NYE Greetings!

Dear all out there!

May 2011 brings you your hearts' desires! Thank you for being part of our lives in 2010 and we love to have you around in the new year to come. :)

XOXO,
Anya's Mom & Dad, and our little brood.

A season of Busy-ness and Love

The morning of Boxing Day saw our little family gathered together, unwrapping presents. We were surprised that many of our loved ones and friends actually included our Little Bun's name in their Christmas shopping list.

Now, you may find it strange why we might be surprised. You see, The Husband and I are the first Christians in our immediate families. Generally, both families do not have a tradition of gifting presents on Christmas or having Christmas celebrations of any sorts. Yet, Little Bun's 'Gugu' and 'Popo' made a point to prepare something for her.

On the other hand, our friends (those whom we have hilarious Christmas parties with every year) are all either single, attached/engaged or married without kids. Yet, they all had something for her. Honestly, I'd imagine some of these friends do not even know the existence of a kids' department in shopping malls. And there right before my eyes, were age-appropriate toys and outfits handpicked by them. One of my primary love language is actually gifting. So, I am really touched to receive so many gifts on my child's behalf from our loved ones. That said, we have stowed away some of the toys and would introduce them to her one by one.  Rationing is the way to discourage extravagance, we'd think. So yep, my dear loved ones and friends out there, thanks so much for showering your love upon us. We had a exceptionally blessed Christmas, all made possible by y'all!

Tis the season to be busy!

 The lack of updates here is because we have been extremely busy - which is paradoxical since the busier we are, chances are there are more things to blog about!

So, we have been busy doing Christmas & birthdays shopping, supervising the installation of window grills in the apartment, cleaning up after the apartment, washing loads of curtains, gearing up for my driving practical test, falling sick, recovering, going for magic shows, Christmas gatherings and what-nots. All these additional programs (&/or disruptions) on top of managing our usual responsibilities and chores. Come to think of it, no wonder I fell sick! :P

Meanwhile, our baby has moved onto a new mode of transporting herself - Crawling! Actually, she has mastered this new skill for a couple of weeks now. One to two months back, she has started learning to crawl, only she was always moving backward instead of forward. It was often an amusing sight how she would set her targeted end point, say to where Dadddy was, and then wiggled madly but only to find herself further and further away from her target. At one point, I thought she would abandon learning to crawl as she would try (ended up going backward again) and then she would switch to rolling to get herself to where she wanted to be. Bonus points for being innovative!

Interestingly, two weeks ago, she woke up one morning, and somehow, got it figured out and simply started crawling forward. These days, she can switch from sitting position to crawling or lying down position (vice versa) at ease. In fact, I've seen her attempting to stand a number of times even. 

With her new mobility, we have set up another playpen errr.. let's just call it play-barn so as not to confuse with the existing playpen. This play-barn was a gift from my brother & sister-in-law. This play-barn, I gotta say, is a good thing to have! Gary Ezzo was right! Children need boundaries in order to feel secure and explore creativity! I used to put her in her room (on the padded floor) during playtime and she would get upset when I leave the room, no matter how much assurance I gave her. Her play was haphazard where she would be playing Toy A half-hearted while being distracted by Toy B in the distance. With this play-barn, I would put 1-2 toys in there (switching them every few days), and she could concentrate better. She seems to be more at ease when I am not in the same room too and could do being alone for longer stretches of time at one go. So yay for Gary Ezzo (the author) and Gary Koh (my bro)! Haha.. 

Oh mine! What was intended to be a short update has gone quite long! We have several upcoming events that we are looking forward to. There is birthday BBQ, Christmas party, driving test (please let me pass!!), New Year's gathering and more! Oh, and we are going on two short trips in January! So this buy-ness is gonna stick around till January. For the folks out there, may you have a blessed Christmas in advanced! Just in case, you know, I will not have time to update till post-Christmas. May this festive season be one of love, joy & peace!

What a night!

Last night, we had a surprise belated birthday party for a dear friend. Her friends at work cum missionary trips organized it and invited us along. It was an intimate gathering, with homemade 'momos' with chutney, a Pakistani dumpling recipe they learnt at one of their recent trips.

The birthday girl was truly surprised, causing her to be pink-faced the whole night. There were guitars playing, wonderful singing, and lots of laughter. The organizers did up two videos for the dear friend and one little girl even wrote a poem and had a poem recital on the spot, just for her dear Joy jiejie! It was obvious that everyone who was there love the birthday girl dearly. :)

I had enjoyed myself immensely despite nursing a migraine. Unfortunately, in the car trip home, the pain got worse.

By the time we got home, I was feeling nauseous, and was incapable of helping The Husband to prepare Anya for bedtime. I was breaking out into cold sweat and was feeling chilly. After throwing up, I climbed into bed and hid under the blanket. Thirty minutes later, I threw up again. This time, instead of going back into my own bed, I wrapped myself in my blanket and joined The Husband who was tucking Anya in bed. I must have fallen asleep as I vaguely recalled The Husband waking me up to go back to our bed.

Then. At 130am, I was awaken by my growling stomach. The worst of the migraine was over, though I could still feel slight dull pain at the back of my head - even now as I'm typing away. So I went in search for food and did a bit of read up on the internet while satisfying my hunger pangs. The causes of the monstrous migraine? PMS and cold turkey from caffeine.

I think I'm gonna kick my coffee addiction once and for all.

Update: In the mood for Christmas...

That very day after reading my entry, The Husband swept us off to Orchard Road. I was rather touched by his invitation. It was surprisingly a quiet evening (probably due to the heavy rain earlier). It was a nice change, just walking around peacefully instead of jostling with the crowd, feeling all harassed. Anya had a visual feast, taking in the various Christmas trees & festive decorations.
The following day, I thought to myself, "Even though we cannot have a tree, we can still put up other decorations right?" So out came the Christmas decorations box. Improvised with the ornaments, beads & what-not that are supposed to be up on the tree & streamed them down from the ceiling beam instead. In addition, we had our own special 'tree'. ;)

Stockings for Anya and Muff

Another basket for bigger presents

Our very own special tree!

So yay! It is all very Christmasy at home now!

Her First Wedding Banquet

It was a beautiful affair at The Four Seasons. The ravishing bride & dashing groom were wonderful hosts. The company at the table was great, the service was impeccable, and food, uber delicious! Moreover, we were serenaded by a wedding singer throughout.

Interestingly, there were at least 10 babies, all below the age of 1! That is quite a handful for a 23-table banquet. At the cocktail, we noticed that most parents, if not all, brought along their strollers. We had decided beforehand to ditch the stroller and sit her in the highchair instead.

We were seated with mutual friends and they all took turns to carry her and kept her entertained. Right before the "yum seng", the friend who was seated next to me asked, "Do you need to bring her outside?". Without thinking, I instinctively replied, "No.". But after it came out, I hesitated for a while. Then again, she is used to loud music during worship at Sunday services, so we thought she should be fine. It was only then I looked around and realised Anya was the only baby left in the ballroom. As predicted, instead of showing signs of fear, she was full of curiosity as to the ding dong that was happening on the stage. Atta girl!

When it was nearing her bedtime, she was exhibiting sleepiness - rubbing her eyes. But the couple had just begun taking group pictures and it seemed that we would be one of the last tables they would come to. So I whipped out out secret weapon - the sarong. Just then, the wedding singer was belting out  an upbeat "Can't take my eyes off you". Singing along, I did a little waltz with her sling onto me at a corner of the ballroom. By the song ended, she was fast asleep! - for the next 20 minutes till the couple join us at our table for the group shot. She was jolted out from her sleep as there was a buzz going on as we crowded around the couple, congratulating them. Almost immediately, her gaze fell onto the bride and she seemed awestruck. :) Yes baby, ain't she gorgeous?

Immediately after the group shot, we said our goodbyes as it was already past eleven.

All in all, it was a wonderful night where Anya behaved beautifully! My only regret was I did not get to taste the dessert. :P

I almost forgot...

HAPPY 8 MONTHS OLD, my little bun!

In the mood for Christmas...

.. Not!

I guess it has todo with the fact that we have no Christmas tree this year. All because we believe it will be a road hazard to The One in The Walker. Hopefully, next year.

Most of my Christmas shopping are done online so far since there isn't many opportunities for me to stroll down Orchard road, basking in the atmosphere. When I do skip down to town to shop, it is usually a mad dash.

The Christmas present that I wanted to get for myself has been met with many obstacles. Now I'm wondering if I will ever get hold of IT before 2011.

Meanwhile, the usual gang finally confirmed the Christmas party date & theme. We cannot host the party anymore since it will clash with Anya's bedtime. And I have no inspiration for dress-up at this point.

So.. yeah.. not in the mood for Christmas.

Trash & Nerd Christmas 2009

Chairs, chairs, chairs!

Look at me!

Like a little grown-up

Last Saturday saw us at the Furniture Mall shopping for a couple of items for our flat. In one of the shops where we bought some new dining chairs, Anya was particularly interested in their chairs that came in all sorts of shapes, sizes & texture.

She was thrilled when I put her down onto one of the big red armchairs. Her face broke into a wide grin while she shifted her legs inwards & then outwards repeatedly (she likes doing that every time she sits on a new place to feel the texture). So, we carried her around, putting her down into a few other different chairs and couches.

The last picture, unfortunately, is not another chair taken in Furniture Mall but at the 24 hours clinic as she developed a bad cough over the course of the day.

Update: The Vaccum-cleaner Situation

Every time we flick on the switch, there will still be a look of alarm on her face. However, after some assurances from us, usually involving the adults clowning & dancing around the machine as if it were some tribal celebration while the dog barking madly at the sudden commotion , her face would gradually ease into a smile.

Yesterday, I put her into her walker after she was accustomed to the roar of the vacuum cleaner - just to see how she would respond.

Slowly & steadily, she sashayed over to where her father and the machine was. Thereafter, she was hot on their heels (father & machine) as the trio (occasionally four as Muff tagged along as well) moved from room to room. Occasionally, she shrieked, squealed and giggled. Every now and then, The Husband had to move her away as she had jammed herself between the machine & him, obstructing his progress. As I quote him, "It is a happy problem that I gladly do. It sure beats seeing her cry and having one of us stay by her side all the time while the other vacuums."

Yay! Our little woman has outgrown her fear!

Laundry Day

Taking shelter?

Easing those itchy gums

Superman or Tarzan?

I was at the corridor, hanging the fresh laundry out to dry. The little woman came along, assessed for a while, and decided that the corridor shall be her playground for the day. She toddled up and down, arching her back with her outstretched arms, grabbing whatever that was within her reach. I couldn't bear to stop her although I was keep an eye to ensure her safety. I suppose they looked like multiple colorful overhead mobiles to her.Very tempting, I would think.