Schwimming!

We had a 50% off voucher for some baby swimming thing, so we thought we'd go check it out. That, and my aunty was really excited about letting Asher try it.

Each baby gets an individual tub and they've a float that wraps around the neck. Some people apparently bring their kids there every week! Some babies can even swim 45mins non-stop. As it was Asher's first time, the staff there said he'd probably last about 15-20 mins.










He seemed to enjoy floating around. I say floating around, cos he didn't do much kicking initially haha. It was quite funny to see him float and drag his arms about cos he also didn't move his arms very much either :) It was only after he warmed up that he kicked more and used more of his arms.

He managed to last 15 mins! I do think he might have lasted a little longer if the staff had put on the float correctly the first time. They had to interrupt his swimming and take him out to reposition the float. After that when they put him back into the tub he was more fussy.

Actually one of the funniest things is to see all the spectators ooh-ing and aah-ing at Asher as he swam :) He went there with an entourage of 6!












Anyway, not sure if we'll be bringing back again cos it's not that cheap without the discount. We'll see how it goes. I'm actually looking forward more to bringing him to a real swimming pool! But that probably won't be for many months more.

Two to TANGo

Today Asher and I went to Vivocity to go shopping! My mission was to find my sis-in-law a birthday present.

It was Asher's first time on the MRT! We took the train to and from Vivo. It's quite easy since they have lifts at all levels, and it's more convenient than taking a bus cos it's kinda difficult to load a pram onto the bus. But there's more walking involved when taking the MRT, which is fine, cos it reminds me of the plentiful walking I did in London.

Asher was really good today! He stuck to his feed-wake-sleep cycle (even if pre-sleep he did cry quite a bit, but that's normal). And I've discovered that after his feed, as part of his wake time, he really likes looking around at all the things in the shops, at the people in the mall, the shops going by, etc. I had put a few toys in the pram to entertain him, but he wanted to look around. He had started crying and I thought it was because he was over-stimulated, but on the contrary, when I lifted up the hood, he stopped crying and was happily observing everything around him. It was only later when he started to yawn and rub his eyes that I brought down the hood, and the usual pre-sleep crying began.

Interesting, cos I had thought there would be too many sights and sounds for him, but I guess he's grown up more now, and is able to take more in without becoming cranky too quickly.

Anyway, it was very satisfying for me to be able to take Asher out on a shopping trip all afternoon until night! I refuse to believe I cannot go out and must stay at home cos I've a baby now; and I'm glad Asher seems to take quite well to these outings too. But of course, it cannot be an everyday affair. I do like the quiet days at home very much too :)

Juggling Time

Taking care of Asher alone is really training in time management and prioritization. Once there's a little bit of spare time I've gotta decide what needs to be done, and do it immediately. Should I bathe, eat breakfast, do the laundry, etc? Decision made, DO! Cos once the free time runs out, that's it, it's feed, play, then try to put him down for a nap again (not an easy task given that this boy doesn't like napping in the day. Each nap is preceded by a lot of fussing/crying/screaming.)

It's a challenge, but it's been fun juggling caring for Asher, cooking my lunches and some dinners, doing the laundry, some ironing, folding clothes, packing up the house, checking email, and when I'm really free, blogging :)

Of course there are the frustrating moments, and it can get tiring. I'm usually quite worn out by the weekend. I'm always glad when Jon comes back home cos it's an extra pair of hands to help - and he's a big help! My mum comes by occasionally to bring me lunch now and then too. But personal time is hard to find. Diary entries have become just a few lines to a few paras long instead of pages and pages like how they used to be.

Still, there are some things that are great. All the feeding time means I've plenty of time to read (albeit intermittently). Finished up 3 book so far - Sippy Cups are Not for Champagne, Momfidence, and Sense and Sensibility. The first two were lent to us along with a few other pregnancy/parenting books. Just some entertaining, brainless, reads :) The last was a book I've always wanted to read but never got round to it. I really like that era of novels cos the writers then seemed to be able to capture the psychology and emotions of their characters so well!

Besides books, I've now found a new favourite TV programme on Discovery Travel and Living! Jon & Kate plus 8! During my 11am-ish feeds I'm always at the TV watching this show. It's a reality show about the Gosselin family where Jon (30) and Kate (dunno her age) have 8 kids - two six-year-olds, and six two-year-olds. Imagine! I find it inspiring to know that Kate, with so many kids on hand, can still care for them all on her own, prepare all their meals, clean the house, and the kids are all so lovely and well-adjusted (on TV at least) :) Each episode features what would be an easy activity for an ordinary sized family to accomplish, but which requires so much planning for their family. Things like going to to zoo, taking a road trip to Disneyland in Orlando, buying beds for the children, etc. And the kids are soooooo cute!

Anyway, despite the business I've still managed to find time to try new recipes! Recently I made Spanakopita, a Greek spinach pie. Recipe courtery of Discovery Travel and Living's Food Safari show. (As you can tell, Discovery Travel and Living is my fav channel on TV). It's made with filo pastry and filled with spinach, greek feta, pecorino, and ricotta. Yum yum yum! I had made a huge pie 2 Saturdays ago, and Jon and I finished it all in one afternoon! Then a few days after that, since I had extra ingredients, I decided to do a short-cut version for lunch :)


Yesterday, Jon and I made hamburgers from scratch complete with chips and salad! We marinated the beef with all kinds of herbs and spices, then made the patties and fried them. We also had a couple of friends over to enjoy the meal. What fun! Cooking is so therapeutic! :) (Although I must admit the cleaning up after is less fun heh).

A few weeks back we also endeavoured to make potato salad for a friend's party. Jon was very supportive of this cos he loves that reciple :) I think we made it as much for ourselves as for the party haha :)

There are still several recipes I want to try! Lets see if I find the time!

Juggle, juggle, juggle!

Anyway, some not so recent pics of Asher, just cos I like them :)

Boy, oh boy, it's CNY!

My goodness, what a fun and hectic Chinese New Year we had this year! Our progress was slow. Normally we'd be at my parent's place early morn, then we'd head off to go visiting, and we'd by done with my mum's side by 1 or 2 pm. This time around, both sets of new parents only got to the first pit-stop at 10am! Then some crying, some diaper changes, some feeds, then feed the adults, and cry, then change a diaper, then finally we're off! We only ended our visit to the last house on my mum's side around 530/6pm! And we still had dinner at Dad's place, followed by a gathering at our house with my friends!

Many many lo heis this year.

Numero Uno - Eve of CNY Eve: Reunion dinner at China Club with immediate family on both sides. ere we also celebrated Jon's birthday in advance.










Numero Due - CNY Eve: Reunion dinner at Segar with immediate family.












Asher looking like he's starting to get this whole lo hei thing.











Check out the Pun Choi that my mum and aunts made! Yum-mee!








New mums!











Couldn't help including this pic cos if you compare it with an earlier photo I took of him in the same outfit when he was just a week old, you can see how he's grown and filled out his romper!







Numero Tre - CNY Day 2: Reunion dinner at Segar with extended family.
Didn't remember to take any pics of this event, but my tummy is proof of it's existence.

This is what he wore on Day 2 of CNY. (This pic's specially for you Sheela!)









That's not the end of it though, there are at least 3 more lo hei sessions in store in the coming weeks!

We were quite excited to bring Asher on his first CNY visiting trip. Of course, to begin it all, we just had to dress him in red heh heh heh. I think he looks cute! But of course I'm biased. Anyway, Jon insisted we tuck in his shirt, which I think makes him look so toot haha, so I then insisted we at least fluff out his shirt a bit so he looks better :) Asher will thank me in future haha.

Before
After













I match Mummy...












...And I match my car seat!







Anyway, here're some pics from our first day of visiting:

The cousins decked out in red taking a nap before the big day









Asher had little clementines to pai nian instead of the usual kum which are wayyy to big for him








As we travelled from house to house, Asher was busy studying his new red socks :) He kept kicking up one foot, then the next, to look at them.










When he took a break from admiring his socks, he'd strike up a coo-ing conversation with me! It was really heartwarming :O)






Plenty of family photos
































This is what the pic looks like...











This is what we had to do to get Asher to look at the camera!!!








By the end of the day (which was around 3am) Jon and I were so zonked out! Asher was already in bed by then, but he was so tired out from all the visiting and attending various events over the long weekend that he was totally zapped at the end of it! He just slept and slept for most of Wednesday to recuperate :)

Aidan's One Month

Cousin Aidan is one month old! Well, my nephew, Asher's cousin :)

My parents organised a one month celebration for Aidan at Temasek Club and invited some family friends :) We had had another gathering over new year for our relatives.

It was gonna be challenging for Jon and I cos we hadn't attended any dinner events since we settled Asher's night routine. He's got a bedtime routine that works like a charm, and we were wondering if breaking from it would spoil his routine. We decided to experiment by juggling bits of his routine around and see if he'd still settle to sleep. It worked! Mid way through dinner we settled him to sleep in his pram, and he dozed off without a squeak! We were so pleased and proud of him :) That allowed Jon & I to go most of the dinner without having to worry about him.

I was really so pleased! That meant that we could attend other dinner functions as well!

Aidan, the star for the night, is super adorable and cuddly. We all agree he's very nice to carry :) Such a perfect, cuddly bundle!













The two boys got passed around and around as everyone took turns to carry them, and they were quite obliging, relishing all the attention. No stranger anxiety yet! Anyway, on a side note, it's really hard to take pictures of babies, especially two! Getting them both to look at the camera at the same time is quite a feat! :)


Asher, look here!











Aidan, don't cover your face!











Ah, finally!







Asher had his first lo hei too! It was almost Chinese New Year, so yu sheng was on the menu :) Yum yum! I always look forward to this dish during CNY!


Why are they throwing food around?









Anyway, all this is just a foretaste for the many celebrations to come in the following years! They aren't even 1 yet! There's the 2 month anniversary, 3 month anniversary, 4 month...Ok ok, I really don't think we're gonna celebrate every single one of those, but you get the idea :)

A-okay!

Went for my most recent gynae appt and was given a clean bill of health! Yay! I look forward to dancing again! Although now, the problem will be finding the time! Especially since I've gotta bring Asher almost everywhere I go since he feeds every two hours or so. Hmm...might still be a while before dancing will form part of my routine again :( Guess I'll just have to stick to dancing around the house!

Anyway, to celebrate my recovery we went to eat sushi! Not that I refrained from sushi and sashimi when I was pregnant, but jap food is always yummy :)

It's nice to be able to go out and about now and then with Jon and Asher. We've kind of become mall rats. But it's just so convenient! Park the car, roll out the pram, there are changing/nursing rooms, restaurants, etc. We do still try to go to the park of course, but we're starting to understand why we see so many families (with prams in tow) going to shopping centres.




Actually the other nice part about going out is that I get to dress up haha. Staying at home, you just end up wearing t-shirts and shorts all day long. It's so silly, I know, but it's just nice to wear something nicer now and then :) The other day I opened up our shoe cabinet and looked at all my lovely, neglected, high heels heh. Haven't worn them in months! Besides the fact that it's not advisible to wear them when pregnant, my feet couldn't fit into some of them (without stretching them out at least!). I couldn't resist slipping my feet into them - and they fit! Yay! I got to wear one of my low heeled opened toe shoes when we went out that day. It's great to wear something other than my brown flat sandals that are falling apart at the seams, literally!

But I don't think I'll be roaming out in high heels soon. Again, cos I'm usually out with Asher. Don't wanna risk a fall - I may dance (and hey, I think I can be quite graceful when dancing), but I somehow have a knack for falling and spraining my ankles... One of those strange oxymorons of life.


What are high heels, Mummy?

New Year @ Fajar

The first day of the year was spent at my parent's place at Fajar with many of our relatives. It was a chance for them to ooh and ahh at Aidan, the latest addition to the Quah family :) He was born on 18 Dec 08! Nice date huh? He's a cute lil fella who loves to sleep :) I think it's great that the two cousins are born so close together! They can be playmates!


Hi there!











My brother with Aidan, and I with Asher :)










The two little boys in the classic frog pose :)







As Asher's growing more aware, Jon and I have realised that he tends to get over-stimulated more easily than in his first month. Whereas he enjoyed lots of company previously, and probably still does, he gets more cranky after a noisy session now. Was reading that in the early days babies can still tune out stimuli, but now as their awareness of their surroundings increases, they take in everything, and it can be quite overwhelming for them.

So we'll just have to manage his activities a bit more to make sure he's not too stimulated. Keeping him in a quieter room when there are lots of people around seems to help.

Anyway, this little boy thinks he's really grown up already. When my dad tried to read him a picture book he kicked up a fuss, but look! He was happily 'reading' the Straits Times :)


"I don't wanna read books for babies!"









"Yeah! This is more like it!"







Anyway, just some other pics from that New Year's day :)


Adults are so boring..












BLLLLeeahhhhh












I'm growing longer! (Funny how for babies we say 'long', then when they start to walk it's 'tall')








More smiles!