28 months - graduation

h moved up from toddler class to nursery class this week! we have been prepping her for the change in classroom and teachers and so far she's taken it in her stride.

glad that it's been a generally smooth year at childcare and that she's had good committed teachers that genuinely care for the kids. at this age, it's the care and love from the teachers that matter most. 

when we met the teachers at the year-end parent-teacher session earlier this month (we are pros now!), we were told what we more or less knew about h already. she loves all kinds of physical activities, participates actively in the music and story sessions, is focused during art/craft sessions and is generally a fun kid to have around in class. she still needs to work on sharing stuff but i think it has gotten much better from 6 months ago. the teachers say she's a smart kid and picks up new things very quickly. she also has a kiasu streak in her (uh huh, check out how she hurries to wear her shoes before the hubby every morning so that she wins). 

i think her english teacher is somewhat of a h fan judging by the way she talks about h and how the chinese teacher tells her not to always pick h first for every demo session and said 有些爱, 爱在心里就好! :D oh well, i am all for equal treatment in the classroom ... no point ingraining a top dog mentality now only to have her lose her daring to try new things later on.

it's a pity her chinese teacher and the teacher aide (big 老师) won't be following this bunch up to nursery class ... they are the no nonsense auntie types that children tend to listen to. nonetheless there will be some continuity with teacher s and all her classmates that are familiar friends by now. always enjoy dropping h off because we get to say hi to the other kids too who are also very friendly once they are familiar with you.

28 months - throw away ...

h is at a stage where she doesn't like pictures or stories that show characters as angry, "ugly", being naughty, or getting scolded/bullied. everytime she spots any pictures in her storybooks or toys that depict such scenes, she'll insist that we "throw away" the offending book/toy.

1. spot goes on holiday lift the flap book

there's a picture of a hippo who is annoyed with spot for taking his towel. she insisted that i throw away the book.

2. spot's birthday party where there is an "so ugly crocodile" hiding under a rug. it was also relegated to the dustbin.

3. ELC puzzle where she insisted "the dog's eyes are so big" and didn't want to have anything to do with it.

4. lego mini set of a police and thief where she insisted on throwing away the thief figurine and was most upset that the figurine later surfaced again (because surely we wouldn't throw away 50% of a lego set!!

5. mr greedy goes to lunch where little miss fickle gets VERY MAD at mr greedy for eating all her lunch. she always covers her eyes when we get to that page of the storybook.

she has on several occasions really taken the offending item and dumped it in the dustbin just outside her room. she's that serious about it and has no regrets afterwards. she really has a very decisive and strong-willed streak in her ... perhaps also a strong sense of justice which ain't such a bad thing!

28 months - neighbourhood hangouts

we've been hanging out at nearby spots more often recently which helps cut down on travel time by car and makes it easy for me to bring h out by public transport.

part of the fun is actually in travelling to/from these places. h enjoys the bus rides, counting the passengers getting on and off, waiting for her chance to press the bell ... so we still take the bus sometimes even though it probably takes much more time to get to our destination compared to hopping on the train. when taking the train, she'll help with scanning the transitlink card and press the lift buttons (since we usually bring the pram if we take the train). always glad that she's very well-behaved in public transport even though she's such a hive of activity and raring to go usually. i would probably stay home rather than bring her out if she's difficult to handle.

1. woodlands regional library

multi-storey library at the civic centre next to the woodlands MRT station which has a huge children's section occupying the top floor. h likes the central reading area which is a "grass" patch under a huge tree and surrounded by huge mushrooms  that she enjoys climbing on and jumping off from with no injuries so far (phew!)

one thing great about this place is that it is such a quiet haven compared to causeway point just across the road. plus point - there's a McDonald's just downstairs which we can adjourn to for cup corn and iced milo.

2. sembawang library

is finally open! but it is a horrible journey that we have to take to get to the library because everywhere else in the mall is currently under construction. so everyone has to wait for ONE service lift to get to the library in a drippy dark lift lobby with lots of scaffolding. 

but stepping into the library gets one in a good mood. there's so much space and reading nooks. the children's section is at least twice the size of the old library and it feels so comfortable. a great place to hang out and read.

3. northpoint / yishun library

the lego/duplo play area and lego display outside the brick world store is the main attraction for h here. we are usually happy to oblige since it means a breather  from her usual state of non-stop activity. 

there's also a outdoor (shaded) area that h also likes to run about at ... the green tractor is her favourite there.

the library in the mall is also a pit stop for us.

4. SAFRA yishun

for the wading pool. we brought her there for the first time this week and she really enjoyed herself splashing everywhere and getting used to the ring float. she walked all around the pool like a boss and even learnt how to lean back on her float/water and do a "大" with her body. we were fortunate that there was a bout of strong sunshine in the morning such that the water was not too chilly even though the sky got overcast around 11ish. we will probably be back when the weather is warmer and the days are less wet. all that water play made for a very tired h who would have fallen asleep immediately getting into the car if not for us keeping her awake (which made for quite a funny video) and later slept for a good 2+ hours. plus point - there's a McDonald's next door for fuelling up either before or after the pool session.

5. orchid country club

somewhat out of the way, but there is lots of space for running around, and it is relatively quiet even on weekends. the club cafe serves decent food and has a pretty view of the golf course. 

also, the NTUC supermarket there is usually empty which means we have no qualms pushing around the supermarket trolley that tends to be a hassle in the more crowded supermarkets. h loves picking out stuff from the shelves ... and sometimes we have trouble sneaking unwanted items back onto the shelves/chilled section because she has an elephant memory and does a trolley spot check every few minutes. we usually land up getting a few bottles of yoghurt drinks too many which is probably not so bad. we also let her pick out 1-2 treats each time for herself which teaches her how to prioritise and also exercise some self control. 

27 weeks - stretching skin

hello again, painful spots of skin at the top of my tummy. :( looks like there's still no escaping them the second time around!

---

always get asked whether i have food cravings, but my boring answer has always been no, not really. the hubby has never had to do a food run for me ... even when i was expecting h. if i HAD to pin down what pregnancy cravings i have had this time round, it would be spicy food in general. have been gravitating towards spicy options when eating out - curry noodles (ah heng chicken curry noodles), laksa (EAT and any other breakfast place with that option), ramen with spicy broth (marutama), tom yum tang hoon (brastagi), otah in my economic bee hoon - but that's probably as far as my "cravings" go. 

28 months - trampolining

had a play date at the AMPED trampoline park at jurong over the weekend and h was looking forward to it ever since we told her about it on wednesday. in fact, she even teared up on thursday morning when she realised she was going to school rather than the trampoline park that day. but afterwards she was happy enough counting down the days to the weekend.

being on a trampoline is not new to her as there is one in her school, but having a whole school hall filled with adjacent trampoline beds is a whole new ball game! needless to say, she had loads of fun bouncing everywhere, stopping only to take water breaks. in fact, this energizer bunny outlasted even the dads and other older kids who were all ready to get out of the play area when the hour slot was up. she would have gone in again if we let her!

was glad the area was air conditioned, otherwise h would have been even sweatier and stickier than she was after an hour's worth of jumping. the hubby would probably be in a lousy mood too. 

also pleased that i managed to take quite a few priceless videos from the session! 

with energy spent, we checked out the open house abrakadoodle art studio for kids where h made a really cute snowman from random scraps of paper. 

had lunch with cw/c and their 2 kids at some taiwanese eatery with full view of the jcube ice skating rink and olaf who made a guest appearance. the minced meat rice and pig trotters noodles we ordered were surprising good and h demolished her share of my rice/egg/fatty pork!

also got to see h trying her best to share and understanding the concept of taking turns ... she probably kept to her side of the bargain by allowing j to have the coveted Spider-Man lego car during his turn while she played with his other toys ... but when she thought he had had his turn and he refused to let her have the car, she cried like there was no justice. heh. don't exactly blame her though since in her mind, it should have already been her turn. will probably still need her to learn that sometimes events don't unfold according to the rulebook even though she had followed the "rules". hard but important lesson.

26 weeks - the good sized baby

weight is piling on more slowly this time around ... 68.0kg (+1kg after a month) even though i feel like i have been on an eating spree this past 2 weeks. 

first thing our doc said after i told him about the back feeling all better was "yup you look much better ... looks like pregnancy suits you!" uh-huh, i think i knew that since the first time. 

we got confirmation yet again that there's a very good sized baby in the oven. 981g based on the scan. what to do, big sized babies will probably run in this family given that both of us are tall. doc said baby's gender was also a factor.

given my back issue and the prolonged induction process with h (which could mean second time round may be just as long!), he was trying to prep us for a c-section eventuality. but a big part of me prefers delivering naturally again if the back continues its good run ... plus baby is head down and based on past experience, will likely stay head down for the rest of the pregnancy. it's a sign. although if the back gives trouble between now and EDD, we will of course choose the safer option of a c-section and i will try not to feel any regrets.

28 months - quotes and current peeves

"powowo". she says this but actually wants to say "pororo". this also means tries to correct me when i say "powowo" by saying "po----wo----wo" very slowly by way of teaching me the "right" pronunciation and beams at me and says "YES!" when i say "pororo"

"sssss-co-weee" for chloe and "orpato" for oswaldo ... the new kids in her class.

"the problem is no battery!" when asked what was causing the ipad to be unusable.

after trying to tell me at least 4 times with an earnest face and big eyes that "auntie dawn buy me the peppa pig toy" only to have me repeat it as "we didn't buy the peppa pig toy", she looks at me when i finally get it and says "you forgot her name ah??"

"you are not going to work ah?!" when i put on my shorts/tshirt on weekday mornings even when she is dressed for school.

"this is a nonsense story!" after i tell her about a boy who lands up face down in his lunch because he didn't sleep enough the night before.

"papa, mummy, h, didi. FOUR!" when i ask her how many people stay in our house. she also names and and can count everyone who stays in her grandparents' and g-grandma's homes.

she hates it if the car moves before she puts on her seatbelt. she will also ask me "have you put on your seatbelt?" "you want me to help you?" 

she can remember and press the password access codes for the ipad and her grandma's iphone. she will tell me "don't say!" if i mention the codes as she is keying them in because she wants to hao lian.

"this is your doctor also??" when we visit the nearby RMG clinic instead of dr w.

"don't ask me so many questions" when i ask more than 2 questions about what happened at school.

"are you feeling better? i feed you medicine ok?" when she comes into our bedroom in the morning after we tell her the night before that my back is pain.

.... more to come as this month rolls on!

gravid

gravid - pregnant; distended with or full of eggs. 

first time today hearing someone use the word "gravid" to describe 3rd trimester/late stage pregnancy. it's such a serious sounding word! aiya, just say heavily pregnant lah. anyway, am not planning to go anywhere near looking distended or full of eggs anytime during this pregnancy! and the goal seems do-able from this 24+ week mark.

24 weeks - the "i am really pregnant" phase

it's now that i actually feel pregnant and there's definitely no hiding the belly! a few have come up to me to say congrats (which was nice) and many more are inspecting the belly as inconspicuously as possible. 

am getting winded climbing stairs that used to be a breeze previously and also feeling like my lungs have just a little less space to expand. 

16 more weeks!!

while the stomach bug doesn't seem to be planning to abandon this mothership anytime soon, the back is actually A LOT better. i almost feel normal save for some tightness and occasional tingling that isn't accompanied by pain. HEAVEN!

27 months - cherishing ...

how she says "goodnight mummy / goodnight papa" with the accompanying kisses on each cheek and forehead, and sometimes ears

how she runs up to us when we get back from work with that look of pure excitement/joy like we were the best thing that happened to her that day

how she fastens her seatbelt in the car and makes sure everyone else is also buckled in "otherwise the policeman will catch you!"

how she laughs at herself

how she says "this is the same hor, but it's actually different", like when she sees the same storybook character in two different books but with different expressions/doing different things

how she has some grasp of time and can anticipate all the exciting stuff that will come her way when the weekend rolls around but at the same time know that she has to get through the rest of the weekdays first

how she goes "this is so yummy!" "this is so yummy in my mouth!", especially cool when it's when she is eating something i prepared!

how she can reason and explain to us why she needs to do certain things (all thanks to my "the moral of the story" nighttime stories and our consistent explanations about why we do / she needs to do certain things), and has shown quite a lot of self control and restraint in recent times 

how she feeds me my prenatal meds oh so carefully - the yellow and pink ones in the morning and the white one in the evening. she can even tell me how long my meds will last me (because she can count and relate that to the number of days - mind boggling the first time it happened!)

her jump and turnaround dancing 

her non stop talking - which only ends maybe 10 seconds before she is fast asleep at night 

how her eyes crinkle up when she smiles and laughs

27 months - sick week

she's just recovered from a bad bout of flu/cough/fever/throat inflammation that then became stomach flu. and now we are down, thanks to the germs merry go round. :( she came back from school last wednesday with no voice and feeling warm and it was only until the past thursday that we let her go back to school but still with instructions to feed her promethezine.

nonetheless, glad we got help while she was sick and unable to go to school. and thankful the stubborn fever went away after many doses of panadol.

22 weeks - check-up / h visits her doc

went for the monthly gynae check-up today with h in tow because she was sick with fever and we kept her out of school.

turned out to be a fun experience. 

doc got to see the baby he delivered more than 2 years ago and last saw as a tiny 6-weeker, h got to see her baby bro moving about on the ultrasound screen and got to hear his heartbeat, and we got  to take a pic similar to the one we took in sep 2012. in both pics, h's eyes are closed (she was asleep in 2012, and now, she smiles until we can't see her eyes).

seeing our doc interacting with h made me realise that he can turn on the charm with toddlers as well! h allowed him to carry her and he even coaxed a smile out of her just through his conversation with her. at the end of the visit, h even agreed to stay behind at the clinic when he asked if she'd like to. win lor.

anyway, i put on 0.7kg from the last visit a month ago (67.0kg now). that's probably less than a kg more than the first gynae visit (at 9 weeks) and 3kg from the lowest point (around 11 weeks). i think i might be able to keep below 75kg this time round (rather than being so close to busting 80kg with h!!). my back will be happy. i seriously don't know what i have done differently this time to clock a slower weight gain though. hmmm. 

and baby is measuring big yet again. based on EDD, i should be 22 weeks along but i glimpsed 23 weeks + on the screen when the doc was doing his measurements of baby's stomach and limbs. placenta is also apparently in the right place and fluid levels are high.

doc seemed a bit more optimistic about the next few months this time round ... he was even talking about how i should be keeping active to kickstart labour in the last weeks of pregnancy esp knowing my stubborn body, but that my back prevents me from moving that much. he didn't go as far to say that natural birth was an option, but looks like there could be some chance. nonetheless, we all agreed we will have to go with the flow since seriously who can predict what will happen in the next few months?

anyway, i am always super thankful everyday for yet another safe/uneventful day. i live on these small victories because sometimes looking too far ahead brings about too many worries for me. it's my coping mechanism i guess.

27 months - quotes from the drama queen

"wuuuuhhhuhuhh... the pizza is spoilt already because i didn't put it properly!" (when her pizza toppings (alphabet blocks) fall from her badminton racket which is her pretend pizza tray)

"wuuuuhhhuhuhh ... papa beat me!"

"wuuuuhhhuhuhh ... you see my bolster is not cold already!" (when we hold onto her bolster for too long)

"mummy, i share the blanket with you so you won't be cold" 

... to be continued

27 months - annual family retreat

we went on holiday down under again this year. 

this is probably going to be a yearly affair if we can manage with 2 kids from next year ... the flight time is very manageable especially with h taking a nap mid-way, no time difference and jet lag to handle and great food/weather and wide open spaces!

day 1 was mainly about planes airports and immigration/customs

day 2 found us tucking into some really good roast duck and fried fish at a chinese restaurant in victoria park. also found really good deals for blackmore prenatal vitamins at the pharmacy nearby. also discovered spicy twiggy sticks from coles! much nicer than beef jerky and less sinful than bak kwa. it's almost like smaller versions of chinese sausage but with less fat and mainly salty. h also got to do a spot of gardening and helped pull up quite a number of beetroot (拔萝卜!) from my aunt's garden which we had for dinner later :D

day 3 was kings park outing day. h can use so many of the playground equipment now compared to last year. 

day 4 saw us drive 400+km south to albany for our farmstay. our pitstops worked for us - one at williams for a rather good fish & chips lunch at the williams woodshed, then mount barker for a toilet break and then straight to albany.

days 5-7 was spent visiting natural bridge and the gap, emu point (including a lovely satisfying ham and cheese toast at emu point cafe), middleton beach, the desert mounted corps memorial at mt clarence (lovely vistas of albany on the drive there), boston brewery (for the playground) and the denmark farmhouse (where we bought a yummy slab of cheddar cheese and had hot chocolate/latte in the sun at its outdoor sitting area). h was took to the resident dog (spotty) at the farm although there was that unfortunate incident of a dog bite on day 7 which saw us going to the pharmacy for antiseptic everything. overall, we took it very slow and easy because my back chose this highly inopportune time to act up and i really couldn't walk much. :(

day 8 was the big drive from albany to busselton. we stopped to visit the treetop walk in the valley of the giants (tingle trees) which reminded me of the macritchie treetop walk - just different trees and much better weather at the former. then we made a fuel and food stop at manjimup before driving all the way to busselton by late afternoon. 

day 9 - revisited busselton jetty and had the obligatory ice cream. this time h could feed herself.

day 10 - the hubby left for perth to catch his flight home, while we chilled at busselton. spent some time at the busselton jetty playground before having a really good 4-cheese pizza and potato wedges at the pantry in downtown busselton.

days 11-13 were spent doing nothing much and sleeping whenever i had a chance.

day 14 was the day trip to margaret river. we stopped at cowaramup before visiting the voyager estate winery with its beautiful rose gardens and for lunch in its posh dining room. then leeuwin estate winery, and a final stop at the margaret river chocolate company to stock up on chocolates for the office and to have their signature dark hot chocolate.

day 15 was spent driving back to perth with a stop at donnybrook to buy locally grown and dried fruit products from the solarfruit factory. also had a very hearty steak (and the lot - cheese and egg) kebab for dinner.

day 16 - laksa craving finally satisfied at a malaysian food joint in bull creek, some last minute shopping at garden city, and then the flight home.

it was a restful type of holiday which was prob what i needed to get rid of my eyebags and dark eye rings. thankful also that h slept well most nights and afternoons probably due to all the running around during her waking hours, allowing us quite a bit of downtime to either chill or sleep as well. also for the many helping hands that helped entertain h so that we could zone out for periods of time in the day.

20 weeks - detailed scan

confirmation of what we already knew - it's a BOY complete with exclamation mark keyed in by the nice ultrasound lady. 

also, #2 has a big head (like his sister) and has long limbs and a chubby tummy. in other words - BIG BABY! relieved that all was good with baby based on the scan. i am just one of those paranoid worrier mums who worry at every juncture of the pregnancy. it has a lot to do with not really being in control of how baby develops. so everyday to me where i feel baby kicking away is a small victory and i say many silent thank you's.

what's not so cool is how the back is acting up again - i am hoping that it will get better soon with more physio sessions and more deliberate rests when i can.

20 weeks - showing

the bump is coming out! like finally! i think it was also around this time that bump #1 made its appearance.

baby is also making himself felt more often everyday, which is very reassuring for worry wart me. still waiting for the time when the hubby can start feeling his kicks though ... tried to get the hubby feel baby kicking a week back when baby was somewhat active but he still couldn't feel the kicks from outside yet. it's going to be fun when the kicks get more obvious and earthquakey in the coming weeks!

hopefully i haven't put on too much weight over this holiday! i know i have been eating well though - less snacks, lots of milk, cheese, fruit and yummy fresh produce (kale, freshly caught taylor guitarfish and squid, beetroot, lamb chops, sweet beets (a leafy veggie), huge spring onions).

we will be seeing baby on 3 nov for the detailed anatomy scan. hope all is well in there!

18 weeks - kicks and bump

i recall how i would know exactly which week and day of my pregnancy i was in when i was expecting h. now i say oh x/x+1 weeks everytime someone asks because i am not keeping close tabs to my babycenter app. heh.

anyhow, went for the regular doc's visit yesterday and i put on 1.4kg since the last visit which isn't surprising since i haven't gone swimming this past 2 weekends because of my flu and also because there wasn't time! 66.3kg now gah, but i think as heavy as i was at 9 weeks. so ... it's not too bad.

doc said baby was chubby and measuring ahead for all measurements. ok doc, so what do you mean exactly? and the reply was "baby is fat, but fat babies are cute!" so we are going to have a big baby again ... which shouldn't be surprising since we are both tall and have big heads. 

i can feel baby moving much more regularly now throughout the day. yesterday he even did a somersault during the scan. it's getting to the fun stage of pregnancy! and i love his company! now if only the slipped disc will go away!!

as another sign that this is definitely our second kid, i haven't been taking belly bump pictures at all. but i think most people in the office have not noticed the bump because they are too busy and i have been wearing looser clothes that hide it ... not to the extent that i look like a tent though! plus with all the abs exercises i am doing for physio, i am sure it is doing something to keep the bump in since h wasn't a chubby baby early on and i think i was showing more previously!

26 months - catch up update

have been quite tardy with the updates!

it has been a pretty smooth sailing couple of weeks on the school and home front. h sometimes only falls asleep at 10 at night (HORRORS!) but that sometimes has to do with starting the bath and bedtime routine closer to 9 rather than by 8 on most weekdays. 

she's loving the home made play-dough that my mum has been making with her on weekends and it means she spends many hours kneading and cookie-cutting the dough. there was a week where she insisted on bringing at least one ball of dough to bed with her but she's since been more amenable to tidying up after she plays, having learnt the hard way that dough left in the open overnight in an aircon room will turn hard.

she's also learning to count and has grasped the concept of how to count, so i'm using every opportunity to get her to count ... especially when it comes to counting items or animals in her storybooks.

need to still work on her getting the right shoe on the right foot though ... we are still prone to wrong shoe on wrong foot.

26 months - proud parent moment

this beats any update about whether h can count to 10, name 100 animals or sing a thousand songs. so proud of my kid .... i guess we are doing something right in the parenting / instilling values department.

26 months - animal feeding trail

oh we are such suckers for the animal feeding sessions at the zoo now.... proximity to zoo + the thrill of hands-on feeding + an unafraid toddler makes for spending lots of moolah on several pieces of veggies. :p

we got to the zoo early enough to catch the elephant feeding session today (9.15) and it was a fun experience for h feeding bananas, apples and carrots to two hungry gentle asian elephants ... or rather, feeding their trunks. she's really not frightened of big creatures which I think is uncommon for kids her age judging by the reactions of others who look her size. 

then after a breakfast pit stop where she more or less demolished a large portion of my nasi lemak, we went to feed the giraffes and there again she was all excited and loving the fun of having the giraffes roll out their tongues to get the carrot and sweet potato sticks but pulling her hand away fast enough so that she didn't get licked. she amused the watchers-on with her reactions.

and then the goats. we didn't pay to feed them this round though and made do with the leaves that are hung out during non-feeding times. good fun.

looking forward to the farmstay in albany this round as i think she will really enjoy herself there.

25 months - in conversation

"mummy, how come you wear these clothes to work?" - i went for a swim after work and came back in tshirt and shorts

"did 林老师 come to school today?" "no" "where did she go?" "she went to work" - because everyone who doesn't go to school goes to work.

"where are we going?" - she asks this without fail when we get into the car

"later i buy a new one for you. i buy you TWO!" when she wants to take my biscuit/sweet and i am left with none.

"the farm has no animals!!" - reporting to me after school one day in a you-should-have-told-me-earlier tone. she had been all excited to go on a class trip to a hydroponics farm, but she probably assumed it was an animal farm because all her farm storybooks are about animal farms. i think she felt a bit cheated. 

15 weeks - chubby baby???

went for a check-up yesterday and the doc said "this baby is quite chubby!" really? can tell? it was nice and quite reassuring to see baby move about on the screen too, given that i still can't feel his movements that regularly for now.

looks like a c-section is on the cards as well unless my cervix isn't so stubborn this round :( 

broke the news to the team at work and i think they were quite stunned ("bombshell!" said one) because they weren't expecting it and because they all assumed i would "outlast" them in the division. waiting for a chance to tell the boss.... but he hasn't been in much. wonder what his reaction will be?

 

14 weeks - it's a ....

the clinic called on monday morning to tell us that the harmony test results were in (much earlier than i expected) and we were in the low risk category. what a relief! and so thankful! 

the clinic staff also asked if we would like to know the gender, and when i said yes, she said "it's a male" in a very matter of fact way. i think said, "what? again?" heh. 

what a different way of finding out baby's gender! from a blood test and over the phone instead of a scan where both parents hear the news together.

i am hoping my nose isn't going to grow big over time, something that i have often observed among ladies expecting boys.

25 months - balloons and kitchens

attended a twins birthday party over the weekend and h was all cooperative in the lead up to the afternoon party because of the promises of balloons and birthday songs. she even acquiesced to wearing her flowery green dress (there was a flowers theme) when she's usually insisting on peppa pig everything.

she showed enormous patience waiting for her turn in the balloon sculpting line, where the balloon man was taking awhile to make elaborate Disney princesses for the older girls who were naturally louder and more demanding. 

she on the other hand wasn't too impressed with her balloon flower corsage and asked subsequently for a blue elephant. blue. elephant. not just any coloured elephant. 

i didn't think the result looked anything like an elephant but it pleased her a lot and she went everywhere in the party room with the elephant. even into the ball pit. thankfully the balloon was rather hardy.

later came across a very nice play kitchen set at the ELC store at forum and got it for her. have been on a look out for a decent play kitchen for awhile now but didn't find one that was nice and sturdy enough but within reasonable price range. got hers for $229 after some store discount, and i guess that's quite reasonable considering that the fisher price one i had oh so long ago cost $199 if i recall correctly.

there was a display set in the store and the first thing she asked after examining the set was "where is the food?" because the play food accessories were not on display. so funny.

glad we got her the kitchen as she is smitten. she got down to "cooking" once we assembled the set at home and served us our first meals. she's also saying things like "no more (tomato soup) already. later i buy new one for you" and also pretending to add pepper and salt to her food and feeding her soft toys. one thing though, she's cooking her food in the kitchen sink, not on the stove. heh.

this morning there was no sound from her room except for the clicking of the stove dials... usually she'll call for us quite soon after she gets up at 7ish, but not today because she was too busy in her kitchen.

WIN! for everyone. :D

25 months - no more emo

baby seems to be slowly getting over her "emo" phase, both at school and home. today was the second day after a long while that she didn't cry when we dropped her off at childcare and the first when she actually waved bye to us and SMILED! wow. little things to be thankful for. 

let's see if she gets over the "i don't want to go to playground school" part that happens the moment she catches sight of me bringing her school uniform into her bedroom. slowly, slowly.

so this is the terrible twos .....

13 weeks - physio

have been getting some positive results from the physio and all the physio homework i have been doing! i think my range of movement has increased, and i also can stand straighter although it is still not without pain. but it is progress considering i have been bent over for quite awhile already.

still not sure if tennis ball torture is actually working, but will persevere for a bit longer.

25 months - outdoor water play

found a neat hidden gem water play area alongside the lower seletar reservoir. we spent so much time there that it was way past baby's nap time when we got back. we will be back on a hot afternoon/evening.

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photos from our second visit to the reservoir park. this time we were there for a good two hours hanging out with d&p and baby maya while having a huge breakfast feast in between having to watch h play at the water play area. it's a pity there isn't much shade near the water feature ... 

12/13 weeks - growth spurt??

went for the harmony test blood work today and the doc did a scan prior to make sure baby 2 was ok before proceeding, which was nice. and he also waived the scan and consultation fee, which was also nice.

based on the CRL measurements, baby 2 is 13 weeks 0 days along. whaaaa? based on the first scan, this should only be 12 weeks 1 day. anyway, doc didn't seem concerned. i also hadn't put on any weight since the check-up last thursday (64.4kg) and this time i weighed in wearing jeans rather than office wear. oh well. it probably is due to more exercise and less snacking. good for me! :D

10-14 working days before the results come back. i hope we can breathe a little easier afterwards and just concentrate on growing baby and getting my back all better.

just went for my first physio session yesterday at focus pilates and felt quite good about it. the physiotherapist said all the muscles around the pain points in my back and buttocks have tensed up as a natural reaction to stop me from moving so much. her massage to relieve these muscles was super painful ... especially on my right side where all the pain is occurring. also went away with physio homework to do at home - breathing exercises to strengthen the core, pelvic tilts, stretches .... it's actually hard work as i found out yesterday night. oh well, anything to get this protruding disc issue sorted out before i get too heavy.

25 months - negotiated outcomes

we had an eventful saturday at toa payoh SAFRA. a value for money $5 breakfast at Eden (2 eggs, 2 sausages, baked beans, coleslaw) followed by crazy times at the kidsamaze indoor playground.

h is at a stage where everything is a negotiation and we have to do a super good job before we can convince her to do something which she'd otherwise not want to do. like having breakfast BEFORE heading to the indoor playground. 

trying times ahead.

11 weeks - swim

started swimming today to try to reap some of those back/core strengthening benefits now so that my back can subsequently take the extra weight from baby. 

for starters, i could fit into my swimsuit (!!) and i also managed to get in a decent number of laps in the SAFRA toa payoh pool considering that i don't usually swim and i haven't done much cardio exercise in the past year *shame* may have done 10 laps or more (i wasn't really counting as i was just focused on doing as many laps as i could).

the weightlessness actually felt quite good and there seemed to be less pain afterwards. what a relief!

while i swam, the hubby took care of h at the huge indoor playground within the same complex. so everyone got some exercise :D

think swimming is going to be part of my weekly schedule from now on.

afternote: went swimming again on sunday and did 20 laps with breaks in between each lap. here's the belly in the morning at 11 weeks 3 days (going by the first ultrasound)

11 weeks - pukesy

oh the nausea has arrived. i haven't puked so far, but it has been gagging galore every morning less in the afternoon and some more in the evening. fun.

we were at our doc's today to close the loop with him that we intended to proceed with this pregnancy even with the slipped disc. there was no reason at this time not to if the baby was healthy. we also got another look at baby who has grown to 4.23cm from 2.88cm in just over a week. CRL puts baby at 11 weeks 0 days today. 

i somehow managed to lose 2kg in between gynae appointments, which is crazy. i haven't had much of an appetite (prob due to the nausea and worrying) but i didn't think it would make such a big difference. perhaps it was also because i was in jeans the last time. doc didn't mention the weight loss though, so i guess it's not a concern. oh well, am pretty sure the weighing scale will move up at the next visit a month away, and so long as baby grows, it probably is ok to put on a bit less this round ... might be easier on my back as well!

24 months - uncharacteristic monday

this is the first time since her first week at school that we left baby in tears and still crying at childcare in the morning. she is usually too busy to care about us and will not even give us a proper wave because she gets sucked up in the flurry of the drop-off and is too eager to get started with her school day. like this:

but today, she was ok all the way until she put her shoes in her cubby hole. but then she burst into tears after i said goodbye, be good ... and didn't stop even after i gave her another hug. 

and in the afternoon, the school called to say she didn't want to board the school bus because she didn't want to sit with the other kids .... she's been saying for awhile that she doesn't want to sit with J but i thought that was settled after there was a switch in bus seats.

well, apparently not. 

haven't managed to dig out the real reasons for her behaviour this morning and also how she reacted at going home time. will need to observe a bit more, since she hasn't been acting any differently at home the past few days and even after school today.

24 months - zoo revival

we've been visiting the zoo more regularly this past month, and her interest in interacting with the animals and spending time watching them seems to have grown.

the crocodiles, giraffes, goats and the falabella (small horses) have captured her interest and attention. the first because of the mention of crocodiles in one of her fave nursery rhymes (row row row your boat), second and third because of the feeding sessions which she thoroughly enjoyed, and the fourth because the falabella made a brrrrr noise that she's able to imitate. now she will say "falabella, what are you doing?" whenever she gets near the falabella enclosure.

but in the end the best pictures are taken of her with the animal sculptures scattered all over the zoo. ah meng is probably her favourite.