tuesday morning snippets

3 to 4 consecutive nights of crankiness, grouchiness and constant waking.
I have already not been performing at my best at work....It's no wonder I am even more lacking now.

Totally zombiefied. All I wanna do is to curl up in bed and sleep for 6 or 7 hours straight.

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I hope N gets well soon. And that her fever breaks and stays away permanently.

I hope her nose clears up quickly. The mucus seems to be perpetually flowing non-stop. Thick and viscous at times, watery at other times.

I hope her phelghmy cough clears up when her nose clears up. 

I hope...I hope...I hope.

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心酸 again this morning.

I had to leave for work. I passed her to K. She didn't like it and started bawling and screaming and calling out for "MAMA!! MAMA MAMA!!!!!"

That red sweaty, snot and tear-stained face...:( Hair plastered to her forehead, eyes and face squished and contorted from crying.

Sigh...

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Jiayou to K....

Jiayou to Little Baby....

Jiayou to me....

Heartbreak

Is when your daughter is screaming and crying for you in her father's arms. She's red-faced with tears and snot on her face. And you have to walk ahead and away from her and wave goodbye without even giving her a kiss and a hug.

Brought her to the PD this morning. K is on leave and will watch over her at home. I need to clear stuff and will need to be in office. 

And that's how it ended. Mama leaving and only giving the girl a big goodbye wave....while the girl is crying her lungs out....

:((((

Upsetting. 

i spy

It's cute really.
When you observe people who are by themselves in a restaurant or on public transport.

They naturally take out their mobile phones and start fiddling with it.
Probably either SMS-ing or Whatsapping someone else.
Or surfing Facebook.
Or taking a selfie.
Or reading other articles.
Or....
The list is endless.

What's interesting is the expressions they have on their faces.

From drone-like, stoned or spaced out looks to serious and stoic expressions to dopey grins to flat-out big smiles stretching from ear to ear. Haha.

I especially like watching those folks with dopey grins or silly smiles. 
It makes you want to smile yourself.
And it does bring a sense of happiness to you too knowing that that person is feeling happy.


I hope I am not sounding like a pervert staring or sneakily observing others.
Haha. :)

July TV galore

Looking forward to July for 2 simple reasons:

1. The Journey's 3rd instalment "The Journey: Our Homeland" will be shown on Channel 8.

2. Voice of China Season 4 will start! Jay Chou, Na Ying, Wang Feng and Harlem Yu will be the judges this season. Totally looking forward to seeing Jay Chou and Harlem Yu!

zzzzz. again...

Zombiefied.
Little Baby woke at least 5-6 times last night. I hope she's fine and I hope that she's not coming down with something. She eventually woke this morning in an extremely cranky state.

Wonder if we overloaded her senses yesterday by bringing her out twice? Hmm, I don't think it's because of that though. 

Meanwhile, I am tired. Tummy is not doing too good these few days as well. Crampy and having indigestion and some heartburn. I hope I can concentrate long enough on the tasks I set for myself today. Going through some policy documents....heavy and dry stuff....ganbatte.

I hope Little Baby sleeps better tonight......ganbatte little girl...

Zzzzzzzz

It's 240am. Peanut is wide awake and so is Mama. :(

Peanut thinks it's time for exercise and stretching. :( 

Mama just wants to go back to lala land. 

counting down??

K mentioned that it's only 3 more months to go.

Shit, I didn't realise that. And now I am getting the jitters. It's not my first time but it doesn't make it any easier.

*scared scared*

Lunchie

Had a lovely lunch with Chloe today. Picked up from where we left off in September 2012 when we last had a one-to-one meal together.

Grateful for friends like these, where conversation can be easily and comfortably picked up again, despite a long hiatus in between. Love this girl. :)

We were at Harry's and the poor girl spilled curried lamb shank gravy on her white blouse and grey shorts...Kudos to the male manage on duty who spotted the incident and brought over soda water and napkins for her to try to remove the stain.

She texted me afterwards to say that she smelt of curry haha...

 

Conversations with a 20-month old

Since she was several months younger, we taught her to say "please" if she wants something or asks for something. She's been on a roll recently and we decided to teach her some more things. We taught her to attach a person's name after the "please" and also to say "thank you" when she receives something from someone. Glad to see that she is picking it up real fast.....

This morning's conversation:

N: *blabber blabber* bed bed!  (which means she wants to get on our bed and needs help doing so)
Me: what must you say?
N: peesh!  (her word for "please")
N: mama!
Me: Ok...(lifts her up onto our bed)
Me: Mama helped you get up already. what must you say now?
N: Too Too!  (her word for "thank you")
Me: Good girl!

Planning breaks

Trying to plan when I can slot in some days of leave for a break.

Next week seems a good chance: Wed & Thurs going for medical checkups and Friday I will probably take MC from the gynae so I can get a breather and stone at home.(And I don't need to touch my leave at all heh)

Trying to plan when a staycation is possible as well. We initially wanted to do it over the Fathers' Day weekend but with our own families' Fathers' Day dinners, it seemed that weekend was not a good idea....Maybe end of the month instead? Or in early July?

I also need time to......

• go cut hair
• get trained for and take the online employers' test for hiring of a helper
• plan what else is needed to be bought or prepared for Peanut's arrival
• clear up that organically growing pile of boxes and other stuff in the corner of our bedroom
• rest myself (and maybe indulge in some pizza or pasta cooking...)

:)

Thank you Little Baby

Thank you Little Baby.

For showing Mama the little things in life that Mama would otherwise have not noticed.

That aeroplane in the sky, just a little shape against the blue backdrop, seemingly only an inch long to the naked eye. Moving ever so slowly but steadily across the sky and in and amongst the clouds. I had not even noticed before, and neither did K, in all the 10-over months we have been staying in our home, that we can actually see commercial aeroplanes flying in the distance at regular intervals, right across my bedroom windows.

That cheh-cheh sleeping in her father's arms, her tired head resting on his shoulder, her arms hanging limply by her sides. We were driving past them when Little Baby saw her and pointed her out to me.

That little ant crawling on the kitchen counter.

That two black mynahs by the roadside, hopping and pecking about in the grass. We would have driven right past it without giving a second look.

That piece of dried leaf on the ground which was fluttering about in the breeze.




Thank you Little Baby. Again.

For showing Mama that the simplest of things can bring much joy.

Drinking water when you're thirsty.

Running around in circles.

Having a blanket over your head.

Wearing shoes bigger than your feet. (And attempting to walk in them)

Giving a big sneeze.

Eating cheese sandwich.

Picking raisins off a raisin loaf.

Giving hugs.

Holding hands.

Jumping.

Rolling in bed.

............

.........

.....

...

Worry-wart

The bigger Little Baby gets, the more I am aware that I am getting older.
The older I get, the more I am aware that my parents are also getting on in years.

My Dad is turning 73 this November.

When I found out that he was going to attend the SEA Games Opening Ceremony together with my brother on Friday evening and that they were taking public transport there, I got worried and many questions flooded my mind.

Would he be able to withstand the (possibly) long hours of walking or queueing to get into the stadium?
Tens of thousands of people would be there, would it get too chaotic/warm/humid for him?
Transport to the venue shouldn't be an issue, but the transport home? Would he have trouble getting out of the stadium? Would he have trouble getting a seat on the train? Would he get too tired and breathless?
What if it was already very late by the time he got out of the stadium? Would he have to stand and wait very long to get onto a train?


I am a worry-wart. My mother as well.
I remember exchanging texts with my mother on the above questions.
Mother and daughter with furrowed brows.

At the end of the day......our worries were for naught....

Dad not only enjoyed himself alot. But he got home at 11:15pm, way earlier than I expected. He even managed a 3km walk with Adrian from the stadium to the Kallang MRT station instead of taking the train at Stadium MRT station on the Circle line, because he figured it would make more sense to take a straight train home than have to change trains somewhere along the Circle Line.

Ah, my Dad....ever young at heart. Ever energetic and excited.
An avid sportsman in his youth. I am glad to see his enthusiasm and adrenaline still going strong after all these years.

Auspicious year of the Goat?

This year seems pretty auspicious?

3 of K's close friends are getting married or planning their marriage.
1 of my close friends just got married.
Another of my close friends will be getting married in 2 months' time.

These are folks who have either been single for a long time or whom us close friends have been mildly concerned about.

And then suddenly they are getting married left, right and centre. Haha.

Happy for them!

Offering help

I did it again.

It was raining this morning, a heavy drizzle, when I got off my bus and walked to my office building. When I stopped at a traffic junction, everyone else there had their own umbrellas, except one Indian man. He was wearing a Fujitec polo T-shirt and I assumed he was working for them, perhaps as an engineer or technician.

I noticed him and wanted to offer to shelter him under my umbrella, at least for that one or two minutes while waiting for the green man to come on so we could all cross the road.

I hesitated, unsure of how to approach the man. I took a step towards him and hesitated somemore.
I sort of chickened out and by the time I came to that conclusion, the green man had already come on and the man was already preparing to run across the junction.

So there, I chickened out again. Not the first time this has happened, probably the second or third time and I still can't find the guts to approach someone to offer help.

Is it the way I was brought up? The way I was taught to mind my own business?
Is it my own personality? That shyness and hesitance and timidness?

How to have personal breakthroughs when I hold myself back and am so timid?

K would have probably said to me "Just do it."

Lunch Dates

Looking forward to my  lunch dates in the coming weeks! :)
Catching up is always nice.

TH just jioed me for lunch next week. Initiated by him for a "catch-up" session....I sense gossip and a complaint session coming up hahaha....Nevetheless I'm still happy and excited to meet him.

And I'm having lunch with Chloe the week after next. It'll be the first time I'm seeing her since our last meal 1.5years ago! Looking forward! I told her she would have to update me on EVERYTHING that has happened in the last 1.5years haha.

So so forgetful these days

Went downstairs from the office to the 7-11 store to buy bread and had originally intended to withdraw some cash from the ATM next door.

After buying bread, my feet promptly brought me back up to the office.

Only when I sat down did I realise I'd forgotten to draw money....

So so forgetful these days....

Food Glorious Food

K and I love our food. And we definitely hope to transfer some, if not most of that love for food, to Little Baby.

She is unfortunately cutting her teeth quite late. She has only 6 teeth now, at the age of almost 20 months. While she is able to chew with her gums, she is rejecting all types of meat and fish when she is eating outside of school. Her teacher says she is probably eating these things in school because of peer pressure. The rest of the other kids eat their meat and fish and hence she does so as well.

But she spits them out when they are given to her outside of school. Bleah.

Anyway, we make do with other types of food...and I've been racking my brains out about what to feed her so that she at least gets enough nutrition for growth and development. Glad to say I've so far survived several months or cooking various types of food for her....

Ranging from rice with various soups or stews....to pasta with homemade minestrone....to linguine with chicken soup...to fried rice....to fried noodles....to mee sua with vegetable and pork stew....

I am happy with all of my soups and stews and I am also very happy that she likes them too. Vegetable stews of various combinations, beancurd skin/tofu/egg soups, chicken soups, winter melon soups, tomato soups, you name it....

I am fast running out of ideas though for what other meals I can make....googling hasn't helped much.

She doesn't seem to like mashed potato so shepherd's pie is out....I hope to try macaroni and cheese soon....

Maybe I should explore pizza? Since she likes tomato-stuff.....

Hmm........

Oh well...

The other day, both senior and junior ultrasound technicians said there's an 80% chance Peanut is a girl.

When some colleagues subsequently ask me about Peanut's gender, I tell them the same news I received. I am not prepared for their reactions though.

90% of the reactions I get are either (i) disappointed looks, (ii) concerned looks followed by people asking if I am ok, or (iii) an outright "aiyah wasted!".And then all will finish up by saying something like.....ok lah, girl is also good, will be filial, anyway can try again.

I'm like ??!!

While having a girl and a boy makes a nice balance, I am equally happy having another girl. It is my child as well, borne out of me, a companion and best friend for Nadya, and a priceless result of the union between K and I, our flesh and blood.

I am somewhat a little indignant as well.

Who are you to give such a reaction straight in my face? Who are you to determine if I should prefer a boy or a girl for my second child? And who are you to assume that I wanted a boy?

By all these reactions, it seems to be like as if people still prefer having a boy compared to a girl?

pfffftttt.

apology

Sorry Baby...for causing your left big toe to bleed on Monday night. :(

我不是故意的!