First date

First dates are always special.

Mommy and daddy's first date was a simple dinner at Fish & Co back in 2004 (Gosh, I was just 24yo and daddy 26yo). Well, we didn't know it was a date back then as it started as a normal dinner as friends. But one thing led to another and we got together soon after, and so qualifies as our first date. We met for dinner and I remember us yakking and yakking away till the restaurant closed. We could not stop talking.

Today we went for our first date night since the arrival of Amanda *smiles*. Thanks to our family who helped babysit the kids, daddy and mommy not only managed to catch a movie (Bourne Legacy - it's been a long while!), we also went for a really nice dinner.

No doubt mommy was feeling tired and exhausted from the last one and a half months of not-longer-than-three-hours interrupted sleep, but it was a date worth it. It was just a short few hours out but mommy felt rejuvenated. 100 points for lifting mommy's mood and 100 points for bringing back some romance in our relationship.

And though mommy still feels a tad fat and unattractive, it was good to dress up and go out with handsome yummy daddy!

Zi Xuan

That's our Amanda's Chinese name.

After much cracking of brains, running through the various possible names, we finally found a name for Amanda that both the husband and I liked and went 'Yeah... Let's go with Zixuan!'.

It took us quite a while to find the perfect name for her, we had two or three other names that we shortlisted but we weren't fully happy with them as either I didn't really like it that much or the husband didn't. We were just okay with those names, having our own reservations.. we weren't 100% happy. So yeah, when the husband came up with Zixuan, we were glad it sounded just perfect to both of us! And we are glad our family liked the name too!

Amanda Chan Zi Xuan (Zeng Zixuan).

Hippest baby in town

Youngest patron at Wine Connection. :)

Last night we had dinner at Wine Connection. It was quite a funny sight seeing Amanda amidst the young and hip crowd chilling over wine and beer, with music blasting in the background. This is what we call 'starting young'. One month to be exact.

If we were worried Amanda would be affected by the loud music, our worries were unfounded as she slept through our entire dinner.

Can't believe how big my little boy has grown 

Daddy chilling over beer after a long day at work

Our little girl sleeping soundly 

Wayne's dinner, he specifically ordered both pizza and spaghetti .. "I want both, momma". Food was yummy.

Amanda had such a good sleep while we were eating that when we got home, she was all wide eyed. It is supposed to be sleeping time mei mei!

Love her to bits!

28 days of confinement

So I've successfully completed my one month (28 days to be exact) confinement period. With a lot of exceptions no doubt. 

I guess these days, we 'younger ones' do not follow so strictly the confinement dos and don'ts, unlike our parents generation.. which leads me to think how many such dos and don'ts Amanda will follow when its her turn. To be honest, I do wonder how many of these dos and don'ts are myths. Some probably are but in general, if these rules have been passed down for so many generations there must be some truth to it.

And personally I do believe in the goodness of going through a confinement period. If not for the benefits as believed since the olden days like preventing rheumatism etc, surely after having put your body through something as intense as childbirth, resting at home can only do you some good and help restore your body?

So how strict a confinement regime did I adhere to?

No showering and washing of hair
I did shower and wash my hair every other day, with herbs (so its okay!). This must be one of the toughest rule to follow if you try to follow it in the strictest sense, I wonder how others have managed not to shower at all for the whole month. Actually, its hard to fathom anyone following this belief.. especially from a hygiene perspective. I mean if you are breastfeeding, isn't it really really uncomfortable and unhygienic? Thank goodness for the herbs,  it makes bathing acceptable during the confinement period.

No air-conditioning 
Well, I was in an air-conditioned environment almost all the time, but at high temperatures of 25 degrees (so this is okay too!). And I had my socks on most of the time! Actually this could be a myth,  in  the old days there were no air conditioning anyway.. they must be referring to the fan. 

No touching of water

I wish I didn't have to touch water.. that would mean I wouldn't have needed to wash the bottles, pump parts etc.. unfortunately, I don't have help 24 hours a day, so yes, I still needed to. 

No stepping out of the home
This I didn't believe in, what is the difference being under the roofs at home and in a shopping centre? I just made sure I was dressed appropriately so I wouldn't be 'cold'. Skip.....

Following a strict confinement diet of all things 'heaty'
This I believed in strongly!!  My meals were all about ginger and wine and I drank lots of red date tea.. even the confinement nanny praised me for that!

And actually that is about it!

This time round I also had a confinement nanny who came from 8ish in the morning till 6 in the evening (During Wayne's time, my mommy doubled up as my confinement nanny).  While having a nanny around allowed me plenty of rest, she also irritated the hell out of me. Haha, I am serious! She was really complain-y...  She complained about a hundred and one things, and worse she repeated her complains day in and day out. Poor me, who was stuck at home with her all the time. I really am not exaggerating, she complained that our rice cooker was slow, the eggs we bought were 'hard to cook' (????), our mop wasn't good.... and that's just to name a few. So anyway, I was really so irritated by her comments that some days I just cooped myself in the bedroom to give my ears a rest. But to be fair to her, she did do her basic job pretty well, in terms of looking after me and Amanda.. so well, I guess that is of most importance (Sigh, but so is my sanity.)

Anyway confinement completed - freedom! 

Happy birthday grandma!

Specially to:

A devoted wife

A sacrificial mother

A doting grandmother

Happy birthday with lots of love from your daughter & son in law and your lovely two grand kids. * kiss*

Day One without the nanny

One thing that was so apparent by the end of the first day I was alone without the nanny was how dry my hands were. From the amount of washing I had to do throughout the day. Sigh, time to get gloves, moisturize daily and get another set of pump parts to minimize the number of times I need to wash. *phobia*

BUT ... apart from that, I'm happy to be alone with Amanda! I'm happy to bathe her, change her, feed her, play with her and most of all, bring her out with mommy!

It is day one.. I have survived the day quite well *pat on the back* and I am looking forward to bonding with my little girl, knowing her a lot more and reading her cries better. I may not be the best mother around, but I definitely will give my best and I hope that will be good enough for you little Amanda. I love you, sweet.

Routine at one month

After the initial milk supply hiccup, the first month was pretty much a breeze with the confinement nanny around to help. Even with the night feeds, it was still manageable as I could rest in the day. Amanda was mostly still in her feed-burp-poo-sleep stage, which made her relatively easy to look after. Like clockwork, she wakes up for her milk every two hours in the day, and every three hours at night.

My day usually starts after the 6am feed, after which I will wash up, have my breakfast (milo and biscuits), prepare Wayne for school, blog and surf the internet, read magazines and have a chicken essence. At 10am, nanny usually bathes Amanda and I'd take the opportunity to snap photos of her as she would be wide awake then. After that, I will have my morning nap for about an hour. At noon, I'll have my lunch, followed by my herbal bath, then do some party preparations/surf net/ do some reading. Around 4pm, I'll take another hour long nap, before having dinner at 530pm. At 7pm, HK and Wayne would be home. Night times are busiest as we will have to feed Wayne his dinner, bathe him, wash the dishes, put him to sleep and at the same time look after Amanda, who usually chooses to be wide awake from 5 to 10pm.  

Of course, all these in addition to the expressing of milk I have to do every three hours. And certain days, we'd have visitors - mommy's friends over to see Amanda and certain days, the grandparents would be here. Add on the days we go out for check ups and the last week of the month where we were basically settling the party details, the whole month really passed by very quickly. 

HK and Wayne has also started their routine of taking a cab to Mindchamps in the morning, as HK doesn't drive to work. After work, HK will then take the public transport back to Mindchamps and they would take a walk back home with Wayne in his stroller (which is left at Mindchamps every morning).

So that was how the first month generally went by.. pretty smooth, which left mommy a lot of time cooing over my little girl.

First month party preparations

Amanda's first month party was something mommy was looking forward to even before Amanda was out. Traditionally, first month parties were held as medical technology was not so advanced and if the baby could survive the first month, it was reason for the family to throw a party to celebrate. In modern days now, it has become somewhat a birth announcement party for us proud parents to show off our little baby to all our family and friends (Or maybe it was just a chance for mommy to deck out the whole place prettily, order all the ultra cute stuff and gather all our close friends and relative for some happy time).

So with any party, there were all the party preparations!  Party preparations = mommy's favorite!! 

Mommy had already started on bits of the party preparations here and there in the last few months of pregnancy, so I had a pretty good idea on what I wanted and what needed to be done.  The last two weeks before the party was spent sorting out all the final details (that's the reason for having the one month confinement period & a confinement nanny to take care of the baby , no? =p). Thank goodness for the internet, which allowed mommy to settle most of everything from the comfort of home. 

Here are just some of the stuff prepared:

Thank you cards, birth announcement cards and stickers and A4 cards to decorate the party venue.

Mommy had spent quite a bit of time on the artwork - deciding on the theme, designing the cards and stickers etc - I finally decided on the below artwork, which I thought was simple yet sweet and pretty... like it??

Baby shower biscuits in ultra cute designs *super love*

Customised cuppies to go with the biscuits.. the designs are just so adorable. Mommy's favorite is the onesie! Love the different shades of pink.. Sigh, having a girl is so much fun! 

This is the gift box prepared for our friends.. the day before the party saw us busy packing all the items together. Special thanks to mom and 2-gor for helping me with all the packing!

The gift boxes decorated with ribbons and stickers

No party would be complete without balloons.. and we got them in the same baby pram theme

The whole lot above plus booking the venue, photographer, guests list, caterer, red eggs, ang ku kuehs, banners etc left mommy very busy but really really happy as it was so much fun. All for our little Amanda's first month party! 

Blog post about the party itself will be coming right up once I get the photos from Uncle KC, our photographer!

National Day Celebrations

Wayne came home from school one day and started singing "Singapooooora... Oh Singapoooora...." bringing much laughter to me with the way he would drag the 'pu' in Singapura. Teachers were getting them ready for National Day celebrations. 

Apart from the songs, the champs were also taught about the Singapore flag and each of them made one. Wayne's flag was pasted at the reception area, which he proudly showed me when I picked him up from school.

And today, a day before National Day, they had some celebrations in school and the Champs were to be dressed in red and white (non-uniform attire).. and below was what Wayne wore! (He was excited!). 

While changing into the outfit, I asked him if he could wear red and blue instead, he replied "No cos red and blue is spiderman!". Haha, again I wondered where and who he learned that from.

The kids go shopping at Taka

Out we go again.. this time for a good reason! To book the cakes to give out to relatives during Amanda's full month party next week. After picking Wayne up from school, we were kinda forced to have a coffee break at Coffee Bean as mei mei decided she was hungry and needed a feed.

And then off we went to Takashimaya to settle the cakes and have some yummy sausages. Mommy almost forgot how good the sausages tasted and how much I used to love it, after not having it for so long. We used to eat them all the time when mommy & daddy were dating!

Mei mei visits the Taka basement food hall for the first time

Wayne talking to his mei mei, teaching her about the world

While we were there, an auntie stopped to ask how old mei mei was, and when daddy told her she was three weeks old, the auntie went "wow three weeks old and out already. during my time, we only saw the world after a month'.. well, we are just a week away, aren't we? =)

Surprise all the way from.... Japan!

After a journey of more than 5000 kilometres ... a parcel arrived at our doorstep!

Thanks Da-yi for the bundle of pressies for the kids - Wayne absolutely loved the all-things-Thomas pressies!!

He is now quite the drama king, he kept going "wow" and "I'm so happy, momma!" when he saw the presents.

He saw the Japanese characters on the color pencils and asked me "This is Japanese, momma?". He recognized the Japanese words from some of the Thomas videos on YouTube.

He also insisted on using the Thomas plate immediately - I had to pacify him quite a bit when I refused and he had a mini meltdown.

And, Da-yi didn't forget about lil Amanda! Amanda had her share of pressies too, which included a card for her first month 'birthday'.. Da-yi, please translate what the Japanese characters on the card mean!!

Thanks again Da-yi! Send more such surprises!! Haha! Cos it was such a delight watching Wayne's face light up upon discovering the presents! *Hugs*

Amanda-licious @ one month!

Photos taken in Amanda's first month.. Enjoy!

Day 26

Day 25

Day 24

Day 18

Day 17

Day 14

Day 13

Day 12

Day 11

"M" indulgence

Ever since daddy went back to work, weekends have become super special and super precious, because that is when daddy will be around with us all day (and there is an extra pair of hands to help in the middle of the night & mommy can sleep that extra longer! haha). When daddy is around, we get to do things like going to Mcdonalds for supper. And that is just what we did today!!

Wayne got really happy and excited just by the mention of "M" and told mommy he wants to eat a fish burger, french fries and warm water followed by his "Momma, you want eat what?" - so cute.

Amanda again slept through the entire time while daddy, mommy and Wayne indulged in a whole lot of unhealthy food (Just occasional!!!). And with most of our outings now, we try to keep it within two hours, leaving the home just after Amanda's feed and coming back just before her next feed. That saves us alot of trouble of feeding her outside and bringing a whole big bag of barang barang out.

And this Mcdonalds at Alocassia Apartments have just went up the ranks to be one of our favorite hangout places as its really quiet and not crowded.. even on a Saturday night like this. Perfect when you have a newborn and a loud, noisy toddler.

Brotherly love

I am not exaggerating when I say Wayne really adores his meimei.

Almost daily, he'd ask me about mei mei. When he comes back from school, he'd ask me where mei mei is (if she's in her cot and he can't see her). He'd play with his toys on the bed and halfway through, say "I want to go see mei mei" (and crawls up against her cot to have a peep at her). When mommy is carrying her, he'd go "I want to carry mei mei" (and I'd put mei mei in his arms, reminding him to be gentle). When mei mei is lying down on the bed with us, he loves telling her about his trains or toys "Meimei see, this is Mr Turtle" (and he'd run Mr Turtle up her legs and on to her body). When outside, he would tell meimei small little stuff like "Meimei, see this is the lights (and etc)". When mommy carries meimei away from him, he'd go "Momma, leave mei mei here!" (pointing to his side).

And of course, there is his famous "Its MY mei mei, not YOURS!" line which he always says (quite rudely) when someone asks if they can bring mei mei home.

It really warms my heart seeing how loving he is towards his mei mei and mommy hopes it stays this way. I look forward to the time when meimei is older and they are able to play with each other. I hope they will grow up to be close and stick by each other in good and bad times. My two precious kids.. I am sure mommy and daddy will have lots to look forward to with these two little ones by ourside.

Early in the morning, waking up and asking to 'bao bao' meimei 

Wayne was taking his afternoon nap, woke up saw me carrying mei mei and asked me to let meimei sleep beside him. I put meimei down, and he so sweetly cuddled meimei and fell back asleep 

Mei mei quite oblivious to her kor kor sleeping beside her 

This was taken at Taka, Wayne was talking to his sleeping meimei, telling her where we were etc...  cute.