salmon, my love

2010-09-16T21:12:00.002+08:00

ashley's new lamaze toys

eddie the elephant

contrast bend & squeak penguin

2010-09-13T21:31:00.003+08:00

my little girl

2010-08-15T10:40:00.003+08:00

ashley's 1st national day party!

this was an instant photo print taken at the event itself. yay, another one to add to the collection of family photos! more photos to come once i find the time to sort them out!

2010-08-11T20:19:00.003+08:00

celebrating the mighty lion's birthday

it was planned surprise for the birthday girl - she thought we met up mainly to shop for her present and didn't expect a birthday surprise and what's more at EQUINOX, with jack showing up with a huge bouquet of lilies - nice! like what ig said, he just helped to set the bar higher (aka spoil market!), haha! anyway, the high tea food choices at equinox was not that fantastic, although the view was simply awesome, and we did catch some parts of the parade.

(1) the birthday cake - super chocolately but costs a bomb at $20 for such a small piece. eh, what to do, it's equinox!
(2) lovely homemade card by the sheep! hey sheep, please reserve a bear sticker for my corner next time. :-P
(3) our first plate of food was japanese.
(4) birthday girl and the master planner.
(5) the view from the 70th floor - can you see the sea of red/white at the padang?
(6) the four girls. :-)
(7) family photo, in red/white for national day.
(8) ashley trying to see what daddy is reading.
(9) mummy and her little squirrel. :-)

anyway, we took quite a bit of photos for the little girl, so here's a dedicated collage for her. like what the aunties mentioned, some of these are potential blackmail photos for future use (i think they were referring to the 5th pic, haha!)! but isn't she expressive, and very cheeky looking?!? check out her "kungfu" pose with her ikea spoon - ah, my little girl in red. :-)

2010-08-11T20:01:00.006+08:00

can't believe she's already 9 months!

hmmm, haven't done this milestone thingy for a while.

taken from here:

- Your baby now can pull himself up to a standing position from sitting down.
check! ashley managed to master this since she was about 7 months old.

- He can stand while holding on to someone or something.
check! she's forever doing this. but she's not that steady so we have to stand behind her in case she knocks her head.

- Baby uses the "pincer grasp" holding tiny objects between his thumb and forefinger.
check! tested it with a few almonds sometime back. :-)

- He can walk while holding onto furniture.
check! she "walks" while holding onto her cot.

- Baby drinks from a cup.
not yet!!! we didn't let her practise drinking from a straw often enough. hmmm, i guess we need to let her drink from the cup more often.

- He can stand alone for a few seconds or perhaps longer.
well, i think the record i've seen is like two seconds?

- Baby says "mama" or "dada."
check! she started with "papa" at about 7 months. now it's "mama", "dada", "mehmeh", and some other strange sounds, heh!

- He understands the meaning of "no."
i should think so, but not too certain.

- Baby responds to simple commands (such as "Give Mommy the toy").
check! she responds to "ashley, clap your hands" and "ashley, where are your ears?", including the mandarin version.

well, i guess she's doing fine, just got to be more mindful and start training her to use a cup!

2010-08-11T20:00:00.001+08:00

backlog of photos

2010-07-04T21:44:00.002+08:00

triple birthday celebration

it was a triple birthday celebration for daddy & the watts at the vines seafood & steak restaurant. it's the first time there for all of us - well, i was searching for a place in the novena area (since little M has classes nearby till 1pm), and chose this place since it has pretty good reviews on hungrygowhere. i thought the food was really decent for $105 for 8 persons (& definitely better than jack's place). most of us had the set lunch that came with the hungarian chicken soup (it was tasty, but i still can't figured what's in there except for chicken chunks and kidney beans), garlic bread, coffee/tea and ice-cream! so with the yummy bakerzinn oreo cheesecake, you can imagine how stuffed we were at the end of lunch.

(1) oreo cheesecake - happy birthday to all three!
(2) birthday boys&girl + little ashley (looking grouchy)
(3) my oxtail stew - it was GOOD.
(4) the watts - their birthdays are two days apart!
(5) ashley turning back to look for daddy
(6) josiah was really cooperative - he looks STRAIGHT at the camera and smiles (unlike ashley these days).
(7) the tans!

(1-2) ashley chewing her spoon furiously.
(3) *pulls daddy's ears* - let's see who's king/QUEEN! haha!
(4) us! (ashley was sleeping in my arms)
(5) us (with ashley)! see what i mean when i said that she's NOT very cooperative. oh yah, daddy's wearing his argentina comic figure tee - so what if they lost, the tee is still cool! :-)

2010-06-27T21:19:00.004+08:00

happy birthday, daddy!

one of my favourite family portrait so far.

celebrating at peperoni pizzeria!

2010-06-12T22:02:00.004+08:00

our little lady

more photos of our girl taken today. btw, ashley wore shoes out the first time! i was never into buying shoes for her; she has only two pair of shoes - both gifts!(and btw, thank you aunty kristi for this baby pink pair - she can finally fit in them!) shoes just don't look comfortable on a baby's feet, and i always feel that socks will do to keep their little feet warm. but we thought, since she's wearing a nice sweet summer dress, she'll look more "complete" and proper with shoes on - ahhh, finally she looks so much more lady-like! just need to wait for your hair to grow alittle longer. :-)

daddy's little flower - this was after her swim.

2010-06-11T22:53:00.003+08:00

ashley's first visit to united square...

to celebrate aunty pauline's birthday with the entire gang! oops, we should have taken a picture with the birthday girl. :-) anyway, that's ashley with vaughn and big brother, seth! i think ashley doesn't really like vaughn playing with her loops - she was like trying to snatch it back and pulled his ear! eh, let's hope you don't grow up to be a bully in school! anyway, let's hope we've got more time to do some shopping during our next visit - this time round, daddy needed to rush so that he's in time for his tennis game!

2010-06-09T21:56:00.002+08:00

going out weekend

the initial plan was to go for a picnic at botanic gardens... but unfortunately, it didn't stop raining the whole afternoon, and we had to call it off. well, we'll try to do it again soon, since i thought it'd be a good change to expose our little girl to some nature, and let her play and crawl around in the open... rather than being on her playmat all the time at home. anyway, the alternative was to meet at marina square, and we hung out at olio most of the time.

(1) family portrait! she loves "playing aeroplane", and she's officially known as flight AT0811 - i'm sure it's not difficult to guess why! and we always go, "bbrrr bbrrr bbrrr bbrrr... AT0811 is landing at changi airport." haha!
(2) an all-ladies shot!
(3) "hmmm, what's good here? they definitely look better than my potato/pumpkin puree."
(4) daddy's pasta.

(1) "aunty lion, why are you staring at me?"
(2) "hmmm, that's mummy's camera case! and uncle jack, please hold me tight!"
(3) it's meal time - my potato/pumpkin puree! btw, it's the first time ashley ate semi-solids outside, and thankfully it wasn't very messy, hee.
(4) our AT0811 having fun again. i love her smiley face in this one. :-)
(5) our little girl trying to stand again.
(6) haiya, it's tough getting her to pose with me!

2010-05-29T14:02:00.005+08:00

it's incredible how fast they grow

well, although i'm supposed to be working on a report this weekend, i decided that updating my blog comes first, haa! (well, actually i can concentrate on work better when ashley sleeps for the night - for info, she's taking her afternoon nap now.) anyway, the reason for the title of this post - as you can see below, ashley got her first chance at sitting on the high chair while we had lunch at bbq chicken! she has already been sitting in one at home for quite some time, i think the chairs outside (typically from ikea) requires her to support herself more, and she had no problems at all. she was busy reaching for everything that caught her sight - plates&cutlery were obviously no-no, so we had to give her her rattle, and when she dropped it on the floor (as expected!), she grabbed the serviettes! oh and of course, if you see the second pic taken yesterday, ashley was in a kneeling position and grabbing onto the cot. she has been doing this quite often by looking for support, basically anything that's most convenient at that time, e.g. daddy/mummy, gong-gong/po-po, pillows, her cot, and toys. oh, by the way, i spotted her sitting upright by the cot this morning, and another time on the mat... i wasn't sure if she could do it earlier 'cos she was always half-way there then distracted by her toys, but now i'm definite that she is able to sit up by herself now. little girl, another milestone clocked! :-)

(1-2) our lunch sets... better than KFC! definitely less oily. the roasted chicken was also very tasty.
(3) from BBQ chicken!
(4) ashley in the ikea high chair, looking a tad blur. i realised it's difficult to snap pictures of her smiling/laughing these days, 'cos that's also when she's very excited and keeps moving... and all the pictures turn out blur.
(5) yummy yummy, where's my food?
(6) mummy & little girl.
(7) ah huh, i got it!
(8) i know what's this for... to wipe my hands! (clever girl!)

my prisoner baby...! let's see how long she takes to progress to standing up in her cot. we've already lowered the cot in preparation of that. :-)

btw, ashley went for her check last wednesday and she's now 8.59kg (90 percentile) and 66.5cm (75 percentile) - "growing very well!", according to the nurse.

2010-05-23T21:14:00.004+08:00

more photos of ashley

2010-05-11T21:14:00.003+08:00

my first mother's day as a mum!

2010-05-11T21:09:00.002+08:00

6 months

my mum said that she looks most like me in this shot! :-)

2010-05-06T21:50:00.003+08:00

the camera pouch is her new toy!

2010-05-02T11:07:00.002+08:00

first solids

ashley had her first solids yesterday! in fact, this is the first time (well, almost) she tasted anything other than MILK - she doesn't take water very well, and rejects it most of the time. anyway, if you read the previous post, you'll know that healthy times brown rice cereal is sold out everywhere currently - this box was actually given a colleague by of mine recently - thanks YP! :-) and ashley likes it! at least she opened her mouth when she saw the spoon coming.

following the instructions, i mixed two tablespoons of the cereals (by the way, don't do this under the fan as it's really light and flaky) with about 20ml of breastmilk, and tadah - ashley's brunch is ready! it's too simple to prepare - now i know why most mums these days don't make their own rice cereals. i didn't taste it but it did smell pretty fragrant (somewhat like horlicks). also, it was not as messy as i had expected it to be, merely dirtied a bib and washcloth, and i didn't even have to clean the floor/furniture, or put her through another bath.

anyway, my traditional mum still prefers to feed her grandchild with homemade porridge, not these instant 'ang moh' kind of food. she claims that both my brother and i were fed porridge before 6 months and both love it... so uh huh, can't argue with the main caregiver. ashley will be starting on porridge VERY SOON, stay tuned!

2010-04-27T22:08:00.006+08:00

our little china doll

this is ashley with her new china doll haircut, soothing her teething pains on her new high chair.

these pictures were taken when she went for her immunisation jabs last thursday.

anti-clockwise from top left:
(1) she's always taking LONG naps when we're in a hurry to go out! she typically takes a hour-long nap after her morning bath... but that morning, she stretched it till almost two hours! we had to carry her out of her cot, else she would be late for her appointment - maybe she knows she's not going out to have fun.
(2) being carried by daddy just after her jabs - by the way, it's two jabs - one on each thigh. she only made a soft yell when the needles went in, and then she just went silent as if nothing happened - no screams, no tears. what a brave darling!
(3) daddy pressing the cotton wool against her injection site.
(4) "i'm feeling bored, when can we head home?" there is a 15-minute waiting period, in case of sudden reaction to the jabs, luckily we brought along her colourful loops for her to chew on.
(5) before we head home, we went to the supermarket (her first time into NTUC!) to look for her rice cereals. i was quite keen to start her on the brown rice cereals from healthy times after seeing several good reviews on the baby forums. anyway, it was out of stock (there's only the oatmeal one that's shown here). btw, we went searching for it at a few NTUC/cold storage but to no avail - most places do not have the whole range of cereals and in particular, the brown rice one was sold out everywhere! (in any case, i bought bellamy's baby rice from cold storage jelita in the end.)

lastly, ashley's stats @ 5m14d - weight = 8.22kg (>97th percentile - i think she's just slightly OUT OF THE CURVE - oh no!), height = 66.1cm (75th percentile - thankfully above average!), head circumference = 43cm (90th percentile). i think based on her height and weight combined, she's about 97th percentile (phew, not an outlier!). anyway, the nurse said that there's no concern since she's on total breastmilk, and such babies will lose weight once they learnt how to crawl and walk - eh, we shall see.

2010-04-18T20:19:00.004+08:00

our precious

ashley is 5+ months already, and she's becoming even more fun-loving than before. she's learning how to sit up now, although she still needs her arms to support herself. she's also trying to "crawl", although technically, she's has only started to learn how to go into the crawling position, and will pounce forward, especially when she wants to reach out for her toys. the other thing about her is that she likes being supported while standing up... perhaps she finds it interesting to be able to see things in a different perspective.

we also started to borrow some books for her whenever we have the time for the library... and i'm trying to insert a few minutes of reading and nursery rhmye singing (she definitely prefers this) as part of her bedtime ritual. it's not easy actually since our little girl needs her beauty sleep before 8pm. we try to go back home as early as we can from work, but by the time we get back and have a quick dinner, she's already starting to be very cranky. anyway, the rest of the pictures were taken this morning soon after she woke up - we notice that she's definitely smiley every morning when she wakes up - well, i guess i would to, if i am allowed to sleep 12 hours in a stretch!!! talking about sleep, i haven't slept through the night since she was borned... the sacrifice of total breastfeeding. and there she goes, flipping all over the bed, and going onto her crawling pose. btw, this baby gap overall was a present from aunty hazel before ashley was even borned, and she is finally able to fit into it (a tad long, but sure feels comfy). :-)

btw, we're going to start her on solids once she turns 6 months. actually she has already shown all the signs of being able to take solids - picks up objects and places them into mouth, able to sit up (although support is required), very interested when others are eating - and we have gotten ready her high chair, we are still resisting and will put her on milk all the way till she's 6 months (for non-parents, total milk for the first 6 months is recommended especially if there is a family history of allergies. solids will also help provide the iron required around the 6-months mark, the time when the iron stores start to deplete). now all we're lacking is a steamer and blender to make all the delicious baby purees! i'm quite keen to splurge on this steamer-cum-blender from philips avent, just so that it's more convenient for my mum (& us) to prepare her food.

2010-04-07T21:04:00.004+08:00

more birthday celebration photos

at tung lok, east coast park - oh, i love lana cake - thanks ben!

high tea at ritz-carlton on easter sunday - notice how pretty everything is!

2010-04-03T21:27:00.003+08:00

29th

it's indeed different this year, with our little addition. but what's the same is that the hubby still bothered to plan a little surprise for me. :-) like i mentioned before, it's tough to go out for dinners these days 'cos ashley will need her sleep before 8... i insisted that we can't go for dinner, so he had to change the reservation to lunch. i can't believe that i'm hitting 30... and i guess like what a colleague told me, my greatest achievement this year has to be giving birth to ashley. i'm glad i had my first kid before 30, 'cos i'm not really sure if i will still have the energy to keep up with breastfeeding, night feeds, etc... and i'm sure the lack of sleep for the past many months is contributing to my wrinkles.

oh anyway, back to the birthday celebration. the hubby planned the lunch to be at gordon grill at goodwood park hotel. we both had the lunch set - 4-course for him, and 3-course for me (everything's the same but i did without the appetisers), and the unique part was that they served small samples of 3 appetisers, 3 soups, and 2 desserts... the pictures will tell you that we had no regrets! the ambience was good + service was top-notch (now i feel bad for not tipping!), they gave us a private area knowing that we're bringing along a kid... and most importantly, the food was top-notch. i'm pretty sure this is the best and most value-for-money meal we had so far!

(1) a single green cymbidium orchid... coincidentally, that's also the flower i chose for our wedding photoshoot.
(2) the basket of warm bread... we had another serving. :-)
(3) the hubby's appetisers - he chose sscargots, hokkaido scallop and foie gras.
(4) we had the same soup sampler - lobster bisque, mushroom and french onion.
(5) we also chose the same main course, which was the beef fillet - yummm.
(6) lastly, our dessert - chocolate hazelnut tart + creme brulee, served with tea.

haha, see little ashley eyeing my bread roll...! btw, the dress i'm wearing is my birthday present courtesy of the hubby - got to wear something new on my birthday right! anyway, i was quite close to buying it for chinese new year earlier this year, but decided to cut down on expenses at that time... i'm glad it's still in stock - thank you, daddy! :-D

2010-03-28T11:31:00.001+08:00

a surprise dinner at the line

well, this was really a surprise... firstly, my birthday is one week later so i really didn't expect anything planned that weekend. anyway, the hubby claimed that this wasn't meant as a birthday celebration, but was more of a "reward" of being a good mummy to our little girl (as he said it, no 1-carat diamond reward, just a nice buffet dinner) - thank you, daddy! anyway, the line was having a 38% discount, so it's pretty worth it - the salmon sashimi and prime rib beef were excellent! and i'm glad i still managed to eat my fair share when ashley fell asleep halfway through dinner, but i kinda missed out on the dessert (argh, my cheesecake!) as she started to become rather grouchy later that evening. we can't go out in the evenings these days if we have to bring her along since she needs her beauty sleep by 7-ish, and you'll know it when she doesn't smile back at you and starts tugging at her ears... and since we really don't like disrupting her routine, we don't really have a nightlife these days. well well, the sacrifices that we need to make as parents!

2010-03-28T11:30:00.003+08:00

ashley - licking everything!

i think ashley is teething... maybe we'll see her pearly whites very soon!

2010-03-28T11:29:00.002+08:00

ashley's first hotel stay

2010-03-16T22:41:00.002+08:00

the weekend with our little bundle of joy

on saturday at manhattan fish market with uncle keith - she was in deep sleep by the time we reached the restaurant, and woke up 3/4 through our meal (luckily i was almost done)! the waitress adored her and claimed that she has got "high cheekbones"... eh, chubby cheeks yes, but high cheekbones, how to tell!?! anyway, she also started shrieking (in very high pitch) the whole time... and it wasn't because she was under distress, it was simply out of fun.

sunday mornings with the hubby is extremely precious, so i dragged him out of bed to have breakfast at west coast park macs - hotcakes for him, and triple decker sandwich for me! and our little girl was in deep sleep by the time we reached home.

2010-03-14T23:19:00.001+08:00

mummy, watch me flip!

2010-03-06T11:26:00.002+08:00

a crazy week at work

it has been a crazy work week and i'm thankful the weekend is here. i'm seriously not looking forward to monday 'cos next week is going to be another hell week. hopefully things will be back to normal soon! i didn't had the opportunity to link ashley's latest pictures to the blog earlier, but anyway, here they are!

since her neck is getting quite strong, i decided to try putting her on the bumbo chair and she seems to like it!

last sunday, we took her for her first hair cut since it was getting abit unkempt... and now she looks kind of boyish! you'll have to be dressed in pinks and flowers from now on, my little girl. :-)

and after her hair cut, she went for a swim... and she swam for 45 minutes! we thought she would be exhausted after that, but she was still very active that evening... our energiser bunny baby! think it'd be tougher when she starts crawling and walking!

2010-02-23T21:34:00.002+08:00

burger king baby's first trip to great world city

we used to go to great world city alot when we were dating, mainly because it's near our workplace and has a pretty decent movie theatre. we haven't been going there very much after we shifted office. anyway, we were both on leave today and decided to bring ashley there.

(1) we wanted to pose with the CNY decor behind... and that's mummy trying to look like little ashley (like a little squirrel hiding nuts in her mouth - so chubby!).
(2) after our lunch at burger king, we starting posing with little ashley. it's daddy's turn to goof around - let's see who can finish the milk first!
(3) mummy trying to get a nice shot with her little girl.
(4-5) my two babies. ashley just loves to put her hand/fingers into her mouth, especially her left hand! i wonder if she's a left-handed... although she still seem to grasp objects better with her right hand. we shall see.
(6) this picture was taken when we came home. nowadays she doesn't drink much when we bring her out because she's more interested in looking around - we call her the kaypoh queen. like today, she survived 6 hours with only 65ml (her normal intake is about 100ml every 2 hours). so she was obviously hungry when we got home... and like you see in this picture, she's holding on to her bottle with both hands! she does this on and off, and finally i was fast enough to catch it on camera, hehe.

2010-02-21T10:42:00.005+08:00

ashley on the seventh day of CNY, and at 15 weeks

poor ashley took her 5-in-1 immunisation jab yesterday, and we also opted for her to take the pneumococcal and rotavirus vaccines as well. our poor girl had two long needles pierced into her (chunky) thighs at the same time - like the nurse said, it's so that she didn't have to cry twice... well, makes sense. her face turned all red and she was bawling her eyes out! thankfully she calmed down soon after. :-)

(1) a family self-portrait while waiting for her turn.
(2) this was actually taken after her jab. she calmed down and was drinking quite furiously before falling asleep.
(3-5) look at her, she was still in a pretty chirpy mood before the jabs... but she was hungry so we had to feed her a little, perhaps she got even more upset because her feed was being interrupted.
(6-7) ashley lying on the measuring scale, all ready to take her height (or rather, length). she's 60.1cm (50% percentile, which is to be expected since we're both kind of average) and 7.01kg (90% percentile!)... and she has a slightly average head size at 75% percentile. the nurse also commented that her neck is pretty strong now, as she can sit up well with support. :-)
(8) this last picture is her taking the rotavirus vaccine; this vaccine is taken orally (thank god). she was "tricked" by aunty nurse into thinking it's her milk, no wonder she started crying again soon after, haha!

after the whole ordeal at the polyclinic, we came home for lunch... and she had her first yu sheng. well, not exactly lao-ing the yu sheng, but at least she had some shots taken with it! and that's her playing with one of her last few ang pows given by her bo-bo (my brother, who just came back from koh samui); she can now grasp things very well, and can also hold on to them for a pretty long period of time. :-) she's also trying to rollover, always twisting her body to one side when lying on her back, but i think she hasn't yet figured out where those little arms should be. i think she'll need another week or so, but meanwhile we have to be really cautious especially when changing her on the bed... just in case.

2010-02-16T22:04:00.002+08:00

gong xi gong xi!

(1) ashley the sleepyhead on the first day of CNY... with her first angpow from daddy&mummy!
(2) she started sucking her fist/fingers and licking anything that is in contact with her mouth - blanket, bath towel, your shirt if you're carrying her....her toys! btw, she's wearing a blue rompers we bought in paris during our honeymoon, to be worn by our first kid (didn't expect it to be so soon though!)... would have preferred it to be in a more unisex colour like yellow, but there was really limited designs/colours for baby clothing at that particular shop.
(3) pineapple = "wang lai" = prosperity has arrived = HUAT AH!
(4) first CNY angpow message from her dearest parents.
(5) a family portrait taken at grandaunt's place.
(6-7) first time in a dress.
(8) ashley grabbing on to her two angpows given by gong-gong and po-po. $$$!

2010-02-09T21:35:00.001+08:00

it's time to celebrate!

i can't believe i actually won something! check it out here!

and i picked this! and i was told that my parcel is on the way. :-)

2010-02-07T22:01:00.001+08:00

ashley's first dip

woohoo, watch me kick! *splash splash*

2010-02-07T12:34:00.003+08:00

our weekend

we haven't gone out much lately, especially for the past few weeks since i started work... so i decided that we should go out for a simple meal and some shopping since CNY is round the corner, and i need a pair of flats to wear to work (i realised my feet can't take heels anymore, they're full of blisters now!). i chose to go to marina square since there's a fair number of shop shops and i found a pair of black ballet flats (with a flower emblem and some bling-bling) at pazzion - yay. :-) lunch was at sakae sushi where we had our "standard dishes" - we could rattle on all the types of sushi, handrolls and side dishes we want all at one go. somehow, the sakae sushi at marina square is still our favourite outlet so far.

this is dear little ashley this morning... and guess what's with that new hairdo? if you look closely enough, you'll see the small bits of cradle cap in her hair. i applied baby oil to her scalp before trying to comb out that eeky thick crust! she was pretty irritated when i was doing that, and i had to coax/distract her with the rattle and by making funny faces, that was really tiring! and that's her making faces at the camera again before her morning bath.

2010-01-31T16:20:00.004+08:00

ashley is 12 weeks old

(1) we thought she would probably be bored of the same little animals on her musical mobile, so we changed them to the doraemons we bought at macs - the snake (daddy), rooster (mummy), ox (little ashley the cow), and cupid (errr, we needed four so the cupid was the best choice). it so happens that they are all brightly coloured, so it's not surprising that little ashley loves her new toy!
(2) her cot book from the usborne series. she seems to like staring at the pictures when she's on the cot (and alone in the room), however, that can only occupy her for a couple of minutes before she starts wailing for attention.
(3-5) we started to let her play (and do tummy time) on her bumper mat (rather than on the bed) since it's more spacious and also seems safer.
(6) we love her chunky thighs!

ashley making funny faces at mr peacock, her new toy from lamaze. the toys from lamaze really appeals to me 'cos they're so brightly coloured!

2010-01-24T10:47:00.004+08:00

ashley, it's tummy time!

2010-01-17T10:24:00.003+08:00

back to slavery

argh, can't believe 10 weeks just flew past like this. i was just looking through her past photos, and it's amazing how much she has grown over the past weeks. i guess you don't see the difference so much when you're with her all the time. gosh, can't believe i'll be starting work tomorrow (and you know what, i have a meeting to attend first thing in the morning!). i'm definitely going to miss my little precious, but i know she'll be in grandma's good hands.

(1) ashley loves to sit up although she definitely requires support at 10 weeks. perhaps it's because she gets a better view of the things around her.
(2) the two babies of my life. well, mummy's always the photographer. :-)
(3) a minimum of 7 bottles of feed... that's what i'll be leaving behind for my girl every morning. mummy has to continue to be diligent in waking up in the night, else it's hard to keep up with your appetite!

2010-01-17T10:22:00.002+08:00

wedding bells

i actually missed FOUR weddings during my confinment period... and i'm glad i managed to make it to see hearn's wedding. this is also the first wedding i attended at sentosa, and it gives a very laid-back and relaxing feel to the whole event.

(1) blue hydrangea and white roses were the flowers for the night.
(2) wine stoppers as wedding favours - finally something useful!
(3) the nicest dish was the green tea pudding... actually it's more like a tiramisu, but with the coffee/rum layer replaced with green tea, and it was topped with white chocolate shavings rather than chocolate powder. i'm glad i still had space for dessert, yummy!
(4) with the hubby. :-)
(5) wl was there at the wedding too... we weren't at the same table, but still managed to gossip a little in between the dishes, haha!
(6-8) what's a wedding dinner without some drinking right! we had to make the groom drink a little, but i guess we were being niceR (as compared to the other table of colleagues next to us) by not spiking his drink with green chilli, black vinegar and what-have-you... just a FULL glass of red wine. okay, we know see hearn can't hold his liquor, but you must really give it to him for that act of his - drinking that small bit (i think it was at most 10ml and in slow motion, and i really mean SLOW. come on, even little ashley drinks faster!). and he's smart enough to have a fantastic drinking brother by his side who finished the entire glass for him, i hope he got a big ang pow man!

it was good night of fun with the whole gang.

2010-01-13T20:31:00.003+08:00

pizza & cheesecake

this came a little late... last weekend with the gang to celebrate giles&wen's birthdays. i realised we didn't take pictures for the watts and tays... oops! guess we were just too busy with the kiddos! the hilton cheesecake was good! and wen, don't worry about the $, how often do you get to cut your birthday cake at macs!?! of all places, haha!

2010-01-13T19:37:00.004+08:00

hey, watch out!

as you can see, ashley's eyebrows are slowly growing out. since she is starting to hold our fingers, i'm trying to see if she can also hold up the rattle... she's starting to, but not that good at it yet.

2010-01-13T17:21:00.002+08:00

pupsik sling to give away!

there's a pupsik sling to give away at der nen's blog!

that's me carrying ashley in the pupsik sling! it's really useful since you can go handsfree and the best part is that somehow ashley goes to sleep in there within minutes. at 9 weeks plus, it's getting tougher to get her inside in the cradle position, so hopefully her neck's going to strong enough soon for me to carry her in the kangeroo style. and sooooo... i'm really hoping to get ANOTHER sling since this one was bought second-hand from the motherhood forum. :-)

2010-01-08T15:48:00.003+08:00

trying to prove mummy wrong!

okay, just after posting the previous entry, i got ashley onto her tummy again, and GUESS WHAT!

my little girl is able to raise her head to 45 degrees while on her tummy and keep it up steadily - that's a 2-month development milestone checked!

2010-01-08T14:23:00.004+08:00

ashley turns two months!

(1) mummy ordered a personalised bowl for me... she said it was meant to be my christmas present, but unfortunately, it only managed to arrive here last week. mummy said that this was meant to be displayed together with their wedding bowl. :-)

(2) mummy is right, i hate tummy time! but apparantly i have to do it everyday in order to strengthen my neck muscles to enable me to start crawling, and to prevent having a flat head - whatever that means! sometimes, i get away with it by crying out loud because i just hate the feeling of having my face flat on the mattress! *boohoo!* but things got a little better after daddy&mummy bought me mr worm to help prop my chest up, it sure feels alot better!

(3-5) yay, tummy time is over and it's photo-taking time with mr worm! *smileeeee*

2010-01-04T13:54:00.002+08:00

when can i play and not just watch

2010-01-04T12:32:00.004+08:00

my 2009

it's 2010, and almost everyone on blogosphere reflects on the past year and comes up with new year resolutions. well, i don't usually do this, but i guess i should this time round - not because i have nothing better to do while on leave (i only have time to type this because the precious is asleep!), but because the past year has been very eventful... if not, the most eventful year of my life.

we spent the early part of JANUARY holidaying in europe, enjoying the ice-cold weather, the skiing and the piping hot rosti on the mountain tops in switzerland, as well as the shopping, the oven-baked thin-crusted pizzas and the cappuccino at the cafes in milan. we do find ourselves reminiscing about the trip once in a while... well, how often do you get to go on a 3-week break from work, possibly never again!

MARCH was when we first knew that i was pregnant! it was still quite a surprise, although not unexpected, and it was the start of monthly routine gynae visits for ultrasound scans. we were always excited about seeing our little creation (for me, not so excited about the weight gain part), finding out the gender at the week 20(ashley was a shy girl who refused to show us anything at week 16, and got us curious for an extra month!), checking on her estimated weight to ensure that she's growing well, etc. monthly checks became forthnightly, and finally weekly in the last month... and if you guys have been following, she was definitly getting too comfortable inside and only decided to come out ONE DAY before the date of induction! what a close shave. she has grown so much from the day she was borned, and now at 8 weeks, she now enjoys playtime (especially her musical mobile, it's like an instant pain relief when she's upset!) and knows how to return a smile! she just needs to work harder at tummytime, our little lazy bum, haa!

(below) ashley obviously prefers taking pictures to tummy time with mr caterpillar. somehow i got a feeling she knows that she's supposed to smile at the camera...

well, other than being pregnant and having ashley as an addition into our couplehood, 2009 was also the year when i finally had a change in job scope. i was getting quite tired of project management and engineering work after about 3+ years, and really needed a change, and it eventually came when i'm nearing my fifth year! it's a totally different experience doing policy work, there's a different set of skills required, and surprisingly, i actually quite enjoy it although i'm still not certain if it's something i want to do in the long run... but of course, being in the same work location as the hubby now and being able to have better control of my work schedule helps tonnes!

it has been a pretty smooth-sailing 2009. :-) let's hope that our 2010 will be another year filled with joy and good luck, and may our little ashley grow to be a cheerful healthy toddler! i just can't wait for her to start flipping, crawling and walking... and yes, to celebrate her one year old birthday with her. :-) HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYBODY!

2010-01-01T16:04:00.000+08:00

last dinner of 2009

2009-12-29T13:40:00.000+08:00

our happy girl!

2009-12-27T21:22:00.004+08:00

christmas potluck on boxing day

too much food that day! there was beehoon, chicken curry (with french loaf & even rice!), roasted chicken, baked potato, pizza and ice-cream!

it's too much of a coincidence - there were actually two pairs of santa&santees this year - hj&xp and jack&me actually exchanged presents! i think this is the first time in so many years! jack gave me a parenting book (yay, thanks to my HINT!) - it's a good-read and extremely useful for first time mummies like me, i couldn't resist the temptation and started reading abit once i reached home that night, even though it was already past midnight. :-) i bought jack an adidas tee, kind of retro-styed - well, not a very creative present 'cos there's really not alot of time to shop these days!

well, even little ashley had her share of presents from all her uncles&aunties - a giraffe stuffed toy from daniel&hj, a fisher-price rattle from xp, and an alphabet origami book from lion&jack. thank you, folks!!!

it's little ashley's first christmas! we're very thankful for the joy that she has brought us, and that she is growing well, and is such a happy little baby. merry christmas, our little precious. :-)

2009-12-26T14:54:00.003+08:00

what i got from the hubby...

OAKLEY DART

and the card says... "so that you can be the coolest mummy around!" :-)

... and i didn't get him anything this year, oops!

2009-12-26T14:35:00.003+08:00

christmas eve

with so many kids in the group, i think there's no way we can have such celebrations outside... maybe till the kids are old enough and we can dump them at home! each couple brought a dish to giles&wen's place (giles made pasta)... there's roasted chicken from us, a mashed potato dish from the liews (hey pauline, remember to let me have the recipe!), strawberry cheesecake from the watts (super sinful but good!) and a huge sushi tray from the tays (now i know where to get good sushi trays for parties - sakuraya!). anyway, it's actually my first attempt at roasting chicken and i really should have thought of making this for parties earlier, 'cos it's super easy - very little preparation required plus you really can't go wrong with the taste! go google for jamie oliver's roasted chicken and you'll find the recipe.

with the kiddos! oh, we're missing josiah here! our first christmas with ashley and vaughn... and that's ashley kicking vaughn! our little girl's not very friendly huh.

christmas exchange!

2009-12-23T15:15:00.004+08:00

ashley's baby friends

stole the collage from wen's blog, hehe! it was the first time i'm out with ashley ALONE, but of course i'm not as brave as wen and pauline who took the train to town - mummy has grandpa as the chauffeur especially since it's for the precious granddaughter. :-) wen suggested we do a mummy&baby outing (no daddies, please) since we're all on leave, and as she puts it - before we go back to slavery! we were looking for japanese food (i thought rice was way easier than noodles with ashley in the sling in front of me), but sad to say, the restaurants were either already packed, or were not baby friendly... SOOOooo we actually ended up at the xin wang at ion orchard, argh! just for info, we meet at the kovan xin wang 80% of the time, and i was actually quite sick of the menu at one point of my pregancy. we did some window-shopping and ended up at the coffee club at paragon for dessert and drinks... and mind you, the cafes in orchard were actually packed with tai-tais and the lucky folks who are clearing leave during this festive season! thank god ashley, vaughn and josiah were all pretty well-behaved, so that's hope for future baby outings!

and that's ashley with mummy to help clear her poo!

2009-12-21T19:15:00.001+08:00

tummy time!

ashley with mr caterpillar during tummy time! do you see daddy in the background rushing to get tissue paper to wipe off her drool? haha!

2009-12-20T11:37:00.002+08:00

happy 1st year!

we celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary at the tavern pub & restaurant (and without little ashley). the restaurant was dim and quiet, with european styled furnishing, making us reminisce about our honeymoon in switzerland one year ago... although we didn't choose to have cheese fondue again, haha! well, the tavern is the first place i've been to that doesn't provide a proper menu... the dishes were all written on a chalkboard which was wheeled to us just after we were seated. we had half a dozen of escargots as an appetiser and a steak each, highly recommended by the waiter serving us - mine was the us prime rib steak while his was the wagyu steak (see i always let the hubby have the better dish since we get to taste both anyway). the waiter actually brought out the beef pieces to show us, before cutting and weighing each slice - it was 200g for him, and 180g for me (a little too much for me). the steak was definitely good - juicy and tender, and the fats within really melted in my mouth, definitely better than lawry's... and it better be for the price we paid! oops, or rather, for what the hubby paid! but if you ask me, i may not choose to go there again... perhaps morton's for a different experience.

2009-12-20T10:51:00.001+08:00

our brave gal

ashley went for her hepb jab (2nd dose) last friday...

(1) the poor girl sleeping in the car seat again, not knowing what she was up for! she probably thought we're out shopping again, hehe.
(2) she's already 5.1kg at about six weeks - we were quite surprised to know that her weight is at the 97th percentile, and her height (or length) at 55cm is at the 90th percentile. growing well, huh!
(3) our little gal being held by daddy as the needle went into her right thigh, it was just a short (and surprisingly soft) shriek with her whole face turning red - i think i was more afraid than she was! she actually calmed down in a few seconds, and was back to sleep as we waited for a short while in case of any possible immediate reactions. what a brave gal!
(4) relieved parents!

2009-12-15T19:32:00.002+08:00

i can feel the christmas spirit!

we made it to orchard with ashley!

2009-12-14T10:11:00.004+08:00

a tiring weekend!

FINALLY a proper family outing to vivocity last friday! however, ashley was rather cranky inside swensens. first of all, it was milk-time so i had to feed her as we placed our orders - can't even flip through the menu in peace! then she refused to be left inside the stroller, started wailing, and only quietened down when we took turns to carry and rock her. we gave up on the stroller half-way through our meal, and decided to put her into the pupsik sling (she was crying her lungs out as we placed her in!)... and eventually, she went into deep sleep - woohoo! i had her in the sling almost the entire evening as we shopped around (rather quickly); gone were the days where we could window-shop for hours! and i guess the sling is a must-bring everytime we take her out.

this was saturday at west coast plaza - this time round, she was totally knocked out and was asleep as we went shopping at the nike factory outlet shop, followed by dinner at sakae sushi. PEACE. :-)

we went back to west coast plaza on sunday (no choice, that's the most decent place near my house) where we had chinese dinner with my dad&mum. i'm not sure of the name of the shop, but the set meal of 5 dishes meant for 4-6 persons at $68.80 was a pretty good deal (no additional service charge/GST, and comes with free drinks!)... no wonder the crowd! other than needing a feed during mealtime (poor daddy got to feed her while we eat, haa!), ashley was pretty well-behaved. :-) guess it's time to explore more challenging places...... like ORCHARD...... TONIGHT!

2009-12-11T15:29:00.002+08:00

ashley's first trip to clementi central

well, it may sound pathetic but it's also mummy's first proper trip out of the house (excluding the hospital visit for follow-up checks and the first month party). so far, ashley seems to like being in her stroller and infant car seat (which also serves as a rocker). :-)

2009-12-08T12:21:00.004+08:00

ashley is one month old!

taken from ivillage.com:

By the end of month one a baby typically:
- Lifts head for short periods of time
- Moves head from side to side
- Prefers the human face to other shapes
- Makes jerky, arm movements
- Brings hands to face
- Has strong reflex movements
- Can focus on items 8 to 12 inches away
- May turn towards familiar sounds or voices
- Responds to loud sounds
- Blinks at bright lights

actually, i'm not sure if she can all of the above, but i suppose most of them. i only started her tummy exercise yesterday, and i noticed that she could lift her head momentarily while struggling to move forward. however, she got tired after only a few minutes, started wailing and then dozed off to sleep almost immediately when i carried her! lazy bum, i think she needs more daily exercise! she doesn't have a problem moving her head from side to side; she always tend to lie on her right (preferred side) even when we put her down on her left. i'm also not worried about her arm (and leg) movements since day one - she pushed/kicked away her swaddling blanket till we totally gave up swaddling her, and also used to kick off her pants in the middle of the night 'cos they were still too loose (not anymore with her big tummy). as for her visual development, we were glad when we noticed her gazing at her musical mobile about a week ago and started to be able to track its movements - she finally found interest in it, probably because she can see it clearly! but i'm not sure if she responds to loud sounds though... when daddy burst a balloon accidentally when i was bottle-feeding her, it was me who got startled while she continued sucking, really strange. but since she passed her hearing tests, i guess there's nothing to worry about. well well, there's so much to worry about being parents, sigh!

2009-12-07T14:33:00.002+08:00

funny pics!

hahaha, wen just sent over these funny photofunia pics, haha!

& more pics of her and vaughn - vaughn was keeping quiet (apparently typical of him before he poos!), and ashley almost boxed him!

2009-12-07T11:36:00.003+08:00

ashley is one month old...well, almost!

we went back home last weekend for ashley's full month party. (for those of you who don't know, i'm actually doing my confinement at my mum's, and will be staying here most of the time till i go back to work). initially, we were afraid she might not get used to her new cot or the new surroundings... but thankfully, our worries were unfounded, and she adapted pretty well to her cot in our bedroom. that's the picture of her sleeping soundly after her morning bath and before the guests arrived. all while daddy was busy blowing and tying balloons, and decorating the house - good job, daddy!

pictures taken with the family! as you can see, my mum had to carry her almost the entire afternoon, and she actually slept through the noise in grandma's arms, waking up only for her two-hourly feeds. the manja queen title really suits her perfectly - pauline, thanks for custom-making the rompers, it's so cute we had to make her wear it for her party, she might just hate us for that later on, haha! (oh yes, btw, baby vaughn has the matching manja king rompers - see pic below, hee!)

lastly, here are some of the random shots taken at the party... so sorry, i know not EVERYBODY's inside - the biggest regret i guess is that we didn't take enough photos! THANK YOU for coming to the party, and for all the gifts (now she has more clothes and has just started a mini toy collection), and the ang pows (thanks for contributing to ashley's education fund)! well, now that one month is (almost) up, it's time to trim her super long fingernails - daddy, please do your job! ;-)

2009-12-01T16:31:00.003+08:00

our little fussypot

i'm not sure if it's the growth spurt mentioned in the books, but ashley has been feeding more frequently for the past few days, and that's driving me nuts!

here's daddy trying different positions to coax her to sleep - well, this seemed to work although daddy had a very sore back soon after.

i'm not sure if it's noticeable, but she has definitely gained a fair bit of weight since she came back from the hospital. i'm very sure she's at least 4kg now, and i'm glad she no longer has skinny thighs (nothing like that of a sumo baby, but at least there's some mass now and her pampers/mamypoko diapers are also more fitting). even my arms are starting to ache after carrying her for long... i think i better start training with weights when i'm ready to go to the gym!

2009-12-01T13:31:00.002+08:00

hainan kueh

instead of having the usual ang ku kueh, my parents ordered this traditional hainan kueh from purvis street for the full month party on saturday. i think not many of you would have tried this before, and there should be few left who know how to make them really well (even my grandma's version isn't that nice)... so those of you who will be turning up on saturday, be sure to try!

Yi-Bua 薏粑
This snack food is steamed glutinous rice cake with sesame, peanuts and grated / shredded coconut meat as its stuffing.

Hainan island is a tropical island with countless coconut palms in the village and field, by the seashore and on the roadside. "Yi-Bua", made from coconuts are a few of our local Hainanese food. In the old days, this snack is normally eaten at special occasions like weddings and birthday. Relatives are given this snack by parents to announce the first month (as well as first year) of their new born baby. These day, you hardly get the chance to taste this delicious traditional snack in Singapore.

2009-11-28T17:11:00.003+08:00

ashley turns 3 weeks!

there was no natural light because of the afternoon downpour, hence the pictures turned out so grainy. our little naughty gal is dressed in all-white today, and that's her in her cot not wanting to sleep after her feed. she's getting really spoilt in the day; she tends to only want to sleep in someone's arms and would start wailing if she's left in the cot! but perhaps it's also after a whole day of fussing that she's more of an angel at night - thank god. just one more week to her full month party, and that also marks THE END OF MY CONFINEMENT, woohoo! ok man, i need a quick solution for my dark eye rings!

2009-11-27T18:16:00.004+08:00

more pics of the princess

mummy's taking pics of me again as i lie on her lap, feeling extremely satisfied after a full feed - 110ml! btw, i've been wearing lots of new clothes lately, this rompers is a present from aunty XP! ;-)

yay, it's a public holiday today, so daddy's home to help me bathe!

2009-11-25T11:49:00.003+08:00

mums are the best!

it was mummy's birthday on monday, and since we couldn't go out for a nice meal the fact that i'm still on confinement and we now have a baby terror to manage, we decided to order in pizza on sunday so that she gets a break from all the cooking and washing - at least for a day! the hubby also managed to sneak out to buy a cake in her favourite blackforest flavour. :-)

i think my mum has sacrificed alot the past few weeks; she has to give up her morning walks (used to be daily!) and pickle-ball game to take care of the baby and me. the amount of household chores is indeed tremendous, and i would say my mum is indeed super efficient to be able to do everything (and still monitor the stock market!) - cooking for the whole family (including special confinement food for me), cleaning of the house, doing the laundry (she wakes up at wee hours in the morning to do laundry 'cos there's just so much to wash), preparing my longan/red date tea and lemongrass/ginger bath, helping to feed/change/bathe the baby as much as she can ('cos i merely mentioned once that my forearm muscles were kinda aching), washing of the bottles and breast pump shields almost all the time ('cos i'm not supposed to touch water), etc. there's also the constant nagging for me to wear my socks and slippers, no washing of hands with cold water, and to try to sleep whenever i can (less facebook and blogging, haha!), etc. perhaps having a confinement lady is a better idea... well, to be considered when the next kiddo comes along!

baby ashley in a red babygap rompers (no more pink!) - i think she is full of funny expressions and poses for a 2-week old!

2009-11-22T19:25:00.002+08:00

vaughn kor kor

the tans came over for a visit this afternoon with baby vaughn who had his full month party yesterday, it's a pity we couldn't join in the fun! vaughn has really grown a fair bit since we last saw him at the hospital, his thighs are so much chubbier as compared to ashley's who seemed to be putting on only on her tummy! check out the two proud daddies... and baby ashley is obviously having fun with her daddy. :-)

2009-11-22T11:25:00.002+08:00

she's two weeks old!

uncle keith bought her a musical mobile one week ago, and we finally had time to set it up yesterday. musical mobiles are meant for infant visual/sound stimulation, which is important for their brain development, but i noticed that ashley is not quite excited over it, perhaps she is still unable to be able to focus on objects. it'll probably take another couple of weeks.

"At birth, your baby sees only in black and white and shades of gray. Nerve cells in their retina and brain that control vision are not fully developed. Also, a newborn infant's eyes don't have the ability to accommodate (focus on near objects). So don't be concerned if your baby doesn't seem to be "focusing" on objects, including your face. It just takes time. Despite these visual limitations, studies show that within a few days after birth, infants prefer looking at an image of their mother's face to that of a stranger. Researchers believe this preference depends on large, high-contrast stimuli, like the boundary of the mother's hairline to her face."

these are just some shots i took of her this morning after her shower - looking clean and fresh huh! my mum noticed that she actually has a small dimple on one side (i think the left cheek), however, she doesn't smile enough now for me to capture a shot of that, i just got to keep trying! btw, xp, she's wearing what you brought back for her from bangkok!

2009-11-18T14:03:00.003+08:00

10 days old (as of yesterday)

that's her when she's well-fed yet don't want to go sleep.

2009-11-15T21:13:00.002+08:00

i surrender. yah, right!

ashley hates being swaddled like most newborns, in fact, she will kick off any blanket covering when she wakes up for her feed. trust me, she only looks like a peaceful baby when she's aleep; any other time is hell - we're always busy calming her down that we have few nice shots of her being awake. oh yah, it seems that her favourite sleeping position is the "i surrender" pose... but it's seems that it's always daddy&mummy that have to give in to her demands!

2009-11-15T17:43:00.006+08:00

our baby ashley

okay, i know some of you have been waiting to hear more about the labour process, and see more pictures, but we have been so drained the past one week. things have settled down slightly (i hope i'm not jinxing myself here!); at least she has already formed a certain routine - sleeping for three consecutive hours, giving daddy&mummy a chance to catch a wink.

as for the labour process, here it goes:

3am (on 8 nov) - awoken when i started to feel strange cramps in my tummy (bearable type of pain)! i'm one of those lucky few that don't suffer from menses cramps, so this is quite a strange feeling. BUT is it finally here?!? or could it be a false alarm? woken up (the very sleepy but kan cheong) daddy, and we started to time the interval between the "contractions", and realised that they are occurring every six minutes!!! DAMN, the doc said to go to the hospital when contractions occur every five minutes! but since they are relatively painless, i decided that we should monitor it a while more.

about 330 to 345am - confirmed that the "contractions" are of a regular interval, and decided that we should go straight to the hospital! i had a quick shower (very importantly is to wash my hair, knowing i won't have the chance to do this for the next few days at least!), and zoomed off to the hospital.

reached hospital at about 430am, and was brought to the observation ward. the nurse checked and told me that i was already 3cm dilated, and confirmed that i am in labour! daddy was then instructed to do the hospital admission, while the nurse stuffed up something into my anus to flush out my rectum (so that i don't poo during labour) - eeks! contractions also became more intense at this point - OUCH! i put the breathing techniques taught during yoga class into practice, and i do think they work!

i was only brought to the delivery ward at about 7-plus where there's a mini tv and nice comfy chair - i think it's meant for the companion, but daddy obviously wasn't fated to enjoy all these. oh, and more importantly, it's only in the delivery ward that you have the laughing gas canister! the nurse explained to me the different types of pain relief - laughing gas (a mix of oxygen and nitrous oxide), thigh jab and spinal epidural jab... the nurse kept asking if i needed pain relief whenever she came by (read: not very encouraging), so eventually i gave in to the laughing gas. i felt less pain (maybe about 30% less?), but it does take alot of effort to breathe in and out during the contractions, especially when the contraction intervals are so short.

doc came at about 8-plus to do a check - and i was still only about 4-5cm dilated, i expected more after the pain. since dilation for first-time labour is usually about 1cm/hour, she predicted that i will only be 10cm dilated in another six hours, which means baby should be born around 2pm - OH MY GOD, another six hours of pain. doc also burst my water bag at this point of time to hasten the process, and put me on a sugar drip to give me energy. from then on, the contractions became even more intense, and by 10-plus i was actually already 7cm dilated, woohoo! but the problem also started here - ashley poo-ed and that's a sign that the baby is in distress and that could be dangerous. the nurse turned off the nitrous oxide in the laughing gas, leaving behind only pure oxygen (i think to calm the baby down), but this also means there is NO PAIN RELIEF now! thank god, she turned on the nitrous oxide after a few minutes, and from here onwards, everything seemed to happen very quickly - i could feel the need to push (ok, it may sound crude, but it's like the feeling that you want to pass motion, just more intense)... and by pushing you actually relieve the pain. the nurse called for the doc, and she came down almost immediately... i actually saw her put on her surgery gown, and i think it just took another two pushes before baby ashley shot out! AT 11:20 AM! yes, she literally shot out of me, haha, apparently i pushed too hard! PHEWWWWW. after that it's just the delivery of the placenta (see pic - eeks), the removal of blood clots, and the cleaning up - all in a couple of minutes.

that's the whole labour experience... i'm glad i made it without epidural (and daddy came out injury-free). :-) somehow i think the breathing techniques and perhaps even the raspberry leaf tea (more intense contractions to shorten labour) worked for me! if i have taken epidural, it would definitely have slowed down the pushing process, and if ashley had been in greater distress at that time, i might even end up having to go through caesarean section, something which i have always wanted to avoid at all cost.

here are the pictures taken by daddy while mummy was being cleaned up.

2009-11-05T12:24:00.002+08:00

pupsik baby sling

i've been trying to find a second-hand pupsik baby sling from singaporemotherhood forum, but they are kind of popular and are usually sold out pretty fast! finally spotted one this morning, hopefully it's still available! it's selling at $25/$27 (including postage), which is pretty decent considering a brand new one costs $45.90, plus it's supposedly washed once but unused.

2009-11-05T09:15:00.003+08:00

40 weeks as of today!

few weeks ago, i would have expected the little one to be out by now - but today's the estimated due date and there is little signs of impending labour! as of yesterday, she was much lower, and was estimated to be about 3.2kg with crown circumference of 34cm (supposedly not THAT big so should not have problems going for natural deliver - thank god. and doc also mentioned before that my hips are wide enough for her, hah!). there's also enough amniotic fluid to last till 41 weeks but doc is keen to medically induce her next monday if she doesn't come out by the weekend, and if all goes well, she should be born by tuesday - which is 10 nov 2009.

well, of course it's still better to get her to come out naturally, because induced labour contractions are known to be MORE painful (as if there isn't enough pain to start with!), and there's always a certain amount of risk involved. well, there are also several widely published methods to induce labour naturally - (1) walking, climbing stairs and doing squats - highly recommended by the doc, so that the baby's head puts pressure on the pelvic floor and cervix, encouraging it to open; (2) spicy food though i'm not sure why; (3) certain herbs - i'm taking raspberry leaf tea but it is more to help produce stronger contractions during labour to shorten the process! and of course, (4) sex!!! the semen supposedly contains prostaglandins which help to ripen the cervix.

okay, i shall go make myself a cup of raspberry leaf tea now.

2009-11-02T12:27:00.002+08:00

her little home at grandma's place

since i'll be staying at my mum's for at least the entire confinement period, we needed to set up another cot here for the little kiddo. this cot was actually given to us by an ex-neighbour before they shifted away, and this happened even before i was pregnant - my mum must have predicted she would have some use for it sooner or later! well, it's quite a sturdy cot and we saved a couple of hundreds. :-) my dad and the hubby assembled it about two weeks back, and we finally got down making her bed last night - looks like we're ALL SET!

2009-11-01T16:11:00.004+08:00

preparing for confinement

taken from here:

In the olden days, the month immediately after delivery is considered a time that we've to really take care of ourselves and is call confinement period. This is because during this period the mother's physiological and mentally changes. Traditional Chinese, Malays, and even some Europeans nowadays believe than when we take good of ourselves during these period, we will be healthier when we’re old.

According to ancient Chinese text, women who follow the traditions taboos (pantang) during this period are said to be 'doing the month' when the new mothers and her baby are practically confined to their room. Some practice 30 days to 40 days for their confinement period. It is probably from here that the word "confinement" is coined.

The practice of not bathing and washing hair in the old days are understandable because in ancient China everyone has very long hair and it takes a longer time to dry the hair after washing. In addition, most of the old houses are draughty so it is easy to catch a chill whether during confinement or not. Our mothers and grandmothers swear that if we bathe during the confinement month you will develop joint pains in your old age. However, the bath water must be boiled and infused with water from boiled herbs. Somewhere over the years someone introduced the tradition of bathing with a whole concoction of herbs in the water such as lemongrass, ginger and some other herbs.

If the newly delivered mother uses up all her energy with strenuous work and is over tired, she will not be able to produce sufficient milk for her baby. Remember, in the old days all babies are exclusively breast fed. Also it takes about 6 - 8 weeks for the body to return to its pre-pregnant state therefore the confinement is to ensure that the mothers properly recovers from the stress of childbirth.

from left -
(1) a confinement recipe book! my mum will be doing all the cooking during my confinement period; she must be worried she'll run out of ideas of what to cook. i'm kind of looking forward to the pork trotters in black vinegar and red wine chicken!

(2) lemongrass and ginger - to be boiled for bathing - yes, i'm allowed to bathe! in fact, my mum thinks it's crazy not to! there's still loads of other herbs and stuff in the fridge like dried longans, red dates, black fungus, encommiae bark (du zhong, supposedly good for the backaches) and what-have-you...

(3) DOM, black vinegar, etc - for cooking. mark&pauline - thanks in advance for the DOM! (oh, and the nursing cover and customised rompers!)

(4) glutinous rice - this is what we had for lunch today, not actually for in preparation for confinement, but mum's experimenting with this dish so that she can prepare it for the kiddo's first month!

2009-10-31T00:00:00.000+08:00

halloween is a special day for us

2009-10-25T21:54:00.002+08:00

daniel's belated birthday celebration

we went to botan japanese restaurant located at far east square on saturday evening for daniel's birthday dinner, albeit late because he just came back from the states. (oh yeah, that reminds me - thanks for the cute m&ms and assortment of candies!) we ordered the dinner bento sets... almost every part of the table was covered with small dishes of food, we were simply spoilt for choice and at some point you'll feel that you really didn't know what to eat next!

what's dinner without dessert! hence, we drove down to holland village for ice-cream! :-) the price of earthquake has really gone up over the years, and the size of the scoops has shrunk tremendously too! well well, probably the last sumptuous meal before i pop - less than two more weeks to go!

2009-10-19T22:27:00.002+08:00

probably my last steak meal in months to come...

we went to centrepoint on sunday to shop for daniel's birthday present, and had dinner at aston's. i must say the service there was pretty good... the waiter, seeing my huge bump, even advised against medium-well steak, i relunctantly gave in and had it changed to well-done - my ribeye steak ended up so tough!

2009-10-11T12:10:00.004+08:00

our saturday

we went to the baby seminar organised by pigeon and thomson medical centre yesterday - boy, it was really quite a good deal! for $15 per couple, we got ourselves a pigeon goody bag (moisturising baby wipes, disposable nursing pads, milk storage bottles, etc) and a pretty darn good lunch at the hotel! we didn't even know that lunch would be provided, else we would have given our snack a miss (we gobbled down some four leaves bread minutes before the seminar, thinking we had to starve through four hours since we only paid a miserly $15, haha). anyway, the seminar was pretty useful; the talks were conducted by mrs wong boh boi, a very knowledgeable and reputable speaker in this area, and she shared with us breastfeeding tips and how to bathe a baby. there's this 3-month old french baby that was the model for the bathing segment, and the poor kid was wailing away just before and after his bath - well, i guess he doesn't enjoy being naked in the open and cold!

it was also my bro's 31st birthday yesterday, so mum made pork chops for dinner. okay, the pork chops were really HUGE - see the hubby goofing around before dinner, amazed at the size of each serving. and this was not it, we had it with potato salad (by yours truly), almond jelly dessert, more fruits, and a chocolate hazelnut cake from four leaves later in the night. i seriously don't think i can maintain my weight after this weekend.

2009-10-09T13:57:00.004+08:00

her tiny clothes

this is just a fraction of her collection of clothes, in fact, most of them are already washed and nicely packed in grandma's house - think she has more than enough to wear from birth till six months! bad lighting 'cos the picture was taken late at night - anyway it was the daddy who ordered me to take this picture 'cos he found it so damn cute, hah!

2009-10-09T13:28:00.002+08:00

36 weeks!

How your baby's growing

Congratulations! By the end of this week, your pregnancy will have come full term - meaning your baby can be born any day now. (Babies born before 37 weeks are premature or pre-term, and those born after 42 weeks are post-mature or post-term.) All babies are different but a typical 37 week old weighs 2.86kg/6.30lb.

at 35w4d, she was estimated to be about 2.6kg which was very slightly above average (so mummy doesn't need to go on a diet for sure). dr said that she has a chubby tummy (haha! considering her head circumference is average), and estimated that she should be about 3.3kg at birth - that doesn't sound too bad.

How your life's changing

You may begin to feel increased pressure in your lower abdomen and notice that your baby is gradually dropping. This is called lightening or engagement and your lungs and stomach will finally get a chance to stretch a bit, so breathing and eating become easier. However, walking may become increasingly uncomfortable - some women even say it feels as if the baby is going to fall out. (Don't worry, it can't happen.) You may feel as if you need to go for a wee all the time however. Practising your pelvic floor exercises can help.

nah, from the scan on monday, she's definitely not engaged and in fact, i think she's still pretty high up in my abdomen! dr said that most babies would have descended abit by now... so i was told to do more walking, and not risk being overdue - think the little one's too comfy inside)! maybe i really should so that i can stop putting on anymore weight!

Be prepared

Could this be the real thing? Learn to distinguish the true signs of labour. If your partner's hard to get hold of, buy or borrow a mobile phone or pager. Make sure your car always has enough petrol to get you to hospital and that you know the best route and where to park. Have a friend on standby to drive you to hospital if he's likely to be delayed. It's also a good idea to review the stages of childbirth with your partner so you'll both be up to speed on the big day. Finally, have your hair cut now so you look your best in the photos - you may not have time later!

true signs of labour - hmmm... don't really want to think about it now, but anyway, we were told to watch out for THREE signs:- (1) water bag burst, (2) bleeding, and (3) contractions that occur every 5 minutes, and for (1) and (2), we will still have about 1-2 hours to get to the hospital, which means i should take a bath and slowly make my way there. for first-time mums, once contractions is every 5 minutes, i still take about 8 hours on average before the actual labour (sounds horrid).

2009-10-07T09:26:00.002+08:00

baby mirrors

we should get one that can be tied to the side of the cot, but i haven't seen them being sold at the shops, strange.

2009-10-04T12:16:00.002+08:00

it's nemo & xdd again this year!

we brought our own old lanterns again this year - i think i bought this nemo one four years ago... hmm we really should get new ones next year. and we'll have an additional little one to do this with us next year - let's hope she can walk a little by then. :-)

2009-10-02T10:26:00.000+08:00

Survey shows civil servants happier compared to those in private sector

SINGAPORE : Employees working for the government are happier than those in the private sector. This is according to an online survey conducted by JobsCentral, one of Singapore’s largest job portals.

Civil servants scored 58.5 on the JobsCentral Work Happiness Indicator, higher than the average score of 55.9 for employees in the private sector.

A score of 50 indicates that an employee feels neutral about his work happiness, and a full score of 100 will mean that he is very happy.

Chief executive officer of JobsCentral, Lim Der Shing, said the result was not surprising.

He said the civil service in Singapore is well—run and has rather progressive human resource policies in place.

Employees in education/training have emerged as the happiest, followed by those in public relations and consulting.

As for industry, employees in the arts, entertainment and recreation industry are the happiest. — CNA/ms

2009-09-27T10:25:00.002+08:00

more food & MORE CLOTHES!

we decided to try german food this time round! too bad i can't take beer now - not a fan, but i think i would have tried if i'm in a german restaurant.

hazel bought our little girl MORE CLOTHES from the states... an oshkosh b'gosh denim jumper dress, a pink-striped romper and socks from gap - thank you, aunty hazel!!! she bought the bigger sizes since she knew we had more than enough new-born clothings (thanks to her mummy & grandma) :-) i think i have to arrange her wardrobe in accordance to sizes, so that she gets to wear everything before she starts to outgrow them! well well, actually i'm not such an impulsive shopper, at least the more extreme mummies i've seen have already gotten hair clips, fancy lacy socks, swimming gear, etc, hehe - i'm not THAT bad.

2009-09-13T11:33:00.003+08:00

mikel turns two!

no FULL liverpool birthday theme unlike last year, but the birthday boy was in a liverpool jersey, and i guess it was daddy's big idea. the house was buzzing with activity simply because of the sheer number of kids running/crawling around, although the most notorious two had to be the birthday boy and seth (yes, i agree it comes from the daddies' sji genes)!

pauline, please thank your mum for preparing all the food - the curry and prata combi was great, maybe next time we can switch to having supper at your place... and you made the right choice by having a durian cake, prima deli definitely didn't scrimp on the durian filling between the layers, it tasted just like the fruit (!) - just ignore the non-durian eaters like iggy... and oops, wen. we hope mikel will enjoy the presents we got, it's actually quite fun shopping for educational toys... i don't remember we had that many types of toys during our time! ;-)

looks like we're already starting the phase of life where we find ourselves attending more and more baby showers and children birthday parties.

2009-09-11T20:33:00.003+08:00

a surprise parcel flown from across the oceans

well, you see the pictures and you judge for yourself - so isn't it?!? i received an sms from my mum earlier this week saying that i have a parcel from usa... i knew it has to be from kristi (since she requested for a mailing address), but i didn't expect such a surprise! i love opening surprise presents, and what's more, it's a all-carter's parcel - yellow ducks pjs (oh-so-cute! you guessed i couldn't find a nice yellow duck outfit huh, hehe!), "i love hugs" rompers, a cheery polka-dot dress (great, she doesn't have that many dresses yet and i love the print!) and a pair of dusty pink shoes (this got to be her first proper pair of shoes). oh oh oh, i almost forgot... the parcel also came with a very lovely hallmark card with best wishes from kristi and her hubby. heyyyy, thanks alot gal - it was really thoughtful of you...! *hugz* our little girl is so lucky to be showered with so many gifts even before she's born! hmmm, so when will you be shopping at carter's for YOURSELF? ;-)

2009-09-11T17:32:00.000+08:00

last weekend

well, the weekend is coming, but i've yet to do up a post for last weekend - super slack! anyway, we had sizzler at suntec city last week, and it's confirmed that we can no longer do buffets. we're better off just sticking to ala carte menus. :-)

2009-09-06T21:09:00.000+08:00

good night, our baby

2009-09-06T08:06:00.000+08:00

first toy from mummy

a link set from baby einstein.

This set of 15 colorful links are a fun way to make all of baby's favorite toys on-the-go toys. Simply snap the colorful links together and attach to strollers, infant carriers, cribs or diaper bags and watch baby begin to explore and discover through play - on the go! The Baby Einstein Link Set comes with 15 whimsically-shaped links that introduce colors, numbers, animals and shapes. They are easy to grasp with various textures for added tactile development.

2009-09-04T21:49:00.003+08:00

i really should stop shopping for clothes!

carters rompers! well, at least they're non-pink!

2009-09-04T11:30:00.004+08:00

31 weeks (out of 40)

received from babycenter:

You are now 31 weeks pregnant (or in your 32nd week if that's how you prefer to count it).

How your baby's growing

Your baby's movements are probably changing - they may seem less frequent and less forceful because she's running out of room in your uterus and can't turn somersaults any more. Your baby can now move her head from side to side, her organs are continuing to mature and a layer of fat is being laid down beneath her skin.

not true! the lil one's movements are definitely more obvious these few weeks! sometimes i could even feel my shirt moving because of the punches/kicks! she was really "inert" when i was in my 2nd trimester, thankfully she started moving in recent weeks, HAH!

How your life's changing

Until your baby drops down into your pelvis (at about 37 weeks for first pregnancies and not until delivery if you've already had a baby), you may be feeling breathless, as though you can't get enough air. This happens because your uterus has grown so large it presses up against your diaphragm - the large flat muscle that aids breathing. Relaxing helps, so try to rest as much as possible. Resting can also help if your baby is measuring small for dates.

BREATHLESS - definitely! i feel so unfit because i feel breathless just climbing up a short flight of stairs. this is frustrating... i can't wait to start running and going to the gym!

Is your bump giving you backache? Switch to low-heeled shoes if you haven't already and avoid heavy lifting, which puts a strain on your softened ligaments. Your doctor can advise you where to buy a maternity corset which supports your back and holds you in place - not sexy but helpful if you find getting around uncomfortable. A lot of women experience hip pain as pregnancy progresses and, in some women, the ligaments supporting the pelvis loosen so much that the joint that holds the pelvic bones together doesn't work properly. This condition is called symphysis pubis dysfunction (SPD) and is very painful. Oh, the joys of pregnancy!

BACKACHE - YES definitely! both upper and lower back - i'm like having a SORE BACK, especially at the end of the day. i'm already in flats (even before pregnancy) because my feet just can't take heels (except during formal dinners). i'm also trying not to sit at my desk for too long because i start feeling the strains after a while. but thankfully no hip pain *touch wood*

If you and your partner are getting nervous about the big day, it may help to go over what you learned in your prenatal classes and practise the breathing exercises you've learnt. Why not run through which pain relief methods you’d be prepared to try and in what order. Will you be going straight for an epidural or are you planning to use entonox for as long as possible. And what are your views on pethidine and meptid?

OH NO, we did not attend any prenatal class because many people have feedback that they are pretty much useless - apparently you won't think about the breathing techniques when you're in pain and it's really more of the threshold one can take, and baby handling methods can be learnt on-the-job (errr, will be dependent on my mum in the early stage, and i hope i'm a fast learner when it comes to this, hehe). well, but we did sign up for a short baby preparation workshop next month - mainly to teach us about breastfeeding and bathing the baby, hopefully this will be good enough! as for PAIN RELIEF - well...... i think we'll just see how it goes. dr has said that most mothers opt for epidural anyway, and please don't take this as a sign of weakness!

btw, i ordered a customised name tag for the little one from fairylovingcreations at esty.com (samantha's not her name, btw :-P). the cherry patterned alphabets will be mounted on pink wooden plaque, and hung somewhere in her nursery with a cream-coloured ribbon. she's going to be at my mum's place most of the time (and fully during the confinement month), so we have to do up two rooms for her! it's double of everything - two cots, two mattresses (at least), two set of bedsheets to prepare, etc. anyway, i really enjoy ordering from etsy - i'm envious of the creativity of the esty sellers (for one, i wish i can sew like them! then i'll be able to do a patch-work quilt for the little one like the one my grandma made for me), they're passionate about their art work and creations, and when you approach them, they're very accomodating to your requests, and you can trust them to give you a high-quality product at the end of the day. can't wait for collect it in about a week's time!

2009-08-30T11:06:00.000+08:00

rolly polly

I: hey, rolly polly, you're really round!
A: ...
I: errr, round is a shape too - which means you're shapely.
A: ......
A: so what shape are you?
I: (ponders) a rectangle!

(gosh, he's lame!)

2009-08-29T19:53:00.001+08:00

pa's 59th birthday

fresh strawberry cream cake from pine garden's

2009-08-25T22:50:00.003+08:00

her first toy from daddy

a simple fisher price wind up musical mobile that plays brahms' lullaby, and comes with plush hanging animals, including a duck, a frog and a snail in bright colours.

2009-08-23T20:27:00.002+08:00

seth's 2nd birthday party

gosh, time really flies and seth is about to turn 2! i still remember all of us gathering at the TMC ward, and that was TWO YEARS AGO?!? anyway this boy is really hyperactive, like an energizer bunny and somehow it's tiring just WATCHING the kiddos play... now my back's aching and i think i should have an early night. :-) we're both on leave tomorrow for my routine checkup (hurray!) - let's hope the little one is growing well and putting on the right amount of weight (not too much too, and less on mummy)!

2009-08-23T10:11:00.002+08:00

birthday potluck

the spread for the evening - (1) chicken & beef satay from jalan kayu (we seriously have no idea where to get satay near our place, so jalan kayu was our best bet. 50 cents per stick though, which i thought was pretty steep. i still prefer the satay from the chinese stall at clementi central! (2) chilli crab with fried man tou from hougang ave 9 - errr, i innocently thought daniel will be bringing HOMECOOKED chilli crab!!! must say the taste was pretty good though(probably better than daniel's own version). (3) tuna and egg mayo sandwiches (made by yours truly) - a fuss-free dish this time round. (4) lastly, the chocolate brownie cake made by the birthday girl herself! errr, we were already planning to get her the chocolate fudge cake from jane's cake station, but she had to volunteer to bake a cake! glad we bought the colourful happy birthday candles, else there won't be candles to blow off! not shown in the pictures are - jack's own creation of his chessy mixed fruit dessert (i would have thought it was yoghurt! and tasted pretty nice in fact!), our usual ben&jerry's ice-cream and xp's two packet of chips (argh, didn't even touch it!).

well, there's always mahjong after the meal, but as usual, we were just too darn slow to even finish one round... and poor xp ends up as the loser (again!) - hey, i think you need to bring along an auspicious item next time, hehe. and here you can see my tummy's is HUGE... about two more months to go!

oh, and lastly, thank you to xuying for the sweet pink gerberas! and jack for having to go all the way back home to fetch it. errr, strange again that the birthday girl is giving away and not receiving flowers this year! btw, it's sitting nicely in a glass vase on the dining table now. :-)

2009-08-19T09:34:00.003+08:00

bumper mat

i finally gave in and ordered a bumper mat imported from korea through an online spree (btw, this costs $168!) - i chose this yellow bear playpark series, rather than the pooh bear ones as the pictures seem less cluttered and easy on the eye. i think we'll only start using it when the little one starts going on her tummy and rolling around... meanwhile, maybe the daddy can see if it's comfortable enough for him to sleep on.

this is the other side of the mat and i like it because the alphabets are listed in an orderly manner, so it's probably easier for kids to learn their A-Z. many of the other designs have the alphabets all over the place.

i also ordered the jellymom baby seat (with feeding tray) that comes with the mat at a promotional price of $59. i guess it'll be useful for both playtime and feeding time, and we could use it as a picnic chair if we go outdoors. :-)

2009-08-11T11:06:00.015+08:00

to buy list

we're done with furniture, most of the clothing and the very important breast pump! with less than three months to go, i better get my checklist ready. :-)

for baby:
- extra cot mattress for mum's place
- ~~mittens & booties~~ BOUGHT 31 aug
- <~~beansprout pillow~~ ORDERED 11 aug & ARRIVED!
- ~~dimpled pillow~~ ORDERED 11 aug & ARRIVED!
- ~~bathing tub with back support~~ BORROWED FROM TIM 1 sep!
- ~~baby shampoo and bodywash~~ BOUGHT 21 aug
- ~~baby detergent~~ BOUGHT 21 aug
- ~~nappy rash lotion~~ ORDERED 25 aug
- ~~baby lotion~~ BOUGHT 31 aug
- ~~baby massage oil~~ BOUGHT 31 aug
- ~~bath sponge~~ BOUGHT 31 aug
- ~~cotton wool~~ BOUGHT 31 aug
- ~~cotton buds~~ BOUGHT 21 aug
- ~~nail clipper~~ BOUGHT 31 aug
- ~~baby wipes~~ BOUGHT 21 aug
- ~~changing mat~~ BOUGHT 3 sep
- bathing towels
- ~~handkerchives~~ ORDERED 17 aug & ARRIVED!
- ~~blankets~~ ORDERED 17 aug & ARRIVED!
- ~~swaddling blanket~~ BOUGHT 31 aug
- thermometer
- ~~bumper mat~~ ORDERED 19 aug
- ~~our first toy for our baby - perhaps a musical mobile!~~ BOUGHT 25 aug

for nursing:
- ~~bottle parts~~ BOUGHT 31 aug
- ~~nursing bra pads~~ BOUGHT 31 aug
- ~~bottle detergent~~ BOUGHT 21 aug
- ~~bottle scrub brush~~ BOUGHT 21 aug

2009-08-10T20:27:00.002+08:00

long weekend

i hardly have the opportunity nor desire to cook. i really admire how working mums continue to cook dinner for the family every night, despite the long hours at work. i doubt i'll have the energy to do that in future, will have to depend on my mum to feed the little one next time. :-) it has been a while since we made anything other than sandwiches and pasta at home... tonight, i decided we should whip up a few simple dishes to be eaten with plain porridge (it's always porridge over rice for me) - stirred fried spinach, onion omelette and sesame chicken wings. :-)

i never had the luck when it comes to free tickets to the national day parade - the closest watching it 'live' was the preview when i was a kid. we spent the evening indulging in japanese dinner at minori (united square) since the tanjong katong outlet had ceased operations. i think the hubby was disappointed that he just couldn't eat as much (sashimi) as he wanted to/thought he could - age's catching up, that's why! in any case, we decided that we should stop going for buffets, it's never worth it (especially for me)! we ended the night at mark ge's place to catch the manchester united vs chelsea community shield game - eh, chelsea actually won on penalties, and i'm still wondering why rooney and owen weren't the ones going first. oh and now i know why mark can no longer watch soccer in peace with mikel around, haha, but he's such a cute boy. :-)

2009-08-09T11:17:00.000+08:00

the past week...

girly bibs.

at a company welfare event - harry potter & the half-blood prince at cathay. see the big bump there!

errr.. abit late, but it's our first time at tampines one!

2009-08-05T10:27:00.002+08:00

one united people

taken from here:

Come 9 Aug, at 8.22pm, get ready to stand at attention.

That marks the start of the Pledge Moment as part of the 44th National Day Parade (NDP) celebrations, with all Singaporeans encouraged to take the pledge at the same time, wherever they may be.

With this year's NDP theme anchored on the National Pledge, and all 10 chapters of the show echoing a line from it, the festive extravaganza at Float@Marina will culminate in a Pledge Moment during the finale of the show.

Written in August 1966 by then-Foreign Affairs Minister S. Rajaratnam against the backdrop of racial riots in the 1950s and 1960s, the pledge articulated the vision for Singaporeans to put aside all differences and work together towards building a successful nation.

Speaking to cyberpioneer, Colonel (COL) Ang Heng, Chairman of the NDP 2009 Celebrations Committee said: "No matter how Singapore transforms, the meaning behind the pledge is timeless. As we celebrate National Day, it's a time to be reminded of our nationhood, the journey we have travelled and our collective aspirations for the future."

Mr Ivan Heng, the creative director for this year's NDP, agreed, saying: "The pledge has brought together a whole generation of Singaporeans, to build a nation that we know today. Now in these challenging times, we are all inspired to proclaim these words anew."

Besides the scores of spectators celebrating National Day at the Float@Marina, it will also be possible for Singaporeans at home and outdoors to recite the pledge at the same time. A chime that can be heard island-wide will be sounded by the Singapore Civil Defence Force, signalling the start of the Pledge Moment.

Announcements will be made to diners and shoppers at participating restaurants and malls, while those tuning in to the radio will also be alerted to the Pledge Moment by the DJs.

Summing up the purpose of the Pledge Moment, COL Desmond Tan, Chairman of the NDP 2009 Show Committee said: "The entire NDP celebrations has only one message, which is embedded in the pledge, and what we hope to achieve is for all Singaporeans to take the pledge with renewed conviction."