Hong Kong (May 2006)

Was tidying up pictures and saw these photos taken while holidaying in Hong Kong 2 years back. Cherylin was only 14.5mths then. :)


Making cheeky face
Milk time


Playground at the Peak
Washing bum in hotel sink


Jumping on bed
Soundly asleep in baby cot

Kungfu Panda

Brought Cherylin to watch Kungfu Panda together with YC's SIL and his niece. It's Cherylin's first visit to the cinema. I've never considered bringing her to the cinema becos she's those who cannot sit still in front of TV (ok, the only exception is when there's Tom & Jerry. She can guai guai lie on the bed to watch for 30 mins). Since I have complimentary tickets (courtesy of cordlife) for yday's show, might as well try bringing her to the movie. For the 1.5 hours, she sat beside me for 45mins (and talk to me/ask questions/say 怕怕 non stop). For the next 45 mins, she got down the chair and started to entertain herself with the steps. She went up and down the steps repeatedly. Luckily there were lots of children during the screening, so she's not the odd one out.

Am I too strict?

YC said I’m too strict with Cherylin. Afterall she’s just 3 years old. Every little thing that she doesn’t do right gets on my nerve and I’ll raise my voice on my little darling (like when she don’t want to eat meals, don’t want to bathe, don’t want to go toilet, don’t want to change into her uniform, don’t want to go to bed early, etc…) Now that I think back, feel very sorry for being so harsh to her especially when I should be showering her with more love (in case she feels that Shawn has taken over her position to be mummy’s darling). Every morning when I send her to my mum’s place before going to work, she would want me to brush her teeth, help her change into her uniform, give me a hug, say “bye bye mummy” and ask me to come home early before I go off. Isn’t that sweet of her? Sigh…time for me to fan xing else my Cherylin would 1 day say she don’t want mummy :(

Cherylin had a fall

Cherylin fell and cut her lips yesterday. Poor darling. She was sobbing when I reached my mum's place yday. It must be very painful for her. So heartpain when i saw the plaster on her lips. Immediately carried her in my arms and hugged her to sleep. My mum said she was running towards her (my mum was changing diaper for Shawn in my brother's room) and must have tripped on the high chair leading her to fall and hit against the metal bed frame.

Carry 弟弟

Cherylin simply loves to carry her little brother. Look how happy she is whenever she's 'allowed' to do so (with our supervision of cos) :P

Shawn has flipped!

Shawn has been showing signs of turning few weeks back. Yesterday morning when i went into the room to check him out (as he was ngek-ing away), saw him lying on his tummy. I was so happy then even tho i didn't catch him turning.





Now, Shawn will turn to sleep on his tummy in the nite. I didn't know he did that until i was woken up by his cries for milk. Think it helped him to sleep longer as he did not make any noise from 1am till 6am. 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep. I know it's not very long vs bbs who can sleep for 8hours or even 12 hours at one go. But for me, it is already good enough. :)

外婆's Birthday

10 May (Saturday)

外婆with Cherylin and Shawn

Cherylin: Take out the birthday tag first....

Cherylin: ...then I cut the cake

Cake from Choz. Yummilicious....

PD visit again

Brought Shawn to the PD again yday as he's having phelgm for abt a week (with slight cough). Why so kan cheong? Cos i've been hearing frens' baby being admitted into hospital due to bronchilities (think it's something like the phelgm went into bb's lung and hence need to be admitted). Thus, I rather be ks and be safe rather than sorry. Yippee. PD declared that Shawn is alright. After examining him, PD said that Shawn has got sensitive skin (symptoms include watery eyes, rashes on neck, rough skin at back of ears, etc) and is thus more prone to having cough and flu. Just need to feed him with medicine where necessary.

Don't know why Shawn laughed so heartily while the PD was examining him. He was giggling away. PD commented Shawn likes pple to talk to him (which is true). Shawn weighed 7.245 kg and measured 65 cm.

Time flies :(

Tomorrow's my last day of leave. Gonna work wef next monday. Sob, sob. How time flies, 16 weeks gone just like dat. Really she bu de to go back to work. Will miss the time i spent with Shawn during this period. Haha.. if i'm the winner of tomorrow's toto draw, then will be a different story. fat hope. keep dreaming bah....

Notty Jie Jie!

Cherylin was very notty on the nite we visited my brother n SIL. After we came back from the hospital, my mum was preparing to get Shawn to sleep while i changed Cherylin and made milk for her. Suddenly, I heard Shawn crying out loudly. Rushed to the room and saw Cherylin crying too (my mum hit her hand i think). My mum told me Cherylin pulled di di's hair out of a sudden. Poor Shawn, he was crying so badly (those very 'qi cham' type of cry). First time i heard him crying in such a miserable state.

My little nephew has arrived!

Bb Bryan arrived on 20 May. Dunno why but i felt so excited for my brother when he updated me on his bb. We visited my brother n SIL in the evening. My SIL commented that bb looks like my brother. Hmm...i agree that the nose does resemble my bro's.

Had been telling Cherylin to be guai and sayang her little cousin. Cannot be rough to bb. Cherylin was very excited that day, kept telling me wanna go hospital to see jiu mu and bb. She was very happy that evening and even sang for jiu jiu and jiu mu.

Shawn's vaccinations

Brought Shawn for his vaccinations on Wed (14 May) and Thu (15 May). He had his Rotarix at Kidslink on Wed. Dr Heng also did the DA for Shawn. His height and weight was 64.2cm and 6.99kg respectively. Dr Heng commented that Shawn has sensitive skin like his daddy (he heard daddy sniffing away. haha). We also asked abt his frequent regurgitation of milk (even 1 or 2 hours after feed). Dr Heng said it's normal. All's well and we paid $101.60 for the visit.

Yesterday i brought Shawn to the nearby clinic for his 5-in-1/6-in-1 jab Earlier was contemplating to brind Shawn to Polyclinic for his jabs. For convenience sake, we decided to take up the vacinnation package with the clinic. Afterall, it costs only $30-$40 more for the entire 4 jabs. The package we took up costs $502 and includes three 5-in-1/6-in-1 jabs + booster (polyclinic package costs $326 + consultation for DA), MMR & chicken pox.

Cld be due to his wet diaper, Shawn was only 6.75kg when Dr Lawrence took his weight. He ngek ngek for 2 to 3 times when the injection was administered. Overall, find that Dr Lawrence was quite detailed with his assessment. Gave Shawn a dose of paracetamol as advised. So far, no fever. *touchwood*

PS: His injection was due 2 wks ago. Delayed till yday cos he only recovered fully fr his cough (which lasted for 2 weeks) last fri, 2 May.

Cherylin's "chop chop"

Finally collected Cherylin's 'chop chop' today. Arranged to meet my mum and cherylin at city hall today. Hence, i went to collect the stamp before heading down to town. When I handed over the stamp to her, Cherylin was very happy and immediately took the stamp out and posed for pictures :)

Day out on 29 Apr

Re: Chop Chop

YC was on leave yday. We took the kids out to town together with my mum. Had lunch at Zhou's restaurant before heading to Suntec. On the way to Suntec, Cherylin kept asking for her chop chop. She chose the design of the stamp and we selected the font for her english and chinese name. It'll take a week for the stamp to be ready.

Re: B&J Free Cone Day

We went to raffles city and joined in the fun for the free ice cream. The queue was rather long as there were lots of students in the afternoon. I was carrying Shawn while YC was pushing Cherylin in the stroller. Suddenly, one of the staff came up to me, gave me a signed brochure and told me to redeem the ice cream at the counter, no need to queue. Same case for YC. :)

As Cherylin was still coughing, we didn't let her eat too much ice cream. Shawn wanna eat too? Haha...wait till he's older then :P

Fever

Cherylin's fever came back again yday afternoon and in the nite. The fever subsided after I gave her medicine in the afternoon. But for the one that came in the nite, it simply refused to go away despite 3 doses of medicine being administered. Her whole body was so hot in throughout the nite . Poor girl. Must be very miserable for her. Later gg to bring her to see doctor again. YC went down to collect a queue number. It's gonna be another hour before it's her turn to see doctor. Hope she gets well soon. *Darling, mummy promised to get you your chop chop when you recover, k?*

Visit to PD

Brought Shawn to Kidslink at JE yday. YC had wanted his father/SIL to drive me to the clinic. I insist on travelling on my own via bus/MRT as the place is quite accessible. So no need to trouble others. I took a bus to the clinic and came back via MRT. I was just telling W & J during our dinner that there was once no one gave up seat to my mum who was carrying a sleeping Cherylin while on the MRT. J was saying next time can ask someone nicely to give up their seats. keke.. but i don't think i dare do so. Interestingly, when i dashed into the MRT with Shawn yday, a middle-aged man saw us and immediately asked me to go over to his side. Then he pointed at a young man and asked him to give up his seat. I was quite paiseh then. At the same time, was grateful to that man and kept thanking him. Hee.. should have more of such kind soul around mah. :P

Ok, let's talk about Shawn's visit to PD. Dr Heng examined him after I told him that bb is having cough. Feel good with the way Dr Heng carried out his examination. Feel that it's very thorough. He checked from his back to his front, check the ears, mouth, hands, legs, etc. Then told me his diagnosis: common cold. Dr Heng also commented that a kid gets infected by a sick mummy more easily than a sick daddy. I suppose cos mummy spend more time with the kid? Shawn was given cough and running nose medicine. His weight and height? 6.515kg and 62cm. No wonder my arms are getting tired faster nowadays.

W & I were complaining that most of the PD charges are v ex. The consultation charges itself can easily starts from $60. For yday's visit, Shawn's bill came up to $67.90 and I thot it's ok. Not too ex considering it's his first visit. :)

Sick

I had fever 2 days ago due to blocked milk ducts again (ya, the other time when i had fever, it was also due to blocked ducts). My fever went up to 39.5 degree. Felt really miserable then, having to fight the fever, pump, and take care of Shawn in the morning when my mum was not around. Luckily the fever went away yesterday. But the stubborn ducts are still blocked as I'm typing away...

Cherylin fell ill too. She had fever in the middle of last nite. Gave her a dose of paracetomol and she was ok in the afternoon. She didn't go for her playgroup as we didn't want her to infect the others (to play safe since HFMD is on the rise recently). While i was out for dinner with my friends, YC called me and told me Cherylin was having fever again. Brought her to see doctor and the temp was 40.9 degrees. Doctor said it's just viral infection, nothing serious. Gave her nurofen which is meant for fever that is more than 38.5 degree. Got to sponge her too during the nite.

As for Shawn, he's still coughing, and it doesn't seem to be getting any better. Notice he has slight blocked nose too Poor boy. Probably bring him to see PD later (even though won't be giving him medicine since he's so small).

Aiyo, why 3 out of 4 of us fall sick leh (if includes my mum whose having cough, will be 4 out of 5). Hmm.. Let's hope tomorrow will be better! :)

Cherylin & Playgroup

Ever since Cherylin started her playgroup this year, she's changed quite a lot:

1) more sociable - last time she'll pull me along with her when she wanna play with her cousins/aunties/uncles. Now she'll happily play with them on her own.
2) likes to sing - she sings everyday, even when outside, she'll hop and sing as we walk.
3) speaks more english - my MIL used to worry abt Cherylin not speaking english. but now Cherylin will speak in english automatically. sometimes we find it funny when she says something in english (probably cos we are so used to her conversing in mandarin)

Cough Cough

Last nite heard Shawn coughing away while sleeping. Poor boy. Wonder how come he kenna cough. Feel so sim tia to hear such a small baby cough. Hope his cough will go away soon.

EBM

I've been pouring away excess EBM as there's really no more space in my freezer. Have tried to use up the EBM I kept in the fridge (max can only store for 48 hours) by giving it to Cherylin. Still I ended up pouring away the EBM when the 48 hours are up. Sometimes I even pump and throw the EBM away if I had drank coffee earlier. Yesterday, YC drank up 240ml of my EBM so that it's not wasted (cos I told him I'll be throwing away). Yikes, I myself dare not drink leh. :P

Shawn's growth development

Better note down his growth development before I forget:

3 Mar 08 (4w4d) - 4.49kg, 56cm
17 Mar 08 (6w4d) - 5.35kg (didn't measure the ht then)

Currently his milk intake (if I were to feed him ebm) is about 120ml. Sometimes he only drinks 100ml.

外婆 home alone

My mum was alone with Cherylin and Shawn again last evening as YC and I went to attend my company's function. Shawn didn't want to sleep since afternoon. He wanted to be carried. When I left the house at 5.30pm, Cherylin had fell asleep. Luckily she slept cos it means that my mum only needed to take care of Shawn. We came back at 10.20pm and mum was still carrying Shawn in her arms. He didn't sleep much for the past few hours when I was out of the house. I immediately took over Shawn from my mum and asked her to go to bed. So for last night, Shawn slept with daddy and mummy (so that 外婆 can have a good nite sleep).

Must be due to the coffee I drank during the dinner, I couldn't sleep till almost 1.30am. By the time I wanted to fall asleep, Shawn woke up for his milk. In btw, he cried on and off. Very tired when I woke up this morning. Guess I have to 'tong' the tiredness till Monday afternoon when my mum is around to catch a nap.

Zhou's Restaurant

Brought my mum to Zhou's Restaurant at Far East Square for lunch yesterday. As we were approaching the entrance of the restaurant, Cherylin said "在这里吃团年饭". I was surprised that she actually remembered the place where we had our reunion dinner with YC's family. Kids nowadays sure have better memory than we had when we were young.

Bath by Mummy

Yesterday was the 1st time i bathed Shawn. I've never dared bathe a small bb. So when Cherylin was a baby, the task was handled by my mum and YC. I only started to bath Cherylin when she's much older. Why did I try bathing Shawn then? Cos the weather was hot and he was perspiring all over. If I were to bring him out (met my mum and Cherylin in town) in that state, he would feel very uncomfortable. Hence, I decided to give it a try and luckily everything turned out ok. :)

Family Day @ East Coast Park

We went to ECP to attend YC's company's family day. It was raining earlier the day. Luckily the sky had cleared when we reached. The weather was just right then. Only complaint was the muddy field. Our legs and shoes were all covered with mud. Cherylin was having fever the night before. Not sure if it's because she's just recovered, she did not seem interested in the ice cream that I offered her. Cherylin appeared bored too and was asking to go home at abt 4pm plus. YC brought her to the game stalls and they came back with little prizes comprising five stones, paper aeroplane - basically those toys that we used to play when we were young. Buffet dinner was provided. There were Cherylin's favourite food such as satays, longan desserts. Too bad she fell asleep while daddy went to get the food. :P We left at abt 6pm and headed home to freshen up before heading to YC's grandma's place.

Trip to Bollywood Veggies

Luckily I recovered just in time to join YC's family for a visit to Bollywood Veggies. There are many types of fruits, veggies, etc and the kids enjoyed roaming around the plantation. We had an early lunch at the cafe. Simple and tasty dishes. Cost $85 for 6 adults and 3 toddlers.

We proceeded to Hay Dairies Goat Farm where the kids, except Cherylin, had fun feeding the goats. This timid daughter of mine only dare to watch by the side while her cousins feed the goats.

Fever fever go away

Was down with fever yesterday. Temp went up to 39.1 degree at one point. Hence, I had to take paracetamol to lower the fever. I ever heard that it's safe to continue breastfeeding even when you have fever/taking paracetamol. But being ks, i dare not bf bb. Hence, bb was on fed ebm yesterday. I latched him on a couple of times (which was more than 6 hours after i last took my medicine). I continued to pump out the milk else supply may drop. As I dare not feed my bb with the ebm, in the end threw away more than 1 litre of ebm. So sim tia.

This morning found out from a fren that it's ok to continue bfdg even when taking paracetamol. She has been taking it as a pain reliever since giving birth. That sets my mind at ease. So, I'll continue to bf my bb and not waste the bm. :) Temp this morning ranges from 37.1 to 37.6 degree. Hope I'll get well soon.

Mummy's milk milk

My freezer has run out of space to store anymore ebm. Throwing away the ebm is such a waste. Hence, we've been adding my bm to Cherylin's milk lately. First time we added 60ml to 120ml. She didn't notice it. Second time, we added 120ml of bm to 60ml of fm. This time round, while drinking her milk, she commented to my mum: 有妈咪milk milk 味道。 Nevertheless she continued to finish her milk. keke.. :P

Posed like a model

Took a candid shot of Cherylin on her way back to my mum's place after her playgroup. Somehow, managed to capture the model-like pose :P

Mossie mossie everywhere

Ever since i gave birth to Shawn, my place seems to be swarmed by lots of mosquitoes. Previously we only encountered mosquitoes once in a while. Now, we are bugged by these irritating mosquitoes almost everyday. Yday, we killed more than 10 mosquitoes! Horrible right. I really wonder where these creatures came from. Have checked the possible breeding places in our house but didn't find clue. Poor Shawn, kenna badly bitten by the hateful mossie. And for me, i hadn't been having a good nite sleep cos I will be awake a few times in the middle of the nite to catch mosquitoes (not forgetting having to wake up to bf Shawn). :(

Full Month cum Birthday Celebration - Part II

PG couldn't deliver the cake to us at our preferred time slot. Hence we had to travel all the way down to AMK to collect the cake. We left the house at 830am. When we arrived at the shop, we were told that the cake will only be ready in 20mins' time. Due to the delay and the distance, it's already 10am plus when we were back home. Gotta rush to bathe the kids and get ready the stuff for the celebration in the afternoon. Haven't even decorate the function room when the first guest arrived. Anyway, we don't have much deco. Haha, just some simple wordings that I've spent 1 whole day making and balloons for the kids.

The caterer came on time to set up the buffet. However, when i saw the quantity provided, I had a shock of my life. It's so miserable (as compared to the caterers that I've used before). Well, there's nothing we could do then. Just hoping that there will be enough food for all the guests. (afternote: blame myself for being geh kiang and wanted to try something else. so had a tongue lashing from YC after the event :P)

It'll really be the first and last time we'll use this caterer. Not only is the qty and quality of food not up to standard (don't think our standard is too high cos the other caterers were really much better in both areas), there's also several hipcups:

i) the guy did not light up the warmer and wanted to leave the place
ii) he claimed he did not have lighter with him and wanted to borrow from us. We have none unfortunately and he had no choice but to get from his van
iii) he did not provide us with laddles and tongs!

Aiyo, the hipcups above shouldn't have happened as these things are not something exceptional for a buffet setup. I really blamed myself for choosing this caterer. humph.

Full Month cum 3rd Birthday Celebration - Part I

We decided to have a mini post birthday celebration for Cherylin when we hold Shawn's full month celebration. It's to make her happy too in case she wonders how come didi has so many presents, etc when she has none.

Birthday cake:
PG or SO? We can't decide which bakery to choose. One wins in terms of cake flavours while the other has nicer design especially for kids.

In the end, we decided to go for PG. Got a 3 kg cake for her with slight modification to the cake design which the cake shop has emailed to us. After gathering feedback on the more popular flavours, we went down to the shop and bought Lychee Martini and Triple Layer Choco to sample. YC, my mum, Cherylin and myself all voted for Lychee Martini for its refreshing taste (i suppose it's something unusual from the normal choco/vanilla cake that we have).

Buffet:
Wanted to use back our all time favourite caterer but i wanted to try another caterer. In the end, we chose YLS cos I heard of good feedback from pple who have used them. My MIL was not very keen to try a different caterer and kept commenting what if portion not enough, food not nice, etc. Knowing my character, YC went ahead with my preference :P

Cherylin's 3rd Birthday

It's Cherylin's birthday today. YC bought her a set of blocks as he saw her enjoying herself when she was at his friend's place during CNY. Cherylin was delighted when she saw the gift from daddy and immediately asked daddy to open it up for her to play. Nowadays, she'll keep her toys after she's finished playing. Not sure if it's due to her going to school or becos of an incident where YC threw his temper on Cherylin when she refused to keep her toys despite repeated reminders. Any way, we are glad that she's doing the right thing now.

I bought the Leapfrog Wordlaunch system for Cherylin as her birthday gift. Think she's still too young to play with the system now. Nevertheless, she enjoyed meddling with the alphabets. I shall figure out how the system works and play with her one of these days.

YC bought a cake to celebrate Cherylin's birthday. Thus, we sang a birthday song for her and let her cut the cake. She also distributed goodies pack to her classmate this morning when she went to school. This little darling of mine helped in the packing of the goodies bags. See how engrossed she was when doing so:

Sibling rivalry/jealousy?

Friends/relatives had been telling me to prepare Cherylin for the arrival of her didi. We did tell her that she'll have a didi soon before Shawn was borned. But I suppose no matter how much we prepare her (kids will be kids afterall), she will at some time be difficult to handle.

When she's in good mood, what will she do?

1) gently sayang didi
2) gently talk to him/wanna teach him to read ABCs/wanna him to play toys with her
3) help us when changing bb/bathing (e.g. she'll bring my tissue/handkerchief, bring towel to 外婆, etc)
4) tell us when didi cries (her fav phrase: 妈咪，弟弟哭了，快点去抱他)

When she's in bad mood/cranky (usually when she's sleepy/has lack of sleep)
1) purposely disturb/hit didi
2) wanna 外婆carry her instead of didi
3) says she doesn't like didi

Overall, I would say Cherylin has been quite a good gal since the arrival of didi. That day when YC's aunt visited us and jokingly said she'll bring didi home with her when she carried him, Cherylin was so worried and kept telling me to carry didi back. She's afraid that YC's aunt will really bring didi back. Haha...

Shawn is back home

Shawn had to stay in the nursery for phototherapy. He was sleeping soundly when we visited him before checking out of the hospital. So poor thing to see him stripped naked with only his diaper on. Was glad that he at least he wasn't crying else will be real sim tia.

During his stay in the nursery, we visited him twice a day. Each time, will breastfeed him as well as bring whatever ebm that I've managed to express out.

PD updated me on his development every morning. As the jaundice level had gone down and was stabilised, Shawn was able to go home on Day 6. Yippee! At least he can spend his CNY eve at home. :)

31 Jan 2008 - It's the DAY!

It's the first time at nite that I was woken up a few times since I got pregnant. Woken up not by bb's kicking but by contraction of my tummy. I thot it's false contraction hence just ignore it and went back to sleep.

Was given 2 days' MC hence not going to work today. Before YC left for work, told him my tummy is 'hardened' (meaning there's contraction). Shortly after, the tummy turned soft again. So I still thought it's false alarm and YC proceeded to go to work.

Shortly after he left, I woke up and had my usual morning shower. Took my breakfast and started to do some packing of bb clothes/my stuff. I experienced more and more regular contraction but kept brushing it off. It was only at around 9.50am that I decided to time the interval. I was having contraction at an interval of 10mins! Still trying to keep cool and think it's 'not time yet', I continued with doing my stuff. At 10.30am, I went to the toilet and realised I had show! It was then I finally came face to face with reality that it's really time to go to the hospital. Immediately called YC and told him that. He tried to rush home asap and informed his parents and brother in the meantime.

While waiting, my contraction got worse, the interval got shorter and I was perspiring all over (out of fear i think). I could feel that little baby is pushing down and had the feeling that he's coming out! Told baby to guai guai wait for daddy's return. Did some last min packing of my hospital bag and got myself changed.

My MIL and WR arrived at abt 11.10am. Told them I can't wait till YC's return. Hence we headed to hospital and informed YC to go there directly.

On the way to hospital, I called Jenny to inform her and that I could feel that bb's coming out anytime. Jenny said Kenneth is at the Woodlands Clinic and would call to inform him.

Reached Mt A. Put on wheel chair and was pushed to the deliver ward immediately. It's 11.42am then. I was already fully dilated but gotta wait for Kenneth's arrival. Hence, I had to 'dong' the intense contraction for another 20 mins. Kenneth reached at about 12.02pm. He broke the waterbag and I was asked to get ready to push when the next contraction comes. Finally, Bb came out at 12.06pm after one push and i was glad that everything was over.

YC and my mum commented that little bb looks exactly like Cherylin when she was born. :)

Checkup on 30 Jan

Went to see Kenneth today as scheduled. Kenneth exclaimed that I'm already 2.5-3cm dilated. Can be admitted on Thu or Fri for delivery! I don't quite believe him and wanted to drag till a later date. Hence, Kenneth suggested next Mon or Tue. Told YC and me to think about which date we prefer and let him know in the evening.

In the end, we decided on next Mon, 4 Feb (i.e. we will go to hospital on Sun midnite). I was thinking to myself, can I wait (or rather can bb wait) till 9 Feb instead? :P

When will bb come out?

Went for checkup on last Sat (26 Jan). Kenneth had been telling us that he will do a VE from week 37 onwards to check for dilation. As it's my second time, Kenneth is more cautious to make sure I'm admitted for delivery when my cervix is already dilated (since 2nd birth can be quite fast and he doesn't want me to garang garbo).

Bb is growing steadily and weigh 2.709kg at week 37. Kenneth checked my cervix and said that it's 1 cm dilated. So I may well pop next week! Gosh, I'm still not mentally prepared for the early arrival of my bb. Still thinking of enjoying CNY first before going on ML :P Will be seeing Kenneth again on Wed, 31 Jan. Believed by then will have a clearer picture of whether I really will pop later the week.

Visit to Alexandra Fire Station (19 Jan 08)

Thanks to Sandy who organized a visit to the fire station for the Feb 05 mummies. The session started at 10am and ended around 11.15am. It was a nice experience for everyone, from the kids to the daddies. YC, especially, enjoyed the visit very much from the way he participated in the activities: spraying of the water nozzle, taking the ride and going up the gondola. Cherylin on the other hand kept saying ‘怕怕’ and sat in her buggy for 90% of the time. She enjoyed watching daddy go up the gondola though. Every kid was given a key chain and a fireman hat as souvenir.

1st Day at Playgroup

YC and I took leave to accompany Cherylin to her playgroup session. Wanted to just 'dump' her there but realised it was impossible to do so as she kept clinging on to me! Hence, I was with her throughout the 2 hours. As there were other parents/caretakers around too, I don't feel that bad staying back with her. It's also an opportunity for me to know what goes on during the 2 hours that Cherylin is in class.

The kids started off with playing with blocks. They were then asked to sort the blocks in colours and put those of the same colour into a container. It's snack time at 10am and all the kids were asked to wash their hands. Cherylin went to the sink, washed her hands and came back to her seats. When all the kids are done, the teacher and assistant distributed the snack (they were having the Want Want Rice Cracker on that day). Cherylin had 3 pieces and wanted more. Told her she had enough for the day. The kids then drank from their water bottle before they were asked to place the water bottles back to the shelves.

Following next were songs and story telling sessions. Somehow, Cherylin preferred to observe from the back instead of participating. Knowing her character, I tried to encourage her to participate but didn't force her to do so. After the lesson had ended, the kids started to wear their own shoes. Cherylin happily put on her shoes, carry her backpack and got ready to go. They were lined up in a straight line before going off. Cherylin waved bye bye to the teacher as we left.

The afternoon was spent in Orchard Road with my mum. We had lunch at Grand Central Restaurant and went shopping thereafter at Robinsons and John Little. Took a break at Ah Mei at Paragon before heading home.

It's a well spent day with Cherylin. Luckily I heeded YC's advice to take a day's leave instead of just half day. :)