ISAAC: International Standard Apparatus for Absolute Conditioning

Picture taken 26th October 2007

See. That's the ISAAC and me. My newly acquired gym equipment. Barely 3 and a half months old. It's the critically acclaimed International Standard Apparatus for Absolute Conditioning. I used to weigh 81kg at my peak. But over the past three and a half months, I have lost 14kg! That's like 1kg a week!!! All thanks to ISAAC!!!

It's an integrated system that is customised for my every need. Seeing that my biggest problem is excess calories, the ISAAC applies the Double S technique to alleviate this situation for me. Basically, it Sucks & Siphons the calories itself out of my body at every 3 hour interval! How's THAT for direct results?!

Next up, it deduces that my arms are flabby and proceeds to engage me in intense weight lifting. Everyday, I would have to lift the ISAAC itself - at least 20 repetitions a day. Minimally 20 times. The exercise trains and tones all parts of the arm, very thorough indeed. But the most beautiful part of the system, is that the weight that I lift would increase everyday - without me even realising it!?!? Ain't that a beauty?! I've been gradually lifting heavier and heavier ISAAC without even realising it! Can you imagine my delight when I found out that I can now lift a weight that is more than double the original weight that I used to lift at the start of this exercise regime!?

Then comes my big blob of fats at my tummy. The ISAAC knows the way to go - is to do more crunches - "abdominizer" style. Thus, all I have to do is to hold the ISAAC on my tummy and it would push and exert a pressure on my tummy and I would (and should) tense my stomach muscles so that it provides an equal and opposite force to the push coming from the ISAAC. The picture above shows me doing a set of the ISAAC : Abdominizer Crunches. Currently, I have yet to see much effect from these. I think it's coz I haven't been doing enough sets of it. The ISAAC knows this and is constantly signaling me to do so.

Lastly, the ISAAC senses that I have thunderous thighs and a humongous butt. Thus, it ensures that I am constantly on my feet, rushing here and there in the house taking things, washing things, doing things - basically keeping me busy so that I am always on my feet and do not have the chance to rest on my vast behind.

I hear from other people who have the ISAAC (and similar equipment) tell me that, in the near future, the ISAAC would even start to make me run here and there. *Shudder* am not looking forward to that though - I've flat feet and hate running.

All in all, even though it is definitely not cheap at all, I would say the ISAAC has been a good investment. I believe it would continue to yield good results in helping me reduce my weight. A great plus point of it is that it' constantly customises and updates and changes its activity plans for me - so I won't get bored doing the same thing day in day out, month in month out, year in year out.

But the best part about the ISAAC, says hubbs, it that now, I've assets that rival the infamous Amy Yip's... ... ... ... *blush* They're not THAT BIG!?!?

Isaac as of November 2007

The Milk Trail: What a letdown!

The Milk Trail is not all about milk supply. It's also about how the milk gets to the baby. When the baby is born, he would have to learn how to suckle, and the mother should do her part to ensure that the baby latches on correctly. As with anything else, good guidance is important.

In the beginning, I had my fair share of sore, bleeding and cracked nipples. As time went by, I realised that the cracking of the nipples was nature's way of adjusting us and making us suitable for the baby to suckle. I found that my nipple is now deformed. That's to say, it certainly has a different shape from before I delivered.

Coz when the nipple cracks, it is like an earthquake fault line. But it heals very quickly - with an application or two of the wonderliquid breastmilk, it heals right up - a new layer of skin forming over it. Over time, with many of these healed cracks, the nipple starts to elongate and become rather disfigured. A fellow mummy I was discussing this with said that the disfigured nipple looks just like a witch's hat! How apt a description! hahaha!

But I think this is just nature's way of adjusting our body - to fit the little one. Clever, ain't it? :)

This isn't what I wanted to talk about. What I wanted to tell you guys about is this all about LETDOWN. What's that? Well, according books and websites - letdown is when the body sends a signal to the brain that milk is required, then the body releases some chemical to cause the ducts in the breast to constrict to force milk from the milk sacs/glands within the breast into the area around the nipple so that the baby can suck. Something like that.

So anywayz, before we knew what a letdown was, it was pretty miraculous to us. Coz it would seem that there was no milk, or insufficient milk, and just after some chanting of "God, please give us more milk. God, please give us more milk. God, please give us more milk." and the milk would come! Like a bolt of lightning it would hit me! and hit Isaac! For the milk would come shooting out from the nipple! Gushing forth like a water hose! Sometimes there'd be one spray, sometimes two, and sometimes many!

And when that happens - Isaac would SCREEEAAAM in terror!!! He'd choke and splutter and screeeaam with all his might. He'd cry and cry and be soooo angry that he can't drink his milk at all. I would tell him:" okay okay, no more already, no more spray already!" But he'd be too busy screaming and crying to hear me.

If hubbs was around, he'd have to whisk Isaac off to walk and pat and cuddle him to calm him down before returning him to me to let him drink his milk. If I was alone with Isaac (which I often was during the 2nd and 3rd month of my maternity leave), I'd have no choice but to carry Isaac half-dressed and with mybrestfriend breastpillow strapped around my waist (looking like an UFO) and walk around the house trying to calm Isaac down.

Initially, we didn't know why Isaac would cry and cry shortly after he latched on. Then I realised that he would cry when I get a pain in the breasts (it's a warning sign that the letdown is coming), and Isaac would disengage (un-latch) himself, and the nipple would start sprraaaying milk in Isaac's face.

The first time we saw that we were all so amused. hahahahhahaa... actually we still are. hahaha so mean, yeah?! But we can't help it! It's hilarious to see milk spurting out like a shower head! It'd rain all over Isaac's face and he used to get soooo pissed! I'd try my best to aim the sprays of milk into his mouth, or to try to re-insert my nipple into his mouth but he'd get even more pissed. what?!?! don't waste milk mah... :p

After awhile, we got kinda worried. Coz this'd happen everytime I fed Isaac, and sometimes he'd be so angry he'd refuse to drink altogether! So he wouldn't have drank very much. We started to call the letdown The Bolt. It was just like a bolt of lightning! I started to give him suggestions:"Why don't you just swallow? When The Bolt is here, just swallow - you don't even have to suck! isn't that great?!"After some time, I got so desperate I started to tell him:"Isaac, come on, just drink it. Don't waste milk! You know The Bolt is going to come, and Mummy can't stop it, so you just have to learn how to DEAL WITH IT. You hear me?! Learn how to deal with it!!!"

Poor lil' guy!!! Such a demanding Mummy! My million pep talks didn't work, of course. So I went on the internet to go search for some solutions. Some websites suggested that I express some milk before I fed Isaac. I tried that, but it didn't quite work. Even if I'd express out most of the milk, when the letdown come - it was The Bolt striking again.

So, the time came when we went to the paediatrician for Isaac's jab, and we told her the problem we had. So she taught us a very simple solution - whenever I felt the letdown coming (when it hurts lah), I should disengage Isaac from the nipple, and soak up the sprays in a tissue paper, and let Isaac latch back on when the sprays have ended. The only problem is that during the period of time that I disengage him, he might cry coz he'd hungry.

So we tried it. Sometimes I didn't disengage him early enough and he'd be choking and spluttering already and be angry and wouldn't drink. Sometimes I caught the sprays in time and he'd be fine. Yet again, sometimes I didn't disengage him when The Bolt came but he seemed fine with it. So I started to be complacent and did not disengage him all the time. Kept trying my luck. However, most of the time, he'd still get pissed.

I realised it had something to do with the direction of the spray. Then I remembered what the PD said:"Of course he's angry. How would you like it if someone shot a jet of water down your throat using a hose?" hmmm... good point. So I realised that if the spray was shooting down his throat, he'd be really pissed. but if it was shooting at the top of his mouth, then it wasn't as bad. Also, if my breast wasn't very full, the spray wouldn't be as forceful, then he wouldn't choke and cry either.

So how was I to know whether he'd be affected by it or not??? So I started my pep talks again. "Isaac, you don't have to cry. If you can't handle The Bolt, just disengage, and Mummy will soak up the milk, and then you can continue drinking." I repeated this to him everytime I fed him , when he was drinking calmly. After a few days, he stopped crying. He'd disengage and let me soak up the milk. Even if the milk was spraying all over his face, he'd just smile and wait for me to clean it up.

He is such a good boy! Smart too!!! He actually knew what I was saying!!! (YES, I really think so.) So, we finally got past the problem of The Bolt. So much so, that now, at night when I feed him, I can't see the tiny milk sprays in the night, right? So Isaac sometimes ends up with a face spotted with milk till daybreak! hahaha... I truely think this is the secret of his flawless complexion. kekeke... (anyone wants breastmilk? I'm giving away frozen milk... kekeke...)

Here's a picture of Isaac after he was hit by The Bolt :) what a sweet boy!

Isaac is now BOTAK HEAD!!!

Hubbs has been bugging me for the longest time to have Isaac's head shaved. He thinks that botak head babies look very cute, and keeps pointing out other botak head babies that we come across. He also said that he'd cut botak head himself when Isaac cuts botak head.

I was kinda reluctant, coz Isaac's hair... well, it's not much, but at least have some... and quite cute what - wispy wispy baby hair... But then quite a lot of people were saying that babies cut botak head then their hair will grow out again more evenly and thicker...

So I agreed to have Isaac's head shaved. We decided to do it this weekend coz next weekend's schedule's kinda packed, and we wanted to do it before Isaac turns 4 months on 6th December.

So, I was to try to shave Isaac's head :) Well, for those of you who don't know, I have taken hairdressing lessons before and have been cutting hubbs hair (yes yes darling hubbs has been my training head aka guinea pig) for the past 2 years or so. But I wasn't sure if my shaver could shave Isaac's hair coz his hair is so fine, even though I have the 'professional' kinda shaver.

Turns out there was nothing to worry about! The shaver worked fine!!! :) We placed Isaac in the Bumbo seat that Mary had lent us, and Isaac sat in it throughout his haircut! It's the perfect seat for a hair cut session! haha! Here're the pix!

Before pix of Isaac's hairdo

Here's Isaac in the Bumbo seat, trying to figure out what it is, I think!

And that's me shaving Isaac's hair!
After Isaac had his haircut, we bathed him, I latched him, and we tried to make him sleep... coz I was supposed to give hubbs a haircut too! Hehehehe... hubbs decided not to cut botak afterall... but he WAS due for a haircut, so... sleep Isaac! SLEEP!!!

He did. For like 5 minutes!?!? So I actually popped him in his playpen and turned the musical mobile. Yes, ours is hand-cranked. Relative passed this to us, it works well, and Isaac likes it - so we never bought a new one for him. Only thing is it's kinda troublesome coz we have to turn it.

So... guess what?! I had to keep running into the room to crank the musical mobile in between cutting hubbs' hair!!! And I managed to cut hubbs' hair in 4 cranksof the musical mobile!!! hahaha... how's that for speed cutting!!! kekeke...

Here're my two favourite men! So handsome, right!?!? :)

okay!!! CEO of PamMI is moonlighting!!! hahahaha... FREE BOTAK HEAD HAIRCUTTING for babies born this year! FREE HAIRCUTS for men (guy friends only, sorry no strangers kekeke) who like short short hair like hubbs! (no confidence in cutting long hair and women's hair :p) No guarantee that you'd be satisfied with your hairdo, but guaranteed FOC!!! hehehe... I reserve the right to say NO (without assigning any reasons) to anyone who wants a haircut!!! (better put in disclaimer, scully got chee-ko-pek lurking around :p) hahahaha seriously, email me if you require my hairdressing services for your baby - at your own risk! kekeke...

PamMI Pte Ltd

Isaac is fully fed by PamMI Pte Ltd - Pamela Milk Industries Pte Ltd!!! *big*grin*

I have been fully breastfeeding Isaac since he was born. During my 12 weeks maternity leave, I usually latched him on direct for 98% of the time. Thank goodness he can latch on fine. Have been psychoing him since he was in my tummy to "Please learn how to suckle Mummy's breast properly. Please learn how to suckle Mummy's breast properly. Please learn how to suckle Mummy's breast properly." hehehe... goooooood boy...

A month before I went back to work, I pumped while he latched and stocked up frozen breastmilk like crazy. So by the time I went back to work, I had a freezerful of expressed breast milk (EBM). Even when I went back to work, I pumped while I was in office. So, PamMI was in full operation all this while.

Since I went back to work on 29th October, Isaac has been drinking (defrosted and warmed) frozen EBM in the day when hubbs' mother is taking care of him. We went with the FIFO (first-in-first-out) principle of using the breast milk. So he was drinking EBM that was about a month old.

However, when we went to the paediatrician's last Friday, pd was suggesting that we give him fresh EBM instead - i.e. pumped today, drink tomorrow. Coz fresh milk is the most nutritious, right? ;)

So, since Monday 19th Nov 2007, Isaac now has fresh milk to drink everyday. And only the surplus is frozen.

Now this is a major change for PamMI. Coz now day-to-day operations have changed. Everyone in PamMI from the CEO (Chief Expressing Officer) to the Packaging Unit, Storeman, and Janitor (quite messy sometimes you know) has been affected by this change in company policy. We're still adjusting as we speak. (Who's "we"? Me, me, and oh! ME!!!)

Here's how things used to run in PamMI.This is the CEO's workstation: My Brestfriend breastpillow for adequate support and comfort for the client; a pillow to further enhance the comfort of the client and ensure optimum positioning for maximum access to the milk outlet; pumping equipment for expressing surplus milk; tissue for wiping the client's mouth and face when milk gets on them (and a little basket for containing used tissues), and water for the thirsty CEO who finds milk production a very dyhydrating experience indeed.

Here's the CEO with our major (and only) client, providing top notch direct-to-client service and conducting her CEO duties at the same time.

A quick peek at our treasured client... :)

After the session, milk is capped, labelled with date, time and quantity produced, and stored in the refrigerator in chronological order.

Milk is labelled and bagged, and placed in a plastic container and stored so that it will be frozen into a fixed and uniformed shape for efficient use of storage space.

The store(wo)man ensures that the frozen milk is stored in the freezer in chronological order, neatly and efficiently.

Milk is then transported to hubb's parents' place via a Fridge-To-Go and ready for defrosting for serving to the client.

However, now with the change in company directive, PamMI now supplies fresh milk to its client every day. Thus PamMI enters a new phase as the above production line is now half as active and there is a new process in place to handle the fresh milk order.

We hope that everything will be well at PamMI. Till our next report... stay tuned!

Isaac's 4th flip!

I did it!Finally managed to upload the video of Isaac flipping! :)

In the August mummies forum thread, Isaac's one of the first to flip. Plus, he likes to flip at 4am/5am... he is indeed an EARLY FLIPPER!!! hahaha...

Isaac is 6.898kg @ 14 weeks!

We brought Isaac for his 2nd immunisation jab on Friday afternoon. He weighed in at about 6.9kg, and measured 61cm long/tall! (always dunno to say long or tall! hahaha) Isaac is 14 weeks old.

We kinda thought he was big for his age. I mean, not huge, but above average, ya know. But paedeatrician (commonly known as PD) says he's at 50th percentile - i.e. AVERAGE.

hehehe that's fine with me really, I spent my whole life being above average in weight - oh okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but still, I DID spend my whole life working hard NOT to be above average in weight (failing at times) , so I'm happy that Isaac is growing well and strong, but is only at average weight.

Hubbs however, doesn't mind that Isaac gets a little chubby. Coz he figures that as Isaac has his genes, Isaac might lose his baby weight very quickly and become a skinny lamp-pole like his Papa. Or as we call hubbs - the bottomless pit.

Which I think is good what. I mean, to be able to eat all you want and all you can and NOT be FAT?! wow! Gimme that anytime, man!!!

But in the meanwhile, since we dunno whose genes Isaac will inherit for his weight profile - I think we should err on the side of caution and keep him average, yah? :)

Picture taken 27th October 2007

He flipped!

Isaac did! He flipped!!! At 5am on Thursday morning - 15th November 2007 (that makes Isaac about 14 weeks old - just over 3 calendar months from 6th August).

How'd I know it was 5am? Coz he'd woken up for a feed at about 4 plus. I'd fed him and when he was done (he'd usually disengage himself - i.e. he'd pui4 out my nipple) - I had already put him back on his bed. But he started to wake, open his eyes, and didn't seem inclined to go back to sleep.
So I checked the time and was telling him:" Isaac, it's 5am in the morning, can you please go back to sleep?!?!" Just then, hubbs asked me what time it was, I turned and repeated to him that it was 5am, and when I turned back to look at Isaac - he was lying on his front already!!! I didn't even see him turn!!! hahaha...

On Friday morning, also at approximately 5+ am, he flipped again. I knew he was about to flip coz he started to turn to his side in an action that's like a prawn being cooked. So I watched him. But then I was so tired, so in the split moment that I blinked and slept 3 seconds - he flipped!!! Ah yah!

Saturday morning, again at 4/5+ am I saw him trying to flip, but I was trying to feed him so I picked him up and fed him so he didn't complete his flip.

This morning, we had a little more time as we weren't rushing anywhere. So, when he woke up this morning, we made him flip. He flipped once! So we rushed for the camera. And we managed to catch him flipping his 4th time flip. Managed to get his arm out from under him all by himself too! But I'd only caught him a little after he started the flip. And we we flipped him on his back and made him flip again! hehehe... But this time, he took a little longer to flip - guess he had to be in the mood, yah. Eventually he did though hahaha.

I'd initially wanted to post both videos of the 4th and the 5th flip. But it turns out that the first video is 35MB, and the second one is 307MB!!! So we decided the first video is enough :p

Here's the video of the 4th flip!

NOT!!!

hiaz. having problem uploading the video = been trying to upload the whole night. 2nd night feed already, the video still not uploaded?! tried both blogger video and youtube... hmmm... decided to publish this post first, off computer, then try to upload video again tmr.

Isaac as of 26th October 2007

What Mummy think's of Papa's 1st blog entry

I'm sorry, I can't resist this. I was just thinking about what I should write about, as I haven't written something substantial for a long time (ok, it's a long time to ME, ok?!). There're many things I could write about, I suppose, but I wanted to write about something which would energise me, you know, get the writing juices going - coz frankly, I'm quite shacked out, and I wanna go to bed, BUT I wanna write something... so, I decided, I truly, simply, can't resist this. I have to comment on hubbs' first blog entry. I mean, seriously, how can I just IGNORE it, right?! I can't! It's beyond me!!!

Yes, hubbs was right. I have been bugging him to blog. kekeke... I purposely added him as an author, and pointedly told him that he can log in with his own gmail account, and write stuff. I guess I just wanted him to participate, you know. (or maybe I just wanted to kar cheow him when I see him re-reading his Slam Dunk comics ;p)

So anywayz, he was mighty pleased the day he wrote his blog entry. Told me that he'd written about his feelings as a new father. I was eagerly waiting to see what he's written, for hubbs can be particularly insightful sometimes, you know. (stop sniggering, you there. YES, YOU! Stop!!!)

So, frankly, I was kinda surprised to read his entry - it was about The Beginning. It was a summary of what happened in the first days of our parenthood. And I was surprised. Coz... coz it was amazingly? concidentally? similar to my first entries in this blog. In fact, I was kinda stunned. So much so that I didn't even mention it to hubbs, when I read it.

The thing is, hubbs is not the kinda person to "copycat" - not about such things, no, he's not. So, the first thing to come to mind is - he's like me! He's CHRONOLOGICALLY-INCLINED too!!! Which is shocking, and a revelation to me. For all those of you who know hubbs - when has he ever done such trivial things IN ORDER!? *stunned* shockerdoodledee!!! HAHHAHAAHA...

I mean, seriously, why would he write about The Beginning, at this point in time?! There must be a dozen and one things he could write about but yet he chose to blog his virgin post (his words) on The Beginning?! hahahahhaa... I must have rubbed off on him.

Then it struck me how this was a kinda milestone. It's like a milestone of our marriage, how we've come to learn about each other, to know each other, understand each other, so much so that we kinda BECOME like each other. Yikes. Scary!!!

Yet, of course, we are different. As I was reading his blog entry, I couldn't help but mentally correct his spelling, grammatical errors and sentence structure amongst other things. Anal me, yes yes. I knew the answer before I even asked him, but I HAD to ask:" Erm, dear, can I correct your english?" Of course he said "No!" hahahaha...

Also, I found myself subconsciously "expanding" on what he'd written. That's the cheong-hey part of me acting up. There's so much to expand on! There's so much to say, so much to tell! And there's the "drama-mama" part of me, structuring the story in my mind, thinking of a more exciting way to say what he was saying... and then I remembered - I told you guys all about it already - in my posts... much more long-winded posts...

hahaha, apologies if all this ranting is boring you, but it is very intriguing to me.

hehehe I shall ask hubbs about this... :) (he says I have many questions. always, I am asking him funny questions. interesting mah!)

though, one thing I must say, all things considered, I think that was a great virgin post by hubbs! Well done!!! :)

Isaac as of 16th/17th October 2007

This blog is now PUBLIC!!!

After much deliberation, we decided to go public. It's just too much of a hassle to have to send out invites to people for them to read our blog. Plus, to have permanent access to the blog, one had to have a gmail account (someone once asked me what a gmail account was).

Now, all you have to do it to bookmark http://tanfamilychronicles.blogspot.com/ and you can view it the moment you go to the page - no need for invites nor sign-ins anymore...

So... guess I'd have to start watching my language. Afterall, we never know who's reading, right? ;p

Oh and guess that means no posting photos of Isaac naked or bathing , lest any paedos are hanging around... :D [then again hubbs just said that he wants to post a picture of him bathing Isaac... sighz...]

ah well...

Lao3 Ba4 De4 Gan3 Chu4 - Part 1

My wife has been pestering me to write something on the blog.. " when are you writing?", "how come you are still not writing yet???" err.. is not that I dun want to write but it will take days before I draft one out... you know lah.. England cant make it.. ;)

Now suddently got a bit of inspiration, so decide to make my "virgin" post ;)

Having a son now makes me realised how important the role of being a father and husband can be.. let me share some thoughts with those new fathers...

Firstly, you need to be a very supportive and loving husband to your wife during pregnancy and after that... all the more for the latter.. during pregnacy.. this one everyone knows what to do so I shall not elaborate on it..

Of course, during delivery father will really need to be the cheerleader (telling wife on my count: "breath in deep.... ok! push now... hold your breath! hold your breath! 10 more seconds! 5 more! well done! relax..." and the cycle goes on till the little one is out! I even need to provide the counter force on Pam's right leg so that she can exert more strength to push. So fathers to be, head for the gym to work out your arms.. they do come in handy when the crunch time comes.

Next being the photographer. You need to prep yourself what to do the moment when the baby comes so that you wun kabra.. I have walked that scenerio thru my mind a couple of times but still miss out some moments.. will be even better prepared the next time ;) A crazy thought just came to my mind as I am typing this..maybe I will do a banner and hang opposite the wall in the delivery suite "Have an eventful journey baby?" or "Welcome to Motherearth, baby!" Any other suggestions are welcome ;)

The challenging part is the post prenancy when we go back home when Pam's milk is not in yet and the baby keeps on crying for milk. Its a stressful situation when you have absolutely no idea what is happening when you need to console your wife who is depressed by the cries of the baby and the pain of sore nipples from the umpteen feeding as well as to help taking care of the crying baby who perpetually cries every 30 min (which can be really depressing even for the father). The Father and Husband need to stay cool and calm and be absolute empathatic towards his wife's and baby's feelings and emotions. Finally to cut thing short.. its till midnight (after 8 hours of confusion) that we decided I would have to get the formula milk to satisfy his hunger.. (its till later then we know that you can actually take from the hospital some milk powder to tie over for the period before the mother's milk come). Thank God that there is a 24 hour Cold Storage in Holland Village that I manage to buy the milk powder (new father take note: 7-11 dun sell new born baby milk powder). Ironically, when CS opened its 24 outlet in Holland V, I was telling pam: "who will come over in the night? wastage of power!" Haiz... Isaac made his father ate his words... knn... and at the same time was laughing at myself when queueing to pay. I hv fulfilled the old saying of "chou4 xiao3 zi4! rang4 lao3 ba4 ban4 ye4 cu1 lai2 mai3 nai3 fen3" haha.... luckliy he is borned at this era.. otherwise his father need to go and knock at the door of those provision shops....

As I thought finally everything is settled now... then comes your wife engorgement!! As a husband, I feel totally helpless as there is nothing I can do and have no idea how pain it is for pam. Luckily have the confinement lady who knows what to do so I can only be her helper to pour hot water, squeeze the towels etc and of course again be the emotional pillar for pam.. guess that is the most important part.

On reflecting back, I guess actually the fathers will also feel vunerable and loss. Yet at the same time they need to support their wife and child emotionally and physically, parking their own feelings at one corner first. Of course, as compared to our wifes' suffering, ours are nothing big deal but I just cant helped but realised that fathers' feeling is also as powerful as the mothers ;) but of course, "Mu3 Ai4 shi4 zui4 wei3 da4 de4!" kukos to all Mothers! I guess every new parents must go thru this baptism of fire to become even wonderful parents and staring down at your child, you will know everything is worth it ;)

Also I must also thank my wonderful mother-in-law who has sacrificed her sleep, time and supporting us in every way to help us out through out the confinement period. Thank you mum! We love you ;)

And of course my confinement lady who has taken good care of the baby and us as well ;) Thank you auntie!

Cousin Natalie will arrive tomorrow!!!

Who is cousin Natalie? It's my sister's new baby!!! She is going to be born tomorrow!!! Yeah! My sister is pregnant with her third girl, and she's going to deliver via caesarean section tomorrow afternoon!!! (Her first two were c-sections as well, so this one also would be.)

So exciting!!! Always fun to have a new baby yeah - fun for everyone else but the baby's parents lah. hahahahhaa... but yeah, we're all eagerly anticipating the arrival of Natalie :) What would she be like? Like her big sister Rebecca - who is very girly and into disney princesses and anything pink in colour? Or like Isabelle - who's very active, always climbing up and down and likes to treat her Papa as a playground (slide, swing and spanish bull all rolled into one)? Or maybe she'd be a combination of both? or not like her sisters at all?

In any case, it'd be fun for Isaac to have a cousin his age to play with. Oh and of course, in December, Cousin Dylan will arrive via Mummy Dawn! That'd be fun too! That makes the three piglets on my father's side of the family.

On my mother's side of the family, we have FOUR!!! hehehe... Isaac, Natalie, Chloe and Kok Leong Kor Kor's daughter - donch know what her name is. The Pig Quartet. hahahaha...

There're soooooo many babies this year... Think we have more than 30 babies this year in my company. My department alone, there're 5 pregnant women this year. Steady yah? Very good fengshui here. They say if you want to get pregnant, just work in Ascendas and drink Ascendas' water - confirmed got results ;)

We're gonna have a tough time registering Isaac for school next time, with the huge batch of babies this year (don't you think you see pregnant ladies everywhere you go this year? not to mention all the friends who've delivered, and their friends who they say are having babies too!) One of the august mummies on the forum confessed to us that she'd registered her baby for Nursery already. But the worst thing was - apparently many people already did so before her, coz there were class timelsots that were all filled up and she only had certain timeslots to choose from!?!? SCARY!!!

tsk tsk tsk... we'd worry about that in a few years time.

for now, let us welcome all babies!!! woooohoooo!!!!!!!!!