Joey has difficulty getting her bicycle to move, and we have always thought it’s because she has not developed that part of the motor skills yet. But one fine day, she was playing with our neighbour’s kid, and she managed to ride his bicycle successfully along the corridor! Turned out, the wheels on her bicycle have lost their ‘air’.

And so, we took out the air pump and Joey tried to fill her wheels with air. Not very successful though. =P

Don’t even know where she’s trying to pump the air into. She just thinks it’s very fun la, I guess. :)

But looks like we might have to buy another new bicycle soon. There seems to be holes in the wheels, and no matter how Papa Isaiah or Ye Ye tried to pump in the air, the wheels never get filled!

Stickers used to be a BIG part in my life during my childhood days. I mean, girls all like stickers, don’t we? I’d collect lots and lots of them, exchange them with my friends, and keep them in a folder and take it out to admire ever so often.

My daughter loves stickers too, but she has a very different take on it. She doesn’t keep them safely like treasures. Instead, she sticks them everywhere. Sigh..

And so, you can imagine, my house no longer looks like a designer house. With kids around in the house, it’s really not easy to stay poise and classy. =P

Look at how she ‘displays’ her stickers!

I often wonder why she doesn’t feel ‘heart pain’ at wasting her stickers like that!

Maybe to her, it’s art!

And she’s probably happy seeing her stickers on display everywhere in the house!

Let me show you around the house where traces of her creativity & creative vandalism can be found.

On the window grilles (which I attempt to hide most of the time with the wooden blinds)

The plastic cabinets

Her water bottle

And the biggest canvas of all – Her wardrobe

Quite frankly, they drive me nuts sometimes. You know how much I adore lovely & classy interior design. *wipes away a tear*

Kids are supposed to be happy most of the time, don’t you agree?

I mean, if at such a tender age where they have no real understanding of the sufferings of this world, trials & tribulations that come with maturity, and the worries that come with responsibilities, and yet they cannot be happy, something is seriously wrong.

I’ve often heard adults make this comment, ‘I don’t know what’s so fun with this little game she’s playing. She can keep playing and laughing at it all day long!’

Isn’t that true? Kids can be contented & entertained real easily and they get happy at the smallest & simplest things in life. I do think we should all get back to that kind of innocence at some points in our life. Just to experience some form of pure joy. Just to escape from the hardness of life sometimes.

So often, I find myself staring at this girl and just enjoying the happiness and contentment that comes out of her. She cannot sit still, and she’s always doing something. There are just so many interesting things you can get just by observing her every move.

Being a mum makes me see things from very different perspectives. It brings out the best and worst in me. Ever so often, I marvel at how big my daughter is now, and am amazed at how fast she’s growing every single day. Now she articulates like a little adult, and has a mind of her own. She’s no longer a little baby. She’s slowly evolving into a fine lady. :)

I love being a mum. :) It makes me philosophical. Haha..

My tummy at 30 weeks

Life inevitably changes when big events happen in your life. And having a baby is a BIG event.

Baby Jayne is arriving in 2 months’ time, and quite frankly, I have done zero preparations for her. I’ve not bought any new clothes, or washed Joey’s hand-me-downs yet. I’ve not bought her new milk bottles and pacifiers. Not to mention new bed linings for the cot. But actually, there is no real rush because I can get all of those in one day of shopping.

Was just talking to Papa Isaiah last night about the adjustments we have to make when Baby Jayne arrives. Was in a little panic attack yesterday because it suddenly dawned upon me that I hadn’t formally asked my office nursery whether there is space for me to bring Baby Jayne in after my maternity leave. I quickly emailed the person in charge, but was told that she cannot confirm a place for me yet because 2 other people had approached her about it before me. Oh my God, what am I supposed to do if I can’t bring Baby Jayne into the office nursery?? What am I going to do?? Thank God the person in charge got back very quickly to me that she has checked and confirmed a place for Baby Jayne. *phew* At least one less thing to worry about now.

I have often contemplated the idea of employing a maid. But apart from the living arrangements (my house cannot accommodate one more person), I am fearful at the idea of having a stranger in my house, and in such close proximity to my kids. I am not comfortable knowing that I have to leave my kids in such a person’s hands. I guess it all takes getting used to, like how many of my friends have managed to do, but the first step is really hard for me to take. I can also see that having a maid comes with many benefits for me, like having greater freedom to do what I want to do and more time to rest when i need it. Friends who have maids tell me they cannot live without one now that they’ve gotten themselves a really good helper. But I think I’ll see how we manage with 2 kids first, before going down that rut again.

I need lots of grace from God, and strength & wisdom to continue this journey. We didn’t know how we could manage when Baby Joey came and we managed fine. Now we are back to that same stage of apprehension and uncertainty, and I am sure God will see us through once again, like He has always done so. Everything is in God’s Hands. :)

I have absolutely no doubt that Joey will turn out to be a much better woman than me in the area of domestic affairs.

She takes after my mother-in-law’s love for cleanliness and order in the household, and often shows great interest in household chores like folding the clothes, sweeping the floor etc. Me, on the other hand, would rather have nothing to do with all those stuffs. =P

She was helping my MIL wash the veggies and look at how focused she is at doing it. Thoroughly enjoyed the whole process, I’m sure!

When my Joey is big enough, she can do ALL the household chores in the house, I don’t mind! :)

Joey is a late bloomer in the department of puzzles.

While other younger kids like Jayden & Reagan are already becoming experts at fixing puzzles, Joey has been showing little, or no interest in puzzles. When I present a puzzle before her, she will mess with it for a while before moving away to something else she likes better. I admit it got me a little concerned for a while, because I wonder if it’s because my daughter does not like ‘intellectual’ stuffs?

To fully understand the gravity of the matter, you must know that Papa Isaiah was himself a PUZZLE EXPERT! When he was young, he would challenge himself by mixing up 3 different sets of puzzles and fixing all 3 in record time. Even up till now, he still has a passion for puzzles.

Turned out, Joey’s just a late bloomer. There was one day she got her hands on a set of Dora metallic puzzle, and she was hooked!

This is a set of 3 metallic puzzles and she managed to conquer them one by one very soon! Because it’s metallic, it was something she could play in the car as well, as the pieces don’t fall off. :)

So, seeing her fervent interest in puzzles, Papa Isaiah decided to buy her a new puzzle. Saw this really nice puzzle set that comes with a carrier bag at Attributes, and (without checking the price), promised to buy Joey the transportation series.

At the cashier, the price tag turned out to be $46! Papa Isaiah had no choice but to pay for it anyway, since he already promised Joey. =P

It has proven to be a good investment so far, because the puzzle pieces are huge and Joey plays with it everyday. The quality of the puzzles is also very good, so I reckon can last for a long time.

The completed floor puzzle! Cool.. :)

Thank you to all my friends who are concerned for me and Joey ever since we fell sick. Joey has more or less recovered. Her fever had gone down 2-3 days ago, though a diarrhea episode followed after that. That, too, had faded away by yesterday.

I was more sick than Joey, I think. And I was commenting to Isaiah that I haven’t felt so sick for very long. I was down with high fever the same day I fetched Joey home from childcare because of her fever. Visited the doctor together with her, and my fever was 39 degrees. The fever went down after each medication, but my cough got from bad to worse. All the coughing made my throat super painful. I had to take medication for the pain & swelling in the throat, the cough and for the fever. Sigh. On top of that, I had to continue taking my supplements during pregnancy – my folic acids, iron pills, calcium pills, fish oil etc. I was a pill-popping machine!

Joey’s fever went up & down too, and there was one night I had to insert a ‘bullet’ into her anus to bring her sky-high temperature of 39.7 degrees down. Scared me crazy. If you knew about her previous sick experience when she suffered a fits & had to be hospitalized, you should know how paranoid a mother can get after that. By the next day, Joey’s temperature more or less stabilized.

For me, the fever kept rocketing. One of the nights, it even went as high as 39.5 degrees! Gosh, for a pregnant woman, i think that’s pretty serious.

On the Saturday, I went for my gynae check-up, and they found my pulse to be unusually high. They put me on a heartbeat machine to track my pulse rate while I rested and tried to relax. Then tested my pulse rate again. Still high at 125bpm. And you know what my gynae said? ‘Think you should go for a ECG scan. It might be thyroid.’

Gave me a shock of my life la!!!

I have friends who have thyroid and gone through operations and have to take lifelong medication for it. And I know pregnant women are high-risk for thyroid, but I don’t believe it la!!

And so I quickly told my gynae, ‘errr.. but I am running a fever right now, and I am on medication for fever and the throat. Do you think that’s why?’

And my gynae went, ‘Oh, you are having fever? Then never mind, no need to check. You go back and rest. And stop all your supplements. They’re very heaty!’ (isaiah told him right at the start I had fever & cough lor!)

Sigh… gave me a shock for nothing… The next time I visit my gynae again in 4 weeks’ time, let’s pray that the pulse rate goes back to normal!

Joey can name most of her teachers in school, even those who do not teach her class. But whenever you ask her who is her favorite teacher, she would usually say, ‘Teacher Janet’.

Personally, I’ve come into contact with a few of the teachers and I also think teacher Janet is one of the best over at Joey’s childcare centre. She has a way of communicating to kids such that they will take a liking to her easily. She has an air of strictness about her, but yet, friendly & personal enough towards the kids.

But that day when I went to fetch Joey at school, i encountered something that kinda ‘frightened’ me.

My dad fetched me to the childcare centre because Isaiah had to work late that day. When Joey saw the 2 of us walking in, she went hysterical and kept screaming and jumping around in joy. After about 30 seconds of screaming (I didn’t stop her because I thought it was okay as she was just very happy to see us), I heard a VERY FIERCE voice coming out from the classroom, ‘WHO IS THE ONE SCREAMING AND SHOUTING?’

And as the ‘voice’ walked out, I realized it was Teacher Janet. (Maybe i was too sensitive, but I thought she looked slightly taken aback when she saw me). Immediately, Joey burst into tears and started wailing. I think she got a shock (same as me), and teacher Janet just brushed it off by saying, ‘it’s ok, just don’t do it again.’ and walked back to the classroom.

Quite frankly, I had mixed feelings about what I witnessed. All along, my impression of teacher Janet was never of someone who is so aggressive. If I were a kid and was scolded by a teacher with that kind of tone, I might burst into tears as well. Then again, perhaps it was because my dad and I were there, that’s why Joey burst into tears (knowing she had someone to back her up).

I do understand that discipline is very important especially in a school, but maybe I hadn’t seen a discipline session in this school, that’s why I was culturally shocked.

That night, Joey immediately complained to her grandma that Teacher Janet scolded her. =P I guess if Joey knows how to complain, and I’ve never heard her complain before, this could be the first time she got scolded for anything in school. When I purposely asked her who her favorite teacher was that night, she refused to say it’s teacher Janet.

(The next day, her answer reverted back to Teacher Janet again. Haha.)

I think this is the first time I fell sick together with Joey. It’s really a terrible feeling, I tell you.

Both of us are down with very high fever, and although Joey’s fever subsides after medication, she will have occasional diarrhea. A bit concerned whether it’s Rotavirus, so although she’s seen a doctor, maybe we should bring her to see Dr YY Yip at Gleneagles tomorrow after my gynae check up.

It’s terrible because I wish I can just lie down and sleep all the time, but I still got to attend to Joey because her temperature may shoot up anytime.

Just early this morning at 4am, her temperature went up to as high as 39.7 degrees that I had to insert a ‘bullet’ up her anus to bring the temperature down quickly. It’s my first time, and I am amazed at how easily it’s done! The anus practically sucks in the ‘bullet’ the moment I inserted it gently. I had imagined that I probably got to push it in. =P

Anyway, do say a simple prayer for us when u read this ya? I hate to be sick, and it’s been so long since I last fell this sick. Cough and cough till my throat is almost bleeding. sigh….

I sometimes think she secretly wishes the whole world is just one big playground. :)

Everyday in school, if the weather permits, she & her classmates go & play at the playground twice a day – Once in the morning after breakfast, and the 2nd time after her nap & snack time in the evening. Still, everytime she sees a playground outside, she wants to go play!

Took these this morning. Kids look their happiest at the playgrounds!

Such a gleeful face…

The amusing thing is when she manages to climb up something or jump down from a platform, she praises herself, ‘Good job!’ Hahaha.. who said that self-praise is international disgrace? I think it’s just very healthy self-esteem! =D

Jumping… jumping… jumping…

I am in my 7th month of pregnancy (I think), and Baby Jayne has already proven herself to be an even more hyper kid than Jie Jie Joey! (I know it's hard to imagine)

Starting from my 6th month of pregnancy, Baby Jayne has already started her kicks in my tummy. Now, she moves almost every minute of the day, and when she does, it's vigorous!! Last night, there was even one kick that made me go, 'Ah!' It was one hard kick, I tell ya!

Will Baby Jayne be an even more active kid than Jie Jie Joey?

Then again, I recall that Joey was very mild when she was in my tummy. There were the usual kicks, but they were gentle most of the time, and she likes to shift her leg (presumably) across my tummy that I could literally see the action from right to left side of my tummy. Baby Jayne, however, has a preference to stick her foot on one part of my tummy and hold it there! There are times I pushed her foot away, and she will shift it away, then stick it back there again after a while. haha.. how's that for an interaction with an unborn baby?

My previous gynae commented many times that Joey was a very sleepy baby in my tummy. But look at her now!!!

Maybe Baby Jayne is active in my tummy now, but when she comes out, she will be a very gentle & soft-spoken girl??

(I can always hope and dream right?)

Had a really fun but exhausting Friday & Saturday at Sentosa. :) On a spur of a moment (yet again, as it always happens to me & my friends), we decided to book the chalet huts at Costa Sands Sentosa on Friday, have BBQ on Friday night and stayover till Sat for a beach volleyball game. Haha… Quite exciting for a bunch of late 20’’s & 30’s, don’t you think??

The last time I went to stay at the huts was more than 10 years ago, I think. But it’s Joey’s 1st time, of course. :)

Reached Sentosa at about 12 plus and we managed to get early check-in for all three huts that we booked.

At the check-in counter

After leaving our bags at the huts, we went off for some food. The weather was not too good though. We kept praying for the sun to come out and no rain!

Joey looked very cheery & colourful in this rainbow dress yeh? Hehehe…

Joey & Papa’s signature pose.

Had a walk on the beach after lunch… How very relaxing, I tell you..

We went to check out the Southern Most Point of Continental Asia. The hanging bridge was fun. But Joey was very nervous throughout though. =P

The viewing tower at the Southern Most Point was nice. With the cold breeze blowing, it was certainly very refreshing!

And like true tourists, ‘they’ had to pose with the Siloso sign. I refused. =P

And then Joey refused to get down. Haha.. what a stylo expression on her face!

It was back to the huts for some card games before we start our BBQ at night. This is what the huts look like on the inside. It’s very basic – just 2 double-decker beds with attached cupboards & shelves, and a small bench stuck to the wall. No TV and attached bathrooms. That’s why they are known as ‘kampong huts’.

In fact, these huts were transformed from pavilions (with no windows & only bamboo blinds on all 4 sides) and no beds at all. I also stayed in those huts before when it first started. Even cheaper (something like $11 per night). Haha.. Cos all you get is an empty pavilion, and you can only sleep on the wooden planked floor. They later renovated the huts, installed air-conditioning and the beds, and it costs $59 per hut per night now. One night booking is allowed. Great for some down-to-earth, back-to-basic economical chalet living. :) Facility-wise, because the huts are in the same vicinity as the Costa Sands chalets, you get to use the swimming pool and arcade machines, free wireless network, etc as well.

While the adults were playing cards, Joey busied herself with cooking different dishes for us using her sand-play tools.

BBQ Time! Thank God the weather cleared!

Check out the mighty ALL-GIRLS fire-starting team!

Joey is a true-blue member of the fire-starting team! Look at her with the fan!

Halfway through the fire-starting though, my dad called & we had to bring Joey to him and my mum cos Joey was staying overnight at my parents’ place for the night. :) The adults probably won’t be sleeping THAT early, you see… Hehe.. anyway, Joey loved being with my parents, so she was actually looking forward to it.

The BBQ continued while more and more people arrived. It was really a great time of fellowship & good food! :)

Check out the other cool kids in my CG!

They helped by fanning the fire too!!

After the BBQ, we still went to have drinks at one of the beach pubs, played cards, pool and had snacks (Yes! French fries, nachos & calamaris after a BBQ dinner!!!).

What a fun stay at Sentosa.. I felt like I was transported back to my schooling days! BBQ-ing, gallivanting till very late, then play cards till the wee hours of the morning before sleeping. =P

Oh boy, I enjoyed myself with my dear friends in CG! :)