Blessings from Above

being a sahm (stay-at-home-mom) means i have plenty of time to organise social activities for my little one... and activities we have plenty! on an average week, we spend time having lunch & high tea with other mummies & babies, have a great time @ gymboree, go shopping and have lots of walks in the park. at home, we have a playmat (finally! after waiting TWO whole months for the stock to arrive) for my little one to roll, crawl, sit and play on. i read and sing to her everyday and show her flash cards to expose her to the ABCs. i love every minute that i spend with her - she smiles at everyone but reserves for me, her biggest smile and her loudest laughter. not to forget, she's such a headturner! so many times when we were out, passerbys would back track just to steal another glance at her and she always rewards them with her smiles! i believe even HE adores her... it always STOPS raining when we want to go out and starts to pour again once we reach our destination. i ...

we went for a party today and i met many other babies who were born in april, just like me! it was such fun - our mummies & daddies enjoyed the delicious buffet food, we had a beautiful cake to commemorate the occasion and we took lots of photos together! here are some photos of me taken recently... my very own bumbo seat! mummy & me enjoying the marine fish tank @ home ps: how time flies... i'll be 5 months' old in another 15 mins time!

after almost three hectic weeks of running around with my baby to prep for this week long training at work, its finally here. i take a ride from mil to her place in the morning, read the papers, spend some time with my precious one before my mil whisks her off for a walk in the garden in a bid to get her to take her morning nap before i cab to office. y'day was a trial-trial since it was a short training conducted by our partner firm. today was the trial as i had a full morning training, followed by a whole afternoon of meeting outside of office (my afternoon was totally chaotic, no thanks to the IT fair @ suntec - bad weather plus traffic just drives me crazy). tomorrow is the real deal... i have to be in office the WHOLE day (from 0930 to 1730). i have to bring expressed breast milk (which princess is most likely NOT accept) to mil's place and bring my breast pump and storage cups to work in order to AVOID engorgement. i am so thankful that i do not work fixed and regular hou...

my efforts in the last two weeks have paid off... my little princess now allows my mum, my dad, my sis, my bil, my mum's domestic helper and my mil's domestic helper carry her (mil and fil still not very successful). she's also willing to take her nap in my mum and mil's place! i count my blessings and thank the lord! as a reward for my 'hard work' (hey, its tought travelling from home - mil's place - home - parent's place - home EVERY DAY ok!), i finally went for a hair cut and treatment today - now i feel so lightheaded (literally)! in addition, i also managed to get my neck, shoulder and back massaged! thank you for being so co-operative my sweet little angel! my little angel with my mom (hmm... can you believe my mom is almost 70? ssshhh.... don't tell her i 'exposed' her age) little angel enjoying the bumbo seat

other than listening (and singing along) to music, flash cards, reading and exercise time, i have been searching for an 'organised learning' play time for my precious one. through my observations, i know claire loves music and massage so i wanted a place that provided both. there are numerous 'enrichment' centres around that boosts to have the best equipment and knowledge, researched curriculum for infants and toddlers but not that many that brings everything together nicely. claire and i went to babies n cream last month and she definitely enjoyed herself but its pretty far for us to travel there. hence, i started looking nearer and decided on gymboree . the 'classes' are tailored to different age group (by months) so claire is now on level one class. we went for the 'trial' class today and claire had fun 'making friends' with Gymbo - the colorful clown - who is gymboree's mascot. i decided to sign up for the membership after today's c...

lack of posts! i've been so busy lately... wow! its been almost a month since i last put in an entry! time really goes by in a flash! my precious one is almost 4.5mths old now! why am i so busy, you ask? here are a couple of reasons: - little one is awake more than ever and when she is awake, she wants to be entertained (haha... actually she entertains me with her funny antics)! i sing, read her stories, flash cards and exercise with her and of course, we go shopping every day. plus she has 'learnt' to flip since around 2 weeks ago so i really have to constantly watch her (in case she 'flips' off the bed) - i've been running up and down my in-law's (and my parents') place to 'familiarize' little one with her grandparents. she started 'recognising' people from around 11 weeks, refusing to allow anyone else (other than mummy and daddy) carry her. - i've been organising (and participating) in online shopping sprees from US. c...

dh took me out for dinner last night - our first 'twosome' night out since claire joined us. i chose Indulgz based on xiaxue's recommendation and we ordered the following: Indulgz's Lobster Bisque with Crabmeat Soup **** Deep-fried Camembert Cheese with Indulgz's Mixed Berry Compote ** Indulgz's Signature Butterfish Steak **** Beef Bolognaise Baked Rice *** Banana & Cream Smoothie *** Iced Blackcurrant Tea ** the bill came up to $80+ (can't remember the exact amount) and personally, i don't think it was worth it - for that amount of money, i could have enjoy Sin Huat's absolutely fabulous crab beehoon (never mind its in a dirty coffee shop quite near the red light district) with leftover change. otherwise, i could have paid a bit more (like 20 bucks or so) and enjoy fantastic foie gras @ DOMVS or Vis-a-Vis! i've indicated how many stars we gave for each of the items we ordered (out of a possible 5). we give *** for ambience and ** for...

me... the mummy, that is... i'm getting closer to the big 3! scary! sleep, that's the present little one gave me. she has been waking up every 2 hours for feeds the last week or so. i put it down to 'growth spurt' and am very glad that i do not need to report for work every morning but last night, she only woke up once (even though i woke up a couple of times to check in on her) so there, my little one gave me the opportunity to catch up on some much needed sleep. how sweet of her, isn't it? i do think that she's very 'clever' for her age, from examples: when i was staying with my in-laws, she was willing to drink expressed breast milk from bottles (fed lovingly by grandma). the minute i moved home, she rejected the bottles and only wanted to latch on. she started 'recognising' mummy and daddy from about 11 weeks. no one else can carry her now. she 'allows' me to do my things, e.g. when i finish my bath, i need to dry my hai...

i finally lost count of how many weeks old princess is now and so i understand why its easier to just track her growth by months(she's 3.5 months now). :) someone once told me that having a bb gal is like having a life size doll (albeit a very heavy one) to 'play' with it. i honestly can't remember who told me that but it is quite true. i must add that dh and i are both NOT fans of dolls (i used to rip off the heads of barbie dolls belonging to my sis and dh just gets reminded of "chucky" when he sees any doll) however i'm having loads of fun dressing her up. here's a couple of new shots we took recently... here with her (larger than) life size portrait, wearing a head band for the first time... in this summer must-have - a colorful carter's sundress that brings out the youth in her enjoying a cuppa @ starbucks with mummy (no, i'm the one enjoying the cuppa actually - she only gets breastmilk, nothing else!) in her 'i'm a little prince...

having a baby slows you down... it gives you time to reflect on your life and how you've been living. for me, my priorities shifted completely. i never knew that motherhood can change a person so much. while i still believe in working damn hard for $$$, its no longer to satisfy my own material needs but for the comfort of my little angel. i want her to have the best, to have things i never had. i'm glad i made the right career choice when i graduated, for now i have the luxury of watching my little angel grow up yet still have the means to shower her with gifts. i treasure every moment with her and wonder why i never had her earlier. with her, i found time to do the things i loved, like photography and baking, all while spending quality time together. my heart fills with joy when she smiles and laugh and aches when she cries. she's my little angel. i baked dh a fruit cake for his 31st birthday on 11 July... here's what it looked like.

our little gal has turned 3 months old! it seems that now we are not supposed to calculate by weeks but rather by months so 12 weeks is not = to 3 months apparently as opposed to the time when she's still in my womb. i'm sure its a matter of time when we stop recording the events by days, weeks and months but by years but till then, I am savouring every moment I spend with this little gem. on monday, i took her to the hospital to have her 5-in-1 vaccination. like all parents, i was very anxious about her developing a reaction (and thus a fever). true enough, she starting having a slight fever on monday night. we tried giving her paracetamol prescribed by her PD and after which, she threw up possibly all the milk she had for the day! it was not hard to see that she was extremely miserable. on tuesday morning, i attempted once again to give her a dose of the medication. this time i diluted the mixture with water (the mixture is actually too thick and gluey for her to swallow (no...

my little princess is 12 weeks' old today! everyday i thank and praise God for this wonderful gift. she's very alert and inquisitive - she sleeps a lot less now (very often refusing to nap) and loves looking around so we can't stay at the same spot for very long. daddy says she is restless, just like mummy. we've been doing tummy time with her (but grandma freaks out coz she's worried that princess will suffocate herself when on her tummy) and trying to get her to sit on her own - which she manages quite well! :) she is also able to differentiate who's carrying her and very interested to start talking - with her constant cooing! here are some photos taken since the last post... other than being mummy's full-time photo model, princess did her first studio shoot on 21 June with Pix n Portraits and we are still waiting for the studio to process the prints. in case anyone is 'complaining' about the lack of posts, its largely because i have been...

time really flies... i spent the last eight weeks changing diapers, nursing and playing with my dear gal. i have four more weeks before i 'officially' have to start work and i'm so not looking forward to it! princess is starting to be a lot more fun... she sleeps less but for longer stretches, cries less and smiles more. i still continue to wake up every two hours at night because my body (namely, my breasts) TELLS ME to. its just impossible to stay asleep when your breasts feel rock hard and start leaking milk! in addition, my impending return to work brings on the question "who is going to look after princess?". that has kept me up for several nights. yes, we have a helper now but i'm not about to leave princess in the care of a stranger (yes, i still consider her as such because she has only been with us for a month). the original plan was to leave princess and the helper with my MIL... looking at how things are now, i'd say that's not quite poss...

there's a picture of little one @ 6 weeks... i reckon she's looking more and more like DH... what do you think? time really flies... i'm halfway through my maternity leave (though strictly speaking, i do not have any). my dear gal is already 6 weeks old and i visited dr tan for my six weeks postpartum check yesterday. despite the fact that i have no problem fitting into any of my pre-pregnancy clothes, i still have another 3kg to lose before i reach my pre-pregnancy weight - makes me wonder where the 3kg is deposited. the only difference, i feel, is that i now have heavier breasts but i am quite sure they did not become 3kg heavier! anyhow, i have been given the 'all clear' to proceed with exercise and ... SEX! yeah! we can officially start production for junior no. 2!! I'M KIDDING! i'm taking a well deserved rest until... maybe end of the year? would be nice to have no. 2 next year. plus, i have 9kg to lose to my ideal weight! haha... I've sta...

what a relief - confinement is FINALLY over! i have to say i'm totally sick of eating food cooked with sesame oil and ginger. i'm so glad that i can bathe like a normal human being (without having to boil herbs, wait for it to cool and boil again before i bathe!) and not worry about my body/hair being wet and getting 'wind' into my system. most of all, i'm free as a bird! i can now go shopping, have my manicure/pedicure done, enjoy a leisurely walk, etc etc... my precious little gal is coming 6 weeks old and has more or less settled into a routine. we had two weekend of parties for dear princess... a small cozy party of DH's extended family on 06 may and a whole day event with my extended family as well as our friends and colleagues on 13 may. its nice to be able to catch up with everyone but unfortunately, i couldn't find the time to take photos of everyone! those of you who graced this special event (you know who you are!), thank you so much for taking t...

even before i've finalised the details for princess claire's full month party, truckloads of gifts have arrived (ok, i'm exaggerating, not truckloads but definitely plenty!). indeed, we are blessed and loved by many and we are so glad! of course, some of the good gifts are courtesy of claire's grandparents' popularity. here are some of them... not forgetting loads of red packets! thank you all! Party Details 1) Buffet Dinner on 06 May 2007, 6pm 2) Buffet Lunch on 13 May 2007, 12 noon 3) Buffet Dinner on 13 May 2007, 6pm warning: gatecrashers will not be entertained! if you want to be invited, send me an email . i'll consider. :)

yes, thanksgiving is still a long way from now but as i sit and enjoy the new love in my life, i can't help but feel blessed. so today, i'm going to give thanks to the many wonderful people in my life. i give thanks mostly to the Lord, for a relatively easy pregnancy. i did not suffer all the discomfort associated with being pregnant. in the first trimester, i was just mostly tired. i slept through the first few weeks - never actually 'suffering' from nauseousness, morning sickness or the likes of it - i just hate my regular toothpaste. in the second trimester, i had more energy. i spent my days shopping and preparing for the arrival of my love. i ate and slept well. in the third trimester, things slowed down for me - i worked lesser but smarter. work was smooth sailing at most times. i give thanks for not putting on too much weight and whatever i gained mostly went to my new love. i give thanks to birthing a healthy and beautiful baby. i give thanks that i suffered n...

this is princess @ 2 weeks' old... :) on a good night, she will sleep 4 hours straight after one feed... on others, she will wake up every hour and 'demand' to be nursed. i have to produce at least 70ml of milk every two hours to satisfy this constantly hungry baby or allow her to latch on for 20 mins minimum or put up with her incredibly loud wailing. i can't understand how someone so small can be so loud? yet i get immense satisfaction knowing that she is thriving from whatever little milk i am giving her - indicated by the number of soiled diapers DH and i have to change every day (she's already using the 3rd pack of diapers we've got) and her weight gain. for that alone, i shall endure all the pain and soreness and persevere in breastfeeding her until she no longer wants to be breastfed. on a side note, i can fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans oredi! :)

see what joy she is!

our little princess is 09 days old... :) isn't she just adorable? on monday, i woke up with my whole body aching... by mid-day, i was having a fever... it went up all the way to 38.8 degrees... all because of engorgement. before i went to see the lactation consultant, i set out to do some shopping online - i bought some Goat's Rue (that is supposed to help improve the milk output), nursing tea (for the same purpose) and a Ameda twin electric breast pump. i am not going to give up breastfeeding my princess because of some pain. the lactation consultant gave my right breast a good massage (which hurt like hell!) and sent me to see my OB for the fever. i spent 4 hours in RH, mostly waiting, before getting home @ 1930 hours. i was prescribed medication (a double-edged sword - too much of this medication will cause the milk production to cease permanently) to help with the engorgement and was told to take panadol for my fever and body aches. this 'suffering' made me grouc...