Cheers!

Enjoying a nice cuppa hot cocoa on a rainy afternoon.







This is not a parenting blog. :P

And the challenges continue...

The cub is a happy baby at home.


I mean, at home.


When the main door is closed behind us, he starts getting antsy. Then mom gets antsy, and dad joins in.


It isn't too hard to understand what tremendous stress the outdoor imposes on a baby out from the womb for mere weeks. Everything at once is just too much!


Do you know, even the mom isn't the most outdoor person in the world and fidgets at meeting new people!


But we can't stay at home forever. :/ This weekend is going to be especially challenging.



Baby Bear will be formally introduced to the family clan on the 27th. We have relativesssss travelling from different parts of Japan just to meet and bless the child. All these people I don't know, but I must pretend that I still do because I've met them once years ago. There'll be endless exchange of formalities, bowing, and cordial conversation from one cluster to another, I just hope I won't forget which one I'm done with. It will be a very mentally exhausting experience and if I'm not careful, I may end up embarrassing my husband. I don't wish for tongues wagging at his behind, ' This is how things will be like when you get yourself a foreign wife.'


I can only imagine the clanking of glasses, loud excited folks who want to tell how much they are happy for us, karaoke and merry-making... and how uncomfortable Baby Bear will be.


Then on the 28th, he'll be making his debut at church for a baby dedication. I'm excited on this one! And I'm hoping that the cub doesn't cry his lungs out on what's meant to be a very dear memory of my lifetime. The child at the previous dedication obviously didn't like the microphone.



Darling, I know you must be trying so much harder than I do and I better not buckle under nothing yet! Come what may, we'll ride it out. Just try not to turn into a dipped nugget on these days ok?

At 2 months

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We've ushered the cub into his room 2 weeks ago!






Yes, this is the cross-stitch project completed 12 days, and framed 2 days before his arrival!



We miss hearing his cute grunts and fussing up close, and did worry if the transmission delivers his soft calls at night. Fortunately Bear has a better ear!










With the cub around, everything takes place faster than I can blink and Baby Bear is 2 months old today!





He's a smiler, still a faithful fan of the indoor laundry, and coming up with new tricks under his sleeves.


He gives me that ' Admit it. Don't you just love me? ' look with a seductive smile every now and then, oh see me blush! When he's probably full, he cleverly does it with hope to get away from the boob.


He coos, coos and coos mainly to me and the laundry. Daddy is too boring and has to try harder.



He is definitely starting to play! But he's probably better at flirting.














He laughs with eyes shut as he bobbles, and when he does he makes me cry.





He's quickly losing those cute furry baby hair on his back and other body parts before I could snap them.

He now waits for my return from the washroom and chores knowing mommy is coming back for him.

He loves me singing 'Do-Re-Mi' and 'Edelweiss' from Sound of Music.


I can't place him anywhere without second thoughts anymore cos I swear I caught him flip thrice already!











The biggest challenge would have to be his poo! It isn't diarrheoa but sometimes he poos so much that it leaks from his crotch and back, he needs to be showered! It's like a nugget half dipped into curry sauce whenever he poos that way.






And for being such an angel, mommy is giving him a corner here : ♥ing my Cub. For my nugget so deserves it.

I can't walk away without mentioning how grateful we are for this precious gift from God, and I'm thanking everyone for blessing us too. :)

In a heartbeat

Just moments ago, I was watching the closing of the National Day Parade online.



Yes! It's National Day, and the birthday of my dearest brother. This day last year, I was back home to celebrate his big day!



It's very stirring humming those oh so familiar songs sung during school days. I bet every Singaporean stationed overseas are connected with home in the same heartbeat. I couldn't help the tears when reciting the national pledge!



I remember the first time I gave Baby Bear a bath, the boy actually flew into a panic and of all songs, the frantic mom blurted out the national anthem hoping to calm him down. ( By the way, it worked ) It's harder than you think that one's roots can be easily forgotten!


Take me out of the island, but you can't take the island out of my heart. Majulah Singapura.

Box of chocolates

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It's been quite a while that I don't know what day it is since my new role has begun, time has never slipped by so quickly! I often watch the cub with a shade of disbelief, is he what's packed in my tummy back then!?!?






And he's growing so fast!!




At 2 weeks, his eyelashes lengthens and curls. He watches the laundry drying indoor with curiosity.


By 4th week, he gets a 1000 grams heavier, forsaking his newborn size diaper. He has developed a signature temperament, loves mama's milk, bath and cuddles. His need for attention is increasing, and keeps a lookout for the laundry everyday.


At 5th, he smiles a great deal. He starts cooing to himself, and his favorite laundry.



Need I say more? ;)

*****

For folks who would like to hear about the labor - box of chocolates, you'll never know what you're gonna get. I had pads placed around the house just in case, you know what I mean. But the waterbag broke less than an hour before delivery, with assistance by a midwife.



22nd June was a summer solstice, more like the longest day in my life. The pain was encompassing, the fractured tailbone swinging behind for years had to add to it. Hospital clocked the contractions 18 hours and 8 minutes, which explains all that sweat. I'm certainly no tough cookie, but I didn't scream or hissed a single harsh word at my husband. I've probably shredded the bedsheet and uttered 4 or 5 long painful groans though... It took 20 minutes or so to push my lovey out, without assistance of devices.



Uh huh, sounds creamy smooth doesn't it? At a phase, my younger years actually flashed before me. Random images of people in my life, happy times and gruesome ones of Jesus bleeding in pain. In between hallucination and contractions, I couldn't make out anything when the midwives ranted their instructions, I probably could pass out. But some kind souls must have thought of me, I started seeing friends who care and pray, while sober bitterness returned. It was indescribably hard.




Tears flowed as soon as my cub showed up. Seriously, I thought I wouldn't cry, but he was just too beautiful. The instinct that I was worried about not having, kicked in very quickly. :)




There. My box of chocolates, bravest of me. But really, that's not all about it. Again, it's God's grace, His faithfulness that carried me.

満月的宝宝

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Baby Bear is a month old today. :)



If we're in Singapore, the kid will have a special '1st month' birthday bash like any other newborns, lavished with gifts from relatives and friends. It will be a hassle-brimmed affair, but a special privilege for dad and mom to offer traditional cakes to folks rejoicing with us. Home must be packed with people partying over the lil prince. The fella passed around from arms to arms, with cheeks pinched or rouged red.




But not a shred of that is happening here. 1st month celebration is not a practise known to Japan.



It's a tranquil first month, a little too quiet for a Chinese mother with her first newborn. Too quiet for my liking.



Regardless of what oughts we're missing out in this place, Baby Bear is special, though he may be less celebrated. Happy 満月 my darling.



Special thanks to BP & Val for sharing our joy.

A new addition

Dear friends, we have a new addition to the family!




Who would have guessed this 333rd post will be one to announce that I've given birth to a 3330 grams healthy baby boy on 22nd June.





I'm still adjusting to things, and taking time to find my momentum now with a lil one on the balance. Hopefully, I'll be hopping by your place soon!




Here's my punk making a scene after being born less than an hour. Now don't be too taken aback by his bawling , he's really quite an angel. ;)

Blooming this June

We're basking in a comfortable June with a mild monsoon, that rains an amount just alright for the greenery outside without having me to water the fellas. :)


Come see the Japanese Snowbell, definitely my fav tree at home. :D Dainty soft pink bells are exactly how I've hoped they're like, and the blooms have lasted for the past 12 days.






It's such a delight to watch by day, and quite another glamorous sight by night when the tree is lit up.






And meet my first pot of French rose, I just adore the color and fragrance! Now I'm just hoping to keep it well and alive for it is my first rose from Bear, and I wouldn't want it to perish like the first Hydrangea pot from my darling!









Greenery sedates me anytime!


And it's one of the many I thank the Lord for ~ this comfy season I'm in for my present stage, the perfect timing of everything. Nothing's weighing on me now though I am weighing the heaviest all my life. It's the lightness of the spirit that makes me feel like a dove. I'm just thankful for all who cares about us.


I'm sorta laying back and waiting around for things to happen anytime now. The bag is ready to grab and go, and I'm having an inner peace inside though I'm obviously a ticking bomb. A lil peculiar here... my tummy is getting increasingly heavier and bigger over the past week at a rate I've never felt before. Could Breadcrumbs be having a growth spurt?



I don't know but the 2908 grams fella at 38 weeks was really good at amusing us with a scan yesterday. He had a finger inserted into his right nostril, rubbed his eye with a fist, and his lips were moving like a goldfish.


And, he smiled again. :)







Dr had his side view features lined for a clearer picture. Now Breadcrumbs is getting us confused - how is that he resembles me more at the front view, but looking more like Bear from the side? Hmm... Well, we'll find out in a while! :D