Happy Lunar New Year!

Wow! The month has just flown by! Thought I might just squeeze in a post on the last day of the month! Phew... the last week has just been the best one since we've been back. A 4 day weekend, followed by a 3 day work week. (for them of course... not me.) Daddy K has been in one of his most relaxed state of mind since work started for him, though I'm anticipating that the next week and many more to follow will just engulf him again, and we'll 'lose' him to that 'other' world. 

Chinese New Year has been great! Albeit tiring, too much visiting and feasting... but I think the girls have just enjoyed themselves, as they are now starting to understand what traditions are involved in CNY. 

Mei K turns 2 in 9 days time, just in time for the 15th day of  CNY or chap gor mei. As usual, the family will be having our customary lotong chap gor mei at our house. However, this lazy, tired mummy has decided to piggy-back on these celebrations, and use it for the K's bday with just a cake. Wonder if I'm just being smart in trying to save all the hassle, or if I'm really depriving her of a party?! But really, would she know the difference? After all, there'll be heaps of people, and there'll be a cake, and candles for her to blow out! What more can a girl ask for?

Jie K has been rather well these last few weeks, though she still seems to have some aversion towards going to school on a daily basis. She refuses to talk about what she does in school, though she says she has fun. She mentions some of her friends, but tells me she doesn't learn anything in school. She'll be going through a change in teacher this coming week, so I'll have to watch her behaviour, to see if it changes... I'm really starting to feel the challenges of being a parent to school-going kids! 

Had our 31 week check-up today... baby D is now 1.6kg, and about 50% on the charts. Obs says he might be small-ish like mei K was. The biggest shocker though was the weight that I have piled on in the last month since we've been home! In the first 6 months of my pregnancy, while I was coping on my own, I had put on 5kg, and was well on my way to maintaining a healthy weight gain for this pregnancy. I was also feeling so good, and soaking up the compliments about how good I look this pregnancy compared to the first 2. In the last 2-3 weeks though, I've been feeling more tired, and a lot heavier... today I noticed that my face is starting to swell, as with my feet and hands. The worst revelation was that I had piled on 6kg in the last 1 month! What's going on????? I knew that I had put on more weight, and I would naturally being in my last trimester... but I really blame all that good(read:bad) singapore food, which I can't resist, the pineapple tarts, bak-gua, cashew nuts etc etc... bleah... I just feel so terrible now. I'm now going to have to watch the amount I take in, and to make sure I eat more of the 'good' stuff for the baby! I guess the sudden decrease in exercise (from 1-2 hr walks daily to zilch) has to do with it too.  I can't believe that baby D is still so pint-sized! ggrrrr.....

So... we've booked a tentative date now.... 23rd March... check out date for baby D. 7 weeks and counting...

Settling in.

1 week has gone by since we've been home... adjustments and new routines are being put in place. Jie K has been in school 5 days today. She seems to enjoy it, yet a part of me senses that she's not completely happy with it. She doesn't really vocalise what she enjoys about school. In fact after the 1st and 2nd day, she seemed rather unhappy when I picked her up. She had said that she had fun, but when I asked what they did, she said "just stand there and do nothing"! On the 2nd day, I decided to pry a little to find out what was troubling her. I found out that this boy in her class,R, had hit her that day, after snatching the blocks that she was playing with. She said she had just sat there and did nothing about it, and that there were no teachers in  the class at that time. So mummy had to to the little pep talk thing, and told her to tell the teacher if it happens again. After she had opened up, she then started talking about the other things they had done in school, and she seemed much happier from then on. However, I still sensed that she is not too thrilled with going to school everyday for 4 hours now... It must be a big change for her from only going to 'play' 3 times a week for 2 hours, to a more formal, serious school. Well, as someone just told me... "welcome to the real world"...

Anyway, mei K has also started going to little play class at the same school, and she loves it. The teachers have noticed how different the 2 sisters are in character. At the same age, jie used to hide behind me and would rather not talk to anyone, mei just says 'hi' to everyone, and would be all over the classroom in no time at all.

As for daddy K, work has just consumed him like he never really left... He tried to have an early start yesterday by going into the office at 7, so he could finish early and spend time with the kids... instead, he pretty much had a 12+ hour day, and came home later than usual! mei was already asleep by the time he reached home. He misses the girls, and I can tell they miss him too.

Hmm... I'm uploading my backdated photos on FB, and just realised that I have to do backdated posts of our holiday as well!!! won't be long!

Home sweet home...

We are home at last! Belated Christmas and Blessed New year to all of you... I'tll surely be an eventful one for us in this household...
We've been back for 2 and a half days now... Adjusting to the heat and humidity, the dog, the in-laws, the house... everything in general. We've been on a mission to unpack and pack up the house, at the same time re-arranging furniture in prep for the girls' room and the new baby to come. Phew... it's been hard. Feeling rather tired.
2 days more till K returns to work, che K starts N2... Where has time gone once again???

It's really been great having 2 sets of grandparents around to occupy the kids... They are just so happy to be back. I don't know why. Perhaps it's back to a new but familiar surrounding, with lots more toys and people to shower them with attention.
Need to start getting used to a new routine again, familiarise myself with my kitchen, and it's appliances. Hopefully we'll get some small renovation works going and done before CNY.

As much as we loved the traveling and sightseeing, there's really nothing like being in your own home...
Ah... it's great to be home!!!