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.

A piece of heart-breaking news made the headlines yesterday. A body of a 17 month toddler was found floating near Bedok Jetty. Whilst the mother was rescued in her attempt to commit suicide, her baby was silently being swept away by the sea.

Whilst we do not know what happened, the cause of it and the verdict yet, I had tears welling up as I read the news. A child of 17 months knows so many things already! This boy would have known who his parents are and would have probably started calling them mummy or daddy or whatever terms of endearment he was taught. A child of 17 months brings so much joy. 

I imagine the poor baby gulping amounts of sea water and struggling for just that short breath of air and suddenly mummy or daddy or any of his care giver is not there to help him this time. I just hope that he didn't have to struggle too much in this very unfortunate end to his short life.

I do not know what else to say but the sadness and your heart wrenching is far from what the family is feeling right now. God bless his soul.

We spent some time with baby K yesterday evening at Jeremy's and the usual routine on Tuesdays when we see her, is to bring her down for a walk slightly before 8pm to catch a line-dance recreation group. She enjoys watching and emulates as much as she can from the aunties there. It's such a regular routine that the aunties and uncles recognise us. 

Baby K is starting to be a little shy now although she still extends a friendly wave, says her hi's and bye-bye's. I also notice that she tends to sometimes stand behind me and peep at whoever, especially when we are in the lift. She has also developed a dislike towards sand, exactly like Josh when he was a tod. 

When we were at our staycation in Sentosa, at the sandbed of the swimming pool in Hard Rock Hotel, we led her to the 'beach' but she started getting squirmish with the sand between her toes and the hubs had to carry her. She doesn't even like the feeling of sand at the bottom of the pool.

On Sunday morning, she gave us a laugh when she came out of the room not wearing anything! I had asked her to put her clothes in the basket for wash and although she stayed in the room for quite a while, it didn't occur to me to go see if she was alright. Well, I'm a little relaxed like this. Anyhow, we found out that while putting her worn clothes in the basket, she had also removed her top, pants and diapers! And yes, she had put  those  clothes into the basket as well and left her diaper on the floor. 

The things that she does are so cute now and how I really wish time would just stop at this stage, for all of us.

Baby K spent 1 day at Jeremy's before the hubs fetched her back home yesterday evening. I am glad I went back to work yesterday instead of taking the whole week off. I had so much emails and work to clear!

As the hubs had to go the the new guild house in the late morning today, I was pretty much alone with baby K most of the time and when he returned home, after his nap, I insisted that we go out. And we did but only for about 2 plus hours as we did not want to bring baby K home too late for her nap. Well, now that we can control our timings, we will. We don't like how some tods are still up and awake at the coffee-shops etc at 10pm, sitting there with their parents, and not doing anything.

On another note, Joshua made us so proud with his fantastic PSLE results and getting admitted to the school of his choice. I think no one else in my family have scored such high points. The next step of his journey starts next year. How fast he has grown and I still remember when he was a toddler and how I used to love bringing him out. He doesn't show the same affection to us anymore and I pray that he will continue to grow into a earnest and humble young man.

Unfortunately, we had to leave Malacca right after breakfast as the husband had a few meetings to attend during the day. But I'm glad that we could enjoy some time with my family nonetheless. 

On our first night there, while all of us were in deep sleep, well, maybe not for baby K, she gave us a scare. It was about 1240am and she suddenly threw up. We got woken up when we heard her cough and a fountain of vomit started raining. My first reaction was to carry her out of the cot and to the bathroom, hoping that she will throw up in the toilet bowl but she kept crying. There was puke on her cot and a trail of of it to the bathroom. I had to wash her up and my poor baby was shivering and crying while seated on the bathroom floor. Thankfully, she was able to return to sleep soundly between the hubs and me. 

While I was attending to baby K, the hubs was trying hard to clean the vomit off the carpet. We think it could be indigestion as she had a little too much the night before and are glad that it's not something more serious. Everything was back to normal again once we woke up.

Going on a holiday is usually more tiring, notice the oxymoron and I hope with the longer days that we have in Bangkok next month, baby K can just doze off while in the stroller or on our shoulders. 

I had such a busy day yesterday, despite my day off and I'm still feeling the after-effects of tiredness at this point of entry.

I woke up at the usual time I would on a working day, made sandwich for the hubs for his breakfast at work, put baby K's laundry to wash, bathe, had my breakfast and off I went. 

I had an exclusive VIP invite to the yearly Crabtree & Evelyn sale and surprisingly, I belonged to the very active members category and was invited to a sneak preview a day ahead of the VIP sale. I had to lug $450 worth of items back home and although I hate cab rides, I had no choice but to hail one back home.

I quickly dropped everything as soon as I reached home and left on a long train ride to Tampines to pick baby K up to collect her passport from ICA. Thankfully, Jeremy was kind enough to pick me up from the train station and sent the both of us to ICA.

Baby K's first passport photo was taken when she was about 4-5 months old and she looks very different. She looks totally like a boy in that photo and fearing that we may not be able to go through airport immigration for our upcoming trip to Bangkok next month, I decided to get a new passport for her. ICA no longer allow the old practice of updating passport photos by pasting the new photo on one of the pages. So despite baby K's passport only having 2 used pages, I have to pay for a new one again in less than 2 years. The e-submission is fantastic but because we went without an appointment, we waited for about 1 1/2 hours for our turn.

Although I have made an appointment for tomorrow, the hubs forgot to revert to me on his schedule and it ended up with the last time-slot being taken up. So I had to do a walk-in yesterday since I was on leave anyway.

Our road trip to Malacca with Jeremy, Ivy and Jerry's family is confirmed although our family may have to leave ahead of them on Wednesday morning because of the hub's work. Oh well, I'm looking forward to some fun times with them. :)

It all started on Friday, with the rec club putting up a banner on my workstation. A colleague treated me to ramen lunch, followed by a cute little cake, which he bought when we happened to walk past the bakery and I commenting that the little mouse is so cute. :)

And at the home front, the hubs 'surprised' me with a staycation at Sentosa. Well, 'surprise' because we sort of had an argument on Friday night and besides, you can't really hide a staycation with the packing you need to do, especially with the little one. Lol.

So packed away I did on Friday night as well as Saturday morning. We went to the market as usual with baby K in tow on Saturday morning, got busy with a million stuff when we reached home, fed baby K her lunch and off we went to Sentosa. 

We checked in at about 1ish and were pleasantly surprised with an upgrade. Not a room upgrade but a hotel upgrade! The hubs had booked us at the Festive Hotel but we ended up in the Equarius with a room half the size of new 4 room flats! We had the view overlooking Adventure Cove and could see the simulated snorkeling area and spotted 3 dolphins on the day of check-out! 

I bumped into an ex-colleague on Saturday evening at the hotel lobby while we were waiting for the shuttle bus to go for dinner. Although she had paid for their staycation at the Equarius, we definitely got the better deal, even view! And the next day I met another ex-colleague at the kids pool at the Hard Rock Hotel. The hotels were definitely having a high occupancy rate over the weekend.

Now I hope that we can go ahead with the road trip to Malacca with my 2 brothers as the hub's project at work has been delayed. :( Fingers & toes crossed.

I met the hub's ex-SIL for dinner yesterday evening. I got to know that she is expecting a baby girl on FB and messaged her to congratulate her and who knows, she replied and we started chatting. And so we caught up and I gave her a little gift for her baby. It's good to know that she's doing well and happy with her new marriage. Of course, the hubs need not know about my meet up with his ex-SIL.

Anyway, another childcare centre called me yesterday to offer baby K a place from as early as December. And after deliberating, the hubs and I have decided to stick to the one that we have registered baby K with. I hear of feedback that says the anchor childcare centre only teaches the child motor skills, which I am glad to say, baby K has mastered most of the basic ones and is really not too difficult to teach at home. A colleague tells me too that the same childcare operator that her son goes to, does not provide potty training and expects the parents to do it at home. When you are a working parent, the only time you have with your kid/s is not time you want to spend pulling hair and being frustrated. 

Although we rejected the same centre that the nephew in law attended when the youngest BIL and family were staying at the PIL's much earlier due to it seemingly being overly academic, I still prefer some form of curriculum that allows baby K to learn not just through play. When the idea of sending baby K to a childcare centre first appeared, I thought that any childcare centre is ok. The responsibility still lies on the parents to teach their child and that was what I had intended to do. But reality is, how much time can we afford when we only have time with her from 6pm-9pm on the weekdays and then the weekends, which we would likely go out. So, having a balance would be of course perfect. We as parents, would still be responsible for bringing her up to be a fine Christian lady.

So, our mind's settled. And pray that baby K would move on to this new transition with ease.

Baby K has finally recovered from a bout of running nose, which she was having for about 2 weeks now. Thankfully, it wasn't dripping all day but boy, when her nose wasn't dripping, they were filled with dry snot. Ewwww...

Her running nose didn't look too uncomfortable to warrant bringing her to the Doctor's and thus it was allowed to run it's course. The only thing I did and had Ivy do was to rub ru yi oil on the soles of baby K's feet and then put on her socks. And while she slept, I'll use a tweezer to pull out the dry snot. Lol....Well, she has come out of this stronger and has built up her immunity, at least I hope. Relying on medication would probably not allow her own immunity to build up to fight the germs. Shortly after she turned 1, we started giving her a daily dose of cod liver oil, in it's original flavour. Not the nicest thing but good for her.

Hopefully, she will continue to have good strong health when the time comes for her to start at childcare.

Auntie Leena, the hubs' paternal auntie who is actually a year younger than him, invited us over to her home yesterday evening for a yearly ritual. The family has the opportunity to observe a Nepali ritual, Bhai Puja, thanks to her. Although the men do not take it seriously, they laugh and crack jokes while Auntie Leena is going through the ritual, it is still a novelty of sorts to watch.

The purpose for this observance is actually where "sisters put tika on the foreheads of brothers, to ensure long life, and thank them for the protection they give.When the sisters give the tika, the brothers give gifts or money in return. A special garland is made for the brothers out of a flower, symbolizing the sister's prayer for her brother's long life. Brothers sit on a floor while sisters perform their puja." 

So every year, Auntie Leena will play the role of a sister for the FIL and the 3 boys while her daughter performs the ritual for the nephew in law, which will be taken over by baby K when she is older. Well, it's a fun thing for us, not something that we take very seriously because of religion. And the 3 brothers, none of whom retained the hindu faith, partake of this ritual in good sport, as a yearly 'festival'. 

This is very much the only Nepali influence left in the hubs immediate family, if not for his aunt. So whenever people asked me about the Nepali culture, I am shy to say anything as I only know momo, a traditional Nepali delicacy, which are actually steamed dumplings. 

Nepal has such a rich culture and it is a pity that the PILs and none of the sons make any effort to share it with the 3 DILs. I don't blame the sons really for they migrated here when they were so young. So really, children learn a lot from the parents. Unfortunately, as far as I am concerned, the beautiful culture and tradition is wasted on this family.

I'm in a little bit of a fix. I received a call yesterday afternoon from one of the childcare centres that I've placed baby K on waitlist in. It belongs to a chain of childcare centres and the branch that was offering us a confirmed slot was nearer home, is non air-conditioned and charges half of what I'll be paying compared to the one that baby K will be joining come January. 

Few months back when I called them to check on our status, I was told that our queue number was less than 20 and the centre at the PIL's old place was under 40. With the numbers looking like these, I didn't think baby K had much of a chance to be enrolled in either one so we went ahead with the new operator. Some of the main reasons why we did were because we were comfortable with the staff and that the school was new. However, I still don't like the fact that it is air-conditioned.  

The hubs passes by the school everyday when he travels to work and back home from work but it's pretty much out of the way for me. So I'm hoping he will be able to send baby K to school everyday and pick her up at least on most days. 

Nevertheless, in order to confirm a place for her, we had to make full payment and I do not know whether they will refund us the entire amount even if we give them advance notice. The incumbent school is only able to offer baby K a confirmed slot in February and when I told the lady that we're actually hoping for January to start, she says she will call me back again next week after confirmation from another parent.

The hubs doesn't seem too keen to make the change and says baby K is comfortable with the existing one. I think he's just being lazy as it'll take a bit of work to get whatever we've paid for to be refunded. Besides baby K is comfortable almost everywhere. She has not even started school so, one can't really tell yet right?

I've been telling the hubs that I would like to make the change and he says to wait till the lady calls me back again next week to decide. At the mean time, I guess I can only pray for God's wisdom to guide us to the right direction.

I've started on my scrapbook project, which I target to complete before Christmas. Well, at least a small part of it. I've sorted the pictures and saved them under a separate folder and realised we've only got 15 nice ones! My intention is to compile photos that baby K has with them so the end product will look like their family album with baby K.

So the photos would have her with any one of them in it and it's just 15 at the moment. I hope to take some more when we go on our road trip to Malacca next month with Jeremy and Ivy. I'm also hoping that I can squeeze some out from their camera, which Bev is hogging on to now. 

And what is scrapbooking without the scraps! Pun intended. Last night while putting baby K's laundry to wash, I started scrapping stuff around the house which I think I could add to the album. 

The fabric cut-outs are trimmed out from her stained onesies. And the pooh was cut out from her bib, which has seen better days. I then pasted them on a board, which I recycled from last year's christmas gift pack and trimmed them down to size. It'll make pasting on the final product much easier I hope. I've also cut out the pictures from the poster the hub's colleague made for baby K's baby shower. I hope all these materials will come in handy and add a nice touch to the album. :)

This came in the mail today!

Thanks to the husband! *Loves*

P/S: Just realised it arrived just on time as an advanced birthday present!

We spent the whole of Saturday at home, with the hubs nursing his 2nd week of cough and sleeping almost throughout the day. When we went to the market on Saturday morning, he consulted the GP again while I pushed baby K around in the stroller and spotted the moon at 9ish in the morning while waiting for him! 

And then it poured in the mid afternoon and we were home for good. But it was good time spent with baby K, as always. In fact, going out all the time takes away a bit of that quality time we have just with her. Thankfully the hubs is getting better with all that sleep.

And it poured again after church yesterday. Although we had wanted to lunch with Jerry and his family, we decided against it after parking the car. There was no shelter to the hawker centre so while baby K and I waited in the car, the hubs went off to the hawker centre to pick up baby's food jar from the 3rd SIL. We're very lucky. Jerry's wife loves to feed baby K and never fails to cook for her every Sunday. This has been going on ever since baby K started on solids and not one Sunday has gone by that she has not prepared anything for baby K. And that has been at least for a year now that she's doing this for us.

By the time we reached home, it was almost 2 and baby K was more tired than hungry. After taking in a few spoons and spitting her food out, we decided to just give her her milk and true enough, she slept while finishing the milk. 

And in the later part of the day, before we proceeded off for dinner at the 2nd BIL's, we went to buy a birthday cake for him. Dinner was prepared by him and his wife. Baby K had fun playing with her cousin and I'm glad that there were no screaming heard from the nephew in law other than him being his usual highly active self. The youngest BIL even bought 2 dresses a a pink watch for baby K!

And then it was back to Jeremy's we went.

Another item exchanged hands today! The lady text me yesterday and even asked if she could collect it on the same day! I met her at the next train station from work and then it was done deal. Sweet. :)

This and another item were put up just less than 2 weeks ago and was sold yesterday evening. Although I was supposed to meet up with the buyer today after work and that I was willing to bring it to her at Clementi, she managed to get her husband to drive down to my place with her daughter and collected the bumper at about 9ish.

I received about 10 enquiries for the 2 items I've put up, even having 1 person confirm taking both items and another lady confirming the bumper. And I felt bad when I replied to other queries that came after the 2 confirmations that both items were still available and I'm now glad I did! Nothing is ever confirmed until payment is received! 1 other person asked if I was willing to sell the diaper organiser for $15 from $36. I replied 'From $36?', thinking she would get the message and she replied to say she saw another person letting it go for $15 but did not reply to her. I refused to answer her thereafter although I felt like telling to her to carry on waiting. Anyhow, I'm glad I cleared this and hopefully can find someone for the organiser as well as other unopened stuff that I have plans to put up.

I also cleared these 2 bags yesterday evening and am quite upset that I have to. They are pretty versatile with most outfits, are almost feather weight and easy to carry. Thankfully I've used them quite a bit in their better days. I've not used them much in recent months or even a year or so? And kept them aside nicely folded, like how they are supposed to be stored, unless they are not meant to be folded away? 

A few years back, I managed to change the bags at the store when it became like this. So yes, these 2 were not the originals that I bought. But they've since stopped this policy and I'm guessing they realised that the 'bubbling' is inherent, meaning it's not worth buying at all and yes, I've stopped. Anyway, I've got tons of other bags that I've not used in a long time.

Which comes to my question; how do you clear your new, unused items as well as used items that are still in perfect condition? 

As Janice had to accompany her husband to the Doctor's on Friday, the play-date was cancelled. And hardly having the baby at home with us on a weekday, except for the earlier part of this week, the hubs returned home earlier than usual.

We went to Ikea, hoping to buy a bed rail guard to fix on our bed so it'll give us peace of mind whenever baby K takes a nap while we scoot off somewhere in the house to get something done. Well, for me, I do that nevertheless. It's the hubs who is paranoid. But it'll come in useful when we sleep at night as babies have the tendency to turn all over and I know she can keep doing that and still be on the bed while I'm in deep slumber. Unfortunately, the type of bed guard that Ikea carries is not the one we have in mind. 

On Saturday, we brought baby K to the National Library and borrowed a book and 2 video discs for her. It's not the first time we've brought her to a library but certainly the first to borrow something for her. And I have to keep reminding myself to bring her birth certificate the next time we go so she can have her own card. And also to bring our, old but still very much kept in good condition, books to donate to the library.

And after church on Sunday, everyone went their separate ways and the hubs and I found ourselves having lunch just with baby K at Jurong East. We went up to Jerry's after lunch as we had another house viewing in the mid afternoon. Although, I mentioned previously that we are not considering masionettes, we went to view one anyway but with the amount of water-proofing works that need to be done for the 2 bathrooms, it would be too much work to do if we take over the unit. And anyway, just after we finished our lunch at the market, I told the husband that I've changed my mind about shifting.

I told him I now find that the location was indeed quite far, the sun seemed hotter and it's still as 'dirty' as it was years ago when I used to stay there. I am not comfortable with the people I see too. I don't know. It's just a feeling and I guess that confirms my decision whether we should move or not. The husband then said we should not bother viewing the unit then but somehow, we went ahead when we drove into the estate where the masionette was at and kind of like it. But the conditions of the house made it an easy decision for us.

The husband has been very patient through all my requests. There are so many incidences that I can recall him not saying a word of retort whenever I changed my mind over something and yet, it is me who always says he's fickle whenever he does the same. Although, he is a lot fickle than I am but his reaction towards my fickleness has made to sit up and a reminder to myself to be a little bit more patient.

We did many things with baby K when we had the privilege to spend time with her over the long weekend. I look forward to many more such occasions and of course, the fact that I was on leave and didn't have to work was a big draw factor. Lol.

We introduced her the use of the toilet and she did her first poop in there! Nothing exciting you may say but for parents with a toddler, it's another milestone! We've tried putting her on a potty but she doesn't like it. She takes it out once in a while to sit on it with her diapers on so we can't tell if she actually pees into her diapers when she does that. With her resistance to the potty whenever we ask her, when she has a clear sign that she is moving her bowels, I decided to take out the toilet training seat. Part of the stash from the Cordeiros.

And when she shows signs of bowel movement, which in itself is very cute, because she has her face crumpled up and standing there holding tight to the table or whatever that is in front of her. One look and you know she's got something going on down there. Lol. On occasions, she tells us 'poo-poo' but a lot of other times, we know when we catch her expression.

So over the long weekend, I managed to walk her to the toilet and the husband quickly removed baby K's diaper and put her up on the training seat. Then it happened. Although there was already poop in her diaper, she managed another one down the bowl! 

She's coming home today, a day earlier, as I have taken leave tomorrow again. Let's see what else we can teach her. And we're going to have another play-date with Jazlyn! :)

We were at the Victor's for a surprise birthday party for Gaye yesterday. We were supposed to be there before 2pm but as you would already know by now, we always give baby K's nap time priority. I love a good nap and know how it feels like to be woken up from a beautiful one. 

Anyhow, for a change, I made fried rice lunch for us and while the baby slept, I made shepherd's pie, my contribution to the pot-luck for the party. Thankfully, baby K liked my cooking enough to finish what was given to her as she didn't take to the instant packet congee that we had bought on Sunday, as a test for our possible holidays. Anyway, while the shepherd's pie was in the oven, I took a quick shower and we had to change baby K's diaper, in a bid to wake her up. Reluctantly, she did and off we went to the Victor's, to be greeted by everyone else who were already there. Lol.

We had fun and baby had fun with the other girls, next youngest being 6. Yes, there are a lot more girls than boys amongst our friends. When it was time to leave to send her back to Jeremy's, she insisted on holding the hands of 2 older girls who were playing with her  and they had to take the lift with us to the ground floor lobby. Baby K had to be pried off from them and she cried, albeit for 2 minutes, thankfully.

By the time we were at Jeremy's, she had another set of fun waiting for her. Back to her holiday camp and back to work for the parents. :(

The hubs and I are on leave today and that means we've got a long weekend with baby K, with tomorrow, being a public holiday. :) My plan for today was to bring her for a dip at the pool. Initially, we had wanted to go to the club where we are members at but knowing that the children area is fairly small, I suggested the public pool in front of where my family used to stay. 

Although a public pool, it has a lazy river, slides, a wave pool, a kid's section....it's almost like a pool in a theme park! But as murphy law goes, most public pools close on Mondays for cleaning and we ended up bringing her to SAFRA where the hubs has free membership to. The hubs brought baby K to the children's section which she wasn't too keen with, what with the water pouring from the top and she accidentally slipped and went under-water twice. Nope, she didn't make a fuss about it because importantly, the parents didn't. She ended up settling quite happily in a cavity of a salamander's back and when the hubs and I asked if she would like to go back to the water play section, she said no.

Although I had planned for the outing to be before lunch, the sky was over-cast and being the kiasi daddy, the hubs said no. The weather turned out fine and was in fact, such nice weather that I insisted while baby K was napping that we should just go ahead. By then, I had taken a shower and was too lazy to have my hair wet with chlorine and having to wash it again. 

Having had all that fun, I don't think we'll bring her to a public pool again so soon. The shower head in the children's bath area could not be pulled out and it was a challenge having to wash her hair without water dripping over her face. Something which she doesn't like. Well, at least we tried and we know the challenges and, something to cross out on my to-do list with her.

And talking about to-do lists, we were finally able to take a ride on a double-decker with her! After she woke up from her nap yesterday, the hubs suggested that we take a bus ride to Orchard and at the same time, buy something for baby K. Having to sit in the car most of the time, I reckon that rides on the bus and train gives her a different exposure and thrill. What else should a child be doing but learn and have fun along the way! :)

I received a text message on Wednesday asking if an item I posted on the free for all FB group is still available. It was there since July and although I sold the milk bottle warmer bag in super quick time, I gave up on this one. Besides I was letting it go at only $3 and so it went, into the mountain of baby K's stuff, in the study room. 

And boy was I glad to be able to 'get rid' of it. I bought it, thinking it was cute and true to the picture, never opened it up for use. Baby K doesn't need it. Lol....And so I met the lady at the train station near home yesterday evening and it exchanged hands. She seemed surprised that it was still brand new. Well, I'm surprised too that anyone would buy it since it can be easily bought off the shelves at any children department. Hehe...

And today, wanting to still take baby K on a double-decker ride, we decided to take a bus to Anchor Point. I've been wanting to let her play in the ball pool, something which I still remember playing in at Ikea when I was a child and thoroughly enjoyed. They no longer have it at the Ikea near our place though.

So, after her nap, we went ahead with our plan but unfortunately, the buses that came were all single decks! Well, next time then. The hubs met a club member while we were walking towards the activity zone and started chatting while he asked me to go ahead first. When I found out the admission charges, I hesitated bringing baby K in! But since it was an open concept, I felt it very mean to bring her there and then take her away from it. So I asked for the $20 entrance fee from the hubs and went in with baby K, watching her as well as playing with her. Although there was no time limit by then, as it was about 5pm, baby K is only 19 months and won't have the energy to play in there for the rest of the opening hours. So $20 for an hour is exorbitant! Trust me, we'll never bring her to any of these places anymore unless it's for free!

This whole lot of goodies came today. Mostly for Lynn and just a wallet that I have bought for the hubs and a pouch that I have sold away to a colleague.

2 days back when we had to make payment to a colleague's contact in the States, Lynn kicked up a small fuss as her shipment this time was slightly more expensive and something she didn't expect. I must have reached her at the wrong time too and I wasn't too happy to be at the brunt of her complain. She mentioned that she won't be buying anymore and I'm glad in a way too. I was merely extending a 'lobang' to her and if she doesn't appreciate it, so be it. I hope she doesn't turn into a unattached and frustrated lady when she reaches 40 that my colleagues and I have observed and talked about. Well, I'm not saying that they all are weird but a handful are somehow strange.

Anyhow, I know I have made the hubs a little happier especially since I noticed he needs to change his wallet. And in return, he promised to buy me a bag too which is long over-due. So, I'm eagerly anticipating for the arrival of the bag, hopefully with the next shipment. :)

There isn't much to update this week. The only thing that happened out of the ordinary was the late dinner meet up with the Victors and Cordeiros after we dropped baby K off at Jeremy's on Sunday.

And because it was dinner, we didn't stay long at Jeremy's although baby K was getting quite clingy to me. Ivy had to distract her which didn't work and she ended up having to block baby K's view of me while I made a quick 'escape'.

Incidentally, the large number of hand me downs such as the cot, Moses' basket, soft baby basket, truck loads of clothes and so many more, that Baby K inherited came from the Cordeiros. Although Michelle said that she has taken that fun away from me in buying baby's cute clothes, I don't look at it that way at all. A self-professed OCD, all the stuff she handed down to us were kept in good condition, in ziplock bags! And not to mention, all good quality stuff! And mind you, their only girl is now 6 years old. I feel thankful and blest a million times! And baby K is still wearing so many of their daughter's clothes up till now! And then we have some more from a relative of the hub's and so many more as gifts and such. Of course we still do some shopping for her but it's so much of savings we have had.

The only thing in my mind now is really to clear the study cum store room. It's filled knee high with so many stuff! Baby K's things, the hubs as well as mine. I really want her to have her own room where we can put her cot, toys and eventually, where she can sleep in. Well, at least a room to call her own. And then I can arrange play dates and her friends can come play in the comfort of a proper room. 

The hubs has promised by end of this month. Knowing the extreme procrastinator in him, I don't have my hopes held high. And I also secretly wish that James, who has finalised his annulment, would get his own place soon so that he can bring M over to stay with him. Well, it's not exactly a secret anymore since I did text him that explicitly when we had a conversation yesterday.

Well, watch this space and find out whether the hubs is able to clear that room as he had promised.

We are back in the property market. Viewing resale flats, that is and back at the west, near Jerry's. Somehow, the husband and I would still like to move into a bigger unit and that only means getting older flats. We've given up the thought of getting masionettes as there are so much work to do and we don't want to reach the stage when climbing up and down the house may become an obstacle in our older age.

Unfortunately for today, I woke up with a headache. In fact, the headache came even while I was sleeping and when I had to wake up early morning to close the bedroom windows because of the rain, I felt it. So, other than bathing for baby K, the hubs took care of her most part of the day. 

And then we had a 4.30 pm appointment to view a unit. Thankfully we had planned to go to Jerry's after that. I went to lie down almost as soon as we reached their place but Esther kept coming into the room with baby K tagging behind her so I moved rooms. While I was trying to settle in the new bed, I threw up. I had to trouble their helper to wash the bedsheet and the hubs helped her clean the floor a bit. I had to take a bath again but felt so much better. Yes, my headaches or migraine can get very bad but thankfully, it seldom happens nowadays.

Anyhow, I'm hoping to be able to view a few more units especially since the resale market is kind of slow now it seems. The one we saw today is pretty runned down and the owner has stayed there for 10 years. So it'll be a major renovation work if we take over the unit. It's on a very low floor but otherwise I think I'm ok with it. So hopefully, we can view some better units around that location before we make a decision.

It's been a month since I started blogging here and I still have no access to my old blog! So there's no way I could put in an entry there to 're-direct' any 'ghost' followers that I may have to this new one. Well, like what they say, we start anew on a clean sheet. Lol.

We went over to Jeremy's yesterday evening to spend some time with baby K. And it's nice to see her enjoying herself there and the hubs and I think she knows she can bully them. She was following Bev around and according to Ivy was doing so the whole day! I'm sure the family will miss her much when baby K starts her pre-school.

The hubs suggested developing photos of baby K for them when it's time to bring baby K back for good. I decide to take a step further. I shall develop photos of anyone of them with baby K and compile them into a scrapbook. But I need ideas and of course a push on the butt to get it done. Hopefully I can get it done in time for Christmas. I think it'll be the perfect gift. :)

I was finally able to catch up with Pauline and her 5 month old prince charming on the last day of my leave. The last time we met was when she invited us to her home for Bradley's baby shower. And babies do go through a lot of changes during those short months. 

Getting out of the house was a challenge itself. I decided to take my lunch before feeding baby K and as usual, the hubs woke up early just to prepare our meals. While I packed for the outing, I let baby K play with her building blocks only to regret it later as she was delaying precious time by not wanting to keep them back into the bag. And then when I was ready to finally dress her up, she decided to be cheeky and hide in the corner between her cot and drawers. I told her she could stay there and wait till I returned home but thankfully we managed to leave the house within the next 15 minutes but ended up being late.

Although we only managed a short meet up and couldn't really update each other much, I was glad we did! How our lives have evolved! We knew each other through our previous blog, which we have no access to anymore, talking about our wedding preparation, the dreadful in-laws and life as a married couple. Fast forward more than 5 years and here we are pushing our precious in their stroller! 

It feels so surreal! Pauline says she still can't believe that she is a mummy now. Trust me, baby K is coming 19 months and I still find it hard to believe! And to think that both of us didn't want any to begin with and then went through a whole lot of emotions trying for one at a later stage.

Although it was a pleasant change to bring baby K out to catch up with a friend and her baby during a weekday, it wasn't so pleasant witnessing how ungracious people were generally. I even shared this with the hubs and mind you, all you lovers of all things foreign, even the foreigners are guilty of this! Pauline and I had to open the glass doors on our own, take turns to push the strollers in, press the lift door open for each other and well, basically look out for each other. Not that anyone owed us anything and yes, I agree, it's our own responsibility but the simple act of keeping the lift door open for someone is a basic act no? There was only 1 kind soul throughout our 2 hours catch up and just as we were leaving. 

As he held the door open and we went on separate ways, I watched as Pauline get into the cab. She slowly put her shopping bags into the cab and thankfully, the stroller could fold at a click of a button. If she had baby K's stroller, she would be in a fix! I then wonder if the cab driver would ever leave the comfort of his seat when he came out just in time to lift the pram into the boot. With so many challenges, it's no surprise many mothers would rather stay at home or just venture downstairs their homes.

As for me, it was a breeze taking the train, as long as the elevators work. And I'm thankful, just for that. :)

Jeremy flew off to Ho Chi Minh yesterday morning. As Tim had to work, the hubs decided to send him and at the same time, bring baby K to the airport. While we were waiting for Jeremy at the car park downstairs their place, baby K was getting restless and fussed to come out of her car seat. On rare occasions like this, when we are waiting in the car and not moving, I unbuckled her. But as soon as she saw her favourite uncle and cousin, Bev, she was saying hi repeatedly and rapping on the car window as they were outside the car.

We had a quick meal at the airport before Jeremy had to go into the departure hall. Bev also left to go back home so we brought baby K around the terminals and fed her lunch. By then, her energy was zapped with so many things to look at, she wasn't interested in the kids playground that we had wanted to let her play at. So after feeding her, we too left for home and within minutes in the car, she dozed off. 

And after church today, baby K also slept in the car on our way home but woke up when we reached home. We would have preferred her to continue sleeping even when we reach home as that frees us up to get some stuff done like clearing her food jar, some washing and so on. At times, she sleeps on, like yesterday, but a lot of Sundays, she wakes up when the hubs carries her out of her car seat.

And not wanting to stay at home where it would have been even more tiring and somehow makes us sleepy, just watching over her, we decided to bring her out on a train ride to Clementi. She had her dinner there and then we took the train back home again. For today, we'll have her for another night. :)

I'm on a long weekend off work. I have taken today as well as the coming Monday off. Although the hubs is on leave today as well, he had planned it for a golf game but came back pretty early at about 2pm. 

Initially, the plan was to meet up with Pauline  today but because we had a birthday dinner invitation that arrived after I made plans with her, I had to postpone our catch-up session to Monday. James came by our place at lunch time and so baby K and I were pretty much occupied at home, which is a good thing. My only concern always, when I have her back at home is that I don't have enough activities for her.

By the time baby K was fast asleep, James left and the hubs came back home. I even asked him why was he back early and then remembered he was playing in Singapore today. Anyhow, we fed her dinner before we left for the birthday dinner as it was only starting at 8pm!

Baby K were so enthralled by the strollers, who were hired to sing at the dinner that she had asked for me to bring her to them. Thankfully we were early and I was able to bring her right to where they were first performing.The other guests at our table were so accommodating that they even asked the strollers to play 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Stars' when they came round our table. 

Although dinner consisted of scallops, prawns, lobster and all the fine stuff, we could not sit through it as it was getting too late. By the time we left, it was almost 10pm, way past baby K's bedtime. Some of the sacrifices anyone would make when they have a young child.

I have a Minister in the making, an eighteen and a half month old one. She does not fail to bring a smile to our face whenever we bring her out and she says hi and waves to everyone who looks at her. And when we move on, she waves and says bye too.

The hubs puts his mobile on speaker when he speaks to certain people and baby K will say hi too. She hasn't quite learnt the concept that the person on the other line can't see her wave. Jeremy told us last week that at times, baby K will pick up anything and put it to her ear, pretending it to be a phone, and says hi or hullo mummy, daddy or mama. So I told the hubs he can be happy knowing that our baby does think of us when we are not with her. He always wonders if she knows how much we love her.

Baby K has a very amicable personality and is always the first to approach other kids, even if they are older than her. If this is an in-born trait, she definitely inherited it from her daddy. I, on the other hand, am quite aloof. But since having her, I have started to soften a little and will even prompt her to say hi to anyone within close proximity who's looking at her and she didn't notice. 

I guess little children especially of this age really bring people together. Neighbours who we usually don't talk to start to make small talk and smile. And that's because of the child. This is definitely the best age to have them at. And therefore, the time when we should treasure. 

We did not have lunch with my 2 brothers and their family after church yesterday. Instead, we quickly went off to attend the opening of the hubs' cousin's french cafe/restaurant. They were selling wine initially but somehow there were some issues with getting ready supply from France. Thus they decided to convert their business into a french eatery.

Baby K had her lunch there as well and the 2nd SIL tried her hand at feeding her while I ate. Lol. After that, I brought her for a walk around the area and back to the eatery where she followed her cousin around and then she released a helium balloon to the high ceiling and never got it back again. Within minutes of our drive back home, she fell asleep and woke up 2 hours later. I took the opportunity to nap beside her and slept for a good 1 hour! :)

After she woke up, we got ready and sent her to Jeremy's early as the hubs wanted to go to the F1 event. 

We had invites for the very first year that the Grand Prix started it's night race here. Flash forward 5 years and we have invites to the padang, where all the festivities were being held. It was different and it was a great atmosphere. It seems like the people were not there to watch the race but to party. We also have seats at a very good spot, right opposite the esplanade, with the beautiful skyline around us. Apparently the tickets that we had were not for sale. I think they were given to sponsors etc. They were very very good seats, thanks to the hub's relationship with people.

After watching about 15 laps out of 61, the hubs wanted to return to the padang, where we caught up with his friend. There wasn't much else to do really and the concert which Rihanna was to sing, was in another hour and half's time. So, we ended up going home. Lol. But at least, I made an effort to accompany the hubs.

We were given 2 sets of passes for the Grand Prix and they were very good tickets but we couldn't go as we had baby K with us yesterday and today. So, on the way to 'visit' the MIL, the hubs drove us to his youngest brother's home and dropped the passes for today's race into their letter box.

We also ta-paued dinner from near their place before moving off to 'visit' the in-laws and I'm glad we did as I was famished by the time we arrived and as usual, there was nothing to eat there. I ate almost as soon as we arrived at the 2nd BIL's home before feeding baby K.

The nephew-in-law was there too, having stayed there since yesterday evening till tomorrow. The youngest SIL was busy with her work especially so since she started her own cleaning business with some friends and the youngest BIL have soccer training. The nephew in law is still as naughty as ever and can't seem to talk in a normal tone. Not only does he like to shout, his voice is rough too. The husband had a headache the last time we were at the youngest BIL's home and suggested going home. I hope baby K doesn't emulate his behaviour and thankfully, we don't see them all the time. 

And today is also the first time I see the FIL so angry! While we were resting in the living room, we suddenly heard the FIL scolding the nephew-in-law with a very bad word and while the hubs and his mother remain seated on the couch, I some how made my way to the entrance of the room to see what the commotion was all about. The FIL raised his voice at the boy while the boy was seated on the floor with his knees folded up his chest, sobbing. The FIL later came out of the room and related to us that the boy had pushed open the window grille and leaned out of the window! The old man must have gotten a shock of his life! Baby K kept wanting to look for her cousin as his cries were so audible but we stopped her several times. Thankfully, all that cries and commotion did not seem to create much of an impact on her. We left a little while later, leaving the grandfather to reprimand his grandson. 

I wonder if all boys are like that. The hubs, having little patience towards his nephew, told him off several times and I had to pacify the hubs by saying all boys are like that and I'm glad he has a daughter instead. But on second thoughts, my nephews were never as mischievous as him.

As I look out of the window while doing baby K's laundry, I saw so many children at the park downstairs with lanterns. It was a lovely sight and one that reminded me of my childhood days. It was a scene that did not affect me at all pre-baby K and it struck such a sweet emotion now, post baby K, that I text Janice about it and when she did look out of her windows, she exclaimed and was surprised too, by the number of children mingling downstairs. It'll be our turn next year, at that same spot. Lol.

Having said that, the office received so many mooncakes, this year especially, and almost everyday, my colleagues are offering everyone else some. This year, some how, I developed a strong dislike to the food of the season. Maybe because there were too many going around and also I do not like the strong taste of the yolk. It's super unhealthy too, no? 

What I do like though are the boxes! Lol....I think the mid-autumn festival is the only time where we see lovely packaging. And whenever I see a very nice one, I'll request for it. I do not know what I'll do with them yet but I'm sure they'll come in useful. 

To soak in the joy of the season, I ate a Snow-skinned Chocolate Truffel with Ganache mooncake. :) A gift that we received which no one in the house, other than myself, have eaten. :p

The hubs and I are on childcare leave today as it is baby K's final immunisation. There will be no need for her to go through those needles again until she is 3. Baby K was fairly happy when we stepped into the room and was even more delighted when she saw a child table with 2 chairs meant for kids. I sat on one to accompany her while the nurse went through the routine check with the hubs. 

She weighs 10.5 kg and is now standing at 83 cm. She is more than half my height already and I think that more or less confirms my thoughts that I'll be the shortest in the family. Her growth is apparently above average but somehow, we felt that the difference in her weight and height growth compared to the last check was only marginal. Well, I guess they all reach a stage when their growth will somehow slow down for a while. 

All was well until baby K caught sight of the needle in the nurse's hand when she was seated on her daddy's laps. She flinched and the nurse quickly put the needle behind her back but she swiftly planted the needle into baby K's thigh and out came a cry. The cries stopped as soon as the needle was removed from her, thankfully. The next stop was with the Dr who did a basic check-up and again, baby K was very cooperative. She allowed the very pretty Dr to carry her up the bed and to prod her tummy and even giggled when it became ticklish. 

While the hubs woke up before us to prepare baby K's meals, he had to attend a lunch meeting at the guild house that was being renovated. Baby K took a short nap after lunch and woke up crying and I was glad the husband's meeting did not drag on till late. 

Baby K was gesturing to the thigh where the injection was administered and kept wanting to be carried by me. I managed to pacify her with some cuts of fresh prunes and allowing her to watching a vcd. But even then, her thigh will hurt or feel numb or has pins and needles and she'll pinch it and cry a little. When the hubs reached home, he managed to get her to sit on the floor for some play activities and even then, when she saw me, she would ask me to go to her. Thinking that she was being manja, I would sit a little further away from her and ask her to come to me instead, which, she will, by dragging her buttocks on the floor. Oh, my poor little wounded puppy.

And when we brought her to Jeremy's, she walked in with a deliberate movement. What drama this baby has! And that of course won her hugs and kisses from her favourite uncle and auntie. :)

After feeding baby K her dinner last night, we brought her down for a walk. We went to the market and upon returning home, met a neighbour with 2 daughters, one of whom is also a dragon baby, and started chatting for almost 20 minutes. 

We talked about them pulling the older girl out from the childcare centre that we had visited and were considering placing baby K there. The school occupies a colonial house with a generous garden where they also have ducks and chickens. But that came with a cost too, a high one. During all these conversations that I have had, I realised that the childcare that baby K will be joining, is on the high side too! I'm glad we only have to spend on just one. And all the talks about increasing our birth rates! With a long waiting list at so many childcare centres and the costs that comes with them, little wonder, no? And these are just the few things!

Anyway, I digress and on with more interesting things in life. :)

Today's plan was to bring baby K on a ride in a double-decker bus which the hubs had forgotten, as usual, and in the early part of the week, suggested that we bring her to visit his mother. When he mentioned that, I told him to please check with his 2 brothers and he said that it was not necessary, we'll just drop by for maybe 2 or so hours. And then a few days later, he forgot about this and asked what are our plans this weekend. And so I took advantage of his selective memory and told him I had planned to bring baby K on a double-decker ride. 

But after baby K's nap, the Victors called and we ended up meeting them at Vivo City. We reached earlier so that we could bring baby K on a shopping stroll leisurely without having to play catch up with anyone. Baby K enjoys playing with the 2 girls, although it isn't much play really. Lol.

When we were reaching home, we saw that that was an event going on at the badminton court. And after parking the car, we went to take a look and realised that the RC has organised a Mid-Autumn Festival event. There were activities going on and goodie bags were at $2, which included a lantern and a sculptured balloon. The lantern was nicer that the one I had bought earlier! We stayed around for a bit before going up.

Looks like we'll be 'participating' in more of these type of family friendly events from now on. :)