Alvan's full month celebration

Haha.... This post is looooong overdue!! My Alvan is about 4-1/2 months old now, and this post is to blog about his full month celebration... Another reason is, the photos were uploaded to WL's PC rather then my laptop, therefore the delay... LOL... me & my excuses for not updating my blog on time! :p

This is our 3rd full month celebration, did not intend to have a big celebration actually, but as we received quite a lot of red packets from our relatives, therefore came this invite! Anyway, we thought our friends may find it boring to come for 'another' full-month celebration from us, so this party is a mini one...

As usual, the kids enjoy themselves more... and I had ordered balloons just for the fun of it! :p  Ehm... I forgot to the take the picture of the balloons using the camera... LOL...

Here's our VIP for the day!!! Presenting Mr. Alvan Phang... in a romper suite bought by 婆婆!!

And, I did the designing of the banner myself and send for printing... which am happy and proud of! :p

Here's the pictures taken with our immediate families only... No time for photoshots with our guests! :)

Oh no, Ashley did have a picture taken with "her" guests (Keelia Lee & Amber Chew)... haha...

And, here's all presents & ang-baos for our Baby Alvan....

Adwin's right arm in cast!!

I had been pretty 'suay' (unlucky) recently!

First, my first maid, Maida Grace told me on 11 April that she wants to go back home to continue her studies!! And it's on the same day she request she flew back!! And in an instant, am maid less!!

To add on to my misery, adwin had a small fall in school and ended up in a cast!! His fall was really was small one and we did not expect it to be so serious especially when he only complain of pain at the wrist but during the night, I can see that he dare not move his whole right arm and that's when we decide to bring him to KKH the next day for a check!

The PD was not able to find anything amiss in the right wrist X-ray and thus after some examination on his right arm, decided to take X-ray on his elbow! The PD pointed to an area which he says is swollen and a minor hairline crack, and decided to put him in a cast for a week till his review with a orthopedic next Tuesday.

One lucky thing for me is, we managed to confirm another new maid at the agency the next day and will have to wait for 6-8 weeks before she comes.

All the best for me for the following weeks being maid less!!!

Alvan first playdate with other Dec 2011 babies

I finally managed to be able to join the other Dec 2011 mummies for a lunch last Friday, 30 Mar, at Shangri-la hotel for a high tea at the Rose Veranda.

All mummies who saw Alvan was full of surprise!! How did my Alvan who's been only drinking mummy's breast milk to be such a strong boy with a pair of super yummy thighs!! Haha... And as of that day, Alvan weight 9kg!! I did enjoy myself cos at least we do have some common topics on baby's progress.

I seriously do not know why and how Alvan's weight is picking up so fast! As compared to Ashley and Adwin, he did put on more and much faster!

Here's a summary of his weight:
- at birth: 3.63kg
- 1 month: 5.4kg
- 2 month: 7.5kg
- 3 month: 8.77kg
- 3 month 3 weeks: 9.4kg

Alvan first public transport ride

Mummy finally found the courage to bring me in her sling and took bus and train to town for the baby fair at taka and meet my daddy there for shopping!!!

Before we board the bus, I had fallen asleep in mummy's sling! And lucky a nice Aunty gave up her seat for mummy and me, as I was sound asleep!! But an uncle next to me was talking on his mobile that woke me up!! Lucky I managed to go into Lala land again before we reach orchard!!

The 3 men in the house...

Here's a nice shot of the 3 men in the house...

CNY cookies

Pardon my messy postings... Am trying to post my missing entries based on the photos in my iPhone... Haha...

As I am on maternity leave during this CNY and with a maid, I had been looking for recipes to make some CNY cookies this year!! And managed to squeezed out some time to bake while baby is napping away!!

It was really fun and first time we have lots of cookies to eat!! My kids favorite is the butter cookies and fried arrowroots!! Adwin's another favorite is the pineapple tarts!! And I found a real easy recipe for peanut cookies too!! Easy and tasty!! Hope I can do more next year!! LOL...

Ashley's graduating concert

This is the first time I had to miss my kids performance! And this performance is a much anticipated one that I had been waiting for, but baby Alvan decided to make his presence on the same day of the performance!!! Argh... The reason why am so excited to watch the performance, as it's Ashley's graduating concert, also the last concert before she goes into another milestone in her growing stage!

Anyway, I can't do much if baby decides to be born on this day!

Alvan's first visit to the beach

It's been a long long time since we bring the kids to the beach! And since the weather is good and we are finally free on a Sunday, WL decides to bring the family to East Coast!! And of cos, this would be the first visit for Alvan!

It feels really good to be relaxing and enjoy the sea breeze, been a long while since we enjoy a relaxing Sunday!!

Had wanted to give a try on the big bicycle, dunno what it's known as!! We can all ride in it!! But the weather was turning bad, so have to leave before we get caught in the rain!! Hope to find another Sunday to ride on it!!

Alvan at 2 months old...

Here's some pictures of Alvan at 2 months old... He's beginning to smile and he likes to chat with familiar faces. Its such a joy to my baby grow... Cos I think I really missed out the growing years of my 2 other precious! Am so eager to see Alvan's other milestones!!

CNY 2012 -- Year of the Dragon

This year's Lunar New Year is pretty early, 22 Jan is the first day of CNY... Year of the Dragon!!

As usual, we had our first reunion lunch with my family a day before the Eve of CNY...  Always looking forward to reunion meals, especially the 'lo-hei'!!  And as the kids grow up, our meal time are getting noisier, I guess next year will be noisier as Alvan would be 1 year old + next CNY and he would be chasing his siblings and cousins around too!!

I managed to get this Father & sons top/romper for WL and the 2 boys, but Adwin refused to wear!! So... here's the pic of Father & son wearing the same design top! Nice???...  :p

Adwin's top was chosen by himself when we brought the family to Chinatown for shopping, he loves this Pink top!! Insisted wearing even when we tried hard to persuade him to wear the same top as WL and Alvan!! But he does looks nice in it!! haha... Love his smile here!! :)

Ashley looks a big girl here... As she enters Primary 1 this year, it's a challenging year for Ashley, as well as us, the parent... always making sure she's ready for school and coaching her to do her homework, making sure she understands the topic the teacher had taught her, driving them to enrichment classes, etc...

Photo of mummy?? Ehm... maybe the next time... as I am still trying to lose the weight I gain during pregnancy!!  Finding it tougher to lose the weight this time... guess age is an important factor!! Haha... Happy Lunar New Year!!!! Cheers!! :)

Our 3rd new addition

Our 3rd new addition to the family, baby Alvan, is here on 10 Dec 2011!! He decided to arrive a week earlier than the EDD, 16 Dec, given by doc KT Tan.

This labour started very differently from my previous 2! I started my day with a giddy head!! Little did I expect myself to vomit in the noon after we left the house for lunch and to collect the birthday cake for Adwin's 4th birthday celebration in the childcare! Giddy spell was still with me and after I mentioned to my sis, her reply was a shock to me!! LOL... She say her ex-colleague was in labour after she complained of giddy head and vomiting too!! Upon hearing this, I decided to give KKH a call, ask-a-nurse service! And upon hearing my situation, the nurse advise was, please come to the delivery suite for us to monitor you!! It was only 5:15pm then, so I asked WL to buy back the kids and maid's dinner so we can proceed to KKH for them to monitor!

Upon reaching KKH at 7pm, the delivery suite, I was being led into the monitoring area to monitor baby's heartbeat and my contractions! An hour and the half later, the doc came in and read my CTG chart, commented that the baby's heartbeat was not very active, though of the normal range, and am experiencing regular contractions! So, I need to be admitted for further monitoring! This admission was into the delivery ward, which was really unexpected, as we were thinking of going for dinner after the monitoring!! LOL...

By the time am on the bed in the delivery ward, it's 8:30pm! And, am already 3cm dilated!!! Therefore, doc KT Tan was informed and she appeared around 9:30pm to check on me and break my waterbag!! So, baby Alvan will be out on 10 Dec!!

Following the burst of my waterbag, is the administer of the epidural!! Afterwhich, I can rest till the dilation is full for me to give my final push for baby to come out!!

At about 2:15am, the nurses were getting in and out of my ward, checking for my dilation, which was about 7cm only, but the CTG on baby heartbeat was dropping, so they were abit worried. And I was asked to stay in the left side position to hasten my dilation so baby can be out soon! By 2:45am, nurse concluded that I am ready!! And she went to inform doc Tan, whom had been resting upstairs since she checked on me at 9pm+, afraid that she may not make it in time for my delivery, since its my 3rd one! After all the necessary preparations are done and doc Tan appearance, I was asked to push!! I must say this is a fast delivery and baby Alvan was out at 3:03am!!! Weighing 3.63kg and 50cm long...

Presenting baby Alvan....

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Our first Flyer trip in 2011 & MBS visit...

This is our first Flyer visit since our last Friend of the Flyer membership expired in mid 2010?  And we are surprised that it can changed quite abit along the walkway from the main entrance to the flyer capsule... And the information displayed is much more informative as compared to the last which was nothing but view of the surroundings...  And the kids were really happy and we had sign up another year of Friend of the Flyer membership again!! Haha... Why?  Cos the single entry tickets we are going to pay is almost the same as the membership price!! And as we were expired members, they allow to add 2 more adults to the family membership and instead of 12 mths, it's extended with extra of 4-6mths (*sorry, memory failing me & I really can't recall... haha...)

And first storey had been converted to a food court known as Singapore Food Trail (路边摊)... They tried to bring in all the popular food in Singapore here, but the standard is not truly there... :(   But I guess it's a good try for visitors to Singapore!

After dinner, we decided to walk over to the Marina Bay Sands since the Science Museum is newly open...

Farmart & Dinner @ Kranji Farm

The kids have been asking to go feed goats after their zoo trip with the childcare and Adwin did not get a chance to feed the goat as there were too many students... So, my trade with him is, if he's able to perform properly without crying during his Tien Sia End of Term 3 performance, we will bring him to feed the goats on the next day (Saturday)!  Since he kept to his promise, so did we!! Hee hee...

We brought them to the Farmart @ Sungei Tengah, the last time we were there was like 4-5 years back with WL's buddies... Anyway, the kids really enjoyed themselves alot as there were really alot of animals for them to feed!! Goats, fishes, parrots, rabbits, frogs, turtles... And they were asking to go back again soon!! :D

I had bought 2 vouchers for dining @ Kranji Farm and this is a totally new place to us, don't think we would even drive all the way into Kranji to find this place if not for the fact that I had bought the vouchers!! Hee hee... The food served here are tasty and we love the salads, cos the serving is really HUGE, which can serves up to 2 adults actually!!  But we still managed to finish it, as the main dish is smaller when we order as a set with the salad!  But the kids didn't not quite enjoy their pasta!!...  The dish they enjoyed most is the dessert!!  Brownies with ice-cream!!  Nice place to dine in, serene and peaceful... totally away from the city and urban area that we are in daily....

Ashley's 6th Birthday

OMG... I only realised that I didn't blog about Ashley's 6th Birthday celebration here!!!  Pregnancy really makes me more forgetful.... :p  *is that a valid excuse??*

This is the last year that Ashley have her celebration in the childcare... This time WL was not able to make it to the CC celebration due to his busy schedule... But we got her a cake she selected and arranged for her birthday dinner with our 2 family members on the same day.  And I brought them Orchid Country Club, The Little O'zone playground for some playtime since after Ashley's birthday celebration, its barely 4pm...

Here's some shots from the playzone... not very nicely taken as they were so actively playing!! :p

We were lost as to where to hold her birthday dinner with the 2 families, as it's a weekday and most of us need to rush over from their workplace and some places are not able to hold so many of us... And we decided to make do with Mayim @ Northpoint since it's a place nearer to all our family members...

Ashley selected the Toy Story ice-cream cake from Swenson for her dinner celebration, as she said Toy Story is Baby Caden's favourite character... that's really sweet of her to think of her cousin even for her own birthday!!

Bottle Tree Fishing

Sorry, this is another overdue posting... LOL...

We decided to bring the kids for some kampong fishing again someday in Sept!  And I was busy prawn-fishing, cos its something I can SIT there & do nothing on! Haha...  See my prawn in the basket??... :p

As usual, the kids were busy getting themselves wet & trying to catch the long-kang fishes...

It's been a long time since we last visited Bottle Tree Village @ Yishun... And they are improving of the surroundings... more places for visitors to take pictures... :p

Adwin's first visit to the dentist

Finally managed to bring adwin for his first dental visit today!! Had only made an Appt for Ashley to visit dentist Sharon Chong cos she complain of toothache and the advise from dentist Prudence is that her first root canal tooth is infected and need to do an extraction, lucky thing is, the infection is gone after a course of anti-biotic therefore no need extraction today!! Only filling for a tooth next to the molar!! And since adwin realized he's the only one going to school, he rather choose to go dentist with us!!

But still, it was not an easy task for him to lay quietly on the dentist chair... He had cried and refused to sit up, only hugging on to me hoping dentist Sharon can see his teeth!!! After much persuasion and crying, and after showing how dirty his teeth were then he got into the chair and open his mouth with much cooperation!! You can actually see that his teeth are indeed much cleaner and whiter after the polishing!!!

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Making of 红槽

This had been something I had wanted to learn since I tasted the 红槽鸡面线 cooked by my Mother-in-law!! It's really tasty & I guess the older I gets, the more I preferred traditional dishes! Haha...

As I will be doing my 3rd confinement from mid december this year, I thought of making some  红槽 so I can get my Confinement Lady to cook for me!  And I had heard from my Mother-in-law how tedious it was in the making but still I had the thought to give it a try from the instructions from her! :p

I must say, it's not really tough, just that it takes some time to cook the 2kg of glutinous rice! Haha... As I had a small rice cooker, so it took me 3 rounds to finish cooking the 2kg of glutinous rice!!  But it's all worth the effort!! :D

Here's the ingredients (Just in case I forgot how to make 红槽 again! :p):
- 2 kg of Glutinous Rice (should have soaked in water for 2 hours prior to cooking, this is according to my grandfather-in-law)
- 2 pcs of 酒饼 (should not use the sweet ones)
- 1 pack of 红曲
The last 2 items can be bought from medical halls, but I got all the ingredients from my Mother-in-law as my Grandfather-in-law had bought them and request my Mother-in-law to make 红槽 since the chinese ghost festival is over!  Actually there are many 'rules' in the making and should not be in the process of making if it's raining, if the lady is having her period, if the lady is pregnant (**am in 25 weeks pregnant when I was making this! hahaha.... let's see HOW true are these sayings... :p) & no making in the month of Hungry Ghost festival...

Anyway, here's some photos taken by WL while am busy getting ready to mix up the ingredients:

After mixing the ingredients and all ready to be transferred to the ceramic pot I had prepared! :p

 

And here's the final product before I sealed up the pot for my 红槽 to be ready in 100 days!!! Yippee!! :)

Adwin angry with mummy....

Wow... seems like a long time I blog my entry again! :p

Let me start off with something simple first...

Adwin was angry with me last night... Reason? Due to me meeting my old friend, Huimee for dinner... haha... Amazing?  Well... the moment I stepped home, Adwin was walking out of his room with an angry face and both hands at his waist... say, "hump, I am angry with you!"... And he came forward to give me a hug... & started mumbling... "You are naughty... did not come back early and wait for us... " And I can tell he was trying really hard to control his tears, and suddenly he cried and started hugging onto me...  This feeling is so amazing... He was angry with me for coming back home late and he had to wait for me till 10:25pm before he got to see me after I dropped him and Ashley off to the childcare in the morning!!  He only stopped when WL came out from his room and asked him, "Oh, what happened? Mummy bully you?" I can only see him shaking his head... WL asked again "Since mummy is naughty tonight, shall we ask her to stand outside for the night?"  He again shake his head and look at me!  So I asked him, "ehm, you had been crying the moment I reached home, so Daddy thought I bullied you, you want me to stand outside for the night since am naughty?  And if you do not stop crying, Daddy will send me out to stand..." He stopped crying immediately and say no!

I guess all mummies will feel the sweetness if you child showed such reaction...  And I must say, I feel really blessed to be loved by Adwin... and I have to say, his love towards me is much contributed to the bonding we had from breastfeeding... I will always have this memory with me and hope he still remembers when he grow up... As I know, as the kids grow older, I will lose all the hugging and kissing from them...

Adwin's hair cut

It's been a difficult task to bring adwin for a hair cut recently and now he had insisted his hair to be cut only at the salon near to his childcare!! And after 2 failed visit to a closed salon (have no idea is it's closed for good or closed for the 2 days we went!!) he was okay to give it a try at another salon!!! Whew... And I was really surprised at how cheap they charged!! Only $3.50, even at non-member price!!! Haha...

Okay, here's some pictures I took while he's on the chair...

 

Don't ask me why he gave such an expression, cos I had no idea!!! Haha...

But he was quite upset when we left the salon... Why? As the lady didn't often him any sweets!!! And I was joking with him saying... Oh, that Aunty was naughty huh? You gave her your cutted hair but she did not give you any sweet! And he gave me a blur and funny look and answer, Yes! Haha.... Thats my adwin!!!


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Homemade chicken essence

I had heard from my last confinement lady that it's good to make our own chicken essence from home but never figure out till now!! Which is about 4 years later!! Haha...

Due to this pregnancy that I got to know another batch of Dec 2011 mummy to be from the forum, and finally I got to know exactly how to make the chicken essence!!!

I was amazed at the amount of essence that 1 kampong chicken can produce!!! And the taste is really pure chicken!! Haha... You can only understand what am saying here after tasting it!!

Here's some pictures of the final product:

 
I was really amazed at how the essence was being contained in the flipped over bowl underneath the whole chicken and after taking out the chicken pieces, you still can't see the essence!!! Haha...

This is definitely a 'dish' I will make often for myself and the family!!! The next try shall have a slice of 泡参 to make it more flavorful!!!

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My first sushi attempt

Wow! Seems like a long time since I write in my blog!! Haha...

Okay, my first attempt of making sushi at home was long time back... Here's only some pictures of my sushi making process... The final product was not taken with my iPhone, so no photos to be posted!

My ingredients of making the tamago egg...

The making of the tamago egg...

Finished product!!! Ehm, may not look nice but taste good!! At least that's what my 2 kids enjoyed!! :p

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EDD

Time for some update on my #3 pregnancy!!! This time round, I only had an appointment with my usual gynae, doc KT Tan of KKH at my week 8! Haha.. Know what to expect so didn't want to go earlier than that! And the EDD given by her is 16 Dec, which I think may change during my next visit in June! Anyway, this time round is really different from the first two times, my taste bud is really terrible and it does took me some time to figure out I can only take savory food and no sweet stuff!! Anything taken wrongly will surely spoilt the day! And the best thing is just plain crackers!! Sound so pathetic!! Even plain water is no good! It leaves my mouth feeling very metal after drinking and I also can't take Milo or anything hot sweet drinks! And this is my 9th week, I hope my next 3 weeks will pass faster!! I do not have serious morning sickness but the nausea I am feeling throughout this period of time is as bad!! And I find myself feeling tired and sleepy always!! Sad...

Anyway, from the ultra scan, doc actually saw a white image next to the baby!! And she was asking if I had bleeding or spotting before, as it could be a blood clot if I did. But no, nothing of the sort till the day I go for the checkup. So the next possibility is, this pregnancy had started off with a twin!! But somehow the other did not make it and she did not detect a heartbeat too!! Upon hearing this, I was feeling rather sad, if it's a twin, then it would have been really wonderful!!

And upon checking online, found that this is term as "disappearing twin"! And amazing thing is, the one twin that did not make it does not require any operation to remove it, it will be absorb by the mummy or the other surviving twin and will just disappear from the womb!! This is really amazing and fascinating how human body works!!!


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