The Chair Series (4 months old)

DS is 4 months old today and that only means ONE thing... my maternity leave is over! I know this sounds really cliche, but gosh, time does fly doesn't it?

Same time last year, DS was just a bunch of cells and DN + PF had just joined me in the UK.

Nine months ago, we'd just returned to SG and were stuffing our faces (okay, MY face) with local food.

Six months ago, DS was still growing in my belly and DN had just started school.

Three months ago, DS was one month old and I was finally liberated from confinement.

And look at us now. 2009 is over and before you know it, DS will be one and DN will be four!

So what is little DS up to now? At four months, she's still not rolling over. Well, not "professionally" anyway, haha. She does make those turns to her side, but it's "not pro" because her entire upper torso is close to flipping over but her (Beyonce) butt is still firmly on the mattress. This is really all my fault because I keep forgetting to give her her daily dose of tummy time. :p She doesn't abhor it as much as her brother did, so I really have no excuse for skiving. It's just that I've recently discovered the joys of virtual farming (on Facebook) so the minute she sleeps, I'm plowing land and harvesting pumpkins!

At four months, she's finally sleeping through the night. And this is not "baby" sleeping through the night either. We're talking "real adult" sleeping through the night. I usually give her her last feed around 830-9pm and she sleeps until about 730-8am the next day. Oh. Em. Gee. YESSSSS! *pump fist* Want to know the other wonderful thing about this baby? She can sleep on her own! By this I mean, I don't have to rock her or pat her before putting her down in her cot. After burping her and holding her upright for a couple of minutes, I then put her down, kiss her cheek and say goodnight. She'll then lie there contemplating life for a while before falling asleep. *pump fist even more* Either my sleep training worked or it's payback time for what DN did to me. But, who cares?!

At four months, she's drooling big time. I took the bibs out about 2 weeks ago because by noon, our little missy always has a wet chest. (In another context, that would sound really skanky!) Could she be teething? I don't really know because prying babies' mouths open is not really my thing. But I don't think so because she's generally in a good mood all the time and she's sleeping well at night. DN however, might be, that whiny cranky tot!

At four months, she has started to bring things to her mouth for a good chomp. Usually, it's her thumb. -__-" I am now seriously thinking if I should introduce the pacifier because you can throw away the pacifier but you can't throw away the thumb. Looks like I am destined to fight battles with thumbs and pacifiers. *sigh* But that said, I think subconsciously I'm hesitating because I think she looks really cute sucking her thumb! But then I remember how my mother tried weaning me off my thumb (there was chilli and lots of threatening involved) and it doesn't look that cute anymore.

At four months, she's still talking a lot. Oooh, this is love. DN was never a chatty baby. In fact, I don't remember him gurgling or babbling AT ALL as a baby. We were always purring and cooing at him but, no dice. This one however, is SO fun to talk to. She usually coos, but when she's excited, she squeals! I actually have tons of videos of her cooing. I just haven't uploaded them here because they are videos that only a mother will love. Just a baby making unintelligible sounds. Horribly boring if it's not your child!

At four months, she's starting to bald. It's not as bad as her brother when he was four months, but she's starting to drop hair at the back of her head. Right now, there is a ring of scalp round the back because of all the rubbing she's doing on her pillow! Honestly, I don't know why I just spent $40 on baby hair clips. -__-

I really love DS the baby. She's such a darling. I love snuggling and sniffing her. I love brushing her soft cheek and squeezing her. I love patting her Tintin hair (more about that soon) and thinking of all the pigtails I can tie in two years' time. I love seeing her do her leg lifts and when she head-bangs because of her slightly wobbly head. I lovelovelove her!

I wish I could have DS the baby forever, but it's okay that I can't because otherwise, I won't have DS the toddler, DS the primary schooler, DS the teenager or DS the working adult who will bring her mother out for high teas in fancy hotels!

Merry Christmas!

I don't have a helper at home, but my mom does. J came to live with our family a year after my brother was born 17 years ago. I was 18 and J was 22. We are just four years apart, but by then, it was obvious that our worlds were miles apart and our futures were going to be so different. I finished my A Levels, went to University, went on holidays, dated, got married, went on honeymoon, had two kids AND throughout, I had my family around me. J just helped our family for all those years. So basically, I lived the cookie cutter (and privileged) life. Because J and I are so close in age, I often feel guilty (but grateful) for having so many things and such an fortunate life.

When DN was born, J helped me out with my housework. She was a godsend. With her, we slept on clean sheets, walked on clean floors and wore clean clothes. Without her, we would have lived in filth and smelt even worse! We are very lucky to have J. She is so patient, kind and generous. She has been with us for so many years and seen us through so much, she is like family to us.

About two years ago, J decided that she wanted to move back to the Philippines to get married and start a family. Although no one wanted her to go, it would have been very selfish to make her stay. So we made do while she was gone. And sigh, started living in filth.

So J got married and her husband and her had a little boy last year. :)

Sadly, because of the global recession, her husband couldn't find work and five months ago, she returned to Singapore to work. It was good to see her again after all that while, but I couldn't help but feel SO SAD when I thought about how she had to leave her little boy to come back here. And indefinitely too. How painful must that be? I remember what a wreck I was when I had to leave DN last year. And even then, I knew I would be seeing both PF and DN in about two months or so. (What a wuss!) So my heart aches for J and her little boy. And all the other helpers who had to leave their children behind to work here. It's too sad.


On a recent Sunday, I asked J what she was doing that day. She told me she was going to Lucky Plaza to wire money back to her family because they didn't have enough to buy milk for her son. I stopped smiling after that. Life is so unfair right? Just as J and I have such different lives even though we're about the same age, so will our children. My son started receiving Christmas presents left, right and centre about three weeks ago. J's son will spend Christmas without his mother. My son just went on his fourth holiday last week (and he's only three and a half). When will J be able to take her son on a holiday? I mean, I bought DN his own luggage for heaven's sake!

As a "privileged" parent, providing for my children's basic necessities is a done deal. I am lucky to be able to go beyond that and give them even more. I know how lucky I am, but DN and DS don't realise how lucky they are.

So my Christmas wish this year is this - I wish that my children will grow up to be humble and giving individuals. I wish that they will have compassion in their hearts and are able to put others ahead of them. I want them to take nothing for granted and be grateful for everything they have. And lastly, I want them to give generously and wholeheartedly to those who are not as fortunate as they are.

In the midst of all the giving and feasting with family this season, let's stop for a while and think about all those who cannot celebrate the holiday the way we can. Merry Christmas everyone!

DS's 1st Holiday... and DN's 4th!

Phuket was great. I always love love love going to Thailand because the people are just so genuinely friendly. And the food is so good! Now I have three babies - Der Nen, Der Shyen and Food. -__-"

I'd say we're definitely braver with #2. It took us 1.5 years to gather up enough courage to go on holiday with #1. This time, it only took us 2 months. *pat on the back* I figure there's no better time to travel with DS than now because she's still on 100% breastmilk. Just call me "meals on wheels". It's either now or after she turns 1 because once she starts weaning, I'll have to worry about mashing fruit and veg on the go!

We all enjoyed ourselves on this trip. My mom loved the food, PF loved the excuse to drink more beer, DN loved the swimming pool and 24-hour Disney channel and DS loved hanging out in the pouch all the time. What did I love?

These pictures. :) (Bear with me, there are a lot!)

DAY 1

DN loved watching the planes. One of these days, we'll drive to long Changi Road, park by the side and watch the planes. I used to do that with my parents and LOVED it.

DN tried to put his hand around his sister's shoulders but she refused to budge. He settled for putting it ON her head. Haha!

DS was such a breeze on the plane, both ways. Pity she didn't get to sleep in the bassinet for that long. Turbulence.

Ding dong! Room service!

DAY 2

DN making chocolate chip cookies - one of the Kids' Club activities at the resort.

He loved it!

DAY 3

Just-out-of-bed hair.

 DS ended up being carried A LOT because we didn't bring her bouncer.

Er... he's playing with tow gay here.

Sharing beef kway teow soup with DN.

DS waited patiently in the stroller as we ate lunch. Awww!

Father and daughter both trying out their "act cute" poses.

DN impersonating Jar Jar Binks

Free ice lollies by the pool!

You are feeling sleeepyyy...

Zzz...!

JUST LOOK AT THAT!

DAY 4

Checking in. 

DS was such a magnet.

DN and his Trunki. (I wish they made one in my size!)

WINNER! Raffle Wednesdays [#1 The Busy Bee Personalised Boutique]

Congratulations Joyce! Please email me at junewee[at]gmail.com for details on how to claim your personalised Santa book from The Busy Bee Personalised Boutique!

Thanks everyone, for taking part. This whole process was really great fun! Especially picking the winner. I wrote everyone's name on little bits of paper, cupped them in my hands and shook my hands until one piece of paper fell out. Never felt so powerful before! Mwah-hahahaha.

Stay tuned for January's instalment of "Raffle Wednesdays". The next giveaway is really really cool! TRUST ME. So don't forget to check back here regularly... especially on Wednesdays. ;)

And hot damn, I really wish I could take part in this one!

Sawadeeka!

PF and I have very different holidaying styles. He's really suited for chill-out-and-go-brain-dead type of spa holidays and I'm the duracell-bunny-on-speed-and-a-coffee-drip type of holiday maker. I mean, I'm here for only x number of days, so pass me the baht and call a tuk-tuk, we're going canoeing, rock-climbing, golfing, spa-ing, shopping... and THEN lunch! I'm the ultimate kiam ka na (stingy sour prune) too. When shopping, I almost get into fights over 10 baht. And usually by that time, my husband would have slunk away in embarrassment and would be of absolutely no use if I'd gotten my eyes scratched out. Of course, I then go back to Singapore and realise that I was almost blinded over 40 cents!

So that's me on holidays before kids came along. It's really different when you have kids huh? Goodbye duracell bunny, hello slow loris. No more cheong-ing until 11pm, or making full use of happy hour. You've got to think about naps, insect repellent, tea-time snacks, regular bowel movements and spare toys in the diaper bag. Not glam, not glam.

All this just means taking things really slow on holidays, MAJOR changes in one's holiday expectations and lots of beer on the plane. And in the hotel. And at dinner. And heck, how about one before dinner? You know, to dull the pain!

This was the first time I'd seen PF drink so much beer on a holiday. It all started on the flight to Phuket - a beer with his tray dinner. On Day 2, it was beer from the minimart (Phuket Lager!) and beer at dinner. On Day 3, more beer when the kids were sleeping. No beer on Day 4 because his hands were full carrying all our barang-barang, and he konked out on the plane after lunch. He drank more beer on this holiday than on all our other holidays combined! When you go on holiday with two kids under four, life's more bearable through beer goggles eh?

It was also funny that as the holiday progressed, the list of things that we'd forgotten to bring got longer and longer.

1. DN's anti-allergy medicine (Ack! Had to buy Zyrtec at the airport.)
2. DS's bath net
3. Cable for downloading pics from the camera
4. Plug Adaptor
5. DN's multi-vits

... and so on and so on. The days were peppered with, "Aiyah! We forgot to bring that!"

But all in all, it was good fun. I got to spend quality time with my mom, set my throat on fire with Tom Yum Goong, enjoyed our own private lap pool and basically did nothing constructive or useful. Quite shiok! ;)

Off we go!

So much has happened the past few days, I haven't had time to blog. Sorry! And this is going to be a short, short post because we're rushing to the airport!

Yes! We're going on a beach holiday! Yay!

With my mum! Yay!

And two children! Argh... shoot me now.

Well, it was an offer too good to pass up (free accomodation + Silkair promo) so the whole motley crew is going. Hopefully we come back relaxed and chilled out. Wait, what am I talking about? We're going with a 3-year old and a 3-month old. Hopefully we come back sane, with all our luggage and the same number of children we left with!

In the weeks and days leading up to this crazy adventure holiday, we've done tons of stuff.

1. Made DS's passport (thank God for online applications)
2. Bought DN his own Trunki (more about that later...)

Enjoy this photo as we enjoy ourselves in Phuket! We brought DS to get her photo taken for her passport and that's how they took her photo. She still can't sit on her own, or hold her head up for long for that matter. Had to crop myself out of this picture though because my chest was too rude for this family-friendly blog!

See you all on Friday! And raffle results on Friday too. :)

My Little Joey

DN was never a "joey" baby. I really wanted him to be one because I just loved the idea (and look) of slinging your baby around. I know how this must sound to all my no-baby friends. Don't worry! No throwing of infants is involved in this activity!

Back to slinging babies about. (lol!)

You can even get slings in different prints to match your outfits. Fashionista! (except that I'm too cheap to buy different ones so I'll be the fashion disaster in a polka-dot top and striped sling!)

DN hated the sling. Absolutely detested the thing. Everytime I tried to put him in it, he would wail and cry and scream and howl and turn red on purpose to scare me. I'd then whip him out of there and proceed to look longingly at the sling and then at my baby and wonder, "Why???".

I was REALLY sad he didn't like it. The sling just looks so... cool!

So with DS, I didn't get my hopes up. This time round, I wanted to try a pouch. It looks cooler than a sling! Again, I borrowed one from a friend before buying. On my first outing alone with DS (had tea at Bakerzin with Funny Bee), I brought the pouch AND stroller. You know, just in case.

Halfway through creme brulee and herbal tea, DS woke up. I looked at her, at the pouch and then thought, "Heck! Let's give it a shot!" So we trooped off to the baby room and after her diaper change, I slipped her into a pouch and she fell right asleep!

Okay, "slip" is not a good word. There was nothing "slippery" about how I got her into the pouch. In fact, there was much grunting, furrowing of brow and gnashing of teeth. When I finally got her into the pouch, I was panting and sweating like a rugby player. It was my first time with a pouch after all and I was so paranoid that I would put her in wrong and she would get MAJOR pins and needles. I must have put her in and taken her out at least 3 times before she looked comfortable to me. I mean, I don't want to put a baby in and take a pretzel out right?!

I

Snug as a bug :)

(despite being put in and taken out and put in and taken out and put in and taken out of the pouch!)

That photo was taken when DS was 5 weeks old. Since then, I've had more practice with the pouch and am happy to report that I no longer look a train wreck after putting baby in. (In my defence, the cradle carry is supposed to be the trickiest of the lot.) DS is now 3 months (and a bit) old and I've popped her into the pouch many times because... SHE LOVES THE POUCH! Yes sir-ree! She falls asleep EVERY TIME she's popped into it when we're out. This has been very very helpful because DN sometimes refuses to walk, so we pop him into the stroller and DS pops into the pouch. I finally have my own joey baby!

Just last weekend, I decided to try the kangaroo position. DS's head is pretty steady now so I thought I'd just let her try it out. After all, I'd been watching the video over and over in anticipation of this day!

DS the prairie dog (lol!)

Success! She likes it too! And I'm really happy for her because she can now look at all the exciting things that are happening around her instead of staring at my wobbly chin all day!

It's fun being a kangaroo mama!

ps : Have you joined the raffle yet?

Raffle Wednesdays [#1 The Busy Bee Personalised Boutique]

Have you joined the raffle yet? If you haven't, wassup?!?

I have just made it easier to join this raffle for a personalised santa book from The Busy Bee Personalised Boutique!

All you need to do now is click here (and scroll all the way down) to leave a comment and answer this question - "What would you like to win in the next raffle?"

For another shot at winning, be a fan of The Busy Bee Personalised Boutique on Facebook. After you've done so, leave another comment.

On 12 December, I'll choose a winner from all those who have left comments. One comment counts as one chance to win.

Easy peasy!

ps : There's something wrong with my blog! I've activated the "comments" function, but they are just not appearing on the main blog page. They only appear on the individual post page. Help! 

Raffle Wednesdays [#1 The Busy Bee Personalised Boutique]

Guess what? I'm giving something away here on this blog!

... for free!

... including postage!

... to anywhere in the world!

A good friend of mine, Debbie, started a lovely little store - THE BUSY BEE PERSONALISED BOUTIQUE - which specialises in goodies for our own busy little bees. There's something for everyone this Christmas - baby bee, toddler bee and even primary school bee! And from what I hear, soon, mommy bee will not be left out. ;)

For baby bee, I'd go for a personalised book ($15-$18). Brilliant!

For toddler bee, I'd get a personalised backpack ($38.90 non-personalised, $44.90 personalised) for playschool. How cool is that! Yee-haw!

And for primary school bee, I like the Money Savvy Pig. Oink!

I just love stay-at-home-mommy-run businesses, don't you? You know that the stuff they sell is always perfect because hey, they're moms too. Can you imagine what a daddy-run business will stock? Probably too many sweets, mismatched socks and uncoordinated outfits. That's what happens when papa bee is in charge right?

Anyway.

For my very first raffle, The Busy Bee Personalised Boutique is giving away a personalised santa book (worth $15) to one lucky reader. All you need to do is...

... leave a comment below (click here and scroll down) and answer this question - "What would you like to win next?". I hope to have at least 1 raffle a month!

For one extra chance to win this santa book, just be a fan of The Busy Bee Personalised Boutique on Facebook. Don't forget to leave another comment below telling me you're now a fan. I won't know otherwise!

This raffle is open for 10 days and I will draw a winner on Saturday, 12 December. Anyone, and everyone can enter! 

My very first raffle! I'm so excited! Even though I can't win anything. -__-"

I also thought it would be nice for everyone to learn a little bit more about Debbie and her Busy Bee Personalised Boutique, so I asked her three quick questions and here's what she said.

1. Why did you start The Busy Bee Personalised Boutique?
Well, I saw a gap in the local children's gift and apparel market. I felt there wasn't a store which concentrated on personalised and luxe stuff. And I'm a BIG fan of personalised stuff.

2. What's the funniest thing your baby bee has done?
Hmm.... this is a tough one. Too many! She is in the throwing-everything-stage and recently took off one of her socks and threw it out of the lift as the doors were closing. So we had to go back up to retrieve it. And the people in the lift were giggling! It's an incident that made me giggle to myself too!

3. What do you do to relax when baby bee is finally in bed?
Uhmmm, I don't think relaxation is really possible! When she's napping, I squeeze in my meals, catch up on chores or work on email orders. I try to sneak in a tea-time snack and a cuppa, or just chat with my BFFs online every now and then. After she's gone to bed, uhmm well, I watch TV. I'm a huge TV buff!