....

有些话是空说的吗??

Conversations with an almost 23-month old

Nadya's lately taken to stopping K midway through his singing.
I find it hilarious the way she does it....you have to be there to witness it to know what I mean...
In the meantime, here's the "transcript" lol...


K: *singing*  Hush little baby, don't say a word...Mama's going to buy you a .......
N: *holds up one hand near K's face, palm open, fingers outstretched, arm ramrod straight*
N: Stop! Dada stop! Dada stop sing!

K: errr.....*continues singing*.....buy you a mockingbird...if that mockingbird won't sing.....
N: *more insistent*  Dada STOP! Dada no song. Dada stop sing song!
N: Mama sing! Mama sing song.

K: ok lor...
Me: err...ok...*starts singing the song*

N: *gives a small grunt of approval*  mmm.


And then she settles down on her bed...haha.
So our little girl is now dictating who sings what.....

La Coeur et L'esprit

发觉最近心胸又变得狭窄一些
需常常提醒自己
心胸要懂得放大一点，要学会放宽一点

Go Go Go!

I don't know if this is a good or bad thing. Somehow, when I am going on leave very soon (tomorrow is my last day in office), then important things come in.

My covering officers will have to bear the bulk of the work to be done.

Why do I ask if it is a good or bad thing?

Good because I can "siam".

Bad because...it doesn't reflect that well on me and.....I am donating away some bonus $$ to some of these covering officers lol.

And bad because I have a feeling that even when I am on leave, I will still get calls, texts or emails regarding some of these important issues. 

Oh well...take it as it comes.

我是 superwoman!!
Go Go Go!

Finally

Completed this piece...on hindsight, it seems a little gaudy haha. Maybe I'll tone it down for the next piece. Overall, good effort for a first piece I think!

Ahhhhh...

We finally got ourselves our own balcony table and chairs several weeks ago. 

Am on MC today. Feels good clearing work emails while having breakfast in the balcony. 

A neighbour is playing the piano. Thank you neighbour for providing me with some background music. 

Morning birds are up and about, chirping in the skies and in the trees below. 

The sun is getting stronger though, but some clouds have blocked it so I don't get the brunt of the sun's rays.

Good morning world!

Gambatte Michelle! 

And K, and Nadya and Peanut!

Gynae visit

I was at the gynae's this morning. 

1. Everything's going smoothly. What a relief to hear.

2. I have sugar in my urine again. It turned the paper the darkest shade of green/blue/teal I'd ever seen. The nurse told me to drink more water. The doc didn't seem too concerned. 

3. I asked the doc how heavy Peanut is right now but he didn't reply me...:(

4. I apparently still have a lot of amniotic fluid in me. Which is good cos it means Peanut will still stay in there for several weeks more. 

5. Muahaha. I was issued 2 weeks MC by the doc to rest well before Peanut arrives. *evil laugh* MC starts from next week. *evil laugh* :D

6. I've put on 13kg so far. Sigh...for the entire pregnancy for Little Baby, I put on 13kg. I still have 3 weeks more to go for this pregnancy lor! 

7. BP was 110/52 this morning. I'm happy because it's going back to normal again instead of being on the lower end of the spectrum. 

Supposed to see the doc again in another 2 weeks. 

Jiayou Michelle! 你可以的!!

Yo whassup?!

Got a cap for her a few days ago. Glad I made the purchase. :)

Her first cap ever and in bright pink too. 

Here's her new image! I'm loving it and it seems she does too! 

Bleah!

Feeling. Un-sated. 

There's a niggling feeling of wanting to munch on something. But can't put a finger on what food exactly. 

And the man just flatly refused to buy prata for me. :( 

Which means either I'll stay restless and missing something (a rather torturous feeling might I add), or I'll stuff myself with some milk and cereal. Not the most ideal either way. 

Oh.....>]*~€{¥<+}]€£{=<@&@&:!;$;&:"-:!!!!!!

Murphy's Law?

I find it strange.

Things can be at a lull but when one is going on leave soon, it is as if the universe wakes and decides to send in several work items all at once so that your last 2 weeks (before you take your leave) becomes a hectic period.

Just within these 2 days alone, I've suddenly had work items coming in and several more discussions and meetings taking place...

Lol...why ah?
Happens all the time :)

Duit, Money, 钱, Argent

I used to harbour some hope of perhaps working on a part-time or flexible-hours basis. So that some time can be freed up to spend time with the children in their growing up years.

Did some calculations.

With the type of funds and expenditure that we need each month, I think I can say that my hopes are pretty much squashed flat. Flat to no recognition whatsoever.

All about choices I guess.

The type of lifestyle, the type of decisions we make, the things we end up committing ourselves or tying ourselves down to.

Just really looking forward to the following months:

• Dec 2015 when I will be receiving my year-end AWS bonus of one month
• 6-7 months later in April/May 2016 when I will be receiving my next pay increment. Hopefully it will be something substantial. Fingers crossed.

Reminder and Note to Self

Online-shopping is easy peasy BUT.......不可以乱花钱！

Well, at least from now till the next 3-4 years.

Omg. :(

加油！

需调整和平复一下心情
但从何开始？
最近的 grogginess 和 inability to concentrate 和 forgetfulness
是有点难搞
嗨，加油吧美金！

What is a FML moment?

When you are in the middle of the expressway and you suddenly discover that you forgot to bring your office laptop with you.

Happened this morning. First time ever. I usually discover it before I leave the house.
Peanut must really be re-directing alot of my brain juices to herself. Please save some for Mama ok? Mama still has one more work week to go and needs the brain juice!

We were on a cab. I dropped K off, went back to the house to get the laptop and then took the same cab back to my office in Pasir Panjang.

I am thankful that the cab uncle was a nice guy who ferried me to and fro. I was apologising to him for making him "go round the world" but he said it was okay. Thank you uncle.


Sidenote #1:
The amazing thing was that despite me making detours and all, I still reached office earlier than 80% of my team-mates. Hmm...either the few of us are hardworking or the rest of them are slackers haha.

Sidenote #2:
I was expecting the cab fare to be above $50 and possibly close to $60. It turned out to be $47, with a $5 discount....not too bad at all...

Heavy downpour

It's 215pm on 26 Aug 2015. 

It's raining cats and dogs now with thunder rumbling and then booming extremely loudly in the sky.

I hope she's fine in school and not too cold or too scared of the loud thunder. :( 

Little Baby, Mama wishes she was by your side right now, to comfort you if you're feeling afraid. 

Cravings

This time round, my cravings are somewhat different.

When I was carrying Little Baby, I wanted hor fun, cheeseburger and fillet 'o fish burgers from Mac, toasted white bread, Gardenia's raisin bread, Kraft cheese, Sara Lee's chocolate pound cake and HL milk. 

This time round, I need my Sara Lee chocolate pound cake even more. I didn't really snack mich on cheese though I take it in some of my sandwiches for breakfast. And I crave for roti prata although strangely I didn't ask for it these last 2 weeks. Oh yes, I need a lot more cold water or drinks this time round too. 

Peanut seems to have a sweet tooth. I was dabaoing Cheng Ting quite often haha. And there was a short few weeks when I needed Kit Kat every night, together with Chips Ahoy. I've since cut out Kit Kat and Chips Ahoy...um, ever since my urine test showed signs of sugar in it....(opps!)

But oh yes, the milk craving stayed the same. At this point, I'm downing 4 litres of HL milk every week....I think K finds it scary hahah. 

Wow...

I just discovered my colleague has 4 kids, with the youngest being only 7mths old. His eldest is 8 and in primary two already. I thought he had 3 kids and was mighty shocked when he told me...nope, I've 4.

I told him, "Wow, I salute you!"

And actually I salute his wife too. I respect her more in fact.
For going through 4 pregnancies, with each kid on average being 2 years older than the previous sibling. That means on average, after each pregnancy, she only stayed non-pregnant for around 14-16 months.

And she's still a working mum.

(They have to be dual income, what with 4 kids and several years more of diapers and milk tin purchases and helper hiring and babysitter hiring....)

Pretty challenging I think. I'm seriously in awe.

======
Come to think of it, I suddenly realised I know at least 10 people with 3 kids and another 3 more folks with 4 kids....

Much saluting to these people! 

The Untitled Poem

You don't know it little one
But Mama is starting to miss the days when you were even more little
The heady smell of your newborn skin
The creases and wrinkles in those first weeks after you came crying and fist-punching into this world
The thick fuzz you had on your head
The big unfocused eyes you had then
The way your head turned to me when you caught a whiff of my smell
And of course....your tiny fingers and toes 

You don't know it little one
But Mama is wondering why you are growing so fast
Where did all the time go? Can it slow down a little?
One minute you're helpless on your back
The next minute you're on your tummy already
One minute you're stuck in the same spot
The next minute you're leopard crawling all over the place
And of course....now you're walking all around

You don't know it little one
But Mama wishes she could keep each and every memory of you etched deeply into her mind
Your first smile, your first gurgle
Your first flip onto your tummy
Your first expression when you first tasted solid food
Your first babble, your first real word
Your first crawl, your first step
And of course, your first hug to me and your first utterance of "MaMa"

You don't know it little one
But Mama is afraid and unsure sometimes
Am I doing the right things?
What more should I do, can I do?
Am I doing enough?

Are we making the right decisions?

Are we teaching you right?
And of course, what if I turn out to be a terrible mother?

You don't know it little one

But Mama loves you so so much

And of course, you're living in her heart.

=======

Inspired.

By an article I read from another mother. 

I can't give credits because I've forgotten where that article appeared in. 

Comment: This was written and posted a year back in August 2014. I have NO IDEA how it came to be republished today in Aug 2015. So strange.....

Mid-day musings

I think I have not handled 2015 very well so far.

The early months were spent grappling with getting a rhythm in our lives in our own home and figuring out how to engage Little Baby more in her meals and development. Weekends were spent cooking and doing chores and looking after Little Baby. It did not feel to me like as if we had much freedom or social life.

And then later on, it seemed to me that I spent most of my time just trying to keep my head afloat and above water. Frantic paddling of feet underneath the water's surface. Juggling work, Little Baby and a burgeoning belly. It did not help that for the period of April, May, June and July, she fell sick once a month. I used up quite abit of both my annual leave and childcare leave during this time.

Then there was the period from May till July when I was trying to settle issues related to getting a helper in and then doing onboarding for her.

Plus my medical check-ups every now and then. zzz.

If 2014 had its challenges, then 2015 is somewhat comparable too haha.

There are definitely also good and happy times.

Just wondering what can be done to revamp our humdrum lifestyle a little so we can inject abit more fun and excitement into it. Glad we did things like bring her to the beach and eat breakfast at Starbucks at ECP haha. And glad we brought her out for brunch at The Bank a few months back too.

Of course, maybe any changes to be tried and implemented could only come after Peanut is out and after I have recovered from my csec.

Food for thought.
Food for thought.

fml

For the life of me, I simply cannot cross my legs in the lady-like way anymore i.e.  with thighs overlapping each other.

I can only place my left foot over my right thigh i.e. doing it the men's way.

And it makes for pretty uncomfortable positions in office lol. My bum hurts after a day in the office.