baby — mamawearpapashirt

33 and a baby

June 12, 2013 25 Comments

Dear baby in my womb,

Mummy turned 33 this week, and you’re probably the best birthday gift I can ever think of having.

Granted, news of you nearly made me fall off the chair (or to be precise, the toilet bowl). And news of you nearly made daddy, who was valiantly fighting “tigers and lions” in the jungles of Taiwan and fulfilling his national call of duty, almost require medic attention and a heli-evacuation to base camp.

But as the dust settles, we have managed to find our joy and purpose, and smile as we brace ourselves to re-enter into this baby season of life. Third time round.

(And for the record, this has got to be the last time we hit the baby button.)

Mummy has been busying myself acting like a scrap collector, re-collecting all the baby items I had gleefully given away over the past 12 months, thinking to myself, “goodbye and good riddance.”

Our storeroom is as bare as I’ve ever seen it before, well…and probably as it’ll ever be again.

Daddy is busy making arrangements to the house. We are finally going to move into the master bedroom, and ship your big bro and sis out into a proper kiddy room (almost).

Oh yes, speaking of your older siblings, I suppose you’ve already heard them laughing, talking, crying, and yelling. You’re probably wondering who they are and how fun it’ll be to play with them. I can assure you they’re heaps of fun, a little crazy and over-the-top, but cute and cuddly on most days. They won’t bite or pinch or bully you, and we will do our best to ensure you’re safe in their company.

Vera already has practice so she should be even better since it’s her second-time. Btw she hopes you’re a girl because “boys are noisy and naughty and dirty.”

Meanwhile, mummy is well, no morning sickness, no cravings, just hungry all the time.

My brain has been going into overdrive, trying to refocus on all those historical (hysterical?) baby moments, and call them back into proper shape and form, so as to better prepare for your arrival in…countdown, 28 weeks’ time.

But don’t worry, if all else fails, I have girlfriends on standby 24/7 with onhand and up-to-date professional baby and boobie knowledge.

You are in safe hands. So don’t worry. Let mummy and daddy do the worrying. (Yup, financials, house rearrangement, carer support, and other boring things…)

You just sit tight until it’s time to come out, i.e., 1st Jan 2014.

And if you ever feel tired of lazing around in your watery bubble bag, you can ponder over my favourite psalm of the day.

For He created your inmost being;
He knit you together in my womb.
I praise Him because you are fearfully and wonderfully made;
His works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

I think that psalm was written for you.

Love you sweetie…We can’t wait to meet you in person…

mummee

Filed Under: Motherhood, Oh, baby baby, Pregnancy Tagged With: baby, Letters, unborn child

Sand play

January 14, 2013 6 Comments

Javier loves sand. He digs sand. He smacks sand. He tickles sand. He throws sand. And when we aren’t looking…

He eats sand.

And then he grimaces in a mixture of disgust and delight.

We spent the first day of the new year, a bright and sunny morning, at the old choo-choo train playground at Tiong Bahru. Javier was a little young to bother that the playground had this trusty brown train right smack in the middle. His eyes were only for the sand.

Which I guess is pretty normal. Experiencing different textures and exploring using the sense of touch is an important daily ritual of childhood. There he was, so mesmerised by this odd thing called sand. It seems to fit into any bucket, regardless of its shape or size. When you overturn the bucket, it falls out, in one messy heap. (Hmm, a bit like life at times.)

He looks like he could sit here forever…

“Come join me! This is fun!”

Here are some other fun tactile play activities for toddlers:

jelly of different shapes in a tray
goop (cornstarch mixed with water)
ice-cubes
cold cooked spaghetti
playdough
tickling with a feather
finger painting
balloon filled with water

Do you like tactile play with your little ones too?

Filed Under: Bringing up boys, Learning is fun Tagged With: baby, playground, sand, tactile play

Am I the coolest dude in the world?

December 7, 2012 14 Comments

Is this little man the coolest dude in the world or what? Okay, this mum is perfectly biased or totally delirious, and on top of that, she’s also got a serious case of the love bug.

Little Javier is little no more. I’m seriously missing his little-ness, if you know what I mean. (At this point, I thank God that all my good friends are in various stages of popping babies, so I know I will have no lack of babies to play with in the present as well as not so distant future.)

He spent his first days in childcare this week, and I’ve been totally blown over and away. I expected tears and mush and mucus everywhere. I expected bloody Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. But there was no mess, though quite a fair bit of mush. (Yes, mama’s pretty mushy when it comes to such separation-type affairs.)

He’s been cool. So cool that when his daddy waved byebye while he was tucking into his bowl of cereal at school that morning, he barely batted an eyelid…

This boy has totally out-shone his mum in coolness quotient. (Yes, I was a bit of a nervous wreck, thanks very much. Didn’t help that my heart felt like a ton of bricks.)

Go on, give my darling little man a super high-five! And happy weekend from us all.

Filed Under: Bringing up boys Tagged With: adaptable, baby, childcare, cool dude

The dreaded four-letter word – H.F.M.D.

June 22, 2012 3 Comments

It began with red bumps on tiny fingers.

Blisters. Ugly and sore.

Red spots on feet.

Baby Javier.

Uh-oh.

All these signs sounded the warning bells off in my head. Could it be the dreaded H-F-M-D?

I checked Javier’s mouth, and I couldn’t spot any ulcers. He seemed generally fine, except a tad crankier and he kept rubbing his hands together, which I guess is due to the itch.

No fever. (Whew.) But what was it?

It was a busy Sunday at the doctor’s and appointments were already full. So I made an appointment for the next day, and we kept a close watch on him. By the end of the day, the spots on the feet were bigger and redder, and small red dots had appeared on his face.

Through the day, different possibilities crossed my mind — chicken pox, allergy, bug bites — everything that a paranoid mum can think of.

Monday came. As it was a work day for me, my mum brought him to the doctor.

He said: It’s not HFMD. But he’s got sensitive skin and he may have come into contact with something nasty in the past one or two days. Do you remember if he touched anything out of the ordinary?

Mum: We brought him to the park to play, and I think he touched the grass and plants. Erm…and I think I forgot to wash his hands after.

The doctor then explained that the grass in the park may have been sprayed with insecticide or other chemicals, and that could have been the cause of the skin irritation.

Our takeaway for the day? Another four-letter word…

W-A-S-H…our hands.

Poor Javier had to bear the consequences of our negligence. Thankfully, it wasn’t anything nearly as serious or painful as HFMD. The blisters on his fingers cleared up over the next two days, though there are a few lingering spots on his face.

Still, we learnt some important lessons. Never take our children’s health for granted. And always wash their dirty hands and feet.

So here’s a little ditty dedicated to kids (and parents and grandparents) to remember the important of washing hands…

(sung to the tune of the happy birthday song)

Wash hands well each day

To keep germs away

Scrub with soap and water

And be on your way!

PS. If you want to help your child learn the song, check out the YouTube video of the Happy Handwashing Song.

Filed Under: Health Tagged With: baby, feet, hands, HFMD, wash

It’s my party, I can roar if I want to

June 3, 2012 11 Comments

We had a roaring good time last weekend celebrating Javier’s birthday. It was a simple party, just as we like it. We didn’t spend much on decor at all. In fact, we just grabbed letters off our ABC mat and stuck them onto a cupboard to make a photo-spot. The hubby also used the kids’ favourite building blocks to make the number ’1′.

Here’s a shot of the birthday boy with godma and godpa.

Okay, we did decide to splash out on a nice centrepiece birthday cake though. We ordered this fondant cake from pink ginger by nee (thanks Evelyn for recommending!) and had it customised to only feature roaring animals, in line with the theme. I think we got it at a reasonable price, and the orange flavour cake base was light and refreshing, with an added oomph from the chocolate filling in between the slices. (I found the fondant a little too tough for my liking, though at least it wasn’t too sweet.)

For food, we had awesome mee siam made by our family-friend who does some catering on the side. She also gave us some fantastic tapioca kueh (really soft and melts in your mouth). Also, we had grandma’s curry with some bread sticks.( As in our own grandma cooked the curry, not the brand name of the curry, LOL.) My preggie friends really liked this one, and are already inviting themselves to my house the next time curry happens. =P

For the kids, we ordered Dad’s shepherd’s pie, and sushi rolls from Sakae. Of course, their main course was really…the birthday cake, with the cute fondant animals as mere appetizers. All in all, we had good food, and most of all, great company. Here is where I would like to honour the people who have been so precious in Javier’s life, and also in our family’s.

♥ Granny and god-granny who lovingly and sacrificially help us with the kids

♥ Fun grandparents who always put a smile on the kids’ faces

♥ Nurturing cell group who provide fellowship and great suppers!

♥ Friends who know how to have a roaring good time

♥ Girlfriends who’d stand by us any time, any day (Love this pic!)

♥ Good friends and young play-mates and oh yes fellow blogger too

♥ Erm, fashion-savvy little girls (??)

(who sneaked this photo in here?!)

Last but not least, a big thank you to godpa and godma (scroll up to first pic) for being such a blessing to the kids! (And us too!)

~~~

Why did we choose the theme, Roar? You have to watch this video to find out.

Filed Under: Family Tagged With: baby, birthday, customised cake

Conversations with a sand surfer dude

April 30, 2012 2 Comments

Finally, after like what, 10 months outta the womb, and NOW I get to play with some sand?

Seriously, mama, couldn’t you have gotten me some of this stuff earlier?

Geez, you urban parents are really party-poopers. I mean, what are toys when you can give me the whole world??

Are you sure you don’t wanna play with me?

Where’s jie-jie [big sister] by the way? What?! She thinks the sand is too dirty? I can’t believe it! She’s such a princess!

Man, I really dig this (pardon the pun). Hmm, I wonder how deep this stuff goes…

I sure hope I can find my treasure before the sun goes down. (Come dig with me, mama!)

Filed Under: Oh, baby baby Tagged With: baby, play, sand, thoughts

Where in the world did my baby go?

March 8, 2012 8 Comments

Dear baby J,

This is my second letter to you. (But who’s counting anyway.)

I was prompted to write this one evening after our usual bedtime nursing session. I looked down at you as you lay peacefully drifting off to sleep, and I thought to myself:

Where in the world did my baby go?

You spent 9 peaceful months in the womb, and now it’s been 9 months in the great and wild outdoors. I know you’re having the time of your life — exploring places on all fours with that focused leopard crawl of yours, finding leverage on anything to lift yourself onto your twos, and emptying out every little drawer or container in the house. Oh and let’s not forget, terrorizing your grandma and bullying her into carrying you around for the other parts of the day. While your everyday smile, that wide-eyed cheeky boyish grin, remains, the baby part of you — your gummy grins, your botak head, your vulnerability and your soft folds of skin — is fast vanishing.

I almost sound like I’m craving for another baby, but trust me I’m not. I’m just wishing we could rewind time to a couple months back.

Not that I would do anything differently, even if that really happened.

Except maybe

I would linger more,

not rush about as much,

leave a bit of shopping undone,

just to be with you.

And watch you grow.

Not too long now till you start zipping about on your twos, demanding for your rights and entitlements in the form of fun or yummy goods, running around and having a whale of a time with your sister…and I know that there’ll be wonderful things to look forward to, to discover and delight in together.

But for now, will you excuse me for staring at you a little bit longer than usual…I just need to savour you in the present.

That’s all.

Love, mama.

Filed Under: Motherhood, Oh, baby baby Tagged With: baby, growing, missing, time