Rambling

I think I may never get around to updating everything, so I'll just ramble off some of the things that have been happening in the last couple of weeks.

We celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary by running some errands and doing Christmas shopping.  Our aim was to finish all our shopping before I deliver.  It may be an everyday thing for a lot of people, but having a whole day to hang out, just the two of us, is something Jon and I don't get to do that often.  It turned out that our anniversary took on an 'old school' theme by accident.  It started with lunch at Wishbone, a restaurant that's been around since I was a little girl.  My Mum had a cooked food stall opposite, and between plucking tao gay and picking tau suan, my brother and I would hop over to buy ice-cream from Happy Kappy, their dessert arm. 

Dinner was at Shashlik, a Russian restaurant at Far East Shopping Centre.  It's a place with special meaning for us cos Jon once brought me there for a surprise dinner.  It was one of those times that he really really managed to surprise me :)  Things haven't changed at all in the intervening nine years.  The place looks the same, and the food was just as good.  The Borsch was heavenly and the Shashlik, of course, was great too.  As for dessert, we just couldn't resist ordering the ever indulgent baked Alaska.  How things have changed for us personally though.  We're now married with one kid, and one more on the way!

Day 2 of our wedding anniversay (our wedding was spread over 2 days, so we have an excuse to celebrate more!), we had lunch at the chicken rice stall on the top floor of Far East Plaza - another old school joint.  Somewhere we both went to as students. 

For me it felt like we were dating all over again, and it was just sweet and romantic in an everyday, ordinary way :)

Now that we're both on leave too, we've been settling stuff in the day while Asher's at school.  We haven't had so many afternoons out together since we were students!  So we caught Narnia, and I'm hoping to catch the sneak of Gulliver's Travels tomorrow.

As for Asher, he's settled very well into his new school.  Although initially he'd protest a bit when I left, now he walks off to join his friends and blows us kisses as we head off :)  He always seems to happy when we pick him up, and I love how he runs to us to greet us with a big big hug :)  Things really took a turn for the better when Jon started dropping off and picking up Asher together with me.  I think that helped him adjust more quickly.  I was worried that if I continued to drop/pick Asher alone, when Baby comes Asher would feel abandoned or neglected if I suddenly stopped sending him to school.  So these last 2 weeks we've been doing it together, and it has come to the point where Asher's ok even if Jon picked him up by himself. 

Jon's been more hands on these last two weeks at home, and that has helped me lots, and is great for Asher.  From helping with laundry to bathing Asher when I need a rest.  Asher's now even closer to Jon, and it's evidenced by requests from Asher for Daddy to read to him, even though storytime is usually done by Mummy.  I'm really happy to see them bonding :)

Asher's also eating SO much better.  I was reading up on picky eating sometime last month, and found that kids who are not pressured to eat end up getting all the nutrients they need anyway.  I think that perhaps in my anxiety about his weight loss and his poor food in-take, I was unconsciously making meal times stressful for him.  I decided to let go, to not press for him to "take another bite", to just offer him a wide variety of healthy options and let him pick when he wants to eat from that selection.  I decided to let him be in charge of his intake, afterall they say breastfed kids know how to regulate their food intake well.  And the results were quick and satisfying.  Within a day or two he was eating more, and he started drinking milk again (yes, he had rejected even that!  At it's worst, he could go an entire day with less than 200ml of milk and just 2 tablespoons of rice!).  He now generally eats heartily, even though there are some meals where he just picks at the food.  But that's ok.  I've come to be very zen about it, especially cos I now adopt the mindset that it's just one of many meals in a week.  He's still more of a vegetarian/fruitarian, not liking to eat meat that much, but I've found a pretty decent list of almost full-proof food that he'll take, some of these he ate even during his picky phase.  Some things are, well, fast-food, but I've also come to think that if he will eat it, let him be.  It's still food afterall.  At home offer him the healthier stuff, outside, close one eye. 

So here's the list: all fruits, veg (esp carrots and corn), my bolognaise sauce, fish fingers, chicken nuggets, egg tofu, rice (esp if he helped to cook it), roti prata, tortillas, eggs (in one form or another - but you must give it to him in the form he wants or he won't eat it), and the KFC breakfast platter (he esp likes the biscuits).  Besides these, the cuisine that seems to work almost all the time is Indian food.  So far, he has without fail (to my memory at least) eaten well whenever we have Indian food.  Roti prata is one case in point.  He will happily munch on egg prata, and sometimes even dips it into the curry.  He loves briyani rice, he eats dahl curry, has munched up palak paneer (a mild spinach and cheese curry) with gusto, likes vegetable korma, eats dosai and apun jala (pancakes which look like spider webs), and enjoys papadum no end.  I think he likes their stronger flavours, and I'm not surprised, given how much Indian and Malay food I ate when I was pregnant and breastfeeding.

So it was a very happy Selena tonight as we left Samy's curry.  He ate very well, eating half a good sized piece of dry curried fish (he actually ate fish without me having to sneak it in!), dahl with briyani, papadum, and a cup of mixed fruit (this is something I didn't know they offered until today!).  I have always liked going to Samy's curry, and we've brought him there before, but tonight I left thinking, "I love Samy's!".  The staff are always so friendly to him, saying hi as they walk by.  He likes having his own banana leaf to eat off, free flow of papadum and dahl, fab lime juice, and now there's  even fruits to end the meal!!  And for the parents - great teh tarik too :) 

We weighed him tonight, and I was very surprised and happy to see that he's finally broken 12!  He's 12.4 kg!!  What a vast improvement from a month ago when he fell back into the 10 range! 

So I'm very very happy to see Asher happy at home, at school, at meals.  He's really been a jolly fellow these few weeks with Mummy and Daddy being available to him.  I hope it keeps up when Baby comes, and when Jon goes back to work. 

Speaking of Baby, we've decided on the name already, but we'll keep it under wraps until he arrives.  Asher's been refering to Baby by his name for the last several months, and I suppose we can't change it now else he'd be so confused when Baby is introduced with a different name.  Anyway, it's a name we like very much, and in fact was the first name we considered many many months ago when I was about 3-4 months pregnant.  We deliberated several others in the last few months, but nothing quite sat as well with us. Anyway, I'll elaborate more on the name when Baby arrives.

Asher's been very sweet though.  He talks about Baby as part of the family.  A few days ago when playing with blocks he built a house for Baby.  He has also in his new school played with a baby doll, and called it by Baby's name.  He carried the doll, brought it for a stroll around the room in a stroller, fed him milk, and included him in storytime :)  (I've some pics, will see if I can upload when I move to a new site.)  He says that Baby loves him, and he loves Baby.  I just hope that this good feeling keeps up! 

I've been getting him prepared for the arrival of the little one.  Asher chose to give a toy to Baby, and he's picked out which toy.  He knows I'm going to be in hospital for two days, and he'll stay with Por Por.  He knows it tiring to deliver and Mummy might be sleeping a lot after.  And the most recent piece of info I've introduced is that Mummy doesn't know when Baby is coming.  Only God/Jesus knows.  I realised I had to tell him this last piece of info too in case Baby comes in the middle of the night and we're not around in the morning when he wakes up!  Right now Asher's not the most reliable predictor of when Baby will come.  Every time I ask him whether Baby is coming before or after Christmas the answer changes :)   

And as for Christmas, I can't wait! :)  Where will I be celebrating it?  At home?  At a friend's house?  In hospital?  Let's just see how it goes!

Whaley Bouncy Birthday @ Loewen Gardens

I had been prepping Asher for a while by repeatedly telling him about the event, so he knew that he was having a party that day.  

It was held at The Pantry @ Loewen Gardens, and the invite list was the same as last year :)  Besides his very dear cousins, there were the playmates he meets more often who are basically the second generation of Mummy and Daddy's long-time friends.  It was nice that more of the kids (and parents) could come this time around :) 

Think The Pantry suited our needs very well. We wanted somewhere fun for the kids, somewhere with nice food (good coffee was a bonus!), and somewhere not too far from our place. It worked out well, I think, with the children occupying themselves at the many play spaces, the adults seemed to enjoy the food, the cake which the cafe made was delicious, and we even had an impromptu post-party of sorts at the trampoline. And at the end of all that, no cleaning up to do!! Yippie!

Didn't really deliberately set out to have a whaley theme.  It kind of just fell into place.  Whales are one of the creatures that Asher really likes, and basically his party centred around what he liked.  He liked the place the last time we went there, he likes whales (among other things), and whatever was in the party pack he also personally liked.  Yes, he really liked what was in the party packs.  After packing them the night before, I had put them in bags on the floor all ready to be picked up and brought along.  In the morning, Asher didn't come to wake me as usual, but I awoke to the sound of rustling plastic bags and realised he was rummaging through the party packs!  He wanted to take everything!!  He wanted to keep the water squirters, to play with the aeroplanes, to blow the bubbles....he didn't get around to seeing the cookies or he'd ask to eat them I'm sure, and if he saw the stickers, he'd probably have peeled them off already. 

I extracted him from the treasure and told him it was for his friends, but he didn't want to accept that.  Somehow in the end, I can't remember how, we managed to distract him, and at the party we covered the party packs in case he refused to have them be given away :)  Yes, like I said.  He really really likes the stuff in there. 

Prepared some noise makers or 'shakers' for the kids to decorate.  It was quite a hilarious process to make them though.  I had put some beans inside the folded paper plates to help create the noise, then glued it close.  After making the first one I happily beamed at Jon and said, "Ta Da!" while shaking it.  It make noise for two shakes...then silence....the glue hadn't dried...my beans got stuck to the side!!! So I had to quickly pry open the plate again and try to stuff in more beans.  But cos it was half glued shut, I had a little bit of difficulty holding the plate flat, with the result of having more beans get stuck to the side!  But in the end managed to get some in the middle.  Then I left it alone to dry :) 

The second try, I thought I left the plate long enough to dry, but again, after two to three shakes...silence!!  Scrambled to get more beans inside again.  Decided to not shake any of the rest until the next morning, just to be sure! :)) 

All ready for the guests to arrive.  Those yellow balloons didn't last beyond 30mins.  Either cos some burst, or cos they were hijacked by the kids.   But that was the whole intention anyway, for the kids to play with the balloons, and not just be decor :)

Lots of spaces for playing

Checking out the Christmas decor

The giant cake.  The owner of the cafe, Jane, told me that it was a 12 inch cake.  But she didn't say how high!   I generally like savory food more so I found the icing much too sweet for me, but the chocolate sponge was really good, and by the end of the day I had eaten wayyy too many slices of cake.

Gathered the kids together in the hope of getting a group shot, but in the end could only get 6 of the 7 on the sofa

More play spaces

The start of the post-party trampoline fun

Fun with adults

Even more fun with no adults!

Group hug!

Tao pok!

Getting tired

This was super fun.  Emma's Dad went under the trampoline and pushed the kids up with his legs, making them fly!  The kids had no idea what was happening and why they were flying cos the bottom of the trampoline was opaque, but they absolutely LOVED it! :)

Taking a break

Post post-party!

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Asher, I love you more than you know.  You bring me so much joy, and I feel so blessed to have you in my life.  You have taught me many many things by what you notice, what you say, and I have loved all our little excursions together.  You enjoy going to the zoo, to the beach, to the Botanic Gardens.  You absolutely adore running through fountains.  You love the playground - in school when it's time to go to the playground you always eagerly shout "outdoor!".  You are very observant, and often spot little things that I don't even notice, like the way some animals move and tiny aeroplanes in the night-time sky.  You love books, and you enjoy reading together very much.  Your memory also often amazes me, like how you rememered what the fat penguins did on Philips Island, how the rhino in the zoo looked at you, what characters are in your books, etc.  You are also getting cheekier and chattier, and I love getting an insight into what goes through your mind.

You are such great company, lots of fun, very sweet, sensitive, and loving.  Caring for you has not been without it's difficulties, but the love and happiness you bring more than out-weigh all that.  I love you for who you are.  I am so amazed by how much you've grown, how much you've changed, how much you've developed, and I can only thank God for all this.  Happy Birthday Sweetie! 

  

Birthday on Sesame Street

Josiah's birthdays continue to be well thought out with lots of effort put into the theme.  Kudos to Jo for all her effort!  Last year it was Superman, this year, it's Sesame Street :) 

Aren't these just great?

Jo even baked muffins and decorated them the Sesame Street characters

Asher decided to come as Cookie Monster (he chose from Elmo, Ernie and Cookie Monster), so I helped him make a prop of a half-eaten cookie.  He went on to make a few more cookies with colourful chocolate chips.  They were meant for Josiah, who very politely used the plate for his cookie even though it was really meant for playing with :)



Ernie & Cookie Monster munching on cookies together

We were the earliest to arrive and the two boys had a good time playing.  It's great watching kids this age play together cos they interact so much more, and I especially love when their adorable antics rub-off on one another.  Whether it's climbing up and down the stairs while making some funny noise, tap-tap-tapping their feet as quickly as they can on the steps, or playing catching through the tunnel, it's just so so fun and heart-warming to watch.

The twos may be terrible, but they are also terrific!

Roaarrr!!

Playing at the stairs

Pass It On

We're playing an unpleasant game of pass on the germs at home.  Jon came back from his trip feeling under the weather, and was down for the next 3-4 days.  He had really high fever, chills, bad cough (worsened by the haze), and a cold. 

Then just as he was getting well, I caught it!  My fever has gone as high as 39.9 degrees!  My face turned red and swelled from the heat.  The first time that happened it took hours to get it below 39 degrees.  Read that if the temperature goes above 38.8 I should call the gynae immediately.  When I did, I was told I should actually try to get the temperature below 38 degrees!!  But again my temperature soared to 39.5 and again it took hours to get it anywhere near 38 degrees even though I had taken panadol (can't take anything stronger), and was sponging myself non-stop.  To give myself some comfort, I ice-packed my belly, but not sure if that really helps cool down baby.

In hope of preventing Asher from catching the potent germs, my parents offered to help watch him yesterday night.  But this morning they called and said he's feverish :(  Poor boy!  If he caught our germs, it gonna be several days of high fever for him!  I want to manja him and take care of him myself, but as Jon rightly points out, I should take care of myself first.  Afterall, other people can help look after Asher, but only I can look after baby inside me...  But I miss Asher already, he was so sweet yesterday.  When I was knocked out in bed getting some rest and Jon was going to bring him out for a while, he kept asking me to come along.  I tried to tell him I was ill and had a fever, and reminded him about how he sometimes had fevers too.  He looked a little sad, and kept wanting me to go along, tugging at my hand, which I thought was very sweet.  Later in the evening when my parents came to pick him up, he again wanted me to go along.  I said that they missed him and wanted to play with him.  I didn't want him to think that because I was sick I didn't want him around. 

But now that he's ill, and I'm still ill, and Jon isn't even fully recovered himself, my parents have offered to watch him another night.  While I'm honestly grateful, and the rational part of me knows that's the best for all of us, me and baby in particular, cos I can get rest and hopefully recover quickly, the emotional part of me just wants Asher back now!  I don't want him to think that cos he's sick, I don't want him around.  Maybe I'm over-thinking things, but I hope he doesn't think that way.  Mummy's sick, she doesn't want to come out with me and Daddy.  Mummy's sick, I go to Gong Gong and Por Por's house.  I'm sick, I'm still away from Mummy/Mummy doesn't want me back.

Maybe he doesn't think like that.  I hope.

Anyway, went for a gynae check-up his morning to make sure baby's ok.  So far, things look fine and baby is still growing well.  Please pray that I'll recover quickly, that the fevers can be controlled below 38 degrees, and baby continues to be protected.  Also pray that Asher will not get it so bad and recover quickly.  And also for Jon too!

Phototaking Day

Phototaking day.  Asher doesnt't actually have his own set of the uniform, but thankfully our neighbour's son had a set she could spare us for the day.

More "growing up" moments ;)

Doing splits on the way to school =)

 Happy in his borrowed uniform

On The Way

So this has been a long time coming. 

I'm sure by now if you've been reading the previous few posts you'll know I'm expecting again :)  This pregnancy has been very different from the first.  For starters, I actually have pregnancy symptoms this time around!  The first time, except for the growing bump, I had no symptoms whatsoever.  No morning sickness, no nausea, no cravings, no aversions, no fatigue, etc. (altho Jon says I'm so greedy all the time it's hard to tell whether I'm having cravings or not ;) ). 

This time, I experienced some nausea, especially when I was ill.  I hated that wanna-puke feeling!  I also had some aversions.  I normally eat all kinds of veggies and have always loved spinach, but for some reason, I suddenly just couldn't stomach even the thought of eating the bayam variety.  It made me feel nauseous just thinking about eating it.  And the weirdest thing?  Water made me feel like puking.  Yes, water.  I could drink an entire glass of juice/soft-drink/any flavoured beverage.  But a few sips of water made me feel like throwing up.  At Shan's wedding I was supposed to deliver a speech and was feeling cold (and nervous), so drank some warm water...which ended up making me feel nauseous.  I was quite worried that I would actually puke on the podium!  Thank goodness that didn't happen.  It would surely have been a speech to remember.

Then there was the fatigue in the first trimester.  I just felt so tired everyday!  Needed to have a nap each day before picking Asher up from school. 

Thank goodness things have gotten better, and I can give Asher more of my time and energy. 

But I think that among the best things that resulted from this pregnancy was having Asher finally sleep through the night again.  He managed to do so from about 2-4 months old, but suddenly just stopped that good habit and woke up repeatedly every night.  At it's worst Asher was waking as many as 12 times a night - that's more than twice an hour.  And I had already gone back to work at that point.  I was frustrated and at a loss over what to do.  I half-guessed it was because Asher was at that time still breastfeeding, and was trying to wean him off his night feedings, which he nutritionally did not need.  It was nursing simply for comfort's sake.  Even then, when I had managed to get it down to one night feed, and eventuallly just the 530/6am feed, he still woke up that many times a night.  Maybe he was always still hoping for a comforting nurse?  Prayed and prayed, hoping for a miracle. 

Then I found out I was pregnant and had to stop breastfeeding.  And then he started to magically sleep through the night again!  Oh, the joy!  Tempered by the fact that in the first trimester you tend to wake up frequently to head to the loo, but still, I woke up much less often than 12 times a night!!! 

So Asher's breastfeeding journey went something like this:

• Nov 08 - May 09: Exclusive breastfeeding (BF)
• Mar 09: BF + very very occasional expressed breastmilk (EBM) from a cup just to get him used to it (he never took to the bottle)
• May 09: BF + introduced cereal (used EBM)
• Jun 09: BF + supplementing with formula milk (FM) when making cereal
• Jul 09: Back to work.  BF + EBM from sippy cup + FM for 1 milk feed a day at infantcare
• Sep 09: BF + EBM from straw cup + FM for 1.5 milk feed a day at infantcare (1 feed was mixed with EBM)
• Oct 09 - Jan 10: BF (gradually reduced feeds to only before sleep, at night, & first feed in morning) + EBM + FM
• Feb 10 - May 10: BF (before sleep, at night, & first feed in morning, gradually reducing the number of BF feeds starting with the pre-sleep one) + FM (stopped expressing completely)
• May 10: Stopped breastfeeding completely.  FM only.

So in total breastfed Asher for about 1.5 years.  I have this feeling that with the second kid, I may not breastfeed for quite a long cos it'll be tough to devote that amount of time to him without neglecting Asher.  I will probably end up expressing earlier too, something I find an absolute chore doing, but I think I may find to be necessary in order to have enough time for both children.

Now we're in the midst making arrangments for Baby, and trying to prepare Asher for the arrival of his sibling too.  So far he seems to be taking well to the idea in concept, but of course, things will be quite different when reality hits.  I'm just hoping to make it as easy as possible for him. 

In the meantime, I try to continue spending as much time as I can with Asher, to make sure he knows I love him so much, whether in word or in deed.  I hope he feels secure and loved.  I can only try my best. 

At the same time, I do wonder what it will be like to have a second child.  I think that to some extent it will require deliberate attention on our part.  I'm sure we'll love our child, but as a newborn, he won't be as responsive and engaging as a toddler.  Just thinking about Asher, the most fun times are now!  We'll have to make sure to give enough attention to our little baby while not neglecting Asher.  I'm hoping to involve him in caring for Baby, like with getting diapers, sponging Baby in the bath, maybe show Baby pictures in books...not sure what else.  Currently, in concept he is quite keen to hold Baby's hand in the car, and bring Baby to see the animals in the zoo.  I hope that his good feelings will continue after Baby comes. 

But I am a little worried cos Asher is still very attached to me, so I'm not sure how he'll take to sharing Mummy when Baby comes.  Again, I can only try my best.

The Things We Live For

These last few days, something special has been happening which warms my heart and makes me glow from within.  Asher, on his own accord, has been saying, "Mummy, I love you" :O)

At bedtime after we say our prayers, he also sometimes says, "Jesus loves Mummy, Jesus loves Daddy, Jesus loves Asher" :)

I can only thank God for all this!

Cook. Eat. Play.

Popped over to LMG's place for a play date.  Asher hasn't met Austin in a while, so we thought it would be nice for the kiddos to meet up again.  How different this play date was from the previous occasions!  They were speaking and interacting a whole lot more!  I thought that you could genuinely see that they enjoyed themselves.  Between pretending to be chefs and cooking up a storm, sliding down Austin's personal slide, stacking blocks, and playing at the piano, the two boys shared many laughs and a couple of hugs to boot.  And they found time to eat too.  Watermelon to their heart's content and a yummy concoction of mashed potato with cheese. 

Sharing recipes?

Sharing hugs

Playing with some of the many toys

Catching!

Checking out the very heavy rain

More hugs :)

Duet!

I loved seeing them jabber away and play with one another. It really was so different from that first play date they had last year! They've grown and, honestly, they've become much more fun :) I love this age! There may be lots of other issues that accompany their budding independence, but all-in-all, I'm lovin' it. I guess as one of the characters in the movie The Back-Up Plan said, "it [can sometimes be] awful, awful, awful, and then, something amazing happens, then it's awful, awful, awful, then something amazing happens again" (additions in brackets mine). He ended by saying something along the lines of how it's all worth it. I know, I know, how many times have we heard that line. But I think it rings true.

I notice that I keep reminiscing about how Asher was like when he was younger.  I guess I'm just amazed at the changes, amazed at how quickly children develop, how quickly he's growing up, and how I want to treasure not only the present moment, but all the special moments before that led to now.  He may just be 18-mths plus, but there may come a day when "Mama/Mummy" won't be the first person he'll call to for comfort/help/etc.  He may not need me like he does now.  So I'm just gonna treasure all this while it lasts :) 

Oh How He's Grown

Saw Asher standing by the window the other day, and was just struck by how much he has grown.  And I had a sentimental flutter run through me as I remembered a similar moment about one year ago.  How quickly time passes, and how quickly he grows :)

Dirty Sofa

Asher's taken on the role of spotting defects in Grandpa's house. He was pointing and pointing non-stop at a particular spot on the sofa, and on closer inspection we found that there was a little blackish spec there. Subsequently, if you asked him, "where's dirty on the sofa?", he's quickly guide you over to the spot. How big is the spot? Super small. Try to see if you can spot it in this photo!










Then, he'd also point at a crack in one of the tiles when he passes by it. As if to say, "Grandpa, time to get this tile replaced!"

And speaking of the 'neatness' that he may have inherited, he went one step further yesterday. I took off my shoes and left them next to the door while I deposited my bags on the bench. He then independently went to pick them up and put them on the shoe rack, one shoe at a time!

Ok, everything in it's proper place. Yes, Mummy said so...Mummy better follow too... :)

Its In His Blood

Just thought I'd share some interesting things we've noticed about Asher over the last few months. Are habits/interests heriditary? In our little boy's case, maybe!

For the longest time, we've noticed that Asher likes to keep things away nicely. He quite early on was able to put balls into containers and stack rings. Later on, we heard from the teachers that after a paper-tearing activity in school he likes to pick up all the stray bits of paper and put them into a container. In church too, I notice that he enjoys holding a plastic container and walking around the playroom picking up all the crayons that have been strewn across the floor. He'd even walk all the way across the room (by passing many attractive toys) just to pick up a small crayon! More recently he started pulling up tissue and then wiping the floor/wall/table! He also understands when you ask him to help you put something back on the table, or to help put a piece of laundry into the basket.

Jon blames me for all these :) If you know me, I like to have things in their proper places. I don't like mess. I can be a clean freak as well. But I must confess that since becoming a Mum my standards have dropped - it is quite impossible to be mess free with a baby in the house! So maybe, just maybe, while my standards have dropped, Asher has made up for it!

Then, there is Asher's love of soccer and rugby. I'm not kidding. The first time he sat on Jon's lap to watch a soccer match, he sat there quietly, riveted, for one half of the match! The first time he saw a rugby match, he seemed to instinctively know when the action was getting good! He would stand up and lean forward with a huge smile on his face. And when something exciting happened, like a ruck or a tackle, he'd start pointing and saying random things (like how we go 'hey!', 'oh!', or 'ah!' during a match). It's consistent. If the TV is on, he usually ignores it. But somehow when a soccer or rugby match is on, he becomes totally engrossed in the play. He has to watch it.

There was once he woke up from his sleep and as I was carrying him and settling him, he caught sight of a soccer match on TV and kept pointing to it and insisting I take him out to the living room. Thank goodness there was just about 5 minutes left of game time, so we let him watch the rest of the match before going back to bed :)

After such instances, I always tell Jon, "He's really your son!"

What do you think? Nature or nurture? :)

The Boy in The Hat Part II

This was Asher's Christmas hat escapade, but here's another unexpected one!

He may have heard several Michael Jackson songs, but I really don't think he's seen a picture of MJ. Nevertheless seems to know of the MJ-style :)

Asher picked up the plastic container which he normally pretends is a steering wheel, and decided today that it was a hat! We find that with Asher, we're always asking ourselves, "Why bother buying toys?" :)












That's something I've been noticing lately - he's able to generalise and extend his knowledge of something to other objects. Anything round became a steering wheel (this container, a coaster). Then later on, anything at all could be a steering wheel (a square container cover, a toy chair even!). A ball can become an apple (he'd pretend to eat it), and he can 'eat' the pictures from his books ('grab' the picture and 'eat' it, very cute to watch) :)

I think this is something I appreciate, cos I often feel that the newer toys sometimes limit children in that it dictates to them what this or that button must do, the keys of the piano must play a tune instead of just a note (this one I really don't get), etc. I like the toys that leave room for imagination, and everyday home objects fall into this category :) I've noticed Asher seems to prefer (maybe cos that's what he's mainly been supplied with), toys that allow him to decide how he wants to employ it, instead of being rigid in its use.

Having said that, some commercial toys are really good. Case in point, the evergreen, and always wonderful LEGO! I remember spending hours playing with those when I was younger. Am super keen to get Asher started on Duplo sometime, and eventually move on to Lego when he's older. All in good time :)

Be Ye Glade

Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name

Blessed Be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name

Asher Turns One!

Asher's one! How quickly time passes. Yet, how slowly as well.

It doesn't seem like very long ago when we heard Asher's first cry, but yet, so much has happened this year that it seems like such a long year!

Time is strange, and I'll never fully understand it.

What I do know is that I've treasured all the wonderful moments spent getting to know Asher, even if that involved changing his poopy diapers. And with each passing day, with each aspect of his personality that I'm discovering, I'm loving him more and more :)

Asher, you are an affectionate boy who loves to give Mummy hugs and kisses, and enjoy being smoothered with hugs and kisses from everyone as well. You have a good sense of humour, and easily get the joke. And when you do, you can break into the most infectious chuckle I've ever known :) You are very active, and a phrase I commonly hear since you were just a few months old is, "It's so difficult to take photos of Asher - he's always a blur because he can't stop moving!"

You like flowers ("ba-ber"), birds ("bir"), buses ("bah"), bikes ("bie"), balloons ("ba-boon"), balls ("boh"), and stars ("dar", with hands opening and closing) - somehow most of the words you're learning to say start with 'b' :) Some might think I'm a silly over-eager mummy believing that you really do know the difference between all these things, but I do know you know - you've shown me :) Other things that you like that you can't really say yet are trees, dogs, cats (did you say "meow" yesterday when you saw the cat?), and lights. I love seeing you squeeze your eyes shut to discover how the world magically disappears when you close them, and your amused laugh and the sparkle in your eyes when you open them again are some of the little things I will remember fondly.

You love playing "peekaboo", and you are so fun to play catching with. You also can't resist combing your hair when you see the comb! Maybe because your hair can get quite messy cos it grows so quickly! You've had 4 haircuts in one year! You're starting to eat from a spoon yourself, but often make a (huge) mess still :) Three days before your birthday you also decided you needed a new party trick and started walking! And it was amazing to me that in a few days, your walking skills just improved more and more. From 3 steps, to 5 steps, to a few tiles, to across the entire hallway!

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For Asher's birthday we organised a baby party in the morning, and had a gathering for family in the afternoon. I thought it would be nice for Asher's friends to be over for his birthday, instead of just 'big people'. Since babies are most alert and lively in the morning, we arranged for the baby party between 930-12, strategically placed after his breakfast and before his nap :) The afternoon sessionon started at 2pm so that Asher could have a proper rest, and take his lunch too. No nap = cranky baby, so nap time is important to plan around!!

For the baby party Josiah (plus Joanne L. and Jian Ming), Aidan (plus Terrence and Sharon), Emma (plus Clarence), and Jo Claire (plus Joanne S.) came. The little tots looked like they had a good time playing together - even if sometimes it was more like playing side by side :) Children know no strangers, and everyone was a friend. They got along so well that Josiah even generously shared his drum...and his credit card! Yep, the little boy has 1C already ;) Guess which baby was eager to take his credit card? Emma! Okok, I'm playing to stereotypes when I shouldn't. It wasn't just the girl, Aidan seemed quite happy to borrow Josiah's credit card too.

We made pancakes and cupcakes for the parents, while the babies had home-baked baby cakes. I had experimented to create a baby-friendly cake which all of Asher's friends could eat regardless of how old they were. Most baby cake recipes I had seen usually included sugar and eggs, but I'm not keen on adding sugar to his food yet, and not all babies have started on whole eggs. I used apples in lieu of sugar, and omited eggs altogether. My first attempt yielded something more like kueh, and Asher found the texture to be totally disagreeable. He didn't even give it a chance! He took it in his hand, and deciding that it was too gooey/sticky for his liking, he proceeded to throw it across the room - making very clear his opinion on that first experiment. To be fair to myself, the taste wasn't half bad, and in fact Anya and Aidan quite happily ate the cake. But what's the point of having a birthday cake Asher won't eat? So I tweaked the proportions and experiment number 2 was a success! It was definitely more muffin like, and Asher seemed to like it quite a lot, much to my joy! So that was the cake we served up on Asher's birthday, and the babies all took to it - yay! I'll include the recipe in a separate post :)

Besides baby cakes we had a range of snacks for the little ones, which came in handy mid-morning when almost all of them decided they were peckish and needed a snack.

I enjoyed the morning session and found it entertaining just to watch the children crawl/toddle around and interact. Hopefully all Asher's guests (and parents) had a good time too!

Baby party favors

Aidan & Josiah checking out the scooter

Breaking for snacks

Round-chair discussion

I love Emma's 'yoga' tights!

Chilling on the playmat

Jon surrounded by babies :)











JC & mummy

Are you dancing Asher? :)

Group shot! See Emma crawling away? :)

The afternoon was definitely a more adult affair, and Sharon (who had stayed on from the morning) and I made a similar observation - adults are noisier! Besides Asher and Aidan, the third 'A' cousin, Anya, came for the party too. She was supposed to have come in the morning, but was down with a slight fever so stayed home to rest. It was good to see our relatives and to have them share in this little, happy occasion :)




Grandpa Quah & Grandpa Nair with the grandchildren

The fighting for toys has begun!

They decide to focus on different toys :)

Enjoying Malay food for lunch

Baby cakes on the left, adult cake on the right

Birthday paparazzi

I like this photo. He is just tall/short enough to walk through my legs while standing straight :) I'm sure there will come a time when I'll need him to sit for me to talk with him eye-to-eye!

The next morning was cold and rainy - perfect for staying in to open presents. But Asher was more interested in the bags the gifts came in! The one thing he refused to let go of was his 'happy birthday' balloon, which he carried with him everywhere he went :)






























Finally got him to open some presents - this one is from his teachers!













I'm not sure, but maybe Asher had an inkling that that day was a special day, even if he did not quite know its significance. In any case, I just hope he had fun playing and being with friends and people who love him.

Asher, happy birthday! Mummy and Daddy love you no end! And we pray that the next year will only get better and better :)