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

At 37 weeks

Poor mother elephant. It takes about 22 months for an unborn elephant to mature to birth. The shark known as the spiny dogfish has a pregnancy duration of 22-24 months. And at elevations above 4600 feet, the Alpine salamander endures a gestational period of up to 38 months!



Most of my lady friends claim that they can't wait to give birth as soon as they're reaching full term. I'm guessing some may call me a hypocrite if I say I don't, mostly because I'm not feeling particularly uncomfortable at this supposedly heaviest stage.



Breadcrumbs is considered full term today! But I'm choked with emotions when I realise that my kangeroo role is completing anytime soon. No doubt we're anticipating how the fella shall amaze us at birth, and reveals if he has curls like Bear's as I'm hoping, or my eyes like Bear is wishing...



I'm going to miss every single movement Breadcrumbs makes. His kicks, scratches, somersaults and pitiful hiccups. It's a private, secretive intimacy that only the mother and child shares. I remember having a hard time stifling a laugh when he bobbed like crazy while I was trying to pay attention to a stern doc. During the period when I had to be screwed again and again, little Breadcrumbs gave the most timely nudges as if to console me, 'Mommy, be strong!'. Until when I'm finally able to catch him under my thinner layer of clothes, when he moves, he moves my heart.



This experience is surely one of the most joyful in my life I'll remember. For now, I'm cherishing every single tap until the day Breadcrumbs makes his appearance.





And I know life will keep on amazing us. This day next year, I'll get to admire the Japanese snowbells outside with the fella in my arms.

Sprint

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Giving our full throttle towards the finishing line, while moving into monsoon and juggling with Bear's still hectic working days... We're trying to make our twosome moments count as we count down to baby's arrival which can happen anytime now!



It's a mish mash of feelings. You know the honeymoon is going to be over but a greater adventure awaits at the other end of the bridge.













We've started sleeping in the guest room from last week to avoid using the stairs as much as possible. Which is good unless one likes the bed like how I love mine too too much! I can't sleep very well on mattress and getting up from ground level tatami spins my head like crazy. Guess I'll have to put up with it for several weeks until the confinement is over.



We're finally done with some last couple shots over the weekend! We're so glad we did loosen up a bit, and had some intakes of the balmy early summer since we don't know when we can take off like that again...




I will surely miss the breezy drives with hubby and sitting by rivers, listening to birds or enjoying a cuppa in cafe. I know I shouldn't talk like it's a life sentence I'm serving soon, but there has never been a void even there were just us two. And I'm just so thankful that we've taken enough time...



Anyway, we've discovered a potentially great fishing hangout which we will revisit again when the cub is ready to fish with Papa Bear!










And the fellas may get to meet their cousins because the place is inhabitated by real wild ones!


















LOOK! Could this be left by one of their relatives?







This bear says : I wish you'll understand more about me ( so that I won't end up having to bite your butt! ) :P





















But let me worry about the boys' fishing business later for my present concern is to eat without reservations for the sake of Breadcrumbs. And since I don't see us eating out often in future with the little one tagging along, I do kinda eat like a convict waiting to serve her life sentence soon... :P

A name

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We've almost got everything ready for the arrival of Breadcrumbs, except one.



A name.



A name that reverberates to our hearts fondly, and we'll always remember to call with affection and a smile. That insunates values, encourages a fine character, a name the child will be proud of having...



We're still waiting to be inspired. Maybe, we should wait until we meet Breadcrumbs. Maybe that's when.




Meanwhile, do pray for us that we'll be led by the spirit. :)