Playground

Nat would ask to go to the playground every morning and below are pics of her enjoying the morning bask.





















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Mini cornetto

Mini cornetto is one of her favourite dessert. Here's a pic of her savoring the ice-cream.

Barney concert part 2

As it's probably gonna be a long while before we could attend another Barney concert, we've decided to attend it one last time. This round, since chris is still in Australia, her grandparents decided to do the honor. Fortunately we brought Mimi along who helped with the queuing. She too was just as excited as Natalie in view that this was her first Barney concert as well.

Although we weren't first in the queue, unlike her super dad who started queuing since 1045 we managed to reach at 11ish and secured a 2nd row front seat. Not too bad for effort right?

Each experience was different for Natalie but either way she certainly enjoyed herself throughout the concert. She was more prepared for the q&a this time and even made new friends. Popo who went in with her got her to stand in front of the stage and she held hands with a new friend when Barney sang the song, "everything's better with a friend"! Amazing isn't it?

Before we left for home, she saw the long queue for the 4pm show and wanted to join in the long line of "filial" parents! She cried so reluctantly when we left the mall!

Below are some of the pics which we've taken. Took loads of video, but yet have the time to setup a u-tube account, must make a mental note to do it tomorrow!































































































Barney waving goodbye to Natalie.








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Sweet child of mine

Always loved this song....anyway day before I had to chide her into drinking her water before she sleep so her breath won't stink of curd milk the next morning. We would usually brush her teeth during bath-time cause its so much easier to corner her in the tub. I've sought of made it a routine and she would pretty much expect it coming if I were to bathe her. But the thing is, she would end up with her last milk feed before bed and that didn't quite optimize the brushing efforts. So I would try to feed her with some water after her milk. Just so that her teeth may be slightly protected without the foul morning breath.

This was how the conversation went:-

M: nat come drink your water else we brush your teeth again?
Nat: no ma ma, no brush teeth. I want to sleep.
M: ok then you drink your water.
N: no I want to sleep. Tired.
M: my baby doesn't listen to me anymore, mama is sad.
Nat stares at my frowning face.
N: mama no sad, mama be happy. I drink the water.
She ended up drinking 4 sips before going to bed.

Next evening, I took the cup of water after she finishes her milk and she responded instantaneously with this:-
N: mama no sad, be happy. I will drink the water.
And she did! Without me saying anything! Such a good girl!


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Gingerbread man

Last night I read her the story of gingerbread man. She got so agitated when the gingerbread started to run away from the old man and lady as well as everyone else. Ok furthest I got to was the cow before she slams the book down with her "no ! No! No!". Think we'll have no chance with the fox at all. Can't imagine what she would do when she finds out that the fox ended up finishing off the gingerbread man!

The family

This is me at 29weeks. Pretty big and fat since i've put on almost 2.7kg within a month! Gynae wants me to watch my weight for the betterment of my health and less effort needed post delivery. I contribute it to the daily good dinner cooked up by my retired dad and mum and nat's bedtime routine which sends me to bed at 830pm. Most times I ended up sleeping earlier than her according to chris, cause she just won't stop chatting until no one would respond to her. Oh well, will worry about weight gain later!

Nat with her see saw

Couldn't help but pamper her with new toys each time we were out shopping.

The alligator see-saw below is her most recent addition and she love it so much that she would ride on it whenever she gets a chance to watch her cartoons. It's a 3 seater, and she tried all positions. She too didn't resist showing it off to our new indian neighbor who lives directly opposite us.

Though bulky, we both think it's a steal and since she enjoyed it so much it's definitely a good buy.
















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E Coli

Bangkok authorities found E.coli bacteria in avocados imported from Europe and was checking whether it was the same strain as the one behind a deadly outbreak in Europe.

Such a scary thought if the strain is to be found in asia. With the humidity and poor hygiene in some countries at our end of the world it would be horrible if our food source gets contaminated. Growth of bacteria would become so widespread in this hot and humid weather and the Authorities will have no way to curb the spread since they have yet to identify the source of the outbreak, which left more than 2,600 people ill in at least 14 countries.

Articles mentioned that Symptoms include stomach cramps, diarrhoea, fever and vomiting. Doesn't this sound like a normal stomach flu?

Better make a mental note not to eat anything raw for now. Other than radiation from japan's import now we got to Fret about E coli. So no raw fish and salad for us until source / cure is found. So glad my in-laws have their little organic farm, at least that source is still trustworthy for my babies.

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Boy names

Another 60 days to go and we have yet to decide on our boy's name. At the rate we are going he would end up with Nathan / Nathanael ( meaning: given from god).

Rach wanted to name her son Caleb (the devoted one) and I thought that's actually not too bad. But she is insisting that that's reserved ... Well finders keeper isn't it. Since we are in a more relevant situation perhaps you might reconsider giving your nephew this name? Well at least you'll get to call him with your favorite name

Other options which kind of changes every other week are
Benjamin-son of the right hand: brother of Joseph
Ethan -firm, strong
Daryl - dear, beloved
Seth-the appointed one
Jeremy-god will uplift
Joel- god is able
Joshua-god is salvation
Justin- just or true
Benedict -Latin Son of my right hand.
Kiran -Sanskrit A ray of light.


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Confinement nanny (cont'd)

I've decided to hire a confinement nanny via referral. This one was recommended by a nanny and seems to have more than 10 years of experience. Only issue is her age. She is close to 60. I'm not sure if she has the energy to wake up in the middle of the night to look after the baby. Oh well to have help is better than not having any I guess. Since the government is also making it a mandate for companies to offer reemployment opportunities to those who are past the retirement age of 62, might as well give her a try too. At least she is able to provide alternative answers to some of the questions which I've asked and seems a lot more flexible compared to the ones whom i've interviewed so far.

In view that the baby would be arriving In a month or so, i shouldn't be too demanding right?

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Barney concert

It's One of those rare occasions where you still could get good entertainment for kids free of charge, and chris being the wonderful father as always made plans a week before the actual Barney show. He recede the place and timeslots available, even knew where to queue. Of course, we arrived super early at 11am for the 1pm show. And chris had to make do with burger lunch whilst queuing up in the first place. Yes we were the first in queue! The rest of the parents who were there earlier didn't know where to queue! Hehe fortunately we had a well prepared daddy!

Natalie thoroughly enjoyed herself! She danced to her favorite Barney tunes and gave Barney a big hug and kiss after during the photo shoot! All the effort is so super worth it!




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Dealing with tantrums

Natalie is growing up quickly now, somehow I feel that she is getting so mature each day that I am starting to lose my little girl soon.

This afternoon daddy and her had a slight argument. He insisted that she knock on the baby gate before exiting to inform others that she is coming out. She simply wouldn't do it and was therefore restricted in the room with the gate as barrier. She apologised after much chiding and said the words that daddy wants to hear. Later did she tell me that that's a baby gate, not a door. I guess her question is since it's a gate, why does she need to knock? You know what she did in the end? She said, "Excuse me, I am coming out!" I was pleasantly surprised that she knew how to say excuse me and used it appropriately. Having heard this, I suppose daddy felt really bad for causing the trauma in the afternoon when she persistently refused to knock on the baby gate before exiting. Our baby is maturing quicker than we could keep up... we should seriously reexamine the ways we educate her and at the same time use appropriate teaching measures to keep up with her development.

Hubby tends to think raising his voice when she throws a tantrum and being persistent at the point when she refuses to listen helps. Personally, I feel that such behaviours will not improve with a parent raising his/her voice. Daddy should watch more episodes of "Super nanny" and learn from the naughty chair scenarios. Old school methods of raising the voice and overpowering the child would not help in this situation at all. Remember the times when we are wrongfully caned just because a mistake was made by another sibling and our parents refuses to listen to our explanations? You probaby wouldn't want to see yourself becoming a chip of the old block in this instance.

So daddy, if you are reading this during your free time, please find a different alternative to manage her. She is a reasonable kid and would definitely listen to you when she is not overwhelmed with her own frustration. Sometimes we tend to forget that we are the adults here and that we are better able to control our emotions than a 2 years old. It's about time you learn about anger management skills and bring the soft approaches like how you would coach your staff home. Cause time and again has proven that she is a thinker and her actions are not willful acts of defiance, and she some times is better able to manage the adults than either of us. Perhaps you could try to understand exactly what she was asking for before giving her a piece of your mind the next time you feel your blood boil. Leave the room or grind your teeth and hold back that loud decibels if you can. In many instances, she did come round to explain the reasons for her behaviour and cause of her insistence. All I can say is be patient and try to understand the little words that she had learnt to express her needs and wants. It's already a huge feat for her to communicate in full sentences to us. It makes her feel sad when we don't put in just as much efforts to understand what she wish to say or finds difficulty in selecting the right vocab to describe her own feelings. It may help if you could suggest alternatives and allow her the opportunity to express what she really wants to say. Try it.. this evening's car ride to popo's place has proven her competency in understanding what we wish to convey. So perhaps you should try coming down to her level, think from her perspective and learn to comprehend her emotions as well.

Confinement Nanny woes

There are couple of options and I am really not sure which I should pursue...

1) Hire a confinement nanny via referrals from the popular sites for mothers?
Have read really good reviews of some of these confinement nannies, but there are also uploads which warns of the danger that these confinement nannies may have uploaded the information via a relative or on their own to provide free advertisement to their services. It seems that it's impossible to differentiate between the genuine from the fakes via these sites and no one other than yourself would be held accountable for such engagements.

2) Hire via a confinement agency which offers replacement and guarantees adequate training.
Googled some names such as Pem and Bliss A..Honestly I am tempted to hire one from PEM due to their long history as well as the service that they guarantees. However, they don't allow me to speak to their contract nannies via phone. one friend mentioned that this was probably because they didn't wish for customers to undercut them and engage their nannies direct. I've lost all confidence in them delivering the right candidate since they weren't even able to come up with a fixed schedule of possible candidates. It makes me wonder if they could deliver at all and quality aside, though they do offer replacements on demand, would our demands be met when I need a replacement? Too many question marks in the equation. In view that agencies do take a cut in this entire process of hirng, I think it warrants at list a phone interview if face to face is not possible. Someone mentioned that these nannies need an agency to represent them because they are not as good (in terms of knowledge, skills) as those who do freelance through recommendations.

3) Hire a C nanny via friend's referral.
Have procrastinated quite a while and this option is getting less and less viable as many of the popular nannies have since been reserved till end of the year. There is one nanny available and friend is in the midst of her confinement, but her talkativeness would probably drive me up the wall. Heard she is not as hygienic in the kitchen either. Oh well I probably rubbed it off the wrong way with her during the call. Gave her scenarios hinting that I am particular about cleanliness and guess what she said... she said she felt stressed over the call and would be afraid of working for me.. sigh.. this is an interview for a $2k job and she would get paid without the need for educational qualifications.. she can't expect it to be a breeze right .. and not follow my instructions on how I want my child to be tended to.. oh well better not.

4) Hire a C nanny via popular C nanny's referral.
I've requested to meet with one face to face. She looked like a country bumpkin and seemed pretty new to the job. I didn't quite trust this one since she couldn't quite tell me in details how she would be looking after me and my child.

5) Not to hire, lessen workload of current maid to allow her time to rest and look after baby at the same time.
This is the safest, but of course I cant be too demanding with the helper who needs constant supervision during the first month.. or worse I may have to do everything myself. Previous maid was able to manage as there is only 1 child to look after. Now that there is Natalie who also require alot of attention from the helper, I think it would be a real tiring confinement period for me. Things may be easier if Chris could stay and extend his paternity leave to the same period of time, but this would never materialise in Singapore. His regional role doesn't allow him to do it either.

6) Hire another maid for the required period?
This seems to be the most popular option supported by Chris. Attractiveness of this is the fact that we could compare the 2 maids and determine which is the stronger worker, of course keeping the better one for the longer term. Extension would be within our control, but only thing is ours is a pretty small place with not much to occupy the time of both domestic helpers. My greatest fear is the clear segregation of duties with both drawing lines on chores and baby sitting..my babies will end up not well looked after and with the short term nature, the maid who ultimately stays may feel a sudden increase of additional workload and I wonder if she would be handle the dual functions as well if not trained from the start.

Sigh.. so many considerations...so little time..

Vacation plans

With the pelvic pain worsening after running for the bus.. I think I would have to shelf the vacation plans aside for now. Wouldn't want the flight to worsen the condition than I am feeling now. Oh well Chris promised a cruise vacation post delivery.. I'll just have to hold him to his words and make sure it happens in spite of his tremendously busy schedule.

Pelvic Pain

Am 29 weeks and 6 days now and am feeling pain in the pelvic area. It worsens as I get heavier. I could literally feel my pelvic area cracking like an egg! Yes, we are using alot of chicken hatching descriptors nowadays cause I literally feel like I'm about to 'hatch' particularly with each jerky brakes in the car. The Pelvic pain accentuates when my bladder is filled; when I wake up from a side sleeping position...which apparently was recommended for pregnant woman to allow sufficient O2 to get to the baby. Twisting and turning in bed became difficult. Getting up takes more the 5 minutes everyday, with everything done in slow motion. I may have put on slightly more than 2 kg over 1 month, but total weight gain so far was 7ish kilos. I don't think I am excessively fat at this stage.. just felling real heavy with the additional weight on the tummy. All my colleagues mentioned that my tummy looks bigger after each weekends.. well at least it's not so apparent on the rest of my body. Consulted the Gynae and she mentioned that it could be due to the extension of my pelvic. I had difficulty delivering Natalie as my pelvic area was extremenly tight and that kept me in labour for almost 16 hours with 1.5 hours of serious pushing. Gynae had no choice but to assist me using forceps. Natalie came out swiftly there after, but I'm not sure if the forceps had widened my pelvic area and contributed to me undergoing this pain that I am experiencing. Gynae suggests that I practice the pelvic floor exercise more frequently and recommends the squatting toilet as a better option to the sitting type. Anyway I read that about half of all pregnant women and about a quarter of women who have already had a baby are thought to have some sort of back or pelvic pain in pregnancy (Wu et al 2004).


As for the type of pelvic pain, I would associate more to Symphysis pubis dysfunction rather than Pelvic Girdle Pain (PGP)which is sometimes also called sacro-iliac joint (SIJ) pain, as that is the name of the joint where problems arise and pain is mostly experienced at the lower back or leg.


As for my pain, it's felt on or around the pubic bone at the front, according to babycentre site this sort of pelvic pain may most likely be symphysis pubis dysfunction (SPD), a condition to do with ligaments in another part of your pelvis. Appended is an extract from babycentre for those who are interested to find out more...

" What is symphysis pubis dysfunction?

The two halves of your pelvis are connected at the front by a stiff joint called the symphysis pubis. This joint is strengthened by a dense network of tough, flexible tissues, called ligaments. To help your baby pass through your pelvis as easily as possible, your body produces a hormone called relaxin, which softens the ligaments.


As a result, these joints move more during and just after pregnancy (Kristiansson 1997; Bjorkland et al 1999; Bjorkland et al 2000), causing inflammation and pain, known as symphysis pubis dysfunction or SPD.


A related condition is diastasis symphysis pubis (DSP), in which the gap in the pubic joint widens too far. The average gap between the bones in a non-pregnant woman is between 4mm and 5mm, and during pregnancy it's normal for this gap to widen by 2mm or 3mm. If the gap is 10mm or more, DSP is diagnosed. It's rare, and can only be identified by X-ray.

What causes SPD?

We are not sure exactly what causes SPD, but it's thought that if one side of the pelvis moves more than the other when you walk or move your legs, the area around the symphysis pubis becomes tender (Buyruk et al 1999; Damen et al 2001). The amount of discomfort isn't related to the size of the gap in the joint. Many women with a normal-sized gap feel a lot of pain.

When does it happen?

SPD can occur at any time during your pregnancy or after giving birth. Many women notice it for the first time around the middle of their pregnancy. If you have SPD in one pregnancy, it is more likely that you'll have it again next time you get pregnant (Shephered 1997: 239-45; Snow 1997: 438-43).


The symptoms may also come on earlier and progress faster, so it is important to seek help promptly. It can help if you allow the symptoms from one pregnancy to settle before trying to conceive another child.

What are the symptoms?

Pain in the pubic area and groin are the most common symptoms. But you may also have the following signs:

• Back pain, pelvic girdle pain or hip pain.
• A grinding or clicking sensation in your pubic area.
• Pain down the inside of your thighs or between your legs. It can be made worse by parting your legs, walking, going up or down stairs or moving around in bed.
• Worse pain at night. It can stop you sleeping well and getting up to go to the toilet in the middle of the night can be especially painful.

How is it diagnosed?

SPD is becoming more widely understood by doctors, physiotherapists and midwives. Your doctor or midwife should refer you to a physiotherapist who will have experience in treating it. She will diagnose it by listening to your description of your symptoms and by testing the stability, movement and pain in your pelvic joints (Kristiansson and Svardsudd 1996; Vleeming et al 2002; De Groot et al 2006).

How is it treated?

SPD is often managed in the same way as pelvic girdle pain, and treatment will include:

• Exercises, especially for the tummy and pelvic floor muscles, to improve the stability of your pelvis and back (Richardson et al 2002; Van Wingerden et al 2004). You may need gentle, hands-on treatment of your hip, back or pelvis to correct stiffness or imbalance. Exercise in water can sometimes be useful.
• You should also be given advice on how to make daily activities less painful and on how to make the birth of your baby easier. Your midwife should help you to write a birth plan which takes into account your SPD symptoms.
• Acupuncture may help, but make sure your practitioner is trained and experienced in working with pregnant women (Bourne 2007; Elden et al 2007; Kvorning et al 2004; Lund et al 2006; Ternov et al 2001).
• Osteopathy and chiropractic may help, but again, make sure you see registered practitioner who is experienced in treating pregnant women.
• A pelvic support belt will give quick relief (Mens et al 2006; Ostgaard et al 1994; Vleeming, 1992).

Self-help tips

There are things you can do yourself to ease your pain:

• Regular pelvic floor and tummy exercises can ease the strain on your pelvis. Get down onto your hands and knees and level your back so that it is roughly flat. Breathe in and then as you breathe out, squeeze in your pelvic floor muscles and at the same time pull your belly button in and up. Hold this contraction for between five and 10 seconds without holding your breath and without moving your back. Relax the muscles slowly at the end of the exercise.
• Avoid moving your legs apart when your back is slumped or you are lying down. Take care when getting in and out of the car, bed or bath. If you are lying down, pulling your knees up as far as you can stops your pelvis from moving and makes it easier to part your legs. If you are sitting, try arching your back and sticking your chest out before parting or moving your legs, as this also helps to stop the pelvis from moving.
• Avoid pushing through any pain. If something hurts, if possible don't do it. If the pain is allowed to flare up, it can take a long time to settle down again.
• Move little and often. You may not feel the effects of what you are doing until later in the day or after you have gone to bed.
• Rest regularly by sitting on an exercise or birth ball or by getting down on your hands and knees. This takes the weight of the baby off your pelvis and holds it in a stable position.
• Avoid heavy lifting or pushing. Supermarket trolleys can often make your pain worse, so shop online or ask someone to shop for you.
• When climbing stairs, go up them one step at a time. Step up onto one step with your best leg and then bring your other leg to meet it. Repeat with each step. Only use stairs when you have to.
• Avoid swimming breaststroke and take care with other strokes. You may feel swimming is helping your pain while you are in the water, but it could make you feel worse when you get out.
• When getting dressed, sit down to pull on your knickers or trousers.

How soon after I've had my baby will I recover from SPD?

Most women find that their symptoms improve after their baby is born, although some still have pain when their babies are a year old (Owens et al 2002). Carry on with physiotherapy after the birth and get help with looking after your baby during the early weeks if you can. Some ex-sufferers find the pain recurs every month just before their period is due. This is caused by hormones which have a similar effect to the pregnancy hormone relaxin."

Running for the bus

Ran for the bus this morning, it was one of those unfortunate occasions where chris had to report to camp and couldn't drop me at the work place. What's worse.. I woke up super early,not wanting to miss the bus but all went havoc when the usual bus came really late and I saw my company's shuttle zipping past. Thinking that I still might have a chance at catching it, I dashed off the SBS bus but only to get the company's bus door shut right in my face! One guy at the bus stop saw me running and he gave me a really shocked face! I must have been quite a sight running with my humongous tummy!

Anyway since it was still early I thought why not take a train to work? So happily I got on the north east line to head to the west. As I wasn't aware of where the circle  line would take me , I stupidly went around most of the stations before reaching my destination. It took me an hour and a half. Naturally I was late and worse because I asked my assistant for direction, she waited for me and end up getting late as well. Fortunately nothing major happened at work. Though we were missed, but because we were both not around it was easier to come up with a reasonable excuse.

Moral of the story? never trust the bus system! All these wouldn't have happened if I am the one driving and chris taking the public transport.

Boy's names

It's so difficult thinking of a nice sounding English name and worse when it comes to Chinese version.

Chris came back with Han seng and everyone thought it sounded quite nice, but wait till he tells you the English version .... He said we should consider naming him VERY and spell the Chinese name as HANDSOME = Very handsome. I nearly fell off my chair. And this started a roaring discussion on a list of hilarious Chinese names:

His surname is huang, so adding the middle names we came up with:-
Huang di
Huang Shan
Huang fei hong
Huang ting
Huang gong
Huang Shang

Must find a way to get them written in Chinese characters....

Nat and the maid

Mum told us that Natalie did a most amazing thing last afternoon. She demonstrated her staff management skills! Here's what happened...

Scene: mum was in the room, and saw that one of the cupboard was not cleaned properly so she was just casually complaining to Natalie about it.

Mum: Mimi is going to get into trouble with mummy. See she hasn't been doing her job well. The cupboard is still in a mess.

Natalie: oh what happened? ... Wait po po.

Natalie steps out of the room and called for Mimi.

Natalie: Mimi come, what happened? Mimi never clean properly. Ma ma will be angry.

Mimi was shaking when she heard this coming from a 2 years old. She apologized and apologized to mum and Natalie for doing a half baked job.

Anyway mum was so amazed with Natalie that she wasn't angry with Mimi anymore.

This young little girl is fast transforming into a young lady! I am so envious of the time mum and Mimi spends with her!

So feel like taking a vacation

Am now 29 weeks pregnant but i so feel like traveling with Chris and Natalie. Chris would be going to Sydney for almost a week and I want to tag along too! sigh I must be feeling really deprived these days... Thinking about the confinement month and all the hustle associated with the newborn...I so want a vacation this round! Last when I had Natalie we planned for a short weekend drive away to legends at johor but that didn't materialize since natalie decides to arrive on my first day of leave. This time round we wanted to plan for an earlier trip but our schedule didn't permit. So June seems like the only closest chance I'll ever have to a get away!

I think it should be quite safe ya... Since I am still a while away from hatch day!

Ladybug goes to school