I just think this is such a "growing-up" moment...he's able to stand on his own now :) Even Jon said, "our little boy is growing up".
Of course there's a long long way more, but we'll just enjoy this moment for now :)
Looking at the cars outside
It's late, and I should be sleeping. But it's one of those things, sleep or personal time. Op-cost. Some days I just decide to forgo some sleep and catch up on things like checking email and blogging. Not very material things at all, but it just gives me a sense of having personal time - something I really don't have a lot of. I'd love to have time to exercise, to go for dance, to watch a movie...but when I think of what I give up my personal time for, raising Asher, it's really worth the sacrifice.
Time is flying. My maternity leave had ended late March and I had applied for three months unpaid leave to take care of Asher. There's no one else to care for him, and I really didn't want to put him in infantcare too early. But these three months feel so short! My leave is evaporating really quickly, and 1st July (my back to work date) is fast approaching!
This period has been, and while it lasts will still be, such a precious, precious time for me. I'll never get to devote so much time to Asher again, and the thought of the spending so much time away from Asher when I go back to work is something that saddens me. I guess I'll need weaning from him as much as he'll need weaning from me when he starts infantcare. Someone also shared that when her baby started infantcare, she felt that there was a distancing in her relationship with her baby, simply because her baby was learning to be more independent. I guess when you send your kid to infantcare, you'll have to deal with separation issues earlier. I do hope that even though Asher goes to infantcare, our bond will stay strong and intimate.
I'll also miss all the time spent breastfeeding. I haven't had the easiest of times with breastfeeding, and it's been a labour of love. There's been, and there still are, some difficulties with breastfeeding, but overall it's totally been worth the effort. I may not get much time on my own (if any) away from Asher, but I appreciate how I have to stop and take time every now and then to just be close to him, to pause, to reconnect. And especially now that he's more interactive and aware, I can joke with him as he feeds. I love how he'll unlatch every now and then to give me a huge smile and show off his gums, and he'll even add a laugh or chuckle, then latch on again to continue feeding, all the while looking into my eyes ;) He also likes explore my face with his hands as he nurses. It truly warms my heart to think that he really likes me and feels a close bond with me.
I'm not sure how long I can continue breastfeeding after I start work, but I hope to keep up at least the evening feed for as long as possible. I have to remind myself not to feel any guilt should it not be possible to breastfeed him any longer. I've already reached my goal of breastfeeding for at least 6 months. Anything more is really a bonus. I will remind myself not to feel guilt, and not to let people guilt me.
I've done my best, and I think so far, by God' grace, I've done a pretty decent job. But really, I always remind myself that doing my best is all I can do, and everything else is up to God. Afterall, I am only a steward of Asher. Asher, you belong to the Lord!
Us cousins, and the little cousins(-twice-removed? I never really understood it...) had a chance to meet up for an outing at Raffles City. It's super convenient cos it's on the main east-west MRT line, which we both are on, and it's got a great nursing/changing room. Interestingly, the last time I was there with Del was when Anya was still happily swimming around in Del's tummy! Anyway, have taken a while to post this cos I wanted to kop pics hee hee. Didn't really use my camera that day :) Digital technology! Why should we all be snapping the same thing? :)
Anyway, we had lunch at Shokudo, sort of a Jap version of Marche. I had a yummy Unagi rice bowl, which had the added advantage of being easy to eat - all you need is a spoon. Why's that important? Cos I had to hold Asher with my other hand! The art of one-handed eating :) I must say I was thoroughly impressed with their service as well. The staff had seen that I was carrying Asher while ordering my dish, and so they served the dish to me instead of the usual process where I have to collect the food myself! The friendly man even offered to wash Anya's bottle!
We adjourned to Starbucks for coffee (I was super super sleepy that day) while Anya had her tea (of milk, not with milk), and Asher napped. It's been a looooooooooong time since I've had a cup of coffee from Starbucks, and I really enjoyed just chilling, chatting, soaking in the place (as well as the much-needed coffee). But the coffee fix didn't last long. In about an hour I was feeling sleepy again. I think my sleep deprivation out does the caffeine strength in their cappuccino.
Anyway, yet another reason why Raffles City is a great place to bring Baby. You can leave your stroller at their information counter! We wanted to check out the Robinsons sale, but Del didn't want to have to push the stroller through the crowd. Since Raffles City offers strollers for customers to use (something I didn't know until that day), we thought we'd try to do things the other way around - leave Anya's stroller there. Fabulous! It was really a lot easier to sling the kiddos in Robinsons cos the aisles were narrow, and there were quite a few people around.
I got Asher a toy 'popper' car (it has beads inside that pop around when the car moves) for his 6 month gift. So, Asher, you can never say Mummy didn't buy you a car okay! :)
Anyway, it was great to see the cousins reach out to each other, and it'll only get more interesting as they both develop and become more interactive. Hopefully they won't use their new-found skills to bash each other on the head.
Asher and Anya saying hello after lunch! Is that a smile Anya? :O)
Watching Anya in action :)
Brought Asher to play with Austin, and again, it was great chatting with LMG about Mummy stuff, among other things. We had a chance to have lunch and chat about feeding, sleeping, and other baby stuff, that non-mummies will probably roll their eyes at, heh. It's good to hear from LMG cos Austin's 2 months older than Asher, and I can learn from some of her experiences.
After our lunch, the babies had their lunch, and proceeded to have a nap on Austin's super comfy tatami mat. Unfortunately Asher was woken prematurely out of his nap by a door that slammed shut. He then woke Austin up, but good thing Austin was able to fall back asleep and get more rest. Asher, on-the-other-hand, was cranky cos he couldn't fall back asleep even though he was still tired.
Later on though, just as I was about to leave, the boys had a chance to chat. Prior to that Asher was still feeling a little cranky cos on top of being tired, he was getting hungry. I had told Asher, "
Ok, lets go home now since you're not in the mood to play". Just then, he decided he didn't want to leave and became happy again :) Typical children, doing the opposite of what you expect :) Anyway, it was really cute watching them ooh and ahh to one another, and reach out for each other :)
Asher has also just learned how to sit stably on his own! It had come as a surprise to me the day before cos he's been trying to balance on his own for a while now. He's usually able to hold himself steady for several seconds, but then any slight movement would cause him to tumble over or fall back. But suddenly, he was able to sit on his own with his legs bent, with his legs straight out, with one bent and one out, while sitting up straight, or while leaning a little to one side! Wonder what surprise he'll have in store for me next! :)
Another wedding for Asher to attend! This was a seaside wedding at Rasa Sentosa, so we dressed Asher in his Hawaiian shirt that we received second-hand from a friend :) Perfect for the occasion! There were plenty of long-time family friends, so it was great fun chatting, especially over dinner! And again, Asher amazed us by sleeping through the yum seng! Even better, this time around he didn't even wake up during the dinner. We later managed to transfer him from stroller to car seat, car seat to arms where he opened his eyes for a bit, and finally arms to cot where he promptly fell back to sleep again. Hurray!
My mum called Asher her 'accessory', helping to brighten up her outfit :)
Tai Epoh and Ko Po with the baby cousins
Sleeping with the sound of waves lapping nearby :)
Just a random post to share some pics :) I take so many pictures, I may as well share them!
Having a blast playing with newspapers. After that play session, his hands and feet became all black! :P
Playing with a plastic bag. Why do we bother getting him toys? Besides newspapers and plastic bags, Asher loves playing with tissue boxes and tissue packets! 
Chillin' with Aidan, munchin' on their yummy hands
Being lazy while playing :) Resting his head on a cube!
A bright smile to start the day!
Testing out chairs at IKEA. We didn't get it though. Maybe we should, it's so cute!
Putting on weight :p
Early morning grins :) He's chirpiest in the mornings.
Post meal play
I'll miss times like this when he grows up I'm sure :) Falling asleep in your arms, how heavenly ;)
Something else I'll remember fondly. There was a period of time where he would only nap while holding onto my hand :) It really warmed my heart :)
Experiencing his first car wash! Look how he's protectively clinging onto his friend, Henry :)
As I mentioned, random :)
Met Jane and Kaizer for lunch at IKEA. It was the first time the two boys were meeting :) Kaizer was such a dear, saying hello to Asher, telling Asher not to cry when Asher got upset, and patted Asher on the head ever so gently :) I think Asher really likes Kaizer too! He flashed many smiles at Kaizer while on the train :)
The two boys 'chatting'.
It was great fun talking to Kaizer! He can now speak a little, and it's fun to interact with him and hear his opinion on things (like who is chou or xiang (smelly or sweet-smelling), what he thinks of some dresses we saw, etc). I can't wait for Asher to grow up and start speaking (but even as I type that sentance, I also wish Asher would grow up slowly cos time is already passing so quickly and he's growing up so fast! So contradictory huh?)
After lunch we headed to my place for the boys to nap while waiting for Li Wei to join us. It was a good rest stop in prep for the long track to Tampines (ok, not that long, afterall, Singapore isn't that big, but I seldom venture so far east. The journey only took about half-an-hour). We all wanted to go there for different reasons - Jane to get a new diaper bag, Li Wei to check out Uniqlo, and I to try a tart that the Straits Times said was fabulous.
The tart turned out to be just so-so. It looked pretty, but didn't taste as mind-blowingly good as the Straits Times had made it out to be. I prefer my tarts to have thicker crusts, and denser fillings. This tart had a thin, almost wafer-like crust, and fluffy, whipped-cream like filling. The flavour was ok, but the whole thing was too much like a cake instead of a tart. Let tarts be tarts! I don't think I'll be paying $7.80 for that again!
Kaizer enjoying his strawberries
Late lunch for Li Wei at Manpuku
Anyway, it was good to explore the place with friends and see what the mall had to offer (several kids shops, Jap-pish outlets, etc) , but I doubt I'll be heading all the way out to Tampines Mall again anytime soon!
Had an early Mother's Day dinner with my Mum at Pontini. Actually, the intention was just to meet for lunch to chat, cos it's been a long time since she and I had lunch alone (well, alone means plus Asher :) ), and Mother's Day was as good a reason as any to meet up.
It was really great to just chit-chat and catch up. Often meet-ups are about the little ones nowadays, but I think it's good to catch up with what the grandparents are up to as well :) Life isn't all about the kids anyway!
That said, Asher was charming that day :) He was rather sleepy when we arrived, so we left him in his car seat. He eventually fell quietly and soundly asleep, and slept right through lunch! But my Mum had a good time playing with him after lunch :) He was chuckling away - too bad the photo is blur!
