Big boy!!!

Baby D at 4+ months is 6.98kg, and 62cm long! that makes him 50%ile weight for age, 25%ile height for age, but 90%ile weight for height!!!

that makes him short and fat!!! Haha!

Makes one think

A friend of mine posted this taxi-driver's blog on FB. He has a Phd from stanford, recently lost his job as a scientist researcher, and couldn't find another job... He finally had to turn to driving a taxi to make ends meet.

Reading it makes one think, and reflect on how sheltered I have been. The people that we do not meet, the blessed life we've had compared to some others... How humbling is must be for him to lower himself to such a low level, experiencing for himself how it feels to be treated like the 'lowest life-form'. I do indeed feel that that is how some people treat cabbies, maids, cleaners etc like... like they are not worth anything... little do they know what their family background is like... don't belittle the next cabbie u meet. He may be better educated than you!!!
http://taxidiary.blogspot.com/

My Boy...

5 days before he turns 4 months, my big boy has flipped over unassisted! To the right side that is...The next day, he's trying to flip towards the left side, but his arm keeps getting stuck... That's for leaving him to entertain himself on the floor!!! haha. Bad mum takes advantage of his easy nature to leave him on his own till he cries for attention... so what does he do? learn new skills of course! 

Will upload the video when I get a chance...

3 days more, and we're off down under again! WA this time! yippee! I can't wait!!

2kg to pre-D weight.... phew. this is hard work...

phew...

We've just crossed one major hurdle... now, we're looking forward to the next lap!!!

God has really been gracious to us. Since we'd returned from NZ at the beginning of the year, the issue of space constraints in our house had been on our minds. The in-laws has moved in, and the little one has come along. 5 adults and 3 growing children in an average sized 3 bedroom apartment... something we could make do with for now, but not ideal in the long run. However, around chinese new year, having seen property prices falling, we had made the decision to stay put in this house, for a few more years so that we can try and get a higher price for this property. So, we parted with some money to do up the house a little, adding window grilles, painting the walls, moving some power points, and touching up the cracks in the walls, changing the kitchen cabinet doors, and adding a water heater to the kitchen sink.

As the Lord may have it, we got an offer for our house which we thought was reasonable, and seeing that the prices of landed property had come down considerably, we felt we were ready to make the move. However, in our search for the home of our dreams, for which we had lots of criteria to fulfill, we met with a dead end at each turn... a perfect house which met all our needs in terms of location, and needing minimal work, was either priced too high or was a leasehold property. Others which fell more within our budget just fell short of our criteria. Location was such an important factor as we were reluctant to move the girls out of their current school, and we didn't want to be too far from my parents who are our main support for the kids when I go back to work. 

The buyers of our house were God-given, we believe, as they allowed us to stay till the end of october in order for us to find a house to move to. However, our house hunting experience was far from pleasant, particularly with the owners and the agent from the property we finally settled with... but that's a story for another time.

3 agonising days after the 2nd viewing of the house K and I both liked, we can now heave a sigh of relief. We now wait in eager anticipation for the day we get the keys, and hand over our place, to set up a home in our new house. I pray that it'll be a place of happiness for all of us, particularly for the kids who will have more room to run around, hopefully still have a little pool to dip into daily, friends in the neighbourhood, a perfect running route for us, and a place of rest and relaxation for the in-laws. The night we sold our current house, I felt sad for a few days after that. It's a house we have hardly lived in, having spent most of our weekends in the east with the in-laws. Our kitchen was hardly used up till this year when we shifted home. We settled into this house so comfortably, I was reluctant to give up the convenience of the location, the lovely surroundings of the swimming pool etc. I learned a real lesson. I can truly understand why the Lord says not to make our home here on earth, or to make treasures of our possessions... 

We now look forward to the next lap in our lives, living in a landed property. It is only by God's grace, His blessings, as well as help from my in-laws that we'll be able to make this new transition. For us living in Singapore, this move is truly a big step for a young family. 

Thank you Lord...

Bitten by the bug...

The running one that is...:) Since 6 weeks post-partum, I've been running almost every day since. On the days I don't get to run, I try to swim or play tennis. On the days I don't do anything at all, I feel a little bit edgy! It's like I can't sit still, or I'm just looking at the clock, thinking if I can squeeze in a quickie... of course, I also foolishly (under peer pressure) paid to run a half marathon in august (8 weeks away!) So I really need to get up my mileage.

the good thing is... I'm 3kg away from pre-D! Woot! but still a long way to pre-baby no 1!! boo hoo...  BUT, I still struggle to fit into my pre-pregnancy pants. sigh... The bad thing... my knees are aching bad! It's probably still adjusting to my new weight, or possibly being destroyed under my body weight. While the pains have subsided (no more pain while running), I really walk around like I'm 20 years older. My legs take so long to recover, even with rest days(ie non impact exercise) in between. 

This post is just so long overdue. It's just so much easier to read other people's blogs, than to write on your own...

Oh well, perhaps I should just put up some pictures...

D - week 7

7 weeks old, and D already has had 1 road trip under his belt. Just across the border that is. Over the long May Day weekend, we took the opportunity to go on our first family trip for the year. With 1 recovering jie K in tow, we spent 2 nights at Sofitel Palm Resort. Not the most flash place to be at, but our first choice Pulai Springs was fully booked, as we really made the decision to go quite last minute. Nevertheless, we had a great family time just bonding. The girls were so thrilled just to be at a hotel, and on a holiday. Of course, as on most holidays, swimming, eating, shopping and watching movies on tv were the main items on our itinerary.

Well, in the last 7 weeks, D has proven that he is a really baby, drinking and sleeping like all babies should. He has started to be a little more awake these last weeks, but he's still a quiet guy, staring at the things going by, occasionally crying out for attention when he has been left alone for too long. We feel so blessed for such a good baby. He's really piled on the pounds... at 6+ weeks, he weighed about 4.8kg; the heaviest of the 3... but of course he is a boy. Only thing is that amidst the whole flu bug thingy going around the house, baby D also caught the bug, and has had a runny nose for over a week. Poor boy gets his nose blocked at night, that it wakes him up, and sometimes causes him to unlatch when he is breastfeeding, gasping for air. Praying that he'll be well soon.

Dylan day 3

Dylan week 5

week 7 

A new journey...

I've started on my journey to get back in shape. Pre- baby no 1 shape, that is. After 2 long weeks of recovering from the worst bout of flu ever, I finally managed to hit the gym, and the road, a swim and my static exercises daily since last monday! I can feel myself getting back into it, though my knees have been complaining from the extra weight it has to bear now. I've got 5 kg more to pre-D weight, but 14kg to pre-K1 weight!!! :( Need to keep up the daily thing, or I will start to slack and find excuses to wiggle myself out of the workout for the day.

My regular tennis sessions also need to be re-scheduled again. With my rackets that have been stored away in the store room for over a year, I think it's time to wipe off the dust. I suddenly miss playing tennis! Hopefully I'll experience that new passion for tennis again like I did when I left off 1 year ago...