Mirror mirror on the wall

Those of you who've been to our place would know that our place is full of mirrors - which is great for babies coz they love looking in mirrors! (We'd a friend's kid who actually kissed himself in the mirror when he was here!)
This is the mirror in our master bedroom, it's on the wall at the 'head' of our beds. Look at Isaac dancing with his image. Hahaha... a few times he tried to kiss his image too, but I usually stop him from doing that - mirror dusty! hahaha...
These pictures were taken on 1st May 2008 - when Isaac is close to 9 months old. At that time, he could pull himself to a stand, like in the pictures. And sometimes, he even stands without support!
Isaac's been growing taller very quickly too. Day by day, we realise he can reach things that he never used to be able to before. Plus he's getting to be a very good climber, he can climb almost everything! Even when there isn't a step for him to use as a foothold, he'd smear (rockclimbing lingo for when the climber simply uses his shoe/foot's friction against the surface to gain a quick leverage to enable him to ascend). Needless to say, hubbs is ecstatic about it, and eagerly analyses his son's climbing moves a la "Did you see that?! He just traversed across the couch like that!?" :p

pictures above taken on 1st May 2008
Isaac @ five days to 9 months

Isaac gets a haircut again

I am soooo behind on my posts. More than 2 months behind, in fact. So much so, that Isaac JUST had a haircut on Saturday, and these are NOT the pix! These are pix from 2 months back when he had his previous haircut.
These first three pix are the "Before" the haircut pix... I'd always liked to take Before and After pix - used to take them before and after I cut hubbs hair. But nowadays, too lazy to do so. Only for Isaac :) hahaha...
Our happy boy cried and cried during the haircut. He was understandably terrified of the shaver coz it was vibrating on his head.
See, this is him above, immediately after the haircut, totally traumatized. We were just stripping him to bathe him, coz he cry until sweaty sweaty with all the hair stuck on him.
Hehehe... see these three pix for his brand new hair cut! Number One by the sides, and Number Two on the top! :)

pictures above taken on 26th & 27th April 2008
Isaac @ 8 and a half months

Cranky Isaac pix

Isaac's basically quite a happy kid, very smiley and all - till he gets cranky. As with most kids, Isaac'd get cranky when he gets tired and sleepy. He usually has a nap in the morning and one in the afternoon. He's not a good napper, though. Usually only half an hour at the most. But occasionally, when he gets really tired, he can sleep up to an hour or two, on weekends.
At my in laws place, Isaac sleeps in the sarong, but at home, he sleeps on the mattress beside our mattress. He does not have a special pillow/thingy, and he doesn't take the pacifier either (I refused to even start him on it when he was younger). However, now, I'm currently still his human pacifier... he still latches to sleep... sighz... yes yes, trying to wean him from doing that...

pictures taken on 28th April 2008
Isaac @ 8 and a half months

Been thinking of weaning him off the breast, coz we're thinking of trying for #2... but... given that Isaac doesn't take milk any other way... I'm kinda in a dilemma... sighz. we'd see how it goes.

Isaac & Natalie

Isaac & Natalie - born 3 months apart. Cousins and god-siblings :) I really hope they get along well. Hope Isaac takes care of Natalie well as they grow up. We were also hoping that Isaac can get used to having a 'sibling' since young, so that he won't get jealous streaks when we have our next kids.

Seems like that's gonna be quite tough though. Even now, when I carry Natalie, Isaac will quickly crawl over and want me to carry him. But at least, so long as I carry him too, he seems alright with Natalie in my other arm (yes, see, now I can carry babies with my right arm again! :p)

Just the other day though, he was beside Natalie playing with that toy in the picture, I saw him grab Natalie's hair! not once, twice, but three times! I sternly pried his hands away from Natalie's hair each time, and sternly scolded him each time he did that. However, Natalie thought I was scolding her, and stared at me wide-eyed the whole time. By the time I scolded Isaac for the third time - Natalie burst into tears! and she kept bursting into tears whenever she sees me looking at her for the entire night after that! hahaha I thought it was hilarious, but was kinda alarmed by it too. hahaha...

But so far, Isaac & Natalie have been getting along alright... only sometimes, Isaac will snatch toys away from Natalie, but not as rough as when Isabelle snatchs from him... sighz... we suspect it's a case of "Do unto Natalie, what Isabelle does onto me!" hahahaha... SIGHZ...

above pictures taken on 22nd April 2008

Isaac @ 8 months plus Natalie @ 5 months plus

Jarrod & Zachary :)

Long overdue pix of my two nephews Jarrod and Zachary, when they were back in Singapore for awhile back in April.The boys have grown so much since we last saw them, before they left for Australia. That's Jarrod above, he's 5 years old this year. And here, below, is Zachary, he's 3 this year.
Here below are my cousins Yew Hui & Yew Ling - we're all partners in crime in loving the boys to bits.

We managed to get some nice shots with the boys :) happy happy...

Human totem! :D
Andrea and the boys :) pity we didn't get a picture with Joel in them. Hmmm... *mental*note*

pictures taken in April 2008
Jarrod @ a few months to 5 years old
Zachary @ 3 years and a bit

24 hours a day

People who read my blog tell me that it's rather obvious that I am enjoying motherhood. Yes, I would say I am, tremendously. Isaac has been such a blessing and a great topping to the wonderful relationship I have with hubbs.

And as you can tell, we spend a lot of time meeting up with our friends. And a great variety and quantity of friends we have too - so much so that even though we fill our calendar meeting friends all the time, we can only manage to meet the same friend, a few times a year.

Well, it's not just us, I suppose. It's just the way it is. We all go through different stages in life, and everyone just gets busier and busier with whatever it is they're doing now, and it's so hard to find a common time or date to meet sometimes. People have their jobs, kids, studies, hobbies boyfriends/husbands, other friends, etc etc.

And everyone has 24 hours a day.

Sometimes I wished we had more hours in a day. Like, 48 hours. We can spend the same number of hours working, say 10 hours, and sleep enough like another 10 hours, and we'd still have 28 hours to do our own stuff. Wouldn't that be great?

That would probably help. But then, there's still the same problem of change. Change is the only constant nowadays. I keep hearing that, seeing that. Even my priest said that during homily one day. And it's true.

Change is sometimes good, and sometimes bad. I suppose we feel good about change when we're expecting it, and seeking it, even. But sometimes, I feel, change feels bad, when you're not prepared for it or when it catches us by surprise. Though i guess then everyone would say that the best is to be able to adapt to the change as and when it happens. Of course. Model answer. Riiiighhht.

I'm reading this book right now. About this guy, who enjoys just living his life by the day, and on the road, hitchhiking and stuff, just existing day by day, relishing in the change and uncertainty that each day brings him.

Sounds like great fun to me. Reminds me of the time when I was backpacking in UK. Not solitary. Almost. Felt a bit like it. Kinda miss it. Reminds me of Aberdeen, Scotland - when I was there on student exchange, I miss that. I had time to be alone, and yet I had my international friends.

I miss my international friends, one of which passed away unexpectedly, the rest of them so far, scattered round the world. I miss school time when we could have tons of time to spend with our friends. I miss doing playback, seeing my playbackers. I miss my good friends, I miss spending time with them. I miss seeing and talking to them almost everyday. Even when everyone's in tiny Singapore it's difficult to meet up. Everyone's busy doing their own stuff.

It's just different now, I guess. I'm a mother and a wife, and I simply don't have enough time to do everything I want to do, meet everyone I want to meet. I wouldn't trade Isaac nor hubbs for anything in the world. But I do wish I have more time. Perhaps just 30 hours a day would suffice? At least I'd have more time to travel around to meet more of my favourite people. If they'd see me, that is, if they have time too.

sighz

Siang Ling & Ken welcomes Mikayla!

Congrats to Ken & Siang Ling!!! :) My dear uni friend Siang Ling's just given birth to her little girl Mikayla on 25th May 2008! Coming into this world of ours at 3.21kg and 55cm long - Mikayla's one slim gal indeed!

These pix below are actually dated 19th April 2008 - about a month before Mikayla was born. We'd met up for dinner to catch up and all :)

above pictures taken on 19th April 2008
Isaac @ 8 months plus
Siang Ling @ a month to full term! :)

yes, I'm busy... and lazy... hahahaha

yes I know, I've been horrible with posting lately. yes, I've been very caught up with work and all, office has been very 'happening' lately. And once home, usually occupied with Isaac and when I get him to sleep, I'm usually so tired that I fall asleep with him. Doesn't help that my home PC's still kooky - that's why am now like two months behind in photos. Oh but I can now type with my right hand again!

ok arm update! :) I've been castless since the 23rd May 2008 - our 3rd wedding anniversary haha. hubbs has been joking that him having to bathe me while I was in cast is his birthday cum wedding anniversary present to me. hahaha. It was fun while it lasted, but am very relieved to be castfree now, coz then I can bathe myself at my own convenience! We used to like have to place Isaac with our neighbours just so we could both go bathe. But Isaac'd cry his head off if he doesn't have us around, so that was kinda tough.

When I went for my check-up on the 23rd, had my cast removed, then arm x-rayed. Doc says that the bone hasn't joined back yet, but she say no need to put on cast again - she wanted me to be castfree, so that I can exercise my arm - so that it won't be so stiff. Boy was I glad - I can bathe myself again! Albeit with one arm! But at least I didn't have to worry about getting the cast wet. Plus it was getting real itchy underneath the cast eeeuuuwwwww....

So... my arm's been getting better... with every day that passes, I am able to bend it a bit more, and straighten it a bit more. Widening the movable angle everyday. When I first had the cast removed, I couldn't even touch my face. But as of yesterday, I realised that I can just manage to get my thumb to my nose!! kekeke... can make faces at people already hahahaha... but coz I can't reach my face, I'm still feeding myself with my left hand. Which is a good thing that I'm now proficient even with chopsticks with my left hand!

Still can't tie my own hair though... coz my hand can't reach my head yet... so I cut off my hair! hahahaha... had a haircut last Saturday - now my hair's ony just above my shoulders! Kinda like how my hair was in JC time. But then, it was kinda a disaster coz the hairdresser kinda thinned/layered it too much so now my hairs sticking out in places. Ah well, actually dun think it's the hairdresser's fault. My hair's just too unruly!!! hahahhaa...

Well, enough about me. Let's talk about Isaac. He's crawling very fast now, and his climbing skills are very good - making his Papa very proud of him. hahaha... Once, he was sleeping in the bedroom and we quickly slipped into the bathroom, leaving the toilet door ajar so that we could hear Isaac if he cried. But as we were bathing halfway - Isaac crawled to the bathroom and pushed opened the door! hahaha... And just two mornings ago, I was bathing in the toilet, and hubbs was sleeping, Isaac just woke up (didn't cry), and crawled to the toilet to look for me! Hilarious!

He's also starting to stand on his own, and he's 'cruising' aleady - walking with support - like furniture etc. Oh and he knows how to argue and fight already. If we scold him, he knows we're scolding him, and starts to argue back in his gibberish. Full of excuses, this boy, yak yak yak, yak yak yak. If we continue to scold him and point our finger at him - he'd grab our finger to bite. sighz... hubbs says it's retribution for me.

oh and he and Isabelle have been fighting. Over toys and stuff lor, what else. Think I mentioned before, that Isabelle tends to snatch toys away from Isaac. Whatever he is holding or playing - she'd want it too. And quick as lightning - she'd grab it from him and run away. So now, he goes on alert whenever he sees Isabelle nearby. It's hilarious! You can see it in his eyes and body language - his eyes flash and glare at Isabelle, and his arms and body position themselves to guard the toys he's playing with at the moment. And when Isabelle comes to grab his toy - he'd hang on to it for dear life! and there'd be a mini tug-of-war between them! And I must give Isaac credit for even though he's about 2 years younger than Isabelle - he's almost as strong as she is, and puts up a good fight guarding his hoard! hahahhaa...

well that's my boy for you. He's a fighter :) good spirit!

Isaac in classic ah pek singlet!

Here's my Isaac in the classic hole-ridden ah pek singlet. Cute hor. hahahahaha... Every child should have this ah pek singlets as part of their wardrobe growing up... it's essential!!! :)

Isaac looks very macho in the singlet, doesn't he? His arms look 'muscular' like, and coupled with his BOY face and his crew cut hairdo - oooohh sooo macho boy look! *swooooon* hahahhahaaa...
These shots were actually taken in NTUC, whilst we were getting milk (for me calcium-less bones!) - and Isaac wasn't even bothered by the cold. He now takes the cold pretty well, and sweats easily than before. When he was younger, we had to dress him in double layers all the time as he seemed to be bothered by the cold, and could take the heat very well. He hardly broke a sweat even while wearing two layers.

pictures above all taken on 20th April 2008
Isaac @ 8 months plus

Well, as they say, the only constant in life, is change! Especially for babies!!! :D

Under Attack by Isaac boy

video taken on 19th April 2008
Isaac @ 8 mths plus

I've been trying to take videos of Isaac crawling. He's very fast nowadays, covering large distances in a very short space of time, and scaling large obstacles like the sofa, and me, and hubbs. Yes, he literally climbs all over us!

This video is one of Isaac "attacking" me when he sees me with the camera... he likes to play with the camera case, and the camera too. Somehow, even when I switch off the camera, he knows that at the part of the camera lens - the shutter is movable and so he moves the shutter so that he can touch the lens!? urrghhh leaving his fingerprints all over the lens... sob sob...

hahaha well, that's my Isaac boy for you. Enjoy!

Isaac and his nonsense

picture taken on 13th April 2008 Isaac @ 8 mths & a week

This is Isaac giving me an intent look before proceeding to pull the tissue paper out of the box, piece by piece... urrgghhh... he thinks it's fun. sighz.

Our little one is starting to show his character.True colours, I hear some of you sniggering. Yes, yes, the whole works. And he appears to have a fiery temper, with a generous bout of bullish stubborness.

All of which hubbs proudly proclaim - Isaac inherited from me.

Sighz.

But Isaac's also very - wait, SUPER active, and we can see the makings of a very mischievious one... which... all obviously he got from hubbs, right? (Must share the blame mah... ;p).

It's our worst fears come true! What if Isaac inherits the worst of hubbs and I?! (We couldn't really decide which was worst - a son that inherits my temper, or a daughter that inherits it. Hubbs says daughter more jialat. I tend to agree. But then see Isaac now like that... sighz...)

We can only pray that the rest of Isaac would inherit the better of the genes between the both of us. Erm... like... hope and pray that...

1. he can study well like me (well, not that I'm like a scholar or anything, but better like me at least than like hubbs' right!? better of two worsts you know ;p) ...
   
2. his aptitude for the Chinese language is like hubbs
   
3. his aptitude for the English language is like me
   
4. forgiving nature - like hubbs
5. meticulous - like me
   
6. physicals like hubbs - the bottomless pit - can eat and eat and eat and never get fat. plus very fit, agile, sporty...
7. articulate - like me! :) nuff said.
   

Well, our biggest consolation is that Isaac's very smiley! :) He got that from us both! hehehe... thus, in similar fashion, we pray that he'd

1. be friendly & likable and have tonnes of friends, like us
   
2. have good EQ and good "ren2 yuan2", like us
   
3. that he'd enjoy reading, like us
4. that he'd enjoy sports & the outdoors, like us
5. in general, be a nice person, like us
6. oh and he must be a kind boy, that's important. Like us. *beams*
   

But, of course, no matter how Isaac, and the rest of our kids turn out, we'd still love them unconditionally. We can only hope, pray, and do our best to nurture them in the way we want them to be. And we're lucky to have one another to try to prevent the kids from picking up the 'wrong stuff' from the other parent.

As for Isaac's temper and stubborness (aka ti-ki-ness)... well, in mitigation, I have this to say - at least now I'm not so bad, right!? mellowed down tremendously already! So... Isaac temper will get better in time! :) ... er... We'd just have to tahan the next 25 years at least, that's all! ;p

Isaac @ 8 months with E.T.

ET pix again! Late again! hehehe... these pix were taken a month ago, when Isaac was about 8 mths old. Speaking of which, in the excitement of me breaking my arm and all - we forgot to take Isaac with E.T on the 6th again! Will probably take him with E.T. this Saturday.
Isaac seems to be growing taller, but he doesn't really seem to be putting on much width wise. My mother-in-law often laments in teochew, that Isaac's face "has disappeared" - as in, his face is much sharper and more defined now, than when it was all padded up with his baby fat.

My father, on the other hand, happily informs me constantly that "Isaac looks very slim and trim now." hahaha... which I am inclined to agree with more.

I feel, that this just reflects how different our two families are. Hubbs' family are all very skinny. Blessed with skinny genes, they eat gigantic portions at meal times, all kinds of fatty meat, skin and innards, fried stuff , loads of carbo, etc etc - but yet remain skinny people. My family, generally have FAT genes. We eat like birds - very little or no carbo, steamed, soup or boiled stuff, skinless, fatless, small portions, exercise - and we juuuust manage to stay within the healthy weight zone, bordering on being overweight. Generally, coz it doesn't include my sister - who is blessed with ultra skinny genes. But then, even my sister watches her diet closely and exercises too. So, there.

When hubbs wasn't hubbs and was just The Boyfriend came over to my place for dinner the first time - he almost dieded. He could like finished up all the food! The amount of rice and food that he eats is the same as what my dad+mum+bro-in-law+sister+me eats!!! hahaha it's how much he eats but also how little my family eats... After awhile my mum realised that The Boyfriend was devouring every scrap of food available to him, and started to cook more when he comes for dinner. hubbs get a whole extra cup of rice cooked when he comes for dinner. hahahaha...

Frankly speaking, I'm hoping Isaac will tend towards his Papa's skinny genes, than my FAT genes. You can imagined how pissed I was when, at two/three months with Isaac increasing his weight at an exponential rate, hubbs told me:"Don't worry, he won't be fat next time one lah - he has my genes." To which I exploded:" YOU MEAN TO SAY HE HAS NONE OF MY GENES?!?!" Angry Mama personified!!!

pictures taken on 13th April 2008
Isaac @ 8 mths & a week