Growing Expectations - Week 35 and About Cravings Among Other Things

Just so I will remember FOREVER.

For the early part of both pregancies, I had morning sickness - the ALL DAY queasiness that, under certain "triggers", can cause me to throw up. I couldn't brush my teeth without gagging from the bristles brushing my gums. Certain smells and even perfumes would put me off.  My favourite foods like bread and chocolates became unpalatable because they would leave an unpleasant after taste. Overly sweet things were also a prob. Needless to say, during those early months, I lost some weight.

Thankfully, by the second trimester, my appetite would return and I can once again indulge. But then my tastebuds would be somewhat different. Things I normally will not eat, I will eat in great abundance :P

With Janine, my "favourite" food items would alternate between noodles, particularly wanton mee, and curry. ANY kind of curry! The spicier, the better!!! In fact, I was slurping up so much curry, that my tolerance for spicy stuff went up. But only in the curry department. Eating cut chillies or belachan for that matter was a totally different ball game. I attribute my curry and noodle loving phase to the fact that both food stuff didn't leave a funny taste in my mouth.

For No. 2, while I don't have any cravings in particular I do have a steeper inclination towards things that are NATURALLY sweet. Other than that, there have been no foodstuff that I particularly yearn for :P So I have been, until recently, been able to eat moderately and not excessively. So weight gain has been very controllled. HOWEVER, in the last month or so, I have become a carbo lover! Biscuits, breads, chocolates, sugars...I will snack and snack and snack on them! Who cares if I had a very filling lunch just an hour ago!

Good grief!

I do hope the fats I am accumulating now will "melt" away when I breastfeed No. 2!

Well, more updates on the growing little one:

- She is now 2.4kg
- She is still headdown and apparently pretty shy. We can't seem to catch her face on the ultrasound anymore :P
- Her movements, while still a lot, is not as vigorous as they were. I think she is running out of space so she can't really stretch her legs anymore! Hoho.

Tattoos

I like the fact that WE like the fact that WE have matching "Dora the explorer" tattoos on our arms. ^^

At the moment, I am going along with the idea that if she plays around with these temp tattoos long enough, it will eventually stave off any desire in her to ever get a REAL one. Methinks it's the forbidden fruit mentality - the more you object, the more she will want to do it. Honestly, I know this argument can both ways. But for now, we are having some fun with this stick-on tattoo business :P I am still praying though that I won't ever have to cross THIS bridge on REAL tattoos with my children ever *faint*

Great Expectations - Week 33 And The Name Game

So the NEXT question A LOT of people have been asking us is "Have you thought of a name yet?"

Yes...and no.

While, we have settled on the English name, we are having some problems with the Chinese one

Essentially, we want a name for No. 2 that means "thanksgiving"

Why are we putting so much energy into this name thing? Because I believe a name blesses a child with the attributes that that name brings. Furthermore, it also testifies to others what this child means to us.

However, because this is no.2 and I just LOVE to complicate and make things difficult for myself, I have also added OTHER criterias to the "perfect" name for no. 2. Like PREFERABLY should start with "J", have X no. of letters in the name, English and Chinese name should parallel each other, etc. Analism does that to you. Idealism too. Mix that with years of having your own or other people's name "mutilated" by "well-meaning" friends, teachers and relatives and even oneself! And, well, you get the "perfect" recipe of a mother with name issues! Haha!

Oh well, (less than!) 2 more months. Hopefully we will settle on something.

We better lah!

Anyway, more info on the growing little one at 33 weeks:

- She is now slightly more than 2kg
- She is still head down (good!)
- She is considered quite "low" already so she MAY come at 38 weeks? Well, let's see how eager she is to meet the world :P I don't mind. Don't exactly relish having to labour on my birthday :P

What Holiday?!

Just as the school holidays roll in, so does the flu bug! And so vicious is this bug that it steam rolls not just one person but two! And it CONTINUES on its destructive path by striking down whoever is within 1m of the last person it infected.

It first started last Sunday with Janine and I coming down with the flu. Janine was the worse of the two of us as she developed not only a fever that lasted a couple of days, but an extrememly congested nose that resulted in her hacking away, even while she is sleeping! Her coughing can get so bad that it would at times even cause her to throw up whatever little she had eaten those few days :( What a bummer for the little girl.

A trip to the doctors thankfully dispelled any fears that she could have developed some sort of infection (which would mean pumping her with antibiotics...yucks!) or bronchitis (which may mean even more serious medication...double yucks!). So all we have to do is give her "normal" medication to manage her leaky nose which is causing her incessant coughing.

And THEN, just when we are on the road to recovery, BOTH my mom and my helper are starting to feel that itchy scratchy feeling in their throats! BAH! So looks like this WHOLE week of supposed holiday will be spent nursing ourselves and the little girl back to optimum health. Whatever wonderful plans I had in store (like bringing her to Go-Go Bambini's this week) are flying out the window. Honestly, this flu bug couldn't have struck at a better time! *sulk* Then again, I guess I AM thankful that it IS the flu bug and not something more serious. And AT LEAST she managed to catch her Disney on Ice show last Saturday, which I hope makes up for this crappy week she is enduring. Sigh.

Random conversations - Just like you

M: Janine...what are you doing?
J: I am painting my fingers.
M (mock horror): Why are you painting your fingers?!
J: Cos I want to be like my Mama (KY's mom)...
M: ...

Disney on Ice: Princess Wishes

Ahhh...the school holidays are here! And what better way to begin it then with a trip to the Singapore Indoor Stadium to watch Disney on Ice: Princess Wishes!

I would have brought her myself only I had my gynae appointment to go to, so the task fell on her Mama (KY's mom) to take her. And, like with the Thomas show we brought her to last year, she was equally thrilled about going for the Disney on Ice show. She was telling EVERYONE that "I am going with Mama to see Disney princess tomorrow" [Note: Janine uses "tomorrow" for anything that will happen in the future. Hence, something that will happen next week will be classified as "tomorrow". Similarly, anything that happens in the past, no matter how long ago, is considered "yesterday". Concept of time still not there yet, but it's interesting the associations she makes between events and when they are held.]

So, did she enjoy the show? OF COURSE! According to KY's mom, she sat through the first half of the show without moving an inch from her Mama's lap and so enraptured was she by all the dancing and ice skating, her eyes were practically glued to the little ice platform in the middle of the stadium. She only decided to stretch her legs and "skate" during the second half but I daresay she had a jolly good time at the show. And to make the deal even sweeter, she SUCCESSFULLY managed to badger her mama to buy the "Ariel" mermaid doll after the show! She has this thing for mermaids at the moment, and the "Ariel" doll being able to shed her "tail" for legs only intrigued her more I guess. That and maybe the fact that Ariel was the star of the show? Well, she was one happy little girl that Saturday afternoon.

Here is the princess striking a princess pose!

Like how the Mastercard advertisement would put it:

Price for tickets - $XX
Price for buying doll at the show - $YY
Letting your daughter have a good time with her Mama and to see the smile on her face - PRICELESS

Some things money really cannot buy. That said, if it takes money to bring about that PRICELESS situation, then I say its money well spent and I will spend it again! Hoho!

Well, THANKS Mom for helping me bring Janine to the show! AND for the doll too!

NO WATER!

A water pipe burst somewhere on the school compounds today and has left us high and dry literally! Not a single drop of water is coming up from the taps in our block! That means no way to bathe, wash clothes, wash dishes, and even GO TO THE TOILET TO ANSWER NATURE's CALL!

Apparently some taps (and showers) in the other block are still dispensing life-giving water, so hopes not all lost for the 400+ boarders staying under our roof. AND there is a water truck, despatched by PUB, stationed outside for us to gather pails of water for our needs. So, conditions in the hall are still "liveable", a tad bit inconvenient and slightly chaotic BUT still can tahan! Lol

Nonetheless, WE (KY, Janine, our helper Janice and myself) have "uprooted" ourselves momentarily to seek "refuge" at my parents' place until this little crisis has blown over!

It's times like this (and sadly ONLY at times like this) I realise and appreciate just how blessed we are to live in a country where there is RUNNING WATER! Just turn the faucet and TA-DAH! Call me spoilt or a clean freak, but I cannot for the life of me imagine staying and living somewhere where CLEAN water is not so readily available. If ever I will have to "weather" such conditions, I REALLY pray God will give me the sanity to "endure" it all.

Mr Cane

There's a new "addition" to the family - Mr Cane!

If he is hanging at the back of a chair or anything, which means he is NOT being used, he is "happy". Otherwise, he will have a "downcast" expression :P

Yes. I am one of those parents who believe that if you spare the rod, you will spoil the child. So in our household (and BOTH grandparents' home!) you will definitely find the rotan lying around somewhere. Cruel? I think not. Afterall, "train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it" (Proverbs 22:6).

Of course there is a fine line between disciplining out of love and disciplining as a knee-jerk reaction to a misdeed/misbehaviour or, horror of horrors, just because I was in a bad mood. Already I am finding myself crossing this line so many times that the line is blurring. No good. Hence a decision to take this disciplining matter to a more "creative" level.

I don't know how good an idea this is to "personify" a disciplinary tool :P But our mischevious little princess appears to like the idea and more importantly, she catches on that as long as she wants Mr Cane to wear a blissful expression on his face, she'd better be behaving :P

Let's see if this "novelty" will last long...hopefully long enough for her to learn good habits, practices and discipline.