Sunday, April 1, 2012

Staycation at Rasa Sentosa


Maxi dresses: my figure-savers this pregnancy.

My face round round and my arms so flabby...............
Our private suite with personal outdoor jacuzzi.

Self-pampering before our spa appointments!


My favourite skincare line.



Then the doorbell rang. Bubbly room service for us!

with compliments :)



We ended the evening with dinner by the beach at Barnacles.








Last December, before I knew I was knocked up, I had all my leave booked for travel plans this year.
+ April Good Friday long weekend - Perth farm stay and Margaret River with Hubs & Adam
+ July - Hong Kong sales + Disneyland
+ October - Game fishing in Rompin
+ December - somewhere we've never been to before (we were thinking Europe or visiting Andy's relatives in Florida)






Now.... with all our travel plans shelved till God knows when, Hubby decided to book us a little staycation to get away from the rush and routine of daily life.
We chose Sentosa because it was away from the city.


Although we were technically still in Singapore, that little staycation did miracles to my mind & body.
Not waking up to alarms, not waking up to the kid, we basically spent all weekend sleeping, eating, relaxing in the sun, and just did nothing.
I was a greedy pregnant whale!

It was a good break. I love Adam to the ends of the universe of course, but I do miss my me-time.
Especially so when I'm pregnant and don't get much rest because I'm kept busy by him all the time.


Thank you Rasa Sentosa for the hospitality and offering us much respite.

I think I'm gonna need a few more hotel stays till I deliver!

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Lyndsey is ONE!











My neighbour's daughter Lyndsey celebrated her 1st Birthday today and Adam was very happy to be invited. He's been anticipating the party, looking forward to the cake and goodie bag and singing Birthday songs in the morning :)

Before we left the house, I had already warned him with the "We are going home immediately if you misbehave" threat 100x and made sure I drilled it in his head that I was not prepared to be dealing with any nonsense.

Glad my little soldier enjoyed himself and was really an angel at the party. He didn't fuss, he didn't throw tantrums and he played quietly by himself.
I'm so proud of him! Considering how annoying he's been lately.

Ok this is a short post because it's been a long day for me (we had a Parc Lumiere party and we went after the birthday celebration to get Adam some balloons, popcorn and ice-cream).
Good night!

Saturday, March 17, 2012

I'm a 15-weeker, and we've started on the nursery :)

Time has definitely gone by in a blink.
I recently went for my antenatal checkup in my 15th week, and will be scheduled for my 20-week FA scan somewhere mid-April.

This time round we've started preparing for the nursery early, which is currently also Adam's Play Room.
We should be putting the cot and some baby stuff there, but I'm kinda nervous to know Adam's reaction when the time comes where he realizes he's gonna have to share his Play Room, the first among many other things he's gotta have to share.



The toys, electric breast pump and safari cot set are from the recent Taka baby fair which is still on-going until 25 March 2012.
We also couldn't resist buying a Bugaboo Bee in the newest model (not from baby fair though)!


If you're wondering why we have to buy so many things since this is not our first-born, well that's because when we shifted to our own place we gave away 90% of the baby stuff, including our Bugaboo Cameleon !!! All FOC!
The Cameleon is actually borrowed by a couple-friend, but I'm not sure if it's just me, I don't feel comfortable asking people for stuff back. What about you???


When I gave birth to Adam, I had some people give me stuff like sarongs (for confinement), nursing covers, and stuff like that.
(Ok, I say "give" in the sentence above because they will always say "Hey I have this/that to pass to you so you don't have to buy". They never said to lend me or that they'd want it back some day)


Then when I've forgotten all about them (you know how FAST kids outgrow their milestones), these same people start asking me for their stuff back, to pass on to their niece/ cousin/ friend who's just given birth. Oh. My. God. Whenever I received calls or SMSes like those, I always felt a missed heartbeat when I frantically try to recall where I chucked the said stuff.
You know how it is, I was staying with my in-laws, we had limited space. Everything was stashed everywhere!!!! Where on earth do I go pull out the nursing covers / sarongs/ tummy binder all of a sudden?!?!?!
Out my ASS????

I've also given Adam's infancy stuff to other people but I've never ever thought of asking for them back. Seriously. Even my $2000-Bugaboo Cameleon, for goodness' sake! Even though this couple-friend said they would like to "borrow" it, we've never thought of asking it back from them, especially when their kid is still less than a year-old and expecting their 2nd child to0.
Maybe that's just us (thank goodness Andy & I are alike in more ways than you can imagine), or are we too generous ??


Anyway, back to the topic of preparing for the nursery. So... this time round, we decided we will start over and prefer buying the stuff we need again. Full stop. (Unless people are buying stuff for the Baby Shower, that's another story.)

Sunday Champagne brunch at Mandarin Oriental




Fred (the guy in the centre) is leaving Singapore, going back to France, so we decided to hold a farewell lunch for him, and with the kids in tow, Paul thought of a grand plan - babysitting, play area for kids, great buffet spread, and alcohol.

We went to Mandarin Oriental for their Sunday champagne brunch.

Somehow one of my weirdest cravings this pregnancy is alcohol. I've been craving for Cosmos and cold icy mixes. So too bad I could only take a few sips of the Dom Perignon. Bleah.

And the luncheon didn't progress as well as I thought it would, because Adam wouldn't be with Morgan and insisted on sticking with me THE WHOLE TIME.
At first, our designated server had brought both boys to the Play room, and I did mental cartwheels thinking I could relax and enjoy some adult-time finally.
Wrong. 10 min later, the server came back with a black-haired whiny kid. Oh goodness, that kid is MINE.
Adam has been clingy like cling-wrap ever since we broke the news that I'm pregnant.
Andy & I think it's only right for him to be involved in the new baby as much as we are, but we didn't expect him to be pesky to this extent.

So anyway, everyone enjoyed the meetup except me of course.
I was reluctantly forced to babysit Adam the whole time and deal with his what-nots.
But this gathering is not about me. It's about wishing Fred all the best and hope his father recovers from surgery soon (the main reason he's going home).

As for me, I think for the remaining 5 months or so, I'm better off :
- not having a social life
- leaving him with my aunt / in-laws
- swapping him for a better-behaved kid.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

OoooOhh I'm lucky

Adam is obsessed with trains and fire-engines.
One evening, after watching Fireman Sam videos on his iPad, he suddenly asked to be a Fireman. Oh my goodness, sometimes it can be very trying to deal with requests of toddlers who insist on having things that have finished / do not exist in the house!
I searched everywhere around the house for a water hose and helmet for my Mr Fireman.

In this photo, he is actually Fireman Sam (please do not be misleaded by the word on his helmet) putting out fire with his hose, which in reality is the suction hose we use for sucking our pond's fish-shit , which I found in the toilet. We now have a happy kid. Great!




Here, he is diagnosing why his trains are sick (lying on their sides on the floor)




and he gives them an injection.


P.S. Adam is going 80% diaperless now. He only wears diapers to bed or when we go out, and even so, sometimes he will tell me "Mommy I need to pee and I don't want to pee in the diapers" No more cleaning up messy poopy bums!

P.P.S I have conversations with Adam every night before he goes to bed, mostly about what we are going to do the following day (school/ Ah Ma's house/ an outing, etc)



Tonight, our conversation went like this:
Adam: Mommy I am going to bed ok?
Me: Ok. Your milk is here. Good night baby.
Adam: Tomorrow we are going to Ah Ma's house?
Me: Tomorrow's Sunday. We will be going to meet your Grandaunt (Aunt LY) in the afternoon and then we'll meet your Ah Ma for dinner. Is that Ok?
Adam: Ok. Good night Mommy.
Me: Good night baby. I love you.
Adam: I love YOU, Mommy.

OooooOohhh I'm lucky lucky LUCKY. I have a beautiful family and I'm a Mom, and my son loves me!
Oh thank you God, I'm really blessed.

My 29th Birthday celebration

My babes came over to give me a surprise celebration in cahoots with my Hubby.
As it was a complete surprise, Adam was actually taking a nap at my in-law's after lunch.
Thank you girls and thank you Hubster I love you all so much!
That night, my parents and brothers came over for my birthday dinner at Sukiya, Tampines Mall.









On a separate day, Andy treated me to my Birthday lunch at The White Rabbit, where at the end of everything the server came out with a surprise birthday dessert.





I feel so loved and lucky to have my friends and family. I couldn't have asked for more :)

Friday, February 24, 2012

The birds and the bees

Last night, I accidentally let Adam see me not wearing my shorts and he exclaimed "Mummy 你的鸟鸟破了!" which is loosely translated to "Mummy your birdie is torn!" and he asked why's that?
I nearly DIED. Andy had gone for his soccer game and I was left alone to handle the awkward situation.
I had to go on and on about "No, mummy doesnt have a torn birdie, Mummy has a fanny" and "You are a boy, you have a birdie. Daddy is a boy, he has a birdie too. Mummy is a girl, mummy has a fanny, not a birdie"

Thankfully he changed the topic to playing with his toys.
Can't get much private time around here, can I??


Time for me to go read up on the Birds and Bees to children. A 2-year old!!
When I was young - 10 yrs old was considered young for sex education during my time - my Dad just passed me a book on sex education and asked me to read it myself.
I then asked him, Why is it that boys' birdies stand up when they see girls?
My Dad brushed me off and said I was not supposed to ask such things. (?!?!?!?!!)

I suppose I'm not gonna be the kind of parent my parents were.
Any useful tips on broaching this subject, and those popular "where do Babies come from" topics are most welcome.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Adam on Sunday

I pulled myself together this Sunday morning and actually made French toast for Adam's brekkie.
What seemed effortless in the past now seems to be a huge challenge. Even cooking a simple dish. Luckily, he didn't mind that it wasn't my best effort and finished everything together with his Vitagen.



Adam was busy on his Playdoh set while I was cooking breakfast in the kitchen.
Notice the Thomas ride-on in the background? It's his mode of transport around our home these days.
By the way, I salvaged lots of those white sterile paper from OT. They're really handy for doodling / protecting furniture.

I asked what he was making, and he replied he's making "Kai kai".





This is Adam's final product of himself, missing a pair of legs and arms.


My son is growing up so fast. Too fast. His motor skills are amazing me at alarming rates.
In 3 mths' time, he will be 3. I'm not sure I'm prepared for that!!
Please be Mummy's baby forever.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Pregnancy - revisited

My ideal job
I have been extremely bummed lately, always wanting to sleep, cannot concentrate at work, making mistakes etc... So I did the wise thing and consulted my very wise and reliable friends & Hubby over my serious need to lie down 24/7.
I need a job which allows me to lie down all the time, as opposed to standing up and walking about all the time.
These are their suggestions:

Meena: Prostitute
Charmaine: Andy's sex slave
Andy: a Blow job.

See? I knew I can always count on them.
Confinement Lady
I did not engage any confinement lady when I gave birth to Adam because my MIL was available to help cook and do the chores for my 1-month confinement, and also because we were staying with my in-laws then.
This time, the situation is very different and we figured it'd be best to hire someone "professional" in this aspect to do it.
I called several recommendations from friends / relatives / online forum but many were either already booked for the months of Aug-Sept (speaking of kiasu-ism) , or charged exorbitant rates like $2500- $2700!! I remember during Adam's time, confinement nannies were only charging $1800!
Dragon Year is really, really a Baby Boom year.
I'm already having visions of myself camping overnight and volunteering to mow the fields of our choice Primary schools in future. Shudder.


Anyway, during my last checkup after I fainted at work, my doctor has prescribed me iron & multi-vits to boost my energy levels and overall wellbeing.
I'm seeing slight improvements on my energy level, although I'm still tired but at least I can still function as "normally" as possible.
I even managed to read books to Adam at bedtime (I always say choose 1 book but he will take out 5 at any one time) and play with him in the evenings instead of hiding under the sheets the first thing I reached home. Gratitude.

Here's the latest ultrasound photo of our little little (and highly likely last) bean.

Just the previous visit, it was still a teeny bean pole with a yolk sac and suddenly it has expanded to include limbs and a face!

My lack of interest
Before I was preggy, I had all these mental prep-talks of how I'm gonna be a glowing mom-to-be armed with my knowledge and experience of being a mother.
I hate to admit, but the truth is far from it.
I've totally lost all my moods, I don't bother with makeup these days and everyone at work's been asking me why I look so pale all the time.
Truth is, I just cannot be bothered. Sigh. I've totally let myself slide.
Charmaine asked me today, what would I like for my Birthday??
I replied her something very Aunty - please get me Takashimaya vouchers because I have no wishlist this year.
Knowing as how I am now, I will probably use the vouchers at the Baby Fair for my kids instead of myself.
The unthinkable is happening.

When will I get my mojo back???!!!!

Many updates from the Tan household

ME
I fainted at work today. Unglam. I was all scrubbed up to assist in surgery when I saw white spots and had difficulty breathing. The next thing I knew, I fainted. (Just for your info, I've assisted in many surgeries before and it's not the gore that blacked me out.)
And the next next thing I knew, I was being wheeled around a wheelchair to the A&E dept for some medical attention.
Oh. My. God. Totally embarrassing.

According to the doctor at the A&E, I'm having something known as "vasovagal", which my husband thinks sounds very genital - "vaso" = blood vessels. "vagal" = sounds like vagina.
Means what? My vagina has many blood vessels. ??? Crazy husband. That's why I cant believe 100% what my husband says.
It really means a sudden dilation of vessels which makes blood pool elsewhere and make a person faint.

And this is the reason:

I missed my period. Been 2 months now.
I peed onto a contraption which returned the following. POSITIVE.

I initially didnt wanna tell anybody yet because I've not crossed the 12-week mark. So far I've only told my Mom and my Aunt. But for some unknown reason, my Dad "could tell from my face" and so could 7 hundred other people whom I've met ONCE a year during CNY.
And as of today, my whole dept knows.
It doesn't help that this pregnancy is much much more untolerable than my 1st.
When I was preg with Kai, I could manage 3-shifts in a hospital ward, working 6 days-week, and had no adverse reactions whatsoever.

Leg cramps in the middle of the night, expanding waistline, intolerance to smells (shampoo/soap/perfume), intolerance to sights of certain foods, all seem a distant memory.
On top of that, extreme fatigue, exhaustion, the need to lie down 24/7, food adversity, lack of appetite, exotic food cravings all seem very new this time round :(
I never used to have any cravings in my previous pregnancy, 'cept for once or twice when I felt like eating the Chinese 9-layer multicolor cake.
In these 2 mths, I've already craved for --- pasta with sundried tomatoes & fetta cheese (what?!), cornflake & raisin cookies, and Marks & Spencer potato chips with Sea salt & Balsamic vinegar (what?!?!?!), and Chicken in a Biskit which I've made my poor Charmaine & hubby hunt for.

In summary - I have just set myself up for 9 mths of torture in exchange for few hours of marital pleasure with the husband!!!!


ADAM
1 month of being in his new school hasn't turned out nearly as well as I'd imagine. In fact, it was pure torment for all of us.
We had to fight with Adam to get out of bed every morning, fight with him to put on his uniform (which he hates), fight with him to physically get his ass to school, and then fight somemore at home when his tantrums escalate.
My little preggy heart can only take so much.
I withdrew him from Learning Vision, as discussed and agreed with my good Hubby & family, and switched Adam back to his old school, where he's now back with his friends again, after a month of hiatus.

He seems to be enjoying himself more now, give and take some hiccups and teething problems with the switch-over. But generally all is good now. Thank GOD!

Lesson learnt --- we parents all think we know what's best for our child but sometimes we should just take a step back and be more in tune to our child's needs.

And the other day, I was at home on a weekend, with a terrible need to nap (not new to my husband and kid anymore).. So I said to Adam:

Me: Mummy needs to rest for a while on your bed Ok?
Adam: Ok mummy. Mummy go sleep. Good night Mummy!!
[5 mins later, he enters the room]
Adam: Mummy??? You sleep?
Me: Yes baby. Mummy is tired and needs to rest for a while Ok?
Adam: Ok mummy. Mummy go sleep. Good night Mummy!!
[I shut my eyes ..again... and dozed off]
[10 min later, he re-enters room]
Adam: Mummy? You sleep?
Me: Yes baby. Mummy is tired and needs to rest. Now. Ok??
I chased him out the room (his own room, bad mummy) and closed the door and napped for an hour.

I am so wasted. Poor deprived child. He's gonna grow up developing psychological problems because his mother is always sleeping/tired/"stomach so big with baby inside" <-- he went telling my in-laws, traitor!!

Ok that's enough updates for now. Feeling giddy typing this. -___-
Off to nap.

Friday, January 27, 2012

About living as married couple

Apart from keeping seperate bank accounts, Andy & I also keep seperate toilets. Yes - we have a His & Her toilet in our household.
He has very graciously accepted the master bedroom toilet as his, whirlpool and all, while I humbly take the common toilet as mine. No issues with me, since I've used the tub less than 5 times since its installation. Adam obviously uses it more than the 2 of us combined.
Taking the common toilet also means I have one less bathtub to scrub.
Most importantly, I do not have to wake up in the middle of the night to pee and find myself rudely awakened by sitting on drops of yellow PEE on the toilet bowl rims!!!!!

I take pride in my toilet. There is always soap and perfume available, and it's always clean.
This evening, I happened to walk past Andy's toilet to the MBR to get clothes when a whiff of AMONIA attacked my sensitive nasal passages. This calls as a crisis which cannot wait till the part-time helper arrives.
I went to Andy's toilet to check it out and found out that his toilet bowl is filthy and pee-stained and I had to hold my breath and scrub the toilet bowl. All for my adorable husband. This man must have a bladder in overdrive to turn a whole toilet bowl yellow. Ever heard of "Love me, love my dog?" *hysterical laughter*

Marriage is hard work I tell ya.
And my point? I dont know what my point is after all this typing because I'm dead tired and wish to sleep this instant.
But I wanna say - Andy is a filthyshitbag and I'm the one who is an angel. That's my point. The end.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Dad's 60th 大寿 - 20 Jan 2012

My ol' paps celebrated his 60th birthday on last Friday by throwing a 10-course dinner for 60 at Peony Jade.
Consisting of our relatives and his childhood friends, he did have a grand time that night :)






My aunts and our relatives from Aussie.


Dad's childhood friends whom he grew up catching longkang fish and played marbles together.


more Childhood friends.


His pretty (ahem) daughter and son-in-law and his favourite (one & only) grandson.





Hongkie relatives


Longevity peaches for every table, every guest




Adam's present to Grandpa








[still waiting for my bro's photos as he was the other photographer that night :]

Friday, January 20, 2012

Taiwan, Jan 2012














Finally our Taiwan trip photos are up. What a painstaking process it was editing and uploading those photos.

The link to the album can be found here. For your visual pleasure.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

2012 - the beginning.

2012 has been big and busy for us thus far. We just came back from Taiwan, and the photos are taking FOREVER to load on Picasa.

Adam officially starts Nursery. That's right! My baby is going to official school now!! He's my forever baby, no doubt he's turning 3 in 4 month's time, but still the thought of my pesky little baby who still can't use the potty / sleep on his own/who wants me to be there all the time, well it's just very hard to stomach the fact.

He's attending school at Learning Vision which is at my workplace, so every morning Andy drops me off to work and Adam off to school (I can't deal with the fighting and crying when we need to part). In the evenings, my FIL comes to fetch us home.
The first week has ended, and has been full of emotions for Adam, especially since he still hasn't gotten used to the new environment, new friends and new teachers. When asked, he replies that his friends have no names, and his teachers have no names. That's NOT true of course! But it's just his way of expressing that he hasn't gotten used to them yet.
Poor kid.

As for us adults, the grandparents get the weekend duty which allows me plenty of time to catch up on lost sleep, and my me-time.
Ok I'm feeling lethargic just typing this post. I need to go sleep now. (even though I just woke up an hour ago)... Zzzzzzz