Class photos and mug shots

I was searching this site but t couldn't find any post on their class photos last year. I must have forgotten to post. In the past two months, I realised I had forgotten a lot of things in the past two to three years, e.g. I had a numb tongue after delivery, Yang liked to look at the ceiling fan at Mum's place, newborn days are tough (!) and a to-do list during maternity leave is a silly thing...

But I digress...

So, 2015 shots first...

A stately look with the tiniest hint of a smile

Another rather stately look - first row, third from right

It was amazing that all the babies were looking at the camera! Oh, I think I posted this on Facebook and said the same thing :p

This year, the school asked again for white socks and shoes. I bought white socks but I didn't get white shoes - they are not practical for everyday wear and I'm not buying shoes for one-time wear! So I got them proper shoes. More like sneakers really. In solid colours. As expected, I wasn't the only parent who didn't provide white shoes!

Such a happy Kai! (second row, third from right)

But he gave an un-natural smile for his individual shot *.*

I wonder if I had given him too much pressure to remember to smile for the camera... I mean, he can smile for the camera at check-in/out...

Ok, slightly better...

More than slightly better...

Oops, wrong one!

Ahhh, better!

See, he can be so photogenic!

Yang gave a very stately smile in the class photo - second row seated, third from left

And became expressionless for his individual shot *.*

But his smile can move mountains!

Even when he's covered in chocolate!

Or making a face!

Ok, I'm super cutified by them and need see them instead of their photos now!

Updates on Clan Sito

Clan Sito finally ventured out beyond Holland Village on Saturday!

I received an email from Toy R Us about half-price lego last week and showed it to Sito. Then on Saturday afternoon, he suddenly decided that we should go to Toy R Us! I was coughing - still am - but it was a pretty exciting venture, isn't it?? If not this time, we would have to go out Christmas weekend coz school will be closed on Saturday, Mum they all will be away and Monday is a public holiday - can't hole the kids up at home for three days straight!

After their nap, the big boys had yoghurt, and then were watching TV and wouldn't move until I asked if they would like some juice?!! Kai immediately turned the TV off!

Took a double decker bus to town. Sito and Kai went upstairs, leaving Yang, N and I downstairs. Yang was so cute - he wanted to press the bell but when it was time, he turned to the bell, saw two aunties smiling at him and decided he would not touch the bell!

Thoughts of juice dissipated at the sight of Toys R Us

Kai unexpectedly picked out Tobot D partnered by Dolly

Yang was swinging between Tobot X and Tobot Y and later even Lego

We got the toys gift-wrapped and told them that they could open it only on Christmas day. Kai has been refusing to learn time so I took this opportunity to tell him that he would know exactly when if only he knew about time...

Oh, we ended up with no Lego *.*

Thoughts of juice came back as we walked from Forum to Tanglin Mall. Thoughts alone can fuel a "very tired" Kai. His younger brother was walking happily with no complaints leh... *.*

The happy five!

Watching Kungfu Panda in Chilis - good place for the kids except for the narrow booth seats

Yang got a kiddy meal too but he refused to eat more than a couple of spoonfuls of rice..

Posing at the bus stop

Yang has lots of interesting expressions. So that's the cute hand pose one above, and more below.

Oh! Super exaggerated!

Funny lopsided lip pose - sometimes he does this balanced :B

Anyway, we started dinner early at 5.30 pm and left before 6.30 pm. We got another double decker bus and this time, Yang followed Kai up the stairs! I could hear them from downstairs. It struck me that bus/train rides are usually quite quiet. Unless my boys happen to be there *.*

When we got home, everyone had to shower. Quite a rush! I first showered Kai and Yang and myself together (!) while N showered - she rather showers in the toilet *.* - and Sito carried Yu. Then I bathed Yu while Sito showered and N sent Yang to bed; Kai stayed awake until Yang fell asleep. Then I sent Kai in and switched roles with Sito.

It was a pretty successful outing although Kai was uncooperative at first in taking the family photo. And of course, someone had to not like his food... Hope we can be more independent soon and go out without N.

Sunday was a significant day too. Yu happened to nap very well in the morning so we had some time to spend with both Kai and Yang.

They piled toys on Papa...

And Mama spent a lot of time with Yang in the afternoon coz Yu was nicely occupied by his grandpa/ma/aunt!

I was so happy! This was even better than Friday when I took him out of school early for an afternoon snack! Coz when we got home, it was near the end of the day when I had to feed Yu etc and couldn't be too hands on with Yang.

Just Yang and Mama (and Yu sleeping on me)

Yang accompanied me by playing with my hairband, hair clips and shoulder massager while I was nursing Yu

Finished up Sunday by sending both Kai and Yang to bed at the same time. Kai decided to go to bed early, I think, coz he couldn't watch video anyway - he fussed and whined on Saturday night due to connection issue and/or video selection issue. Since his videos are making him unhappy, and we think they have a role to play in his lack of patience, I told him there would be no more bedtime video for him. He remembered that on Sunday and played toys while Yang watched videos - good for him! - though he peeked here and there. When Yang can be reasoned with, he will join Kai in playing toys or reading.

But they took more than an hour to fall asleep. First, we read two books - I had to insist on reading each only once. Yang's concept of "last time" needs improvement... But he understood his milk was waiting...! Then they were noisy for a while. Finally convinced Kai to stay quiet while Yang yakked on. Eventually, Yang dropped off to lalaland. As I pushed their beds together to cover the spot on the floor I was sitting on, Kai whispered "goodnight, Mama" - so sweet!!!!!

A random insertion of Yang's 杰作 on Sunday afternoon at Mum's place

Kai and Yang also just finished their first week of K1 and N1 respectively. Kai was very happy to know on Monday that he was going to K1. Yang a little clueless but he knows excitement when he sees it!

Kai: I'm going to K1! I'm going to tell Papa! (Papa was asleep!)

Kai: I'm going to K1. Then I'll go K2.
Mama: Yes, but finish K1 first!

Mama: Yang, you're going to N1 today!
Yang: N1B! (Actually it's N1A..)

And how about Yu? Well, Mum "broke" him - he took the pacifier for more than a few seconds! Hopefully, with that, he may slowly become more open to the bottle...

Pacified on Papa

And he can hold his head up high!

Though he can flop down quickly too. Grow stronger, my boy!

And we finally place the baby gym permanently in the kids' room on 30 Nov. Yu spends some time there kicking around every day. He will stare at the toys and try to hit them - purposefully or accidentally? Not sure yet!

The big boys like to crowd around Yu on the baby gym

Oh, how about the parents? Both still tired. Sito still has a headache. I still have my backache. End of report :p

Not really la... We have a few updates too!

Sito celebrated his birthday with his three boys :)

Then we had a little couple time (plus baby)

Another shot at the Taka tree!

Last shot at Taka tree back in 2007! Spot the difference?!

And then of course we had our little anniversary do. Sito will be clearing leave in the last two weeks of December. Looking forward to more couple time!

Yu's routine at two months

Routine, routine, routine - my fave thing about babying!

I remember bathing Yang at about 5.30 pm every day during maternity leave. But I didn't do that for Kai; we didn't have a helper back then to cook for me so I went out for dinner downstairs, which means I could only bathe him after 6 pm. And I was randomly clicking through my blog when I found this - so I bathed Kai quite late! Now with Yu, I'm using the same bathing routine as for Yang, i.e. at 5.30 pm, or earlier if he poops already.

He's only two months but I have already turned the bath tub around to accommodate his bigger size. And I have difficulty holding him for long when washing his hair. Will have to put his butt on the counter soon. Even for Kai who was bigger than Yang, I started doing these bigger baby tweaks much later. Now I wonder if I would have to transit him to shower with me earlier than he goes to infant care - I won't bathe him when he returns from school next time, only weekends. But to shower with him on weekdays at 5.30 pm will be tough - Sito won't be there to wipe him while I wipe myself, i.e. I'll be cold prioritising wiping my baby.. Shall see how...

Yu's poop routine is very amazing - morning upon waking up (or his poop wakes him!), afternoon about 2 pm and later around 5 pm. What's more amazing is that he tends to poop when propped up on my thighs! So when we're out, he doesn't do his 2 pm poop. When we get home, I just need to prop him up and he will go! But if he does his 2 pm later, he tends not to do his 5 pm. Then I'll have to watch out for middle of the night poop.... Btw, his poop is like Kai's - explosive! I keep having to change his clothes and often mine as well *.*

As for feeding, Yu is no longer feeding every hour or less. He can go beyond three hours if he's sleeping now. But if he's awake, he may still nurse every hour in an attempt to fall asleep. Unfortunately, he doesn't take the pacifier very well. In the same vein, he is not taking well to the bottle - super stressed coz he has to take the bottle when I go back to work!

Yu naps the most when I wear him, just like Kai. But when I sit down, he wakes! So no movie with Yu :( Even foot reflexology is tough - both times, one of the staff had to carry him around when he woke *.*

Lying on me the last 15 mins coz he seemed to want milk...

Tried the stroller for the first time on Wednesday but...

After some 10 min, he fell asleep in the stroller, yeah! But the moment the stroller stopped, he woke... Luckily, I was ready for some cuddling time too, with a cuppa at Costa.

Happy tea time with Mama!

Yu is napping in bed now as I type, all swaddled up. Morning time is when he naps most consistently coz I seldom go out so early and even on weekends, when his noisy brothers are around, I try to segregate them to allow him to nap properly.

Night has been thankfully better. I can sometimes put him down drowsy and he falls asleep. But this week has been tough.. He cried between 7.30 pm and 9/9.30 pm from Sunday to Tuesday. It was so difficult for Sito and I to get him down. My fave trick of lying down to nurse him to sleep didn't work too well - it's difficult to keep him on his side on his mattress, so I have to prop myself up to nurse him, which hurts my shoulder and back a lot.

On Wednesday, we tried to avert the crying episode by continuing to carry him after he fell asleep instead of trying to put him in bed. Success! But from 3.30 am, he woke every 30-45 mins!! Worst night ever! I had to take two naps yesterday *.* Last night, we managed better - averted evening crying and normal night waking, i.e. two-hourly, phew! Yu ah, you'd better sleep better soon. No more naps for Mama to catch up on sleep when I go back to work :(

Seven and ten

Seven years of living together, and my husband has become a blanket snatcher in the past two months! Hoho! But no, we haven't driven each other up the wall too much. And I recently realised that we have never shouted at each other, only at the kids when they tick us off. In all, we have also been together for 10 years now!

So to celebrate this milestone, we had good meat at Gyuu+ on Monday. We passed on the limited buffet and opted for a few good cuts instead. It wasn't filling but it was so good!

Sito cooking beef, me rocking Yu

We went to Toy R Us at Suntec, looking for presents for the boys. It is rare for us to give them presents as we would only do so on special occasions, though I was sorely disappointed that we won't be the first to give them Tobots. But in any case, we couldn't find the particular Tobot at Toy R Us; the one online would arrive only after Christmas. So we're still considering options. A thought came to me, that perhaps rather than toys, we can give them wonderful experiences instead :)

We were still hungry and I was super thirsty. So very soon, we sat down again. The plan was to go to the Popular book fair to get the membership but well, we got lazy and we don't really need a Popular membership yet so we headed back for our fave activity - foot reflexology!! But the three places we asked at had no space for us at that time so we went home to rest instead.

A simple snack and drink :)

Fast forward a little now... I finished watching Descendants of the Sun on Tuesday night. Yesterday, I was googling for the funny dialogues and found this. I sent the link to Sito in the afternoon and when he came home in the evening, he did #2 to me :p Yes, Dear, just confess it already!

Looking forward to more years ahead, blanket or no blanket :)

Excursion to GBTB

This was Yang's first excursion. I was considering getting N to go with him but decided to do so myself after all - want to spend some time alone with my little boy :) Wait, not really alone, coz I brought Yu along - baby and food go places together!

He was all coy and smiley when I showed up in his classroom this morning. I sat and let him snuggle around at my knees :) One of his classmates started asking where his mummy was when he saw that, oops... About half his class didn't sign up for the excursion and they looked on as we left, some sadly... Guess it's hard when the school requires an adult to accompany PG kids...

Yeah, the bus is moving!

He let me hold his hand! :)

Yes, this mama is a sucker for my babies' affection... Yang was staring out of the window the whole time, looking at trees - there were many along the way! And when we passed by dense vegetation along the expressway:

Yang: Can go inside?
mf: No...
Yang: Why cannot?
mf: .... There is no road, you see...
Yang: The trees will spoil?
mf: Oh yes, they will be spoilt!
Yang: And they will cry?
mf: Oh yes, they will be sad and cry. We must protect trees, ok?
Yang: *nod nod*

I want to sit on the crocodile!

Why are you following the お姉ちゃん??

After some waiting, we finally got into the Flower Dome! But the organisation was kind of messy. Turned out that PG didn't have a guide so we were instructed to meet at a certain time. I had to tell the teachers to set the gathering point at the bottom exit instead of where we entered. Glad I'm a GBTB veteran!

Presents!

So guai, sitting next to me watching wooden soldiers turn while Yu nursed :)

Oh, check out my new sling! It's a Caboo Dx which I got on Tuesday from Carousell. It's thicker than I expected and I realised I couldn't use the hammock without the covering pod, but the fabric is supposed to regulate heat such that it's 冬暖夏凉... Quite grateful for it as I could go totally handsfree - crucial for the excursion as I had to hold Yang's hand a lot and my bag in my other hand/arm.

They found that the Flower Dome was done faster than expected so they gathered the kids and guardians to go to the Cloud Forest earlier. As I was nursing, a teacher brought Yang away first. I quickly finished up and packed Yu back into the sling and went to find them.

But selfie first :p

And then I saw Kai at the exit - their class was having a pee break! And he had to move right as I snapped the pic of him and his closest friends!

What's with the fist??

Ok, getting familiar...

At least this time, he didn't obliterate his mama *.*

With Yang at the waterfall! I think he was in awe when he first saw it...

We were upstairs when Kai's class came in - can you spot Kai?

I climb!

I touch the water!

There were two or three tree top walkways and Yang would only walk on the boarded part. He did step on the grilles at first and then he stepped away saying he was scared. So cute :)

Somehow he turned and said bye bye to me...

Super cute pose!!

Snack time wefie!

PS: That's Kai at the background!

Guess which cheeky kid started the kids going round and round the poles???

We waited a long time for our bus. He got cranky when I was removing his jacket. Then he wanted to snuggle on my knees but Yu started to wake up and cry. Luckily, the bus came at that moment so we went up. More fussing about the seat belt. Then I took Yu out of the sling to nurse and asked Yang to prop his head on my arm.

Asleep in two seconds upon contact with my arm!

As it was raining, Mum came to get us for lunch so I didn't put Yu back in the sling. I handed him to her and went back to the bus to carry my sleeping Yang back to his classroom. And then he woke up and refused to let me go!

While he was having his milk, he let me go to the toilet - I really needed it! But then I decided to sneak off from there...unsuccessfully :( He discovered my stealth before I even got out of the door and even saw me as I passed by the windows. I left him crying :( I went to change Yu at the infant room before heading off for lunch with Mum.

Having his milk on his mattress

This evening, when he saw the picture of him drinking milk, he said something about me leaving :( I said sorry for leaving him for lunch. But my baby seemed to be very happy thinking about his excursion. We reviewed what we saw - crocodiles, ants, dinosaurs, a giant snail and of course the waterfall! :)