Being someone who loves her sleep, which unfortunately baby K did not inherit this trait from me, I would sleep too whenever I put baby K to bed. And since she has started attending childcare, that would mean lights out for me by 9pm. 

But of late, I find myself getting up from bed as soon as baby K hits slumberland and I start pottering around the house. Well, it's usually to prepare the food for next day's dinner. It's usually cutting the vegetables to size, washing them and putting them in a container to boil over the stove the next morning, before I can transfer the pot into the god sent thermal pot. I've steamed fish twice in the upper tray and the pomfret as well as cod fish turned out well! I must try to find more recipes that uses the thermal pot. Otherwise soup all the time will lose it's taste on us.

And because we are having reunion dinner at Jeremy's later today, I tidied the dining table for Lunar New Year visitation from our guests. Our dinning table is technically, not used for much dining but rather, letters, the hubs' wallet, car key, our house keys and a million other stuff are put there. Every other week, I have to nag at him to clear his mail.

Anyway, here's a look at our goodies for Lunar New Year. Nothing much this year compared to last but that is also because some goodies need to be transferred from their pack into containers. Oh yes, I will need to thank the hubs for his effort this year. None of mine, really.

I have to say it. Yesterday's dinner of fishball mee tai bak at the hawker centre was a tad salty. I didn't want to say it to the hubs lest he gets paranoid and have me flush the food with water before baby K eats it. But the convenience of it all allowed us to relax a bit and give in to baby K's manja-ness. 

If we had cooked, I'll be rushing to prepare everything in order to have her dinner ready before 7pm and getting impatient with her for calling me all the time, along the way. And having her wake up late yesterday morning meant that I had to arrive at work later and leave just as late. And because we were able to take things easy last night, I could prepare the ingredients for the soup for this evening's dinner and put the covers back onto the cushions of the daybed which I had washed on Sunday before we left for the 2nd BIL's home.

Baby K was so helpful when I was removing the covers for wash. She actually helped to pull them out! Putting the covers back on was no easy task either but thank the stars for softener! Lol. I could enjoy a bit of chinese drama on television while putting the covers back on. And all these while she drifted off to dreamland with her daddy, who incidentally has not recovered from flu.

To digress, this is what I prepared for her lunch on Saturday. The hubs, still unwell, woke up late and we had to do our marketing late. Being the weekend before the Lunar New Year, the market was abuzz with activity. So when we finally got home after letting her play a bit at the playground, I had to rush her lunch, which is fairly easy peasy if it doesn't involve cooking for the adults.

The hubs' family had their reunion dinner yesterday evening and the FIL invited his sister's family as well as his sister-in-law and son. It was pot luck at the 2nd BIL's home, their turn to host it this year. Last year it was ours and we had it an an Indian restaurant but if I recall correctly, the FIL paid for it. Lol. Next year, it will be the youngest BIL's turn.

There were so many dishes that it occupied most of the dining table. Thankfully, not everybody ate at the same time. I cooked a Minced Pork with Tofu dish while the hubs decided in the morning to cook chicken curry. And we ended up having 2 chicken curry dish!

And we left late, well, quite, considering that baby K has school today and work for the rest of the folks. By the time we reached home, she was already in dreamland and not without any fuss in the car. 

She was still asleep at 7.20am this morning and by the time, she drank her milk and some more, did her poopoo, we left the house after 8am. Looks like it'll be a wise choice if we eat out for tonight's dinner.

The hubs has been bringing home goodies for the coming Lunar New Year celebrations this week, without any prompting from me. Early week, he brought home pineapple tarts, some sugar coated cashew nuts and walnuts with sesame. Last night, he brought home a bag of mandarin oranges. He made a comment yesterday evening too, saying that I seem very relax with this year's Chinese New Year.

Yes, I do not have the anticipation like I had for Christmas. It's now only a week till the festive season which I was reminded by Pauline yesterday and I do not see any time that I can do a total spring clean of the house! Baby K's toys still occupy the living area, the study room is still in a mess and I have no time to wash the curtains or cushion covers. Well, unless I take a day off to do all that without any disturbance.

Well, maybe I should! Although I won't do a thorough spring clean, I'll probably just wash the daybed covers, change the cushion covers to the new ones we bought from Bangkok, bring out the table runner for the dining table and place the mandarin oranges on the pewter tray. Yes, I guess I'll do that and at least I'll feel a little more excited for the season!

2 persons I know who gave birth in the same year as I did are expecting again. And it'll be 龙马精神! Well, it is an auspicious phrase but on hindsight, they really need the energy of the dragon and horse combine!

Sure, I miss my baby bump and the 9 months that I was carrying baby K but the energy required now is something you will always wish you had more. More energy to keep up with her, more sleep and more me-time. That with my age inching it's way into the dreaded 4's, I am very contented just to have a dragon baby.

On another note, I've managed to let go of these 2 items! Baby K has gone off the paci without any drama. Phew. And as for the milk powder container, well, you know every new mummies are so excited to buy baby stuff. Lol. We had a tower dispenser handed me down from Jerry and when they went to Phuket that year, they bought another circular dispenser. So we ended up having 3! Some things, last a long time so there was no need to open up the one I bought at all.

Do we have any more unopened baby stuff to clear? YES! In fact, the things that I have put up for 'sale' are all unopened! Well, except for the milk bottle thermal bag, the very first item that I sold. And probably when baby K starts to out-grow some of her stuff soon, I will have them up for sale too.

An update on the lost dolly. The hubs picked it up from the dustbin when he returned from the wake last Friday and washed it twice. When I saw it on Saturday morning, I was surprised and asked why did he pick it up. He said how could he not with the text messages that I sent him about me wanting to cry and all. Lol. I was silently happy. Anyway on an advise by a friend, we will not give it to baby K until she does something that is praise worthy. So it's kept away for now.

And for the past 2 days, I've been picking baby K up from school as the hubs had meetings at work. As I do not have the liberty to pick her up at 5pm like the hubs, I arrived slightly after 6pm and according to the teacher, she just started to cry as one by one, her friends were going home. That's the reason the hubs and I decide that we should not leave her to be the last to be picked up. I think it is quite traumatizing for any child when you see all your friends leaving and you are wondering when your mummy or daddy is coming.

And having learnt from yesterday's rush of time, I decided to eat out with her today. Last night, I had to rush home to cook rice and thanks to the thermo pot, the soup was all ready. By the time we reached home and sat down for dinner, it was already 7pm. Her dinner is usually at 6ish so she can have her last milk feed at about 8pm. So it was rush rush rush to get her to bed by 9pm.

And since I didn't want to go through that mad rush again, today's dinner after picking her up at the hawker centre near her school was done without any stress. And we could take a slow stroll up the overhead bridge and wait for the bus. And because there was no stress in rushing her back, I could allow her to climb the bridge at her own pace and stop every few metres just to look down without me wanting to pull my hair out. 

I'll have to pick her up again this Friday and yes, mother and daughter will be dining out. :)

We had such a busy and hectic weekend and I'm hoping all of us can catch up with some of that sleep over the week, especially since we sleep really early now. Lol.

Saturday morning saw us leaving the house at 8am and sending baby K to Jeremy's while the hubs and I went to the Victor's before their son's body was sent to the church for the funeral service and then to the crematorium. I think the emotions made our bodies more tired. Seeing Kenneth and Gaye weep so openly wrenched my heart so that you really feel the pain for them. 

After the cremation, close friends and relatives proceeded back to the Victors' for lunch and although we were supposed to pick baby K up at 3pm, she ended up having dinner at Jeremy's and then we brought her back to the Victors'. All of us wanted to provide them the support that they need and besides, the mood was a lot more lighten up.

We only left at about 9ish and by then, baby K fell asleep while drinking her milk in the car.

Yesterday after church, we caught up with my ex-colleague Ivy and her family when they invited baby K to Polliwogs for some fun. While Clayton entertained and 'took care' of baby K in the beginning, the parents were having a drink at the cafe. We spent almost 3 hours there, with the kids crawling through tunnels and obstacles, diving into ball pits which were only covering the ground and basically enjoying themselves.

It was a fun respite especially since the week had been pretty sad to begin with and having to pick baby K from school half-way through work with her fever and all. Oh well, it's back to work tomorrow and life continues again.

We were supposed to be on a staycation today with the Victors as well as the Salahudeens. And so I thought since I am already on leave, I could run a bit of personal errands as well as spend some alone-time. But that was not to be either. The VP of the childcare centre called me yesterday during lunch time to say that baby K was running a temperature again. 

We are wondering why the fever only occurs when she is in the centre and when we have her home on Wednesday, she was only down with running nose and cough. The principal told us that they are arranging for a thorough clean up on Saturday with a cleaning company as she thinks too that it is a virus in the centre. 

And since baby K has started waking up quite early, I had no choice too and so early this morning, I could wash our bedsheets and brought her out on my errand by 10am. As I mentioned, when she is home, there was no signs that she is sick at all other than the constant need to clean her nose and the occasional cough. However by 1230pm, she was fighting back the sleep demon and I had to carry her while trying to finish the lunch that we were supposed to share.

While on the fairly short bus ride back, I realise that 1 side of her shoes dropped off and a few bus stops before ours, she woke up! If I had known, I would have brought her up the the public library for her to catch her power nap! All peace and quiet there makes a perfect place to catch 40 winks. In fact, I had that in mind when I was waiting for the bus at the bus-stop! Next time, I should go with my instincts.

Back home, it was another matter altogether. She was testing me and really trying to push me to the limit. I started rough handling her, raised my voice and even beat her (either her hands or legs, depending which is the culprit) only to face her nonchalant face! And that infuriated me even more! I was glad the hubs returned home early from his training! It spared me having to face imprisonment, I kid you not! 

After dinner, I decided to bring baby K for a walk and met a neighbour, whose daughter is slightly more than a month older than baby K. He and I were sharing stories and we're glad we are not alone. This is their testing age where the sinful nature has taken over. There's no need to teach them how to sin. It's the flesh that we are born with. After we parted ways, I brought baby K to the playground and then chatted with a lady, who stays in the estate, with her 1 year old son. When we left for home, baby K dropped her dolly, which I had asked her earlier if she was sure she wants to bring it down, on the road. I was carrying her then and put her down so that she could pick the dolly up. But who is to know, she decided to sit on the road and when I told her to stand her, she did and patted dolly, who unfortunately was lying face down. I asked if she didn't want dolly anymore and that she could throw it away if she wanted to. She said yes and while at the lift lobby, I pointed out to her, the dustbin near the letterboxes and she promptly walked towards it and dropped the dolly in! I wanted to cry! The doll was a Christmas gift to her from the Victors' because she does not have one.

And when the lift doors opened at our level, she decided not to come out and the doors closed on her! I quickly pressed for the lift and saw that it stopped at the next floor. I tried to listen to her crying but could not hear any. The lift came and when I reached, I saw the upstairs neighbour talking to her and pressing the lift, with the intention to bring her down. He said she was so calm and even chatted with him! I was hoping that the incident could scare her a bit but unfortunately or not, she has got a tough nature.

 The hubs threw away her magnetic board when he came home because she was poking the stylus in the dustbin despite us telling her numerous times not to. If this goes on, she will soon have no more toys to play with!

The terrible 2s?? Urgh....I hope it's just a short phase that she's going through. God help me! But a cane is in sight.

It could not be avoided. Well, at least not at childcare. Baby K has caught the bug and is sniffling as well as coughing. The day before, the VP of the centre called me at 1ish and told me baby K was having a slight temperature and requested that we pick her up. As the hubs was already out of his office and helping the Victor's, he picked her up from school and brought her to consult the GP, who diagnosed her symptom as the common cold and cough. Phew.

When the hubs sent her to the centre yesterday, the principal 'turned' them away and advised to have baby K rest at home. Apparently, there were a few other children who were having fever too. So, the hubs took the morning off while I took the afternoon off. 

Obviously we hope she recovers soon. Her breathing is heavy during sleep times and her nose is leaking. Last night, we woke up at 11ish and this morning at 4ish and then at 6am again, to either her cries, her need to go poo or just to go outside. Thankfully the hubs is a hands-on dad and makes an effort to go out to the living room with me, just so to accompany me. Needless to say, involvement by fathers make a BIG difference.

Thankfully, the centre allowed for her to attend school today and we have given them instructions on administering baby K's medication. She brought her dolly to school today. Hopefully, she finds comfort in that till I see her at the end of the working day.

The Victors' 14 year old son has gone home to be with our Lord yesterday evening. Their eldest and only son had severe cerebal palsy a few short weeks after his birth and when I met him, he was already confined in a buggy, unable to verbalise at all his thoughts and feelings. Only the family knows.

He was initially only given a few months to live but has since out-lived that and fought a good fight. Because of his condition, only his 2 younger sisters had the privilege of going on holidays with the parents. Sure, the Victors' have brought him along too, to the UK and Australia. But I'm not sure if he could enjoy himself as much.

It is with both sorrow and joy. Sorrow for any passing and joy because we know he is well taken care of now, at a place where there's no pain or tears. He would be joining his grandfather, the one who was really looking after him during his time on earth. But now that they are together, they can rejoice and be reunited forever.

The well named 'family' restaurant that we went to on Friday is over-hyped, in our opinion. Sure, they have a child's menu and the designer Stokke high chair. The child's menu even came with those gadget that you can look into and click to change the picture. But guess what they over-looked! Something as simple as children's cutlery! Baby K's spaghetti bolognaise came in a big ceramic bowl which she could fit her face into if she goes too near her food, the smaller version of the fork and knife came in *yikes* stainless steel and her apple cordial was in a glass cup. Oh, I ended up drinking her apple cordial as it was too sweet! Too much sweetener or ribena! But the saving grace was, we didn't have to queue to get in. Maybe because we were there for dinner at 5ish. But at least we tried the restaurant once. Lol.

And yesterday, we went to town and got ourselves a thermal pot! Yay...I have been thinking of getting one but never really needed it until now, that is with the love of our life back home with us. I hope we make use of it more often and not like the 'happy call' which have seen been relegated to the back of the cabinet.

I prepared ingredients for soup this morning. It was easy. I just peeled 3 potatoes, 1 carrot, 2 sticks of celery and added the blanched pork ribs to boil in the inner thermal pot. After it started boiling, I transferred the inner pot back into the main pot and when we came back home for dinner about 8 hours later, the soup was still so warm and the meat so tender! I never had the patience of conventional soup cooking and it takes up so much time, adding water and can you imagine the amount of gas consumed! Even with slow cooker, you have to add in water every now and then.

Lucky for us, when we went to buy the thermal pot, there was a promotion going on and we received a 1.5 litre thermal pot for free! I can't wait for next week again when we go marketing on Saturday and I'll buy more ingredients for soup making! :)

Baby K still cries whenever the hubs drops her off at the ccc but thankfully it usually lasts for less than 3 minutes. However, she is back to her normal self at home, since Wednesday. She's not as clingy or whiny anymore and is able to play on her own like before. But she has also increased her milk consumption to 300ml! 

She has no problems finishing her milk at 200ml but because during tea break at school, they serve the kiddos horlicks, milo and so on, we've removed her mid-day feed and thus she only gets her full cream milk fix when she wakes up and before she goes to bed. I guess in the beginning, she was tired and hungry after a whole day at the ccc that's why she was cranky, clingy and what not. The hubs and I have been trying to adjust her milk time as well as sleep time and it seems to be working. 

So you can imagine the rush we encounter whenever we reach home. There's the cooking to be done for her, dinner for her at about 6ish, milk time at 7ish followed by a wipe down before we try to hit the bed by 8.30pm so that she can fall sleep by 9pm. The 3 of us wake up at 6.30 am now and so I could also reach the office earlier and leave earlier too.

Yesterday evening, we decided to take a break and had our dinner at the nearby hawker centre. At least we could relax when we reached home. And today, being the hubs' birthday, we are going out for a proper dinner. TGIF!

We all had well-rested sleep today and yesterday. Baby K did not have her nightmares although she still is clingy and whiny. I've instructed the hubs to ask the teacher at the ccc how baby K was doing and this morning, he reported back to me that baby K is motivated by seeing her friends as well as, food! 

He said he burst out laughing when he heard the food part because to us, we know she loves her food. And I guess being the social person that she is, being motivated by friends is not too much of a surprise. However, she was the first to arrive at the centre yesterday and today so the young teacher suggested to the hubs that we bring her in later, maybe just in time for breakfast. I guess I'll be able to leave the house with them then.

Since the hubs has been sending and picking baby K from the centre, she has been rather attached to him these days. Not that I am complaining. Afterall, the hubs have been quite disappointed when baby K always  seems to look out for me. And hopefully, he doesn't feel that way anymore although sometimes baby K can be tad too clingy.

With her nightmares over, fingers crossed, and the plan to drop her off a bit later, I hope baby K will feel better and not cry everytime the hubs drop her off. She cried again today, albeit for 30 seconds. Teacher told the hubs that she always stops by the time the next child arrives.

It's heart-wrenching for me both to see her so sad as well as the thought that my baby has grown up. She's no longer that little baby or toddler dressed up in her onesie waiting for me. :(

I am back to work today. The hubs has officially taken over the duty of sending baby K to her childcare centre. Although he thought that I would walk them down the carpark but I felt otherwise. He should also start getting adjusted to doing it himself. 

He reported that baby K clinged on back to him after the routine temperature check by the teacher and cried when he had to transfer her to the teacher. She cried all the way to the bathroom, where they are taught to always wash their hands before breakfast and stopped after a minute or so when the teacher managed to distract her.

Ever since she started childcare, she has been waking up in the middle of the night, crying. It usually happens around 4ish in the morning and it will go on for about 10 minutes before she finally settles when she lies on top of me. 10 minutes in the dark night can be a long 10 minutes to sit through. And recently we also noticed that she tends to be more clingy and have a tendency to whine. My colleagues say it's normal as the ccc is a totally different, structured environment. 

I am hoping she adjusts to this new arrangement soon. The hubs and I have also been busy. If he is able to reach home earlier, he'll start cooking for her while I do the laundry. For now, we are planning to start cooking our own dinner but looking at the time we have, I'm not sure how long this plan will last.

Well, we'll see. God answers prayers.

Baby K started school yesterday and I have taken leave till Monday. The teachers took over when we went through the second and lower gate in the school. I very much left her to the teachers and was just hanging around.

The hubs left for work shortly after baby K and I went through the second gate and I had planned to stick around till their nap time. Baby K joined the rest of the children at the table for breakfast. When they went into another room for assembly and when the doors was closed, I left. Somehow I felt like I was very much in the way of the teachers and also the principal had suggested that I should leave to allow baby K to settle in 'faster'. Another child, who also started yesterday, came in crying and screaming. His parents did not stay although they both were dressed like they have also taken the day off. 

I think baby K started crying in the playroom while waiting when the doors were shut. The principal has kindly been updating me, sending me pictures and videos. The teachers told me that she stopped when it was playtime and then it was back to her chirpy self, like 2 different persons. They had a birthday celebration too yesterday and it seems that the cake was all baby K remembered when I asked her how was school and what she did yesterday. 

I hope and we've been praying that she adjusts well to this new arrangement and that God continues to watch over her and gives her good health.

Today, the hubs and I dropped her off and he went to work while I took a morning stroll home. I guess I can cancel my leave for Monday and return to work. 

Best wishes for the New Year and may 2014 be a smooth sailing year that brings you good health & wealth!

The hubs invited his folks over for lunch today. I think doing lunch will be the next way to go for our future gatherings! Lol. I was hesitant in the beginning, then again, I am always hesitant when it comes to his side of the family. I had wanted to do lunch but wanted to make sure that we still have plenty of time in the evening to ourselves, cleaning up and preparing baby K for school tomorrow.

I had told the hubs to let his folks know that lunch will be from 1-6. It was initially at 12 noon but as it confirmed my thoughts, 12 was a bit of a rush for us. Even at 1pm, the 2nd BIL and the PILs came about an hour after. The youngest BIL commented to me that I should not have bothered changing the timing. 

So, did the PILs overstay their welcome? Thankfully, NO! The 2nd BIL and wife had something on and wanted to leave with their friend, who came along, who happens to be a taxi-driver. The MIL, being the cheapskate that she is, was anxious for a free ride home and so they ended up going off together. The youngest BIL and family stayed a little longer and we ended up joining them out for window-shopping at a new shopping centre after I did the washing up.

While they were here, we gave life to the old xbox kinect again. The hubs had trouble starting it up when my part of my family came over on Christmas eve. Afterall, we have not touched it for as long as baby K was borned and we thought the worst of it but thankfully, it's working just fine! I hope our Wii works too. 

While we were alone with the youngest BIL and his family, the hubs' thoughts of his nephew has resurfaced. Thoughts of how naughty he really is. As far as I am concerned, he has always been naughty and rude.

Anyhow, it was good to be able to spend some (short) time with his family although the hubs and I had a minor argument about me wanting to fix a timing that they could stay here for. It's true that he never imposes a timing when we have our family over but then again, I argued, my side of the family never overstays their welcome. And then the hubs swears that this will be the last time. Well, we'll see. If it's so, it's good for me!