My first big and thick book

A day out with daddy led S to chance upon this BIG and THICK book (with BIG font). In a matter of 4 days, he has finished reading the book! She read it in the car, during breakfast, before she slept and brought along the book wherever she went. I was amazed by her keen interest and more importantly the speed!

I’m praying that this love to read will continue for life… a skill that mommy lacks

3.5 weeks as a SAHM

 

Since the middle of December, after my help left for her almost 1-month home leave, I took on her role together with daddy M and a part-time maid.  My daily schedule revolved mostly around L, feeding, putting her to sleep, cooking, washing and more washing! It has been tiring but precious! S was also skipped school here and there to be at home. However the job was made harder when L was struck by stomach infection ie. constant messy poo, which doubled the need for washing. 

Not sure I can do this for long (without a help). There’s a big difference between SAHM with help and without. One without help usually has no time to shower, let alone any rest. Maybe I am an amateur trying-to-be one. Seasoned SAHM would probably has things under controlled.

It’s my last 2 days staying at home as we eagerly counting down to the return of our super helper. I am sure I’ll miss this but am super glad that I get to experience it!

Seasons of parenting

L was a sleep-through baby since 2 months old, ie, last feed at 9.30-10pm and she would only wake up after 5a.m. I was a proud mama when someone asked me of her sleep pattern. However after her recent jabs, the pattern started to change and she would wake up a few times during the night, fussing.

As we’re trying to figure out ways to make her resume her perfect sleep pattern (and ours), I came across an article in Proverbs 31 Ministries, with a revelation from Ecclesiastes 3:11- There is an occasion for everything and a time for every activity.

We are blessed with a baby. And a baby is a BABY, with sleep pattern that is different from adults! That’s a fact. Instead of grumbling and complaining, I should attempt to take it easy and enjoy every single moment that L needs me.

This is the season for us – caring for a baby and raising a pre-school-er... At some point in my life later, I will miss the two girls ‘needing’ me … They will outgrow their cribs to big beds and not wanting to sleep with us. They may tuck away baby dolls and focus on fashion and make-up. They will leave behind pre-school and enter the scary primary / secondary school…

I should treasure the current season of parenting, rather than mourning over my sleep because, after all, every moment with our children is a blessing.

In the journey of parenting and in life, there are times to plant and uproot. Times to cry, laugh, grieve and dance. Times to embrace and turn away.  Times to speak and to keep quiet. Times to keep and to let go.

I ask God to give me the wisdom, not only to make it through the seasons, but to appreciate them as gifts from God.

Extended CNY in Penang

I wanted to try something different with this baby and this maternity leave. So we decided to fly back to Penang for CNY, bringing the entire troop. Bb L was a good traveller who slept through the short flights to and fro. 

The kids and I spent a whooping 15 days in Penang, with daddy M leaving for Sg first.

It took me about a week to get accustomed to my hometown – how ironic. With only a handful of friends left and the new roads, new shopping places, I felt a little out of place at first. But home is home. Our original plan was for me and the kids to stay 7 days but what the heck, since I’m on maternity leave, why not just extend? So we did! From 7, I changed our tickets to 10 and further extended to 15 days!

It was a blast for S because everyday = play, play and play.

With so much time on hand, I ventureed new places with S, doing the touristy thing – art walls, reservoir, fishermen village, butterfly farm (though she refused to go in!), pasar malam and of course playgroundS!  I also had more time with friends whom I have not seen for years…

It was a good break and a change out of the routine in Singapore. It was also my longest stay in Penang since 2001. There were fleeting thoughts on how my life would have been had I not left Penang for Singapore 14 years ago. One thing for sure, my walk with God would have been very different. How about daddy M? S? L? No regrets. As I said, only fleeting thoughts.

First 6 weeks

It has been 6 weeks since the arrival of baby L. Today marks a new beginning as the confinement aunty finishes her engagement. She has been a great help, 100% much better than our first.  Hence I’m somewhat anxious of her departure…

The past 6 weeks seemed like a life time ago (technically baby L's lifetime) with so much memories and celebrations (Christmas, New Year, first month)…The hormones rage this round did not turn me into a vampire like the last but a cry baby. Any little thing could send my mood spirally downward. I was pretty down for the first 3 weeks with wild mood swings that ended up in tears.
The strict confinement practices implemented by my mom (eg. no vegetables for whatever reason, no water etc), coping with rusty breastfeeding and engorgement plus the attention demanded by S were the key factors that drove me up the wall.

I need to pen this journey down as it is moving faster than I can remember…

At 6 weeks, baby L is 4kg. We are super contented that her weight is “normal” as we were so used to being told that our baby (S) was always at the lowest percentile.   She needs to be burped and elevated after each feed or she may end up being the Singapore merlion (major regurgitation).

Although apprehensive that we are now on our own (well, still with the help of our domestic help) I pray that that all will be well and we get to enjoy/cherish every single bit of this new chapter. 

Major milestone

We were never really bothered that S was still wearing diaper to sleep at night. Someone once told me that when a child is ready, we'll know.

Two nights ago S insisted that she did not want to put on a diaper to sleep. I was not convinced (or prepared), so I proposed to her that if she kept her diaper dry the next morning, we could go diaper-free the next night.

1.40am: "Mommy, I want to pee,". Alright.

5.40am: "I didn't pee in my diaper!". Very determined. 

Last night I kept my diaper-free promise and voila! It's dry in the morning!

A big sister in the making... Not fully yet till she kicks her milk-bottle habit! 

I am glad anyways :) 

Family train

A couple of years back, I had a dream shot of our family- me hugging on to daddy M from behind and S behind me, like a train. Finally the day came that we took this shot, well, somewhat like how I have imagined... Thank you Chris!!

Call it forth

There is power in our spoken word (or name being called). Her name means wisdom. And indeed we are seeing this being manifested every day, bit by bit.

Last night, in her usual nightly bargain-not-to-go-to-sleep talk, she asked why some of her friends don’t attend full-day school everyday?

S: “Why is Gabriella (her best friend in school) on half-day everyday? I want to be on half-day and not full-day…Her mommy picks her up everyday…”

Me: “Because Gabriella’s mommy doesn’t work.” (And I was prepared for her to ask me not to work and  be like Gabriella’s mom)

S:…. (pause) “Sometimes you also don’t work right. Sometimes we go holiday together right?” (with her eyes all lit up).

I was touched. Thanks babe. For understanding that mommy has to work. And I will spend every moment that I can with you when I’m not…

Family of four

I’m 15 weeks pregnant! I’ve been trying to sit and get this post written for weeks now, but it was always pushed aside because other things felt more important…I know I may regret it if I don’t write about my pregnancy, as if I owe it to the baby. You know, some years down the road, a little voice may question me: “mommy, why didn’t you write about me but you wrote about jie jie?”. Oh well.

Queezy was my first name during the first 3 months, which explains the lack of posts… Most of the days were spent in bed and feeling grumpy as almost no food could go down well with me. My sense of smell heightened as I resented strong food odors especially garlic (my love)!. The peak was when I found daddy M smelly. It was difficult for him.. poor daddy. We couldn’t even sit together to have a decent conversation, without me covering my nose! It was not body odor but if I had to describe, it would be similar to old furniture in a damp room full of spoiled moth balls. The weirdest thing was, two of my colleagues started to develop the same smell!!! Bizarre.

Thank God all these are OVER! I’m back to being NORMAL! My appetite is back and my bump is showing!

Difference between the 1^st and the 2^nd:-

- I had minor bleeding during the 5th week.

- I teared when I saw the sonogram. I was clueless during the 1st.

-Morning sickness extended to 24 hours vs. only puking at night during the 1st pregnancy.

- I’m more sentimental – cherishing my days of three more – the last Mother’s Day / Father’s day with one kid, the last birthday celebration as a family of three, the last trip to Penang for 2013….

- We are more relaxed and less paranoid (aka more slacked?). We tracked the baby’s growth weekly during the 1^st!!

This is an answered prayer and we just KNOW that all will be well! It shall be a smooth pregnancy with painless delivery. The baby shall be sweet natured, healthy, beautiful, intelligent and we will have a easy post-partum with more than sufficient milk! Amen!

Happy Mothers' Day

 

What S thinks of me as a mom:-

I play with her - do I really? I always think that I don't play with her 'enough'.. so there is such a thing as quality time vs. quantity.

I cook - erm... not as often as my maid?!

I read stories - yes! no dispute!

Seoul eats

2013- a year of open doors. For the first time, work has brought me Seoul and M tagged along for some R&R time. It was a good break, without S!. It’s been 3 years since our last ‘couple’ trip...

The food was SUPERB! BBQ, pancakes, kimchi stew were unforgettable that we continued to reminiscence for Korean food even after 2 weeks after our return. Shopping was over-stated for me, perhaps I’m not used to the Korean fashion.

I think we will go back to Seoul very soon !!

My family

Daddy M found this in S school bag! We're not sure when she drew this but I believe this is her perception of "My family".
The big face is Sonia, two at the top are both daddy M and I. The bottom is her as a baby.



I can write!

S was very proud to show off that she could write her A, B, C!
I was excited when the vertical line for "B" was written , "Wow, that's a big B!" I said.

But, it turned out to be mini-B!


And this is her C (inverted).

Sunrise @ Penang

My love for sunrise started when I was a teenager. I would stop along the famous Gurney Drive  in the morning to catch a glimpse of the ‘egg yolk’ before heading to my school nearby.
Fast forward 20 years. My love has not subsided.
Daddy M and I went for a morning walk along the newly developed marina-front living Straits Quay in Penang during CNY and GOSH, I was blown away. The sunrise. The view. The yachts. The fresh air. It was like the Mediterraneans, and not my little hometown... It felt a little strange yet nice …
But everything fell back into place when we ordered a a spread of tasty hawker food for breakfast!! I felt at home all over again.

Mommy can cook, daddy and granny can read

 My mom-in-law takes pleasure in reading to her grandchildren. Over the years, she has taught the nieces and nephews how to read, using her collection of the traditional Ladybird’s Peter and James series. S will be her new protégé soon, I think.

Reading is department that I'm lack in. Apart from the usual bedtime stories and monthly visits to the library, I have no grand plans in the pipeline to teach S the how-tos. Perhaps my MIL can take over!

Oh dear Lord, let S will take after daddy M's love for reading and my passion for cooking :)

Rainbow and God's promises

 Spotted: rainbow appearing in our home!

Last Saturday afternoon, S and I were playing at the car porch when we saw a stripe of RAINBOW, from the tiles of the pond to the grass. I was thrilled! How cool is it to have rainbow in your own yard? We started to jump on-and-off the rainbow, touching it, taking pictures, fearing that it might disappear soon. You don’t get to have a rainbow under your feet everyday! By the time we alerted the rest of the household, the rainbow was gone. It was a little miracle for me, a confirmation from God of His promises of good treasure for us...I hope the rainbow stayed in S’s heart, just like it did in mine.

“The Lord will open his good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to you in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed his commandments of the Lord your God…” (Deuteronomy 28:12-13)

Soul nourishment

Perhaps having quiet time by myself, reading the word of God in the morning is what I miss most since my return to work after a long break. I could sit in the kitchen for more than an hour with a cup of coffee, sandwich and expound on daily devotionals. It also gave me the chance to embrace my neighborhood. It is almost certain that by 8.30am every morning that I would hear footsteps of stilettos walking past the alley. The old lady next door would also start to hum the same tune, plucking flowers from her garden or doing her laundry.

No wonder George Muller the evangelist said that the most important thing that he had to do every morning was to give himself to the reading of the word of God and to meditate on it, so that his heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, instructed…

I know that the peace that I felt during these times (although not having to work played a big part) definitely derived from having my soul being nourished. Again, quoting Muller- “How different it is when the soul is refreshed and made happy early in the morning, fromwhat it is when the service, the trials, and the temptations of the day come upon one without such spiritual preparation.”

Family tree

At the beginning of the school term, parents were tasked to work on a home project with the kids – to create a family tree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We plucked a few leaves from the potted plant to create a ‘real’ feel :) Then we outlined the trunk and started painting!

We printed pictures of grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins from all three continents and stuck them by the leaves. Voila!

Note the additional family member named “S mei mei” whom S insisted to paste next to our family portrait, by the tree trunk. I was dumbfounded. She called herself “jie jie” in the family portrait.  Speaking of strong faith from children!!!

This is S, showing off her family tree to the class (pic taken by the teacher). I’m not sure whether she did talk about the additional family member though.

Psalm 8:2 From the mouths of children and nursing babies
you have ordained praise on account of your adversaries,
so that you might put an end to the vindictive enemy. (NET)

December’s fruit- playing housewife

I spent the last week of December playing housewife. Post HFMD, things got better.
My life as a ‘freelance’ housewife (with my blackberry within reach)- cooking, washing, caring, housekeeping, playing, art & craft and some time-off in the afternoon to watch a few episodes of  TVB series when S takes a nap. It is almost a replica of my maternity leave. 
My favourite part is planning the daily menu and see S’s appetite increase tremendously.  One evening, she looked at me and shouted: “Mommy! Thank you for cooking!” and that’s my reward!  The thought of being a stay-at-home-mom is luring if it means I can make her eat more?? It’s just a thought.  In any case, I thank God for letting me ‘experience’ how it is like to be a stay-at-home-mom (with no help). I’m not sure if I really love it but knowing that it’s short-lived and ending soon makes me cherish every bit of it.
It has been a perfect week to end this unceasing fruitful 2012.

Blastful December

The month of December is like my bonus for the year. It beats any amount of $$ I can get. My mind automatically shut down when the clock struck 00:01 on 1 December. No more deadlines. No more urgent reports. Usually December is all about Christmas shopping. This year, it has been a blast! There were fruits to celebrate almost every single day!

Meeting Chef of the century, Joel Robuchon himself left me breathless for a few minutes.

Having the whole family in town for a week with 10 adults and 5 children in the house was like celebrating CNY in advanced!

The tree decorating experience was warmer than usual with me surrounded by my niece and nephews !

Bouncy castle and balls pool were the major hits for S’s birthday, not forgetting the yummy home-cooked buffet spread that mom and I whipped up for 28 adults and 13 kids!

S’s debut as a flower girl!

Family+friends+Christmas+lull period at work = Bliss.