

Come, 哥哥 will cut the cake with you..

The cake was a white chocolate carrot cake from Delcie's.. Wanted to get the yogurt cake like for ZK's first birthday but the outlet near us closed. Finally found a cake with no added sugar, i.e. ZY could have it too. But it was just too healthy. The carrot cake part was too dry. The cinnamon taste was very strong. I couldn't taste the chocolate at all. And it was super ex - 500g for $55! Never again!

I've packed new clothes for him to wear on his birthday. Trips are always bad for sleep but I hope he'll get enough somehow and spend his birthday happily! :)

I love you, ZY! :)

My first white hair?

As I was removing the fallen hair from my hair brush just now, I spotted a strand of 70% white!

At almost 35 years and a half, I'm starting to show the most definite sign of ageing...

But that is not my first white hair. I used to have this short and thick strand of white hair at one sideburn area either very near or just inside the edge of the ear. I noticed it some time in secondary or JC, and I plucked it out!

Now I'm wishing for a mob of stark white hair when I'm old :)

It's happening...

ZY crawled to the door last night, crying for me. He'll be in our room before we know it! *.*

And because I've been very busy, I haven't been sorting out photos :( But I have accumulated a lot of little ZY stories so I'll write them down now... The pictures can come later..

20 March

He poo-ed into my hand! Ok, I had a wet wipe between the poo and my bare hands but I could feel the warmth! I was wiping his poopy diaper five minutes prematurely...

More recently, however, he tends to be constipated. Poor thing..

19 April

ZY can now clap on cue. If he wants to entertain us, that is.

25 April

I thought ZY said "mama"! Perhaps I was biased... But he really sounded like he said "no no" when gesturing at all the no-no items...

And this weekend, he's finally crawling, albeit with his butt still touching the floor. And now? He's speed-crawling!

On Vesak Day on 1 June, I learnt that I might have crawled like that when I was a baby *.*

7 May

After flipping comes sitting up. ZY could pull himself up into a sitting position. I remain sleep deprived..

12 May

At bedtime, he spotted his shadow cast by the nightlight. He seemed to be playing with his shadow by swaying left and right! I couldn't be sure then but now I'm sure - he plays with his shadow! Now ZK did not do that so you could imagine my surprise! ZK also didn't crawl all over the room at bedtime, or knock on the cabinets in the dark. Sito thinks it's because ZY is smarter.. And he began to think of that commercial...

28 May

I felt his first pearly whites! Luckily I stopped breastfeeding already! :p

30 May

He finally had rice at lunch! But haven't tried since then as he was feverish last week..

6 June

Last weekend, I found that he could put his pacifier back into his mouth. Perhaps he could do that for a while but his usual attitude towards his pacifier is to throw it far far away...

In other news...

We're looking for a new helper now. Need someone who is able to take over my night duty until ZY can walk over on his own, like ZY. Um, together with ZK? *.* Our bed is not big enough!!!

I smell my babies

ZY is at the perfect size where he can sit with his legs around my waist and look up at me, just inches away from my face. So I hugged him like that just now, his head in the crook of my right arm. I kissed him; he smiled. I sniffed loudly at his baby skin; he tried to sniff too and gave me his piggy face, which I first saw yesterday morning. My baby is so cute! Even though he was scentless as his last bath was in school, I smelled him some more :)

When it was time to pack ZK off to bed, he let me carry him in a cradle hold, his head on his pillow in the crook of my right arm. I kissed and smelled him - he smelled so nice from his shower! I sayang-ed his baby cheeks. And he said, "Can I come down, please?" My baby is so cute! So I laid him down on the bed. This time, he didn't ask to be showered with kisses. He just rolled over and slept. I kissed him anyway :) And I'll smell him again pretty soon when he comes over in the dead of the night!

Six on a Wednesday

Yup, it was also a Wednesday this day six years ago :)

It just so happened that I was at ROM last Thursday for work, and it occurred to me then that the last time I was there, it was today six years ago. In fact, I almost chose to go last Friday, and last Friday six years ago was when we got to ROM early in the morning to verify documents and make some statutory declaration.

Despite having had two kids already, glad that sometimes we still feel like two kids who just started dating - on the second day of LNY in February when Sito was out with the guys, he recorded himself singing a song for me; last month, it was my turn to sing for him on stage at Rocku Yakiniku :)

Happy sixth, my dear!

The last drops

So, this ZY has self-weaned. This mama is sad :(

It was early morning on Saturday, 9 May, when he didn't want my milk milk. He only CHEWED on me a few times. And smiled.

I offered again for the next two or three mornings. He went from chewing to simply pushing himself up and away from my milk milk factory. So that was it, no more breast milk for my littler one - and he's only 10 months old!

I should have expected it. After all, he was never like ZK, who sucked so enthusiastically. And if he bit me, it was not like the way ZY bit. If I didn't stop him, I believe ZK would have continued breastfeeding way past his first birthday.

It's been two weeks since ZY's last feed but I still have some milk. Even my left side, which closed down way earlier, had a few drops when I tried to express this evening - wanted to keep a bit in the freezer to moisturise my lips :p

I don't want milk; I want to eat!

My broken slippers

Slippers are my go-to on weekends, some Fridays and when trotting within office grounds. Three pairs of them broke my heart when they broke.

February 2014 - pretty slippers from Charles and Keith

They were pretty comfortable for a pair of fashion-fashion slippers. I started using them only on pedicure days during weekday lunch hour, and eventually wore them in office the whole time.

May 2014 - Havaianas!

These were pre-Evanston, probably post-wedding. Wore them in the summer months in Evanston. Super comfortable except when I had water retention during the last few weeks of being pregnant with ZK. When they broke, I bought a pair of Ipanema slippers instead - much cheaper and prettier!

Sito's first pair of Havaianas broke when we were in Evanston. His second pair broke recently and we got a cheap replacement that was just recently replaced by a new pair of Havaianas.

May 2015 - Birkenstock Papillio

And today, Sito and I barely stepped into the hawker centre when the big strap snapped open. Tried to buy a pair of slippers from the shoe shop at the shopping centre but it was closed. On the way back to the hawker centre again, the small strap broke loose! The small strap first came out a few weeks ago but I glued it back, though I couldn't make the strap go in all the way so it was a little loose.

My earliest memories of this lovely pair of slippers were in 2006 - pre-Sito! Certainly well worth the money. I think I'll try to glue the straps back tmr but I really should buy another pair to stand by. I only have the Ipanema slippers left and they are for the office. But I'll go for a cheaper option - no more Birkenstock!

End of an era and a new chapter shall begin

Tomorrow, I'll have a new job. This will be the first time since 3 Nov 2003 that I'm transiting to a new job with new boss and new job scope in another subject matter.

The secondment in 2006 wasn't counted cos I was doing the same thing in another ministry even though I eventually transferred. The part-time work I did in the early days of Evanston wasn't counted cos the subject matter was still familiar to me. When I returned from no-pay leave in 2013, it still wasn't counted cos I went back to the same organisation in a familiar area.

I was very busy preparing for a meeting on Wednesday. So it wasn't until Thursday that I could start to think about leaving. What was it about the past flashing by before your eyes when you're about to die, or in this case, leave?

I have been in here since 2006. As a member of the first team, I played a big role in setting this place up. I used to work very hard. I could pack dinner from Maxwell and carried on until late. I could stay there until past 2 am. That was until I got a desktop and could keep my laptop at home so I didn't have to lug the machine to and fro. But for some months in 2008, I still worked in office until near midnight due to momentum - and I continued until about 3 am most days at home. High doses of multivitamins kept me from falling ill.

There were times when I complained of overwork - not enough people, too much work. So I had to find time for my own life somehow. At least once, I went clubbing straight from work on a weekday and still showed up for work the next day. At least once, I went back to office at 4 am after partying to grab my laptop so I could work over the weekend.

I have no regrets working so hard. (Except perhaps that I didn't sleep more when I had the choice; now I have no choice!) In fact, I thought those were the best years of my time in service. Super siong, super fulfilling.

The past two years were pretty meh in comparison. A few months in, I knew that I needed to move on. I gave myself until the end of 2015, latest. I could see no progression. I mean, I don't mind retiring at MX11 but I want to retire in a preferred work area. The area I was in was not it. I wanted a job in another department but well, it's where 有位都轮不到我 as there are so many "in-waitings". I shared my sentiments with a peer who was in a high-potential programme from which HR withdrew me when I was on no-pay leave - she felt the same way! But I will reach my 10-year mark this year, which means I get 28 days of annual leave! As CY says, can sign on already! Yup, so I will be staying in the service.

Following a super sian meeting in January, I went patrolling again and saw something interesting. Found someone I knew there and thought no harm asking her out for a chat. Turned out that she had just moved on and had an opportunity for me - better than the one I saw! Secured the position within three weeks and informed my bosses. The HR and admin procedures took a little while longer but by end March, I was counting down to tomorrow.

We announced my leaving to the team in early March. At the same time, due to some issue, my executive was leaving as well. And, my director was scheduled to leave in end March; my direct boss would take over from April. A lot of changes!

That very afternoon, my support staff asked me whether there would be opportunities for the two of them where I was going. I knew that one of them was already sian, having been here since 2007. But the other one.. And we could not afford to have them both leave at the same time! Had to sit them down to understand more.

Well, the three weeks after that turned up a lot of issues with this place. My staff had difficulties working with the other team due to different job nature and personalities. I later found out that the other team also had their own issues, which weren't very different from mine - hard to detail here. Tried to resolve the support staff's issues before I left but I managed to help with only one part. I wrote a love letter about it to my boss about it on Friday - hope she could continue to help them..

Luckily, my executive who was leaving was not leaving after all. That brought some balance to the team, thankfully. My replacement also came in by mid March so I had some time to download information. She wasn't supposed to be my replacement but since I was leaving, she became a direct replacement. The team was still warming up to her.

Then some time in April, I discovered that I did not have a salary increment this year. Thanks to S's reminder, I dug through my archives and realised that I hit my salary cap last year AND I DIDN'T KNOW IT! That brought me to a meeting with HR and man, this place was really shitty!! To cut the long story short, I put up an appeal against non-promotion eventually. HR offered to guarantee promotion next year if I stayed on until July so that they could rank me. But if I did that, I would have effectively said that it was ok not to recognise my hard work before no-pay leave. I refused, as my gripe was not about promotion but about recognition. Through the process, however, I found that the big bosses were really supportive. I feel vindicated already.

Anyway, so I was leaving. When news spread, I had a lot of free lunches haha! I'm not the kind to go out for lunch with colleagues all the time. I prefer to eat on my own so that I can get back to work quickly. So it was a surprise to suddenly have lunch dates. And no one surprised me more than one of my support staff. She has always been quite quiet but on Friday morning, she started a group chat involving our team of four, with an emotional farewell note. I was sad at leaving this place even though it was my own choice. But since it was my own choice, I was determined not to cry. I failed upon reading her note.

I worked until 3 pm on Friday, I think, before I went around offering chocolates to people. Had short chats with some of them. All too soon, I was really reaching the end of my time there. IT dismantled my laptop setup, collected back the iPad and left my desk bare. I was left with a few bags of random stuff, and three sad persons standing with me, waiting to send me off. We agreed to catch up once in a while - and they would fill me in with the office gossip!

The softcopy photo collage

Now, I need to look forward to something new, happening in less than 12 hours! Read some emails from my new place already. Very operational, more so than in my old place. I just realised that I was in start-up mode since I started work back in 2003! I'm probably going into a more steady organisation and work area tomorrow. But we shall see...

ZK's day!

Nope, not his birthday yet but Sito and I took a day of leave to spend some time with our firstborn :) He's been relegated since ZY arrived and acting up lately so yup, time to show some love!

Smiling on request on the way to West Coast Park

ZK has lots of construction trucks. We brought an excavator and a dump truck. But the latter was very small cos the bigger one could not be washed. So he looked like he was burying the dump truck every time he loaded it :p

Loading up the dump truck and emptying it

The last time we were at West Coast Park, he wasn't happy with the sand. But now with the trucks, he is ok playing with sand, yeah! Can go beach holiday? :p

Wanted him to sing Happy Birthday but....

Let's just blow out the candle anyway!

Papa wants to play too :p

Went to play a little at the swing and fire truck. There were only two other families - but I heard that their girls were ill so we scooted off!

Time to pour out the sand from my shoes..

Two of my three :)

ZK wanted to play more so we let him play with sand again at another spot. We eventually left and returned home for a shower - we were all so sweaty! Then it was off to a ramen lunch downstairs before sending ZK to school.

My smart boy in his first hand-me-downs!

Would love to have more ZK's days :) In fact, we had another one today - Mothers' Day party in school! Would probably do a little post on that when photos are in...