33 Weeks

Dear Clyde,

You will be hitting the 33 week mark this Friday. When I went for gynae visit today, the question on both mine and doctor's mind is whether you are still breech. The moment the ultrasound scanner touched my tummy, doctor declared that you have turned. What wonderful news! That's one obstacle down for mama's road towards vbac, and I hope you will be with me all the way. 

We checked out your heartbeat and size (2042g already), and everything is good. The dreaded amniotic fluid level that caused me to induce your sister's birth is also looking good. Umbilical cord is functioning well too. Doctor moved on to your face and guess what, you are sucking your thumb again! I texted your papa about the thumb sucking after coming out from doctor's room, and his response is "Hai another one". A callus has formed on your sister's thumb due to her thumb sucking. We have tried to wean her off her thumb, but no luck. I read somewhere that some babies might be born with a callus on their thumbs because they suck on it while in their mama's tummy. I can't wait to see if that will be the case for you, lol. 

With news that you are no longer in breech position, I can tell the doctor more confidently that I want to attempt vbac. Doctor did a vaginal swab for me saying that it is necessary to test for GBS (Group B Streptococci). According to Baby Center website, "GBS is usually harmless in adults, but if you have it and pass it on to your baby during birth, it can cause serious complications, such as pneumonia, meningitis, or a blood infection." I'm not taking any chances.

I've also had the clinic assistant do pre-admission for me. Like your sister, we will be going to Mount Alvernia Hospital, single bedder. Papa's ex company was able to let him claim $2500 for your sister's birth, but this time round everything will be paid out of pocket (and Medisave). This is going to cost a bomb, but we think it will be worth it. Papa will be able to stay over and you can also room in with us. We are still deliberating whether your sister should stay over too, but I think I should spend the precious first days bonding with you. On a side note, conversations with your sister about your impending arrival have been amusing. She proudly declares herself a big girl, big enough to carry didi. She even tells me the proper way to carry a baby, propped on the shoulder or cradled in the arms. She tells me she wants to feed you milk, and even bathe you. She says you won't be able to put on your shoes, but since she can put on her own shoes, she will be able to help you with it. I'm sure she will be a great sister. 

I have started washing some of your clothes, especially the ones that I intend to let you wear back from hospital. Papa was complaining why your sister's laundry built up so quickly when we just did a batch 2 days ago. Heehee, he didn't know I've included some of your clothes. I have also started to pack my hospital bag. It is a good thing we are just 10 min drive from Mount Alvernia Hospital. Papa can go home anytime to pick up things that we missed out, but that's provided he knows where those stuff are kept, haha. 

There will be a major baby fair this weekend at the Expo. We've gotten most of what you need, but I'm going to source out a breast pump at the fair. Thanks to my General Manager who gave me $350 Motherworks voucher, we will get your Maxi Cosi infant car seat sometime in early/mid May. 

Last thoughts: Breastfeeding is going to be a major challenge for me, judging from my past experience with your sister. Let's learn and enjoy the process together. I think vbac will help to bring in the milk slightly earlier. I'm hoping we will work out the vbac and breastfeeding thing together. It's not going to be easy for both, but 母子连心,其利断金 right?

Love,

Mama

31 Weeks

Clyde hits 31 weeks today! I went for Gynae visit 2 days ago, and was told that he is smallish (and he was average in the previous visit). Looks like the weight gain is going to me instead of him. I hope the trend reverses soon!

At 31 weeks, gynae found him to be still breech. If he doesn't turn in the next few weeks, my chance of vbac will become zilch :( Gynae visits will become 2 weeks frequency from now on. I'll look forward to his progress in 2 weeks' time. 

Mine, it's already April. I'm just 2 months away from my edd, and work is still going full steam although I feel myself slowing. It was a good thing that my mom stayed over at my house most of this week. Really appreciate her help with P, although I have to deal with a grumpy husband who "didn't get the chance to spend time with P".

I started taking P off diapers 2 weeks ago, for short durations of time. Her lady bird potty sits in our bathroom toilet and that is where she is expected to pee. 

We would take off her diaper in the morning after she has her morning milk. She would be diaper free till 9.30am when she bathes for school. After she wakes up from her afternoon nap (typically around 5pm), we will take off her diaper again. So far, she has been accident free during those short bursts of time. If she needs to pee, she makes a dash for her potty. 

It helps to have panties which she can take off and put on herself. Since she started learning about moods and emotions in school during Term 1, I bought a pack of stickers like emoticons (happy faces, sad faces, angry faces). Each time she pees in potty, she gets to choose a happy face sticker. I'm glad I have yet to use any sad/angry faces so far. Well done baby!

Barney's Birthday Bash

We caught Barney's Birthday Bash today! We arrived well ahead of time. I wanted to check out the merchandise, but P saw the stage from outside the theatre and demanded to go in immediately.

Here she is after 15 min of wait. 

After she realised the show isn't going to start anytime soon, she asked me to bring her out again. By this time, the merchandise area was getting crowded. Again, like the Disney on Ice merchandise, things don't come cheap. They have 3 packages for you to choose from, but items can also be bought separately. P isn't THAT big a fan of Barney, so I was again spared from buying anything. 

The show started slightly after 11am, and it was a full house. The theatre was kind of old compared to the indoor stadium, reminding me a bit of old school cinemas. If the person in front of you is tall, you get half your view blocked off. As a result, many parents had their kids on their laps. It would have helped if they have booster seats, but this being a kids show, I don't know how many they need to prepare beforehand. 

Everyone got really high when Barney made his appearance. P was really engaged for the first part of the show. The show involved some talking by the characters, and will lead to a song. I've lost count of the number of songs sang during the show. P could sing along to songs that she knew, but they had quite a few she doesn't, and that's when she started getting restless, telling me she wants to take a walk outside. 

Intermission came, but it was too packed and inconvenient to go anywhere (I regretted getting centre seats), so she was really cooped up for the whole duration. I wasn't too fond of the idea of walking through my neighbours with a big tummy and toddler in tow. 

P went downhill during the second part. They had songs she wasn't familiar with, so she started climbing up and down her seats. She started pinching my face and clambering all over me. In short, she got bored. One thing to note is that they do a bag check at entrance, and require you to remove all food items prior to entering the theatre. While I understand this helps to keep the theatre clean, but it's tough for me to manage P when I can't bribe her with food when she's bored. Worst of all, I was just too eager to escape the crowd after the show that I left my snack container behind. 

I thought the show was quite suitable for her age group, probably more suitable than Disney on Ice. The dancing and songs were mostly fast paced and full of energy. It might have been the theatre and the crowd, but it seems to me that P preferred Disney on Ice to this show...

31 months mark

Look who turned 31 months today!

Disney on Ice

When I went to fetch P from mil's house yesterday, the first thing she told me is that she wants to go watch Disney. Of course, the advertisement had been running on TV for awhile, and she will get excited when she sees it. I've been deliberating for quite awhile whether to bring her to Disney on Ice because I've spent some good money on the Barney Birthday Bash that coincidentally falls in the same week. I lost count of the times I've gone to Disney on Ice ticketing website to check out prices and tickets.

Hmmm, I guess you'd probably have guessed by now that I made a rather last minute decision to buy the tickets and bring her there. The fact that I'm on leave today was the main push factor, but I had to rationalise the decision with the cheapest category ticket ($20/ticket, 10% off with Passion card). 

The show was at 3.30pm (doors open at 2.30pm). I took at the threatening grey skies at 2.30pm and decided to call a cab. We managed to get into the cab before the sky poured down, so it was really lucky. However, our luck ended when we neared the indoor stadium. There was a huge jam leading to the stadium carpark. Only when we got to the front that I realised people were dropping their family members off at the shelter, and that prevented vehicles behind from entering. I had thought we were well ahead of time by leaving house 1 hour before, but we only reached 10 min before show time. You can imagine how many families were late for the show. Lesson learnt, if the rain threatens to come, better leave 1.5/2hrs before. 

Stadium staff conducted a bag check at the entrance, and our tickets were scanned to grant entry. After entering, there were stalls selling food and a whole lot of Disney merchandise. I knew things were going to be expensive, but the prices still shocked me. Bags of popcorn contained in a Disney bag costs a whopping $16. Disney merchandise easily costs at least $19. However, parents at the show were really willing to spend on their kids. It was a good thing P wasn't that much interested, so my wallet was spared. 

The cheapest category put us on level 3, and this is the view you can expect.

Skating figures were quite small, and the railing blocked P's view, so she spent the whole first half on my lap. The show started on the dot and P was super entranced with the skating figures, music and lighting. When Mickey & Friends came out, I almost had to stop her from jumping to them. She remained captivated for the rest of the first half and I'm really glad to see her enjoy herself. 

It was almost a relief for my thighs when intermission came. I brought her back to the entrance area, and she took to the Lego play table straight away. 

The intermission lasted some 15 min, and we head back for the second half. The second part was mostly about Disney princesses, but there was also a segment on Lion King which was a bit disturbing for P (esp when Simba's father died). She kept telling me the papa lion fell down and remained very perplexed even after the show. Towards the end, there were some fireworks effects and that got P really high! 

Overall, it was a very good show! For adults, it brings back childhood memories. For children, it is something they recognise and I'm sure it will form part of P's childhood when she grows up. We will definitely be back for their future shows! For now, there's Barney's Birthday Bash to look forward to this Saturday morning. 

First Day of March Holidays

Is it considered a milestone when the little one has the first school holidays of her life? Haha, I certainly find it meaningful enough to spend the first day of her school holiday with her!

We started the morning trying to train her on the potty! Despite her happy look below, the training wasn't successful. She would pull down her training pants, sit on the potty, and promptly pull up the training pants after 5s. It's like she's just going through the motion of the potty training books I've read to her, without seeing the real pee coming out. Well, I just have to try again next week when I get to spend Mon-Thu with her because mil's maid is returning to Philippines.

After we had our baths, we set out for Centrepoint. I checked out the Mothercare moving out sale, but didn't manage to get anything. We went to Robinsons for her to play with some toys, and it's time for lunch at Swensens!

Centrepoint atrium is having a Mr. Bean event, and they had a teddy making workshop at 1pm ($20 spend at the mall would qualify your child). We spent a good 15 mins stuffing the bear, got the staff to see it up for us, stuck on the eyes (P decided her bear needed a nose too) and tied the ribbon. Tadah, our masterpiece! Strangers onboard the mrt commented it looked like Mr Bean's bear, so I would say we are quite successful!!

Leg Cramps

My big boss was in town for the past 2 days, and we brought him out for dinner on those 2 days. Naturally, my gym plans during lunch didn't take place as well. 

Last night, I had a terrible bout of leg cramps on my right leg! It was dreadful and painful and even now, I could feel a lump where the cramps decide to linger on. Hubby commented this morning that I walked too much the past few days and exerted my legs. I choose to think its because I've officially entered the third trimester. 

Clyde hits 28 week mark today. He's a super active baby, especially before bedtime. P would chatter a lot and sing, and Clyde would get really excited with his wriggles and kicks. I can feel him rolling occasionally, but I'm sure he's running out of space soon. 

Third trimester brings with it some relief and a new set of problems. Apart from the leg cramps I mentioned earlier, I find that I'm pretty much drained at the end of the working day. By the time I get home, I just plop myself on the sofa and feel my legs aching like mad. I suspect I'm starting to have water retention too. My shoes are starting to feel rather snug. Oh, and the haze isn't helping! The only good thing that comes out of third trimester is that my constipation problem has reduced significantly. 

12 weeks or less to go...

P's schoolwork

This week marks the final week of Term 1 for P, and she will get to enjoy her first school holiday of her life. I looked back on her first few days at school and marvel at how far she has come, from a hysterical please-don't-abandon-me girl to today's "Yes, I want to go to school!!" It was a roller coaster ride of emotions for us parents too, and parenthood really opens up my eyes. 

Look what P brought back from school yesterday! 

She looked really proud of her artwork, and happily announced that the picture smacked in the middle is a dinosaur! And dinosaur it shall be :) 

As mentioned previously, I didn't have much insight to what she does in school. When prompted with "did you do ___ in school today?", her answers were always "Yes". Looking at all the artwork she brought home really makes a difference. I told hubby I can finally justify her school fees, lol!

Birth Options

I went for my gynae visit this morning, and is really glad to know that Clyde is growing well. At 27W3D, he stands in at 1213g and was wriggling around through the whole ultrasound. Gynae commented his head is still up (in breech position), but that's not a concern yet since I still have a good 12 weeks to go.

I checked in with Dr Teo on my exercise regime and she says it will be good if I can continue. Had initially wanted to suspend my gym membership at the end of this month, but with her reassurance, I'd probably let it run till at least end April. 

The next thing was on birth options. During my performance review with my boss yesterday, she asked if I am going for natural or csect. Obviously with elective csect, I have more control over the timeline of my maternity leave and when to handover my job. I told her I will give her an answer after consulting gynae today, but she encouraged me to go for natural if possible. 

I think I've been overly optimistic on vbac. Dr Teo took a look at the information for my 1st birth and she said "if the reason for csect during #1 was due to baby being in breech position, I'd say we can try. However, your #1 is quite small and if labor failed to progress that time, it usually means there is some issues with the hip or pelvis being too small. That being said, if you really want to try, 

1. Labour cannot be induced. Contractions must start naturally

2. Labour cannot exceed 6-8hours, else it will also end in emergency csect.

3. We can only wait until full term (40 weeks). If baby is late, we have to do csect." Thereafter, she ran me through the risks of uterine rupture, and baby has 20% chance of getting cerebral palsy if that happens. 

Hmmm, now I'm feeling a bit apprehensive about the whole vbac thing already. She recommends I give it some thoughts before making a final decision. She also broached on the topic of hospital delivery and told me to let the clinic assistants know my choice. I got the price list from the clinic assistants, and it's time to compare the costs of emergency csect vs elective csect. 

Dr Teo's clinic will be moving to Mount Elizabeth Novena hospital on 1 April. My next visit in 3 weeks' time will be there. 

The Bank Bar + Bistro

There's been a fair lot of reviews on The Bank Bar + Bistro, with many family blogs giving positive reviews on how family friendly it is. We finally had a chance to check out their weekend brunch as we wanted to pass my ex colleague (who stays at Pinnacle) some clothes that P has outgrown.

The restaurant is visible from Shenton Way, but we saw it too late and hubby had to make a huge round to get back to that area. If you are driving, you have to turn left immediately after passing Lau Pa Sat. That will bring you to the carpark where the restaurant is located. They mustn't have much parking lots, for a car ahead of us entered the carpark and it showed 'Carpark full'. The security guard came to us and told us we can't wait there, so we had to reverse and turn into the Asia Square carpark. It's just a 2 min walk away from the restaurant. 

When we entered the restaurant, we were asked if we had reservations, which we didn't. I didn't expect them to have much crowd on a weekend morning, but it appears there was a birthday event that day. Luckily they managed to arrange a seat for us. Hubby quickly decided on the Weekend Special while I took The Bank Breakfast. For main courses above $20, kids get to eat for free. We chose Fish & Chips for P. 

While I placed the order, hubby and P checked out the playroom that is within the restaurant. There was a TV playing cartoons like Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, a slide and some toys to keep the kids occupied. P was kept entertained till the food arrived. 

And finally the food!! 

Hubby's striploin was really tender and I like the gravy that went with it. P's fish and chips came with a crispy batter and fries, but the portion was too much for her. The kid's meal also came with drinks, and she had apple juice with her meal. Last but not least, my breakfast set! I could choose how I wanted my eggs done (omelette for me, with instructions to the chef to fully cook it because of my pregnancy), and whether if wanted chicken or pork sausage. My breakfast set also came with a choice of drink and I had orange juice. It was a truly satisfying meal! 

Towards the end, P decided she had enough food and wanted to venture back into the play room. She strode to the room by herself, with hubby following quietly behind her to make sure all is good. She took off her sandals by herself and make herself comfy in the playroom. We took the chance to ask for the dessert that comes with hubby's meal. It was some sort of citrus cake, and really refreshing for the palate, especially when eaten together with the blueberry jam. That rounded up the meal and we were really contented. 

We are also pleasantly surprised to find out that prices on the menu are nett. I like such places, especially if I'm out with friends and require the bill to be split. Our damage works out to be only $48 ($26.50 for the striploin and $21.50 for the breakfast), not to forget the foc kid's meal. Any meal of this scale would easily set us back by at least $60 at other restaurants. 

The fact that hubby really likes the place and quietness of the CBD area on the weekend morning makes future visits possible. In fact, he's deliberating whether to hold Clyde's full month party there, haha. We will definitely be back to try some of their other brunch options. The pancakes that the table next to us were having looked really appetizing. Maybe I will have that the next time round!

Exercising during Pregnancy

Clyde hits the 27 weeks mark tomorrow, and I'm proud to say that I've come a long way where exercising during pregnancy is concerned. In my previous pregnancy, the only exercise I did was to go shopping during lunch and walk down to buy some food during tea break. Being a first time mother at that time, anything more than walking is considered too dangerous for the baby.

In this pregnancy though, I really have to give credit to having a True Fitness below my workplace. I have been a regular for about a year prior to pregnancy, and didn't want to lose the momentum that I have built up. I was initially a bit worried during first trimester, and consulted my gynae who is not in favor of me hitting the gym. She gave me a letter to suspend my gym membership (which is still with me), and told me not to do anything more than light walking and swimming. So, I ended up walking the treadmill for 30 min during lunch, at least 3 times a week. After morning sickness left me at week 18, I started feeling more energetic and crave the heart pounding feeling. 

With renewed energy, I got myself on the Precor Cross Ramp that supposedly reduces the impact on the joints (as opposed to jogging on the treadmill).

I was pleasantly surprised to find I could pretty much keep the same level compared to pre-pregnancy, so that's what I have been doing since week 18. According to the stats on the machine, I could burn about 320 calories in 28 min, covering a distance of 3.9km. That helps to keep my weight gain in check (my appetite has been increasing recently, and I often find myself waking up to hunger pangs at 3am in the morning) and hopefully keep water retention away.  

Some 3 weeks back, I experienced my first leg cramps while sleeping. Coincidentally, my sister in law who works at Clarins gave me a bottle of Clarins Energizing Emulsion that is supposed to soothe tired legs. I didn't think much of it when I first applied. It leaves a very cooling feeling after a while, and just like its description - really soothing. 

It became a routine for me to apply it only on my gym days. Strangely enough, I didn't experience any leg cramps on nights when I applied this. I can only say its a godsend!

Thanks to my sister in law, I had the chance to try a few Clarins product this pregnancy. I will write about their stretch marks product in a separate post. 

Mount Alvernia Hospital Tour

I did a hospital tour at Mount Alvernia Hospital today! It may seem silly since P was born there, but I didn't do the hospital tour when I was pregnant with P and quite curious what they cover during the tour. Also, I wanted to know how the hospital renovations were coming along, especially with the car park.

Mount Alvernia Hospital provides a Free Shuttle Bus Service that operates from Monday to Saturday (excluding Sundays and Public Holidays) to/fro the following stations:

• Bishan
• Novena
• MacRitchie Reservoir Carpark

Since there wasn't a direct bus from my house, I decided to take their shuttle from Bishan MRT (in front of 7-11). It would be helpful to check the shuttle bus schedules from their website. Since the hospital tour starts at 2.30PM, I thought I will take the 1.55PM shuttle from Bishan and reach in plenty of time. However, the shuttle only arrived at about 2.10PM, so I was just in time to report to the Patient Liaison Centre located at the Main Lobby. Hence, please buffer for late arrival of the shuttle bus if you intend to take it.

There were already a few people in the Patient Liaison Centre, presumably also going for the hospital tour. The receptionist took my name, handed me a goodie bag and some information they were going to touch on during the tour. 

Contents of Mount Alvernia goodie bag

Information on the benefits and privileges of the Mount Alvernia Ladies card is probably the greatest takeaway from the hospital tour. I signed up for the card during a baby fair in May 2013 in order to do a health screening prior to trying to conceive. There wasn't a clear explanation given by them at that point in time on what were the privileges. It was a vague "You get savings on maternity packages, health screenings etc", but since I intended to do health screening, I signed up without asking too much. I also thought there will be lots of information available online with regards to the benefits of the card, but I couldn't find much. Well, there you go, the benefits and privileges of the Mount Alvernia Ladies card... You could also apply online via their website.

For today's hospital tour, we had 4 couples, 3 mothers (who came alone, including me) and 1 mother who came with a friend. My ex-colleague (due on 8 May) was supposed to join me, but she couldn't make it due to work commitments. I guess if everyone turn up in full force with their hubbies, we can expect at least 18 people on the tour.Our tour guide started the tour by going through basic information like maternity packages, and letting us know the tour route we will be taking later. Clyde must have been raring to go on the tour, for he kept kicking me during the entire explanation. The moment we started walking, he only kicked every once in a while, which hopefully means his nod of approval.

We were taken to the delivery suites (where they induced my birth previously), the rooms (only the 2-Bed Room, Single Room and the Single Deluxe Room were available for viewing), the nursery (where babies are) and the Alvernia Parentcraft Centre (final stop). At the end of the tour, we were given a drinks coupon each, which we could redeem from the cafe at L1.

Some useful info I got from the tour:

• The newly constructed car park is now open, but because they do not have a TOP date yet, the lifts are not functioning. It will be good to drop your pregnant/in-labour wives off at the lobby before you go in search of parking
• Maternity packages will start on the date of your delivery. E.g. if you check in on Monday and give birth within Monday, they will not charge extra. If you check in on Monday and give birth on Tuesday, maternity package start on Tuesday but you have to pay delivery suite and nurse charges for that night.
• Do pre-admission registration ahead of time so that all details will be made available to hospital the moment they have your ic number during check in. For pre-admission form, need to complete the Expected Date of Admission field in order to get an SMS confirmation from Mt A that they have received your details.
• Companion is only allowed for single rooms, and a companion fee of $80.25 applies. It covers 3 meals for the companion as well. If you have the financial power to go for the Family Suite (one and only in the hospital at a whopping $896.66/night), the companion fee is included as part of the package.
• The hospital do not encourage us to bring our breast pumps because the nurses will not wash and sterilise for us. Instead, we could rent one from them at $20 for the entire hospital stay. In view of this, I'm considering put my dual breast pump purchase on hold and try out the hospital pumps first. I will still have my Medela Swing and Avent manual from 1st pregnancy as backup, although both didn't work well for me previously.

I can't help but feel excited after the tour. Clyde hits Week 26 today, which means I'll be seeing him in about 14 weeks' time ^^

Hello Yasmin

Ever since we caught Hello Adam last year, I've been wanting to bring P to the next series called Hello Yasmin. Hello Yasmin is a theatrical play for children aged 2 to 4 years old, and explores the topic of plants and growth. Children will learn what it takes to grow a plant (seed, soil, water, sunshine) and that patience is key in seeing the growth through.

With P starting school beginning of this year, it becomes very hard for me to bring her to a weekday play. She would have to miss school and I didn't want to do that. Compared to the Hello Adam weekday play session I went for previously, this Hello Yasmin weekend session is obviously more crowded. However, I learnt that my forum group are planning to go together to enjoy discounts on tickets, I decided to join them. 

Upon entering the recital studio, we found many styrofoam blocks on the floor. I didn't think much of it and even encouraged P to stack a few up, only to realise later in the play that it was one element of audience interaction. P was really fascinated with the play, though her view was occasionally blocked by adults in front of us. That's the thing about having audience seated on the floor. She had to stand through the most of the play in order to get a glimpse of the action. The play has plenty of songs and dances and the little ones were encouraged to join in. There was a couple of times that P couldn't contain her excitement and whoop in glee, haha. 

I would recommend it for children her age, but try to go for a weekday session if possible. The kids will get a higher chance of participating in growing the plants. At the end of the play, they will also get a pack of seeds which they could grow at home. My seeds are still intact because I don't think P is ready and has the patience to grow them. Maybe when her school eventually introduces the theme of plants, I will bring out the seeds to reinforce the idea.

Valentine's Day 2014

A simple Dominos pizza dinner, Gong Cha and a blueberry cream cake from Prima Deli sums up our Valentine's Day. The little one in the tummy hits the 24 weeks mark. Really great to be able to spend the day with my loved ones!

The Horsey Year!

P celebrated CNY in school on 30 Jan. Instead of her usual school hours, her school hours were tweaked such that the afternoon session dismisses at 12.45pm. The school sent a letter encouraging the kids to come dressed in CNY clothes and to bring along some snacks to share with their classmates. I took leave for the day, and was able to send the little one off on the school bus.

MY CNY dolly

Hubby and I did one final round of spring cleaning and went out for lunch. We reached mil's place to pick P up, only to see that she is busy emptying her school bag and exploring the goodies. She told me her principal gave her a 红包, which actually turned out to be Hello Panda biscuits in a small plastic bag, haha. She also received some small toys and sweets from school. I checked through her bag and found this! Her artwork is now hanging proudly behind our door. 

P's artwork - She told me she painted the red portion

P must have had too much fun in school. We tried to get her to nap so that she wouldn't be cranky when we go to my grandparents' place for reunion dinner later, but she decided that naps are not for CNY eve. Luckily, she held herself well during the reunion dinner and was especially happy to see my parents and sister there. She finally fell asleep at 10pm, with her 压岁钱 under her pillow. 

初一 for us is usually a hectic event and the day starts early. For this horse year, events ran in this order

1. Leave at 8.30am to go church

2. Go to hubby's mom's side

3. Go to hubby's dad's side

4. Send in laws home

5. Go to my dad's side

6. Go to my mom's side

We were out the whole day and I had to pack extra diapers and clothes for P. P took her nap in the car between events 4 & 5, and we stayed in the car for an additional 20 min so that she can get sufficient rest. In any case, my bones are usually achingly tired when we got to the end of the day. It made me miss those days before I met hubby. In those days, I only had to go to my dad's side and mom's side and finish off for the day. I really don't dare to imagine getting 2 bubs ready by 8.30am next year, omg. 

OOTD for CNY Day 1

Day 2 would usually be hubby's day's side, an uncle who stays in a landed house and have guests over every 初二. This is where lunch always include popiah, and some dim sum items ordered via delivery. After my brother in law has his fill, he will start the blackjack gambling den and is aka the banker. I recalled that P was quite disruptive during the gambling session last year. This year though, that family had a new baby girl and they had toys in the house for P to play. She kept herself entertained and didn't require much supervision. 

After the gambling session, we'd head to hubby's nanny's house near Farrer Park. This nanny had taken care of hubby when he was about 5 years old, and is like a second granny to hubby. She is getting on in years but never fail to reminisce on hubby's childhood days each time we go. Hubby and her grandson (3 years younger than hubby) were playmates, and he's now in Boston studying his PhD. In fact, hubby is thinking of going to US in the next few years since his childhood playmate is living there and will be able to show us around. 

OOTD for CNY Day 2

初三 was a bad day for P. She developed cough and fever the day before and woke up on Day 3 coughing till she threw up on our bed. None of the laundry shops were opened, so we had to bring the soiled laundry to a 24hour DIY laundromat to get them cleaned. You would load the laundry into their washing machine, put in the required amount of money and start it. The laundry will then run and you can come back later to collect it. They also have dryers working on the same concept. I've only seen such shops in US previously, but they are gradually popping up in Singapore now. The only con is that hubby needs to drive back and forth to stagger the washing machine and the dryer. Apart from that, it's a lot cheaper than going to laundry stores. 

We visited my colleague's house in the late afternoon and he has an amazing wife who is such a great cook. He stays also in a private property, and P entertained herself by going up and down the steps, haha. The last stop of the day is hubby's boss' house. He has recently started work in a new company and was pleasantly surprised to be invited to the gathering. It was a nice condo near Thomson, home to his bosses (husband and wife duo) and their 4 kids. Their youngest girl is 5 years old and P and her took to each other immediately. After hubby and I were greeted his boss and exchanged oranges, P had disappeared. We found her in her new playmates room with several trunks of toys. No presents for guessing what she did for the rest of the night. 

We had lunch on 初四 at my grandparents' place. P coaxed my grandparents into playing with her outside the house while me and hubby ate. Every once in a while, peals and shrieks of laughter will come from P. It was really very heartening to see them having fun. My grandparents are also getting on in age, and I really need to remind myself to spend more time with them. P is their eldest great grandchild and I hope she will have some fond memories of them when she grows up. 

P and her great grandparents

That's so much for CNY. I'm back to work today and P is back to school. Hubby is still on leave today and volunteered to fetch P to school. He told me that she kept saying goodbye to him when she reached the assembly area, as if very embarrassed that her dad has followed her to school. She is apparently adapting well and knows the school routines by now. Way to go, my little one!

Waiting for assembly to start.