Sticker days

There was a time during COVID whereby only vaccinated individuals were allowed to enter malls and dining places... 

I collected some of my 'entry' stickers for memory's sake. Am so glad those days were over. 

Propagating Snakeplant

Tried propagating the snake plant after seeing how easy it is to do it. 

I snipped off the top of one leaf and put it into the soil, keep in a shaded place, water it and wait patiently. 2 months later.. the baby will emerge! 

The kids were really excited to see that new shoot emerging. Was a great opportunity to share with them how the right environment and conditions are important to grow although we may not be able to see the actual grow beneath the soil. It will emerge when it's ready, when the time is right. 

Riverfront Residences Progress Updates

Using this post to update monthly progress of our new home!

We make it a point to visit the development on the 2nd last or last weekend. 

Street Directory updated the condo to their map. 

Google map was still showing the old estate when I checked in Feb 2019.

Jan 2019

Demolished a few blocks. Left 3 standing. 

Feb 2019

Demolishing in progress for the furthest low block.

Mar 2019

Headball 2

The husband and I have been playing Headball 2 which was introduced to me by my colleague. 

Long story cut short, I was finally in the same game server as him and was able to play friendly matches against him. 

Our first game score. He used his best player against my new player... (damn bad!)

We were thrilled that we bumped into each other during our normal games.. 

This was last night.. after a few weeks of equipping my player (on the right) with lots of equipment. 

The game is fun and addictive. So glad we found a game to play together. In the past we've also played Scrabble, chinese chess, and Pokemon Go! Can't quite remember the full list. Heh. 

Homeless

Today's the day Mr Chang has been waiting for. The day we completed the sale of our matrimonial flat bought back in May 2009. 

It was a love at first sight with the house for me.. the brightness, wind, and space. The house we got married in, learned to live with each other in harmony, had our own cats, watched late night shows (running man), couple cookouts (killed crabs for the first time), lost our first baby, had our first kid, and so much more! 

Goodbye my beloved house, I hope your new owner will love you like I did. 

旧的不去，新的不来。Let's look forward to our next home to creating more precious moments!

First post for 2018

Kicked start 2018 laughing with my poly classmates cause we had trouble getting the live countdown on the screen. We did a toast to an awesome 2018! 

Received our first gift at 3am from Cat and Der; a lift home from John's place. 

Hurried to bed to catch up with sleep so I can start my mummy duties at 8am. Fixed breakfast for kids while hubs was still snoozing. 3 happy scrambled egg sandwich/toast diners! 

Then the kids played with each other the whole morning since it was still raining while hubs and I packed the house a little. Next thing we knew... it's 12.30pm already! Brought the kids down stairs for lunch, came back up to trim toenails and out again to neighbourhood park to get some fresh air! 



It was great to spend time together as a family. A great start to our 2018!

Pray that God will continue to provide and watch over us this year. Amen!

Mummy Time

Past few years I've learnt to love others at the expense of myself. Its not exactly a bad thing, just that I felt like I needed my me time and start living a little more for myself.

So this year, I've decided to learn to love and take care of myself more. That means keeping fit, getting stronger and healthier, and finally, starting a beauty regime.

I've actioned on my thoughts! Joined the lunch time yoga organised by my company in January, went for my first ever facial. Hopefully I will be able to sustain!

Our little Girl

Mummy's company published the arrival of our little girl~ May you be filled with happiness and good health our precious sleepy pumpkin. We love you to the moon and back! :) 

Bittersweet goodbye to our confinement nanny

My confinement nanny has gone home. I miss her already.  Someone to gossip with me, share our love for cooking (though I hardly cook anymore), help us with house chores and all things we don't like to do...

Colin was so funny.. I told him to say goodbye to aunty. Here's how he went, "Bye bye aunty!" Then turned to me and my dad and asked, "Whay about meimei??". Our silly son. Aunty was kidding with you when she said she was going to bring meimei home.

She said she'll visit us again. I hope so too. See you soon aunty Julie!

Colin moments - Cats

Colin: What cats do you want mummy?
Me: I have Summer and Tmeed..
Colin: They are daddy's cats, not your cats.
Me: .............

Thanks for looking after the cats daddy. We appreciate it! 😄

Lego play

Colin enjoys imaginative/ interactive/ role play now.. he builds more sensible things with lego these days.. here are a few of his creation!

He is able to narrate his own story and hold 2 sides of conversation himself. :)

Colin moments - 大便

Colin decided someday that he doesn't want to get his butt washed after pooing.

Past conversations...
Me: Colin, go and wash your backside..

His responses to my command:
- Don't worry about my 大便 mummy!
- Don't talk about my 大便!
- Later...
- I'm not done yet~
- *hides from our line of sight*
- *pretended he never hear*

Our conversation today...

Colin: Mummy will you play with me?
Me: I won't play with you until you get your backside washed.
Colin: It's okay. I can play with myself.
Me: .....

After awhile.. he asked for help tk seperate 2 lego pieces.

Colin: Mummy will you help to take out?
Me: I won't help until you wash your backside..
Colin: All right... *continued to play by himself*

Then he wanted to show me the big lego house he built.

Colin: Mummy, look at the big house!
Me: I'm still waiting for you to wash your butt before I play with you..
Colin: Finally gave in and went to get his butt washed!

After he got his butt washed..

Colin: *flashed his backside at my face* I washed my backside mummy!!!
Me: Oh yeah! Now I can play with you!
Colin: *Big smile*

Ahhh... what a tough nut to crack.

Louise's Birth Story

Documenting the arrival of our little pumpkin, Louise Chang Yunxi.

I was planning to work until I went into labour but eventually changed my mind after our gynae appointment on 24 June @ week 39 cause (1) she was back to breech position after gynae performed an external cephalic version (ECV) a week before that, (2) the ultrasound scan estimated her weight to be 3.9kg, (3) my cervix wasn't opened (no signs of labour anytime soon). When we realissed Louise went back to breech, he said we need to discuss our birth plan. He offered 3 options - hope her head is down when labour starts, natural breech delivery or c-sect, both sounded so scary to me though I was mentally prepared for natural breech delivery. I asked our gynae if it was possible to induce immediately after he performed a ECV, he said it's possible but only if my cervix was open. Our next appointment was scheduled 3 days later to see if Louise returns to breech position. 

After some serious thoughts, I decided to rest at home from 29 June onwards cause I might choose to deliver on 27 June. Got the approval from my boss and sent the following image to my colleagues after office hours on my last working day so that it'd be easier to say goodbye for awhile. 

No, I didn't give birth on 27 June. Louise's head was still down south and we decided to wait for labour to happen naturally. I was advised to sleep only on my right side with a pillow supporting my tummy to prevent this lady's head from coming back up. It was tough for me cause I usually sleep on my left.

Every night I went into bed hoping labour will happen like Colin's birth. Every morning I woke up without contractions. Haha. Let's just say, the wait... was indeed.. long, especially when I wasn't working. Is today the day? When will I go into labour? How will labour start? Why is my tummy so heavy? Are my feet getting more bloated? My questions were aplenty.

So here's what happened in the end.

5 July 2015, Sunday
Woke up feeling extremely tired, so tired I dozed off on the rocking chair. We were pretty convinced that Louise won't be making her appearance so soon so Daddy signed up for a weekend course. He was such a sweetie to keep asking me for my status.

1st Pregnant Women (PW) status check:

In fact the discharged started in the morning but I wanted to monitor before informing him.

2nd PW status check:

The contractions started around 1pm but it was too random. I drove my mum to Toa Payoh, then to Loyang Way to look for something amidst that randomness and got home at 3plus. The contractions were too hard not to be noticed anymore so I finally started timing my contractions with an andriod app called "Full Term". It's easy to operate, just tap the app during the start and end of contractions. The app will calculate duration and frequency of all my contractions.

3rd PW status check from hubs came in..

I'm pretty much sure I was in early stage of labour. Just thinking when's the best time to head to hospital. Ideally in active labour but before the pain gets unbearable, and must be in time to take epidural.

Here's my consolidated list of contractions before I headed to hospital. It started off with low intensity pain level (1 green cube) for 30 seconds every 10 to 20 minutes. I kept quiet about my contractions until after dinner. I broke the news to hubs by telling him I had 4 contractions during dinner and nobody noticed. :D

Things sped up after dinner. I stood most of the time to aid Louise's descend. I kept drinking water and visiting the loo. The contractions were getting more painful (3 cubes) and frequent.. about 3-7 minutes apart. By then I had to stop whatever I was doing to ride through that minute.

At 10pm, I asked my mum if she could let Colin sleep that with them that night cause I had a feeling this could be it! Then told hubs to get some rest before we head to the hospital (no idea what time we would be leaving). Meanwhile I tried to rest too, tried. My mum sensed that something was amiss and popped by our room to check on me at midnight. She caught me looking at my phone (I was timing my contraction), I brushed her off saying I'm reading something and will sleep shortly. In reality, I was in too much pain to sleep.

Contraction Tracking by Full Term App

6 July 2015, Monday
When the pain intensity hit 4 cubes at 1.32am, I decided it was time to head to the hospital. My very suspicious mum caught us leaving the house at 2am.

I was in Thomson Medical Centre's Labour Ward Room 5 by 2.25am. They got me to change into gown and did a vaginal examination (VE). "3cm, enfaced!". Proceed to inform our gynae, Dr. Paul Tseng, that I was in labour. I asked for epidural immediately. The anaesthetist, Dr. Phillip Tseng (gynae's brother), wasn't available and probably couldn't make it back in time for me so they recommended someone else. I was a little disappointed, but really, anything to ease the pain!

Life was back to comfort after the epidural took effect. VE was done at 7plus and I was 5cm dilated. While the nurse was poking around, my water bag burst and I heard the water gushing out! I let out a sigh of relief when she assured me that Louise's head was down.

At 9.45am, I was 8cm dilated. We were hoping for Louise to see the world before 11am so the nurse said it's possible, they'll do another VE at 10.15am to see how far along Louise was. The nurse told me to inform them when I felt the urge to poo which I didn't recall sensing it in my previous birth. It was too early to tell if it would be the same, so I waited..and waited, no urge to poo. When they came in to check on me again, I decided to inform the nurses that I've never felt it before. The nurses back then just asked me to push Colin out. Though surprised, they asked me to try pushing Louise out and she crowned! Everyone in the room was delighted. They proceeded to inform Dr. Paul to come down for delivery.

Time zoomed by after Dr Paul got into the labour ward. Put on his gown, gloves and the pushing started. Okay, deep breath in, push~ doing great! pushing very well. Rest. laughs at something the nurse said.. Another push! Wait wait, hold! Okay, push!! Push!! PUSH!! Out came our little girl.

"Wow! Big baby, maybe around 4.5kg", said Dr. Paul.
"4.535kg!", the nurse confirmed.

Welcome to our family, Louise Chang.

Father's Day 2015

Colin was unwell during the last week of school and didn't manage to make father's day gift. So I decided to make something for our awesome father while he napped...

Colin was  very excited when I told him that we were going to make something for daddy.

Things Colin says...

Me: Colin, where is meimei?
Colin: In your tummy. Why you trap meimei inside?
Me: (^_^')

Me: Colin, babies can't talk. They only cry... so meimei can't talk yet when she comes out okay?
Colin: What's wrong with meimei?

Dad: Shall we go get your hair cut today?
Colin: No!
Dad: Can grandpa cut your hair?
Colin: No.
Dad: Grandma?
Colin: No!
Me: Mummy?
Colin: No.
Me: So who can cut your hair?
Colin: ...... Nobody!

Our little girl

So I told Dr Paul our little girl's head is back up... and it was! Amazing how you managed to turn back up at 39 weeks almost immediately after he turned your head down. He said your had your reasons for turning back up.

He perform another ECV and instructed me to sleep on my right.
I asked whether it was an option to induce after doing an ECV.. Apparantly induction was a better option if my cervix was opened.. but.. sadly.. it was closed!

So we were thrown 3 options to consider.. Induction if your head is still down, vaginal breech or c-section breech.

See you in another 3 days Louise!

Our Numerology

Daddy's

Mummy's

Colin's

Overstayer

Where are you our little Louise? It's your estimated due date today.. mummy's tummy is soooooooooo stretched! Come out and say hi to us soon!

ECV by Dr Paul Tseng

Brought Colin to meet Louise via ultrasound scan at gynae's today.

Dr Paul Tseng usually don't scan towards the end of the pregnancy cause the appointments were just 1 week apart and really, there isn't much to see anyway.

But because Colin  was around, we decided to scan... only to find out that this little Louise managed to somersault in my tummy and got her head up against my ribs after 2 weeks of being head down! Her weight is quite impressive too @ 3.4kg (39 weeks). Her heartbeat was much faster time @ 160+. Her usual was 140+. I told hubs it's  because this girl knows she's gonna get caught for going back to breech position.

Dr Paul immediately check the location of everything (placenta, umbilical cord, baby position) and performed a External Cephalic Version (ECV) before I could ask "What's next?". He told me to inform him if it was too painful to bear. It did hurt, but bearable.. more like discomfort than anything else. At some point it was ticklish. :P He scanned again to confirm the location of head when done, and also listened to the heartbeat to ensure no distress. Cool.

I seriously recommend him to anyone who is pro-natural. Best Dr ever!!

The scales for me read 68.9kg.. My weight gain so far is almost 20kg.. where did all weight come from?!

Dinosaurs Exhibit at Plaza Singapura

It's  school holiday and that means bringing the boy out more often during the weekends! Many shopping malls held dinosaur exhibits in conjunction with the launch of Jurassic World movie on 11 June. It's  perfect for Colin cause he loves dinosaurs! I asked him a few times if he wants to see dinosaur (OneKM) or dinosaur bones (Plaza Singapura). His choice was the latter. And so we went to Plaza Singapura!

He spent at least 15 minutes in the sand pit digging for fossils. Was surprised the fussy fingers him didn't mind the sand! :P An overall enjoyable experience for him (and us).

Full Term with Little Louise

We are ready to meet you, little Louise! This was how mummy looked like with you @ 38 weeks. Dr. Paul Tseng said you have a pair of long legs.

Everything was up 1 size for this pregnancy. More nausea and hunger episodes. My tummy showed earlier and was bigger overall. Weight wise.. heavier! Was almost 66kg with Colin @ week 40, but already at 69kg with this little girl @ week 38. This time I could feel myself bloating up more as well; rings, shoes and clothes were tighter. I even outgrew some of my maternity dresses. :S Medical bills also went up cause I opted for 1 bedder this time round (didn't have a very peaceful experience the last time in 2 bedder), and gynae delivery fees were raised too due to increase in dr's insurance or something.

Amidst all the money spent (and will be spending), I'm thankful for a supportive husband who does his best to be there for me every appointment. Don't know how challenging having 2 kids will be for us but we'll get by somehow by God's grace. One step at a time!  :D

Discharged from NDC

2 years after your fateful fall, you're finally discharged from National Dental Centre!

Your dentist, Dr. Lai Wen Pui Bien, handled you very well.. Glad she left the decision making to us when deciding what to do with your joker slit at the left corner of your mouth.

Pleas take good care of your remaining milk teeth!

Colin's 3rd birthday

COLIN TURNS THREE!

Yes! Happy 3rd birthday to our dearest Colin boy! Time flies! Mummy made the banners for your and daddy helped to put it up!

You requested for triceratops birthday cake which was impossible to buy off the shelves. Mummy had to order a cake and specially requested for the cake toppings to be removed. Went to the toy store to buy little dinosaurs to place on top! :) You were very happy when you saw your cake!

You were a little apprehensive when everyone started singing birthday song for you...

Then started to enjoy the attention and got cheeky!

After the song finished, you went forward to blow the candles without prompting. We didn't even had the chance to ask you to make a wish! The flames went off in a single blow..

Our precious cheeky boy with his cake and new dinosaur toys by the side. Oh, mummy got your a dinosaur shirt too~ ROAR!

Just you and mummy while daddy gets the knife.

You and cousin Alexis mei mei. It's amazing to see how you 2 like each other so much. You will ask mei mei to drink water and take good care of her. Is it a big brother thing? :D We hope you will be this nice to Louise mei mei too!

We got you 2 matching sunglasses! So adorable!

Group picture with mummy's friends who babysit you pretty often. We are glad you like them too!

As you enter into the 4th year of your life, we hope you'll continue to grow up healthy and happy. These are the 2 most important things in life..

Birthday trip to the Zoo!

As usual, you requested to head to the zoo when we asked you where you would like to go. We got there at 10 plus in the morning and let you decide what you wanted to see that day. You picked rhinoceros, hippopotamus and elephants. We saw the crocodiles, zebras, lions, sea lions, white tigers and animal show along the way. Since it was your birthday trip to the zoo, daddy let you ride the pony and the carousel!

You were really excited to go for the pony ride, so excited you ran off to the ticketing counter yourself to buy your pony ride ticket. I had a hard time managing you while waiting for your turn to go onto the pony since patience is not something you’ve quite mastered yet. You hopped onto the pony without hesitation and went for your round. Daddy and mummy are still very puzzled why you were more afraid of kiddy rides. Isn’t a real animal more scary?

On our way out you wanted to ride the shark on the carousel, we managed to persuade daddy to let you go on the ride. Again, you ran off by yourself to the ticketing counter to buy tickets. You decided to sit on the dolphin in the end though! It was very difficult to spot mummy when you went round and round and round.. haha

You were a happy boy until the ride ended. Not because the ride ended, but because you realised there was your favourite dinosaur triceratops, and you did not get to sit on it. Too devastating for your little heart to handle. A passerby asked you why you were crying and your brushed her away rudely said “Go away!”.

You managed to cool down after a while.. in fact, quite a while… and the happy boy came back! We didn't manage to see the Koalas cause the queue was about 45mins, plus you've already seen koalas in Taiwan Zoo.

You slept on the way home and woke up just in time for your favourite food - cheeseburger from McDonald’s!

 Dear Colin, not everything will go according to your plans/ways/wants in life. We hope that you will learn to balance your expectations and deal with disappointments when it comes. May you grow up strong on the outside (already are) and inside!


========================
Singapore Zoo tops our 'to-go' list cause it's a big area for Colin to run around, look at the animals. Sometimes we just head straight to a particular show and back, other times to the Kidzworld for Colin to interact with farm animals and play at the water playground. We signed up for membership a year ago and have been visiting the zoo every month!

Taiwan Tourist Shuttle Bus

We get a lot of queries from our friends who are travelling to Taipei.

I'll always introduce the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle Bus. Basically you pay NT$50 for a day pass and it allows you to hop on and the bus along the planned route. What we did previously was to get off to explore, be back at the bus stop before the scheduled arrival (think it was hourly interval), and move off to next destination..

Here's the link!
http://en.taiwantrip.com.tw/

Mother's day 2015

Colin 'made' this for mummy! :)

Naughty Chair

One very fine day.. Colin told us about his day.

Colin: Teacher Margaret made me sit on the naughty chair today.
Me: Were you a naughty boy?
Colin: Yes.
Me: What did you do?
Colin: *silence*

After another school day..

Me: Did Teacher Margaret make you sit on the naughty chair today?
Colin: Yes.
Me: Do you sit on the naughty chair everyday?
Colin: Yes.
Us: *laughs*

This kid. Seriously funny! :D

Colin takes pictures

My dad gave Colin a cheap camera to play around.. first he asked me to take pictures of him...

Cheeeeeeeeseeeeeee!

Then I asked him if he would like to take pics of mummy too. Taught him to take pictures with my old phone (Samsung Galaxy S3) and here's his master piece! :D 

By Colin Chang

His winning picture!

Mummy Kam @ 32 weeks with little Louise