Thursday, November 24, 2016

Feeling Blessed

The little one is almost 10 months old! Oh my, how time flies huh. He's a really great kid, who is ready to give a happy shriek when he sees his daddy (he's actually said baba, dada, papa), gong gong, lola and nanny.

Was reading on facebook about how one of my gf's kid is sick. It's inevitable once the kid starts going to childcare, since they are faced with so many other kids with all kinds of germs passing from one to the other. With the limited exposure babyAC is getting, since he isn't in any pre-school yet, his health has been pretty good. We're blessed.

He's started sounding words, and I think he's trying to say "apple". It sounds more like eh-ba though. Still waiting for him to say mama.

And we've gotten his passport done! He was a champ and nailed the passport photo on the first try. Handsome boy la. So we're ready to go for our first trip to Indonesia on his birthday. (Maybe we can squeeze in a short getaway this year? *looks at +3*)

I'm also quite pleased that he doesn't have a million, billion toys. He's got a rabbit rattle, a stuffed dinosaur (or is it a dragon), a dragon hand puppet, a set of stacking cups, those shape sorting blocks, a "piano" thing that was part of a play gym from when he was smaller, a handphone, and a toy walkman which plays different tunes when you press the buttons. Oh and a few bath toys as well.

Ok it sounds more than I imagined but I know parents who buy a lot more stuff. Plus I think these toys will last for quite a while, and we don't buy stuff that often anyway. I prefer buying books instead, and the little one has a few that he likes: The Very Hungry Caterpillar as well as The Gruffalo.

I think I've gotten his schedule figured out too. He wakes up at about 7ish, when +3 is about to go to work. So sometimes we laze in bed, or sometimes we send daddy to the door. Sometimes he wakes at 6ish for a feed, and I try to get him to sleep for another hour or so. These days he's been waking up at about 8am.

We then have breakfast, and I'll have some oats and he will have his cereal. I give him a slice of toast to chew on occasionally but he usually likes squishing it in his hands instead. Then we lie in bed reading, or I'll put him in his playpen while I do some laundry. We play for an hour or two, and he is ready for nap by 9ish.

On good days he sleeps for 2 hours, but it's usually an hour or hour and a half. Wake up, and play some more, walking around in his crib or crawling in bed or on the playmat in his room. If nanny comes over, she usually bathes him (otherwise I just bathe him at night).

I prepare lunch, and depending on how tired he is, we usually play or walk around the house, or read more books, or sometimes watch youtube videos (exercise while babywearing!) till it's time for nap. His afternoon naptime ranges from 1ish to 3ish, but usually he is out by 2pm.

In the afternoon, I prepare dinner and then we play in his room or in bed. Sometimes I'll take a walk downstairs with him in my carrier. Or if I'm not too lazy I take him out to the shops. Usually if I go out, I'll make plans to meet +3 after work so we can have dinner outside.

After dinner, +3 spends some time playing with babyAC and then we get him ready for his evening bath at about 8ish. I shower with him, +3 gets him ready and dressed in his pajamas, and then when I'm done with my shower, I feed him and get him to sleep. If he's still not too tired, we let him play till he gets abit cranky (tired) and then get him to sleep. Usually he's out by 9ish, sometimes 10ish.

He still doesn't sleep through the night and tends to wake for feeding at about midnight, 2ish and 6ish. Frankly, I'm so super glad I'm not working so I'm able to be there for him all the time.

Anyway, I can't imagine that this time last year I was wobbling around with a big belly. The little one isn't that little anymore and hopefully our family of three will be blessed to be a family of four (or five?).

No, not pregnant yet though. Praying, praying. Hehehe.

Thursday, November 17, 2016

9.5 Months and Other Updates

Quick update on the little one. His fourth, fifth and sixth teeth are coming out!

He can also walk if he's got something to hold on to for support, and currently we've only let him stand up on his own if he is in the crib or playpen (or if we are holding on to him).

He is getting better at taking solids, and quite enjoys his rice cereals. He still loves bananas and will open his mouth wide to chomp off a bite.

My brother came to town last weekend to attend KH's wedding. +3 was away on a business trip to China so I was staying with my parents for a couple of days, but went back home to wait for my brother after he arrived late Thursday night (Friday morning).

KH picked him up from the airport and he met up with the guys for a bit before heading to my place. And he came with prata and teh tarek! Had a quick chat while I stuffed my face and went to bed after.

Went to the parents place on Friday to kill time before we had dinner with the relatives. Went to the mall and walked around, and had a nice catch up. +3 joined us after he arrived from his trip.

Sat was KH's wedding so we didn't do much with my brother. It was a morning reception and he came back in the afternoon and we headed to Ah Dong tea house by the river for dinner. Took a night stroll along the river after.

My brother was flying back on Sunday so we went to the parents place early morning for brekkie and then off to the airport he went.

I love that babyAC really enjoyed playing with my brother and I love that they seemed to have a good time together. Makes me miss that my siblings are all on different continents. But that's how it is.

Sunday, November 6, 2016

Midnight Movie Binging

Oooh what a night! Came over to my parent's place for dinner. Mom was out for her line dancing class, and we weren't particularly hungry, so everyone decided to wait till she came back so we could eat together. Had dinner at almost 8pm, and as usual, watched some TV at the same time. 

The Omen was showing, so we stayed a little later than usual to finish watching the movie, while my nanny helped to take care of babyAC (yay!). According to my dad, the original movie was much better than the one we watched.

The next movie that was showing on TV was Nightcrawler. It had a pretty good rating on IMDB so I asked +3 if we could stay a bit later to watch the movie. The baby was sleeping so we continued watching the show. 

It was quite enjoyable, but by the time it ended, it was close to midnight so my dad suggested that we stay the night. Since we weren't going anywhere, dad and I channel surfed (the next movie showing was The Arena, which was apparently really crappy), and watched some Hong Kong movie called Curry & Pepper. Turns out it's an action comedy type show with Stephen Chow and Jacky Cheung. 

Three movies in one night! Plus we watched Spirited Away and Totoro at home in the morning. Wah that's FIVE movies. What a treat! 

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Wait, It's November Already?

In the blink of an eye, October passed by and we're left with 2 more months of 2016. This October.. 

- We went to my parent's place to countdown to my birthday. Had cake at midnight and made an impromptu decision to stay the night since it was way past babyAC's bedtime. It had been a while since we did something spontaneous like that. The cake (mango something) was yummy and not too sweet and with everyone having 2 slices, there weren't any leftovers. 

- Took the parents out for lunch at Dian Xiao Er at Waterway Point to celebrate my birthday. Good food which everyone enjoyed. Walked around for a bit after and the parents went home while +3 and I got ourselves a toaster. TOAST! 

- babyAC has learnt to stand up by himself by pulling himself up in the crib. He has since learnt how to walk by slowly inching across the rails, holding it for support. Now that he can stand up and sort of walk around, we put him in the crib before bed to make him exhausted so he falls asleep faster. 

- As a "birthday present", +3 said that babyAC could sleep in the bed with us for the month. I realised that I can't really go through with CIO sleep training, so I still rock and pat babyAC to sleep now. It may take him longer to learn how to sleep on his own, but I'm sure he will get there soon enough. 

- BabyAC's two front teeth have cut through! He now has 4 teeth and happily flashes his pearly whites while smiling. He now says bababababa and aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh and sometimes chuckles (hehehe) too. Still trying to get him to say mama! 

- Had an appointment with the pediatrician and she is happy with his growth and development. He isn't putting on as much weight because he is a lot of physically active now, but otherwise all is well. He can clap his hands too! 

- Metamorphoenix celebrated her 50th birthday at 1-altitude and we went to join in the celebrations. Mum made a purple bat-hat so that babyAC would have something to fit the theme of the party, Deep Purple. Didn't stay long but it was nice to be able to share the happy day with her. 

- Some of the neighbours organised a halloween gathering at the outdoor dining facility. Kids got dressed up and we prepared treats to give away. Perfect chance to reuse the bat-hat. Hehehe. Nice to get to know our neighbours and hopefully we will get to organise more get-togethers in the future. 

Think that is mostly it. Time is passing so quickly!