We had a week of parties! After my family do on the eve of Christmas, followed by the Christmas lunch at the 2nd BIL's, we had a church party on Saturday afternoon and a dinner gathering at the Victor's. Baby K was so tired by the time we were playing games at the church party that she fell asleep on my lap. 

She has her own unique way of sleeping. As soon as she was able to move her arms and legs, she has always put herself to sleep with her hands covering her face. We have some photos with Ivy carrying her to sleep where you can clearly see baby K covering her own face. And now that she's older, she will pull my hands over to cover her face, as if to block out the light. We are wondering whose hands she will use when it's afternoon nap time at the childcare centre. Lol. I'm guessing that when she was still an infant, whenever we were out, I would use a muslin cloth over her whenever she's napping in my arms or even in the baby carrier. And that's how the habit started.

Anyhow, with all the Christmas parties over, look who has amassed so many gifts!

Yes, her first dolls. One of which she now brings to the shower which incidentally helps as she did not cry on the 2nd day the doll went in with her. The doll is holding on to a tiny handkerchief and is meant to help toddlers in their bathing fears. Without a room of her own yet, her toys and books are definitely over-crowding our living room. *bleah*

The 2nd SIL organised a Christmas lunch for the family at their home yesterday. Initially the hubs and I wondered why lunch and the hubs even commented to me that we should go off after eating since the 2nd BIL were having a second round of hosting for their friends. But now that it's over, I find that we actually spent more time over a lunch do! We were there at almost 1, being the first to arrive although we were already late for the 12pm lunch. I guess some things don't change. Their side of the family are never punctual.

It was just as well that the youngest BIL and family arrived late. We could feed baby K without any distractions. We stayed longer than expected, with baby K even taking in an hour and a half's nap. She dozed off while drinking her mid-day milk and I could catch a power nap during her sleep as well.

Talking about which, we managed to wean baby K off her pacifier! Hurray! We have been telling her on several occasions that she is going to school soon and she has to stop the use of her paci. We started restricting the use of her paci only during her sleep time a long time back. When I look at toddlers with a paci in their mouths, I no longer think it's cute. Sometimes I wonder why parents do that when their child is obviously alert and not kicking a fuss. Is that to shut their kid up? I had worried that baby K became too reliant on the paci and that we might have issues getting her to kick the habit but thankfully, the trip to Bangkok seemed to have given her the affirmation that she doesn't need it anymore.

The only time during the entire trip that she had the paci was on the last night when I did some shopping with the other ladies and when I returned to the hotel room, the hubs said that a particular painting in the room seem to have some effect on baby K. She had apparently been pointing at it and telling the hubs that she was scared. Yes, baby K's vocab has grown quite a bit. And that particular night, baby K cried while I was trying ro put her to bed and had to resort to the pacifier. But other than that, a few times when she kicked a fuss due to tiredness, an appearance of her paci did nothing to soothe her. She didn't even welcome it in her mouth anymore. 

Well, for the past month or so, whenever she was at home with us, I stopped the use of her paci at night. It was only during her daytime nap when I relented due to the different conditions, with the sky generally still bright. A suckle on her soother could put her to sleep within 5 minutes. However, at Jeremy's place, Ivy still allowed her to use the paci and only 'listened' to me that 1 night we had to put her at their place after our Bangkok trip. I'm so happy that the habit has been kicked off without much crying or negotiations. 

May the future of teaching her just be as smooth sailing. :)

As I returned to work today, the husband since yesterday, we brought baby K to Jeremy's for the night yesterday. And I rushed home as soon as the work place released us earlier at 4pm to prepare for tonight's dinner.

We had invited Jeremy & Jerry's family as well as James over for some good 'ol Christmas gathering. Although our family's tradition of turkey, glazed ham, log cake and the works have been broken, nothing beats the fun of family togetherness. On top of my usual dish of Shepherd's pie, I made Macaroni with Cheese as well as Stuffed Portobello Mushroom and I'm glad they were very well received!

The kids loved their gifts and thankfully, the gift I ordered for Tim arrived in the office today!

How did you spend your Christmas this year? Whichever way, here's wishing you a Blessed Christmas and a beautiful New Year!

We reached home at 8ish in the evening yesterday and while the flight to Bangkok was not a problem, the last 10 minutes to touch-down on our return flight saw baby K crying. We have preempt her that her ears may be blocked and when that happens, she should drink water but we're guessing that a combination of block ear ducts and tiredness made her cry which eventually led her to fall asleep on my shoulders.

Bangkok with her is not ideal especially when it comes to shopping. Although we did enjoy ourselves very much especially so since we included a day at Dream World. On the last evening, when the boys and kids took the transport back to the hotel, the 3 ladies took time out to shop at the night market, which actually is a very long stretch of stalls laid out along the walkway. Within that 1 hour, I could shop with some peace. However, that 1 hour meant more to me than the other 2 since their daughters were bigger.

And today's agenda was to unpack our suitcase, wash the laundry as well as to wrap up some more Christmas gifts. And that all I did! Just take a look at our Christmas corner! Lol.....

I caught up with an ex-colleague from the current company for dinner yesterday evening and have agreed with her that for future movie nights that the rec club is organising, she'll be my partner. Since either myself of the hubs has to be at home with baby K starting school next year, it'll not be possible for the 2 of us to go together anymore. And I have struck the ever unreliable Bev off my list.

When I reached home last night, the hubs was busy packing for our trip to Bangkok tomorrow! *Excited* And he also cleaned up the war zone we had in our storeroom which was lacking a danger, keep out sign. Things were falling all over! And I'm glad to report that he has thrown out some of the mess, which of no coincidence, are his things. There's definitely more that we can clear but no pressure now, since I can now see the floor of the store.

The hubs had initially packed our stuff in a smaller suitcase, which could fill just my shopping alone! I made him repack everything into a bigger suitcase. I wonder what he was thinking! It's not as if we have no plans to go shopping! And as usual, in his typical manner, a 1 person job has to be split into 2, which irritates the hell out of me. If I have the time to do it, I won't need him at all! Besides I have done baby K and my packing, it's Mr last minute dot com who only decided just yesterday evening on what to bring. 

Anyhow, it's the last day at work for me and I hope I do not need to do much follow up when I return. I so can't wait. Baby K's first plane experience! :)

After the usual breakfast at the market yesterday morning, we brought baby K to her future school to finalise some documentation as well as to collect her uniforms. When she starts, I'll have to wash her uniform everyday as the standard purchase is 4 sets, 1 which she wears to school and another to change into after their shower. So 4 sets of uniform over 2 days means I'll have to get some hand-washing done unless I happen to do some laundry on that day. And that means introducing baby K's wash with the rest of the family's! Ever since her birth, her clothes are washed on it's own, consolidated every week. I guess it should be ok mixing our wash together since she's bigger now.

After her 3 hour afternoon nap, I showered her and she now show signs of dislike and cries when I have to wash her hair. When I started bathing her out of her tub, she wasn't like this and thankfully, she stops as soon as her bath-time ends. I hope she outgrows this soon.

After dressing up, we went off for a dinner get-together with the Victors upon the invitation of the Cordeiros. They had planned for steamboat dinner but not fans of steamboat, I urged the hubs to suggest somewhere else and we ended up at the restaurant in the guild house at Botanic Gardens. Baby K generally behaves herself and I allowed her to get off her high chair to play with the 3 other girls after her meal. She was actually seated on the high chair for quite a while until Gaye complimented that baby K was so good to be able to sit on the high chair for so long. And then I felt she deserved to join in the fun as well. And when the desserts came, she was back up on the high chair enjoying more than her share. Lol.

We had a great evening with the 2 family and am looking forward to more fun for our upcoming Bangkok trip! :)

Needing to clear my leave, I have taken today and the coming Monday off. But because the office rec club has organised a movie night today, we've decided to pick baby K after the show. I had arranged to catch up with Pauline and her bub too but had to call it off to start packing for our Bangkok trip, happening next Thursday. 

With baby K back home tonight till Monday evening, then back to work for me on Tuesday and Wednesday, I didn't want to take the risk of last minute packing the day before we travel. So technically, today is the best time I can get things done, without any distractions. 

I could have slept longer but woke up before 8 because of the nagging thought of clearing a long list of tasks. I did baby K's laundry, mopped the house, cleared some clothes from my wardrobe before packing for myself and baby K for the trip. I can now relax, knowing I've got most part of the packing done. The only stuff left are the ones that we need to use on an everyday basis.

Today's movie might probably be the last that the hubs and I get to enjoy. The sweetheart is coming back for good in 2 weeks' time and unless the hubs and I plan a day-time 'get-away', it's not going to be just the 2 of us anymore. Everything that we have plans for will now include the little one. 

I had my first taste of Christmas today when 3 of my colleagues and I made use of our Staff Activity fund for buffet at the Oriental. There were supposed to be 6 of us but 2 fell sick, which just as well, the buffet didn't come cheap despite a '1 eat free for every 3 paying adults' promotion.

Which reminds me that I saw CPL having dinner with her husband at the hawker centre near our place on Saturday evening. I was carrying baby K, with the hubs who was walking ahead of us and Jerry's helper. I saw her approaching the table where her husband was seated, carrying her food tray. And I used baby K to shield me. Lol...I really do not want to have anything to do with her anymore. To the extent, I've set a privacy setting in my FB that limits what she can view. I do not know if the hubs recognised her and I did not bother bringing it up when we sat down for dinner after.

As expected, I chose to sit away from them and completely out of sight. Some friendships are so straight forward but some people are so hard to phantom. I do not see it worthy to wonder what level of friendship you have with a certain person and whether it's even genuine. No, not these at our age. Thank you!

As promised, a picture of our Christmas tree! No decorations needed. The lights are so pretty by themselves. Adding on decorations will only spoil the look.

Also, this is the 3rd car I've seen dressed up like Rudolph in our estate. It's fun to look at, especially in this festive season. When I first chanced upon it with baby K, I pointed it out to her and started singing Rudolph the Red nose Reindeer to her. 

I feel the spirit of Christmas coming back to me, one that was missing for the past year. In fact, I've invited Jeremy and Jerry's family over for a simple do on Christmas eve. Our family stopped the tradition of Christmas get-together ever since M moved out from Jerry's but I know all of us still long for that family warmth. Although Jerry and his wife have work, I know the 3 kids can't wait to come as confirmed by Joshua's 'yay' when I spoke to the 3rd SIL about having their helper bring the kids over.

Even though I won't be having turkey, glazed ham, log cake and the usual stuff that we have had since I was a kid, unwrapping presents, kids playing and introducing baby K to the warmth of what Christmas brings is something I really look forward to. :)

Baby K 'developed' an ulcer near her top upper lips and we only found out when I was feeding her on Friday evening. She cried and pointed to her mouth but I couldn't see it then. It was only when I was brushing her teeth that she cried again and I asked her to open her mouth to let me see. Hopefully it goes off soon and thankfully, it has not affected her appetite.

The hubs' new guild house project has completed and he has been busy with the opening since Thursday. On Friday, the soft-opening was during lunch and he was able to fetch baby K and in fact both of them were home way before I reached! And yesterday, he was away from early morning again but managed to come back in the afternoon and off he went after our dinner. Hopefully, his long hours will end soon with the completion of the new guild house.

So in the early evening, we could pick up an optic fibre christmas tree that I had bought on-line and I must say I love it! There's no need for any decoration at all! Although it's only 90cm, the main reason we're buying it is for baby K. Maybe next time we'll get a taller one when this one no longer works. I'll post a picture of it in my next post. :)

I got myself a bottle of craft glue and foam tape to complete the rest of the photos for the scrap album during lunch yesterday. And I am so impressed wit the Daiso outlet that a colleague and I visited! It has so much materials for craft work and is so organised as well. The usual outlet that the hubs and I tend to go to seems so messy in comparison.

However, I only managed to get 1 photo done after completing my laundry last night. I do not have those design punchers and am hoping the rest of the photos do not end up looking too plain. Gaye has a whole load of those punchers and I only managed to scrap some for use for the remaining pictures but it's definitely not enough. Let's hope the stickers I bought can do a good job. Lol.

On another note, Jerry sent his maid over again yesterday evening as he and his family drive up to his wife's hometown in Malaysia. Which means I can leave the maid to do the housework today! Yay. The last time she came over was during our Malacca trip last month and because Jerry and his family came back later than all of us, the maid was with us for the whole week and when we returned home from the trip, I was able to get her to help out with the chores. She even cooked baby K's meal when the hubs had to return to work the next day. 

But having said that, the maid also commented that there wasn't much to do around the house. Well, once she is done with the chores that I hardly touch, there really isn't much left. Yes, there were areas which made the entire rag black and that was it really. She'll be with us till tomorrow and since the hubs will be at the opening of the new guild house for almost the whole day tomorrow, I'll have her clean up his wardrobe and wash the master toilet. Ooh....how I wish this sort of arrangement could be a monthly affair. Lol.

Although baby K knows that she has to be seated in her high chair during her meal times at home, she has a different treatment at Jeremy's. As long as she remains seated, they give in to her fuss not to be strapped onto the high chair, which happens to be nicer and bought specially for Jeremy's home.

Pre-birth, we had 2 Ikea classic high chairs handed down to us. Not knowing our arrangement for baby K then, we kept one and gave away the other, only to have to buy another one months later. And the new one with lovely butterfly prints was under-utilised. Thankfully, we bought it during a warehouse sale and I managed to sell it to a colleague, whose hubs went to collect it from Jeremy's. Ahh...if only it's so easy to sell all the other items that I want to let go. 

Here's a look at the under-utilised high chair:

We met the Victors for dinner yesterday in Orchard with the intention to see the Christmas light-ups. But it was raining when we finished our meal and we had to content with the decorations at the shopping centre itself as it was not connected to any other malls. It started to pour in the afternoon and the hubs was already hesitating to go out but Kenneth was keen to have us join them, to the extent of even wanting to pick us up!

Baby K who has started a shoe fetish, yes at her tender age of 20 months, quickly put away the shoes she was trying on when she saw the 2 Victor sisters. She was trying them on and when she saw the sisters, she quickly took the shoes out and anxiously put on her own pair of shoes. It happened in Malacca too when we went into the shoe shops. It didn't matter to her that she was putting on adult shoes! She would take a pair from the shelf, plonk herself on the floor, remove her own shoes and try on whatever pair she has taken. She did it at 3 shops that we went into and all of us had a amusing time looking at her antics. I have to remind myself not to walk past any shoe shop anymore.

Anyway, I finally started on the scrapbook album when we went over to the Victors after sending baby K to Jeremy's after her dinner. The hubs was there to watch soccer and time passed by so fast because Gaye and another friend was busy helping me with the scrapbooking. I had fun while at it and there are some more pics to be done. I guess I'll get busy at home when there's no chores to be done and while baby K's not around to disturb, oops, I mean distract me.