Busy Nov

Nov is a busy month for me at work...every weekend is packed with events...

My desk is very cluttered and I need to spend at least 2 days tidying up my filing...maybe I will do that in dec...sigh....

Nov is also a busy month for me for my personal events....I m moving house this month!!! On top of all these, I m worrying about my twins...they are so much smaller than yy at 21 weeks..one of them even had measurement that falls out of the normal range!

So worried :(

Had to tell myself to take it easy...

All my troubles momentarily went away whenever I see her....

I can feel them....

I can feel them kicking...it's not my 1st pregnancy...

I m still thrilled and excited feeling them move...

The thing is which one is is kicking? :)

We have given them names...Yu Xuan (宇萱） and Yu Wei （宇薇）...

WXY - Wei, Xuan, Yan...you see... :)

the names sound nice and feminine...and they go well with Yu Yan（宇嫣） :)

Home reno jitters

Renovation is a hassle...

Anything and everything can go wrong.

To think that we spent a bomb on purchasing the flat and another bomb on the reno...

I feel like pulling my hair whenever things dun turn out as what is seen from the 3D drawings.


Hair tugging moments

I was so worried about our aircon trunking...seeing some really bad ones done up in some homes...

Alas, ours turned out quite concealed and 'invisible'...relieved...

We had issues with the plaster walls, some were not as useable and pretty-looking as in the drawings..we had them rectified in the nick of time...

The kitchen sink concrete stand and the washing machines concrete base had us up in arms too. We protest and got their measurements changed.

Painting was not done entirely according to our instructions; but heck, maybe the contractor knows best...who knows?

Lights and fan are up but we were not a bit wee surprised that something will have to go wrong...the fan regulator is not in line with the light switches.


Hair pulling moment of the whole reno process

Carpentry works start.

Every single carpentry item = Needs some form of rectification

From the wardrobe to the kitchen cabinet to the shoe cabinet to the TV console....they look so wrong...

I shudder in fear to see how the most expensive item in our reno contract turns out eventually...mr Fat says he got it all sorted out with the contractor...I hope he's right...


Minor works not done yet : fixing of accessories, curtains, installation of water and gas...

We will see how lor...see how...


View from my service yard takes the heat away from the reno jitters

It's been a while....

Hiyo!

It's been a really long time...

I suppose no one come into this blog and check if I m doing any updates now...

Been really really buzy.

Updates

Our new flat has arrived and is currently undergoing renovation.

I m preggie again...this time round I m expecting a pair of identical twins!!! They are gals, so by next year Mar, I would have 3 daughters :D

This time round, the pregnancy is much tougher and I need to put on more weight to make sure that the babies are carried to full term. Twins are normally premature....

We just bought a new car and need to get a maid by Jan next year...money, money....

Yuyan

Yuyan is growing very fast...her lingusitic ability sometimes astonishes us...

She learn and form words and actions almost instantly by observing your mouth and facial expressions. She's a very good imitator.

Words she can pronounce quite accurately: Ah Ma, Mama, Papa, apple, banana-na-na, Ah Pek, Yi-Er, Pear, Hello, Yellow, No-no-no (with fingers waving), Ah Gu, Ah Yi, Mei mei, Cher Cher, Ya ya, ball, ah Pen, bear bear, baby

Actions she can perform given verbal cues: point to nose, belly, face, eyes, ears, feet and mouth (she can even point to these body parts of a soft toy), kisses with muack sounds, pan kisses, clap hands (she loves to get people clapping for her), twinkle twinkle little star (hands open and close), hug soft toys, pat you on your shoulder, sayang mei mei (aka my stomach)

Toys she play: keyboard piano (play with her index fingers and feet), telephone (place receiver at ear and say helo, helo, helo!), put balls into containers, put anything that resemble a hat on her head, tear stickers and put them back, ply off magnets and place them back...

Food she now eats: she eats rice, porridge, pancakes, vego, fish, potato, carrots, spinach, bread, biscuits, pork, eggs, papaya, apple, banana now...she has about 8 teeth (4 on top and 4 at the bottom now)...she now drink little milk...

She has mastered the art of crawling all over, high and low and knows how to get down from a higher place safely. She understand when and wat not to touch when you glare at her and warn her...She will try her luck and move her hands towards the thing while peering if you are watching...She loves to play with ice, empty cold bottles...she loves flipping things over and throwing puzzle pieces all over...

She loves to imitate you brushing your teeth by sticking one finger into her mouth. She loves to drink her medicine and even imitate coughing to have you feed her the syrup with the syringe. She laughs when you nei nei nei bo bo her...she is the most happy when you bring her out of the house...she is the most dazed when you put her in a carseat as she could not do anything except to stare out of the car window...

She is now taking her few unassisted steps...

and she is only 12 months and 3 weeks!!!

I sound like those proud mothers but I can't help but marvel at how fast and well she grows :D

Some random photos of yuyan, the soon-to-be big sister...

















I love this photo of her...looks like me when I was her age...will go and search for my photo and post it up!


















Both yy and me celebrated our birthdays at the NTUC Downtown East Chalet on 20 Sept 2008. She celebrated her first bdae while I celebrated my 29th bdae...obviously, mr fat has been maintaining if not, increasing his weight...














She loves to flank off mr fat's spectacles whenever he carry her...














A gift from her ah-gu (the smelly uncle) - she loves to take the driver's seat and pretend that she is one of the F1 drivers, complete with boom boom, po po sounds...













She sways with ABC music videos on youtube, claps and nods her head as if catching the rhythm when her uncle and auntie play their guitars...

The Evolution of Parenthood

Got this off one mother's blog...

Your Clothes

1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your OB/GYN confirms your pregnancy.

2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible.

3rd baby: Your maternity clothes are your regular clothes.


The Baby’s Name

1st baby: You pore over baby-name books and practice pronouncing and writing combinations of all your favourites.

2nd baby: Someone has to name their kid after your great-aunt Mavis, right? It might as well be you.

3rd baby: You open a name book, close your eyes, and see where your finger falls. Bimaldo? Perfect!


Preparing for the Birth

1st baby: You practice your breathing religiously.

2nd baby: You don’t bother practicing because you remember that last time, breathing didn’t do a thing.

3rd baby: You ask for an epidural in your 8th month.


The Layette

1st baby: You pre-wash your newborn’s clothes, color-coordinate them, and fold them neatly in the baby’s little bureau.

2nd baby: You check to make sure that the clothes are clean and discard only the ones with the darkest stains.

3rd baby: Boys can wear pink, can’t they?


Pacifier

1st baby: If the pacifier falls on the floor, you put it away until you can go home and wash and boil it.

2nd baby: When the pacifier falls on the floor, you squirt it off with some juice from the baby’s bottle.

3rd baby: You wipe it off on your shirt and pop it back in.


Diapering

1st baby: You change your baby’s diapers every hour, whether they need it or not.

2nd baby: You change their diaper every 2 to 3 hours, if needed.

3rd baby: You try to change their diaper before others start to complain about the smell or you see it sagging to their knees.


Worries

1st baby: At the first sign of distress - a whimper, a frown - you pick up the baby.

2nd baby: You pick the baby up when her wails threaten to wake your firstborn.

3rd baby: You teach your 3-year-old how to rewind the mechanical swing.


Activities

1st baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, Baby Swing, and Baby Story Hour.

2nd baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics.

3rd baby: You take your infant to the supermarket and the dry cleaner.


Going Out

1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a sitter, you call home 5 times.

2nd baby: Just before you walk out the door, you remember to leave a number where you can be reached.

3rd baby: You leave instructions for the sitter to call only if she sees blood.


At Home

1st baby: You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby.

2nd baby: You spend a bit of every day watching to be sure your older child isn’t squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby.

3rd baby: You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children.

Gals meetup

Had a little meetup with frens from my secondary school...

We have known each other for 15 years! gasp!

Well, we are no longer teenyboppers...more like babyboppers..hahaha!

Debbie and I brought our daughters along to the gathering..(hers still in her tummy! arriving on mother earth in may!)

A bit disappointed WQ and SP are not able to join us though...

How time flies....

Photos courtesy of Cyn

Potty training

Never too young to learn...

Rasterbator

The Rasterbator creates huge, rasterized images from any picture. Upload an image, print the resulting multi-page pdf file and assemble the pages into extremely cool looking poster up to 20 meters in size.

Pretty cool when you put the 'dotted' papers together...a cheap and nice wall poster....

It looks better with more papers and gaps in between to create the 'window' effect...here's a cool example from the website...

Everyday

I brave the crowded buses (yes, I need to take two buses in order to reach home!) to go back home from work....

I reach home exhausted but relieved and happy to see yy smiling at me..sigh :)

I carry her and play with her till dinnertime and after dinnertime...

---> insert mr Fat....He reaches home after 8plus and sometimes 10plus to play with her...

She now only takes one half hour nap at night and that is enough for me to wash up and relax...

Only when she falls asleep at 10plus, sometimes 11...

that's when I finally can settle down to chill in front of the TV...

Before I fall into slumber before 12....

I wake up at 3am to check on her and at 6am to prepare to go to work...

then I brave the crowded buses and train to go to work again....

That's my every working day

PS: nowadays, mr Fat fetches me from home to work, thank goodness...

What happens when Baby Yuyan gets too excited?

When a baby is born so is a mother

Very true indeed...

I only became a mother after yy was born.

The idea of me being a mother only sank in when I came home with yy from hospital...

I was exhausted and overwhelmed by the huge amount of responsibilities suddenly heaped onto my shoulders....

Life changes after you become a mother and it is never the same again.

I did not have a good sleep for the longest time...only managed an average of 3 hours of sleep every nite for 1st two months...

Even now, after she can sleep through the nite, it is almost unimaginable to sleep till late morning on weekends like I used to do..

No more frequent mahjong sessions, every-weekend outings, frequent friends' gathering, impromptu shopping sprees....I had to plan my time around her and make sure that she is well taken care of...

After I became a mother, I look at my mum and dad in a totally new way. They have never looked so 'big' and 'strong' before...

How on earth did they manage to raise up 3 kids and put 2 of them through university? how in the world did they do that with a meagre household income of $2k? how did they manage when the kids are sick? I started asking them these questions and a lot more...

Motherhood = thankless job.

Not that you expect your child to thank you....It is just that you will do everything for the child wiithout needing him/her to thank you.

There were times I wanted to give up and let her cry for all she want...I dun care...

But I can't.

I care. She's my daughter and I'm her mother.

I m the only one whom she can depend on for food, comfort, sleep. (ok, not the only one as there's still grandmum)

and my mum is the only one i can depend on. (see, it's a cycle!)

I m glad that my mum is with me, supporting me even after I became a mother myself...

I do hope I would be there to support yy when she gets married and become a mother...

You love your children so much that you will worry about them all the rest of your life.

My pillar of support with yy...

Prelude to my first cry

When I was in mummy's tummy, I made mummy craved for fries, watermelon and beehoon cooked with pig trotters.

Mummy has no morning sickness, no constipation when she was carrying me ;)

However, I did give her a bit of backache when I got a bit heavy in the 3rd trimester.

While in her tummy, I got the opportunity to travel to thailand, hongkong and xiamen. Mummy played a lot of mahjong when i was in her tummy and daddy, mummy joked that when i came out, i would respond to the words 'Pong' and 'Hu'.

Dr Jocelyn Wong from ACJ, TMC is my mummy's gynae. She is a pretty and gentle lady. Mummy loves going to her clinic as she could get to see me bobbing in the scan.

Mummy has intended to induce me on Monday, 1 Oct 2007, Children's Day since there were absolutely no signs of me coming out since her maternity leave (from 24 Sept 07).

I guess I wanted my own birthday and decided to come out on my EDD, 29 Sept instead ;)

My first cry....to be continued....

Changes

As you can see from the sidebars of my blog...I have removed my not-so-new year resolutions and replacing them with baby yuyan's milestones.

I have also put in some of my must-read-daily links at the side...

Having a baby really changes everything...including the sites you surf...

I will introducing changes to my blog every now and then...

give me more time, yah? ;)

My first little post!

Yo everyone!!!!

I'm YUYAN also known as little fishball by my daddy, mummy and their friends...

As you can see from the picture above, I m very HIP ;)

Mummy is helping me to type all these out as I narrate with my babbling baby language (only comprehended by mummy).

I was born on 29 Sept 2007, 3.04pm. My last meal in mummy's tummy was Peking Duck Pizza from California Pizza Kitchen before mummy started feeling 'temors' in her tummy..

Before I babble on how I 'arrived', I would like to narrate how mummy first discovered she was preggie with me ;)

Mummy's pregnant with me!

Mummy knew something was happening to her body but she wasn't sure...

Her thailand trip with the gals was terrible for her becoz of her traveller's tummy condition...

After the trip, she continued to have loose stools...she was tinking that something is happening to her body...

Mummy's fungal infection came back and she was waiting for her menses to come to offer some relief...

But it did not come...it was late for the first time, at least for 4 days...

Could she be...? she thought, cannot be leh, no symptoms leh...and loose stools is not definitely not a symptom!

There was a YEC meeting tonight... She left office early to do some grocery-shopping as she plan to cook Japanese curry with roti prata for daddy.

Something else (me!) was tugging in her mind, she caved in to her mind and scooted over to Guardian Pharmacy to get a pregnancy test kit.

She reached home, feeling really hungry, started to prepare the ingredients for the curry...

she had forgotten about the test kit...

Daddy reached home before she could start cooking....

He took over the chopping board and she went to take a bath..then she remembered the kit....

She showed Daddy what she had bought, his eyes lighted up.

"Test now!.. right after you bathe..."

"Ok...dun be disappointed if the results is not what you expected, k?"

She brought a plastic medicine container and the kit into the bathroom.

After bathing, she peed into the container...using the provided dropper, she collected a few drops of urine...

Putting the test kit on the table, she brought the dropper over it and squeeze the dropper...with daddy's eyes nver leaving the kit...

Then to their surprise, they saw a positive sign on the test kit!!!

Suddenly, they were stumped for words for at least a few seconds....It took a while to sink in..that they are going to have ME!

They started babbling about when and how did it happen. (its funny when they talked non-stop) They planned to have me this year after Mummy passes her driving test, but they did not expect me to pop out so soon!

They also tried to calculate and second-guess my due date...

I'm going to be a libra, like Daddy and a little golden piggy like grandpa!

Daddy and Mummy were excited but a bit apprehensive about the preg kit test. Daddy even stopped his cooking and ran down to buy another more expensive test kit from clearblue.

Tested again, positive again! :D Can't deny my existence!

They were elated and excited to inform my grandparents..

Mummy called my grandmummy and told her the news. My little auntie and granddaddy got wind of their conversation.

Daddy stopped short of informing his parents. He thought it would be better if they could confirm my existence with the gynae before informing his parents.

Daddy decided to cook something simple and more nutritious instead of curry as they were too excited to even have dinner.

They decided not to tell anyone until after 3 months, after I m stabilised in mummy's womb.

Daddy and mummy could barely contain their excitement!

To be continued.....

I'm back!.... with a little fishball in tow!

Ok, it's been a while since I update my blog...its been like about a year?

A lot of good stuff happened within this long period...It's hard for me to now recall every single one...

Looking back at 2007, I did not fulfil all my resolutions except for one...and that was to get a driving licence...

Btw, I no longer need to put my 'P' plate ... ha!

Something happened in my life and because of that, I threw my new year resolutions aside and started my life journey differently...

That something that happened was the most wonderful thing i have ever experienced...it was the arrival of lil' fishball...

My baby gal.

I have actually started a blog about her when I discovered I was pregnant but did not get around updating it.... and I tink that it's a chore to have two blogs (I can't even manage one!)

So...I m going to create an user ID for her so that she can post her OWN entries...

just use your imagination lah! that my baby gal aka lil' fishball is updating her own entries while she was in my womb, when she's out....

let's welcome lil' fishball!

黑暗

突然，我觉得好累。。。
听了《彩虹》就像它讲的：
“也许时间是一种解药，
也是我现在服下的毒药。”

在朋友精神上的资助，
我还在寻找我的灯光。
好几次，好想对妈妈说对不起。。。
我也忍住泪水继续走下去。

我看不到梦想，
也看不到希望。
我看不到自己有多好，
更觉得自己越来越渺小。

我仍然还是得活下去。
我仍然还是要挨下去。
走着走着，
走向我看不见的未来。

有人说，失望会让人长大。
事实上，我很从来不希望长大。
十年前，我早就被自己打败了。
这个不属于我的世界。。。