Jared's ambition

Out of the blue in the afternoon earlier, Jared said "I want to be a farmer."

(@_@)**

WHY?????????

And it was all because he wanted to drive the tractor...

Kids.

So I said to him, I didn't want him to be a farmer. And being quite silly myself and because Barney was on, I said "I really don't want you to be a farmer. I want you to be Barney."

This was met with the most interesting reply.

"But I can't be Barney. Look, I'm not purple!"

:)

And they don't tell you much what happens to your BODY after...

This entry is going to deviate from the norm.

So, seriously, someone should write in ALL pregnancy books 'What to expect AFTER you have kids'.

My body has somehow changed to what it wasn't like before. To quote a dear friend during a lunch meet last week, she said that whenever she looks at herself in the mirror, there's the greatest urge to 'bish' herself. Well, the same goes here.

I seriously dread looking at myself in the mirror, with clothes or without! There are bulges every where, loose skin, wobbly bits and the worst of the lot? My south-going boobs!!! No one ever told me before I had children that after you stop breastfeeding, your precious orbs go south! I can't 'encourage' ;) it to come back up north. It simply follows gravity and heads where I hate it to. If anyone knows of some exercises where I can get them back nice and perky, pleasssse, I implore you, do share!

Though I know that I ought to exercise and exercise caution to the amount of food I take and the kinds of food I eat, it is no doubt a difficult task. Reducing the amount of food, I can. Exercising has gotten me though. With three kids to handle, I simply do not have the time to go to the gym or go running with GG like I previously could. So the plan now is to resume my gym workout, but we'll just have to bring the boy along with us. We plan to exercise, and he'll stay at the sitting area to play with the cars/trains or read. Someone ought to run a gym place with some kids' corner. That'll be a hit with parents who are hardpressed to find time to go exercise.

So for now, I'll just try to eat less and exercise by lifting the kids and running after them in the park (weather permitting) or pay good money to 'exercise' with them at Fidgets.

By the way Jaime, I'll be trying extremely hard to show as much perseverance as you have! :)

Dec 06 Toddlers' Gathering

It's been so long since I last wrote in my blog. Much has happened and today, I'm suddenly overtaken by this urge to enter some entries and photos.

Last week, I met up with some of the December 06 mummies and their toddlers. Most of whom I've met previously except Lillian (with her very handsome Ewan) and Sylvia (with beautiful, tech-savvy and soft-spoken Regina).

Kei (with Mandy and Barry) and I (with Nat) were the very first ones to arrive at New York New York so we managed to 'chope' 2/3 of the high chairs available (there were only a pathetic THREE) in the WHOLE restaurant: not very child friendly isn't it?

So anyway, this was what happened after both todds were done with their lunch...

I think Mandy will be the better waitress. She was ernest in cleaning and took initiative to clean the chair even. Nat was just too distracted to do a proper job...

Even though I've owned this camera for about 2 years, I still don't know how to take nice pics with it. Under this lighting, most of the images appeared blurred.

Cute cute Barry! But where did all that 'stylo-milo' hair go to??????? KEI! WHYYYYYYYY?????



Mandy with her 爱心牌 stir-fry thick vermicelli.



Tech-savvy Regina taking pictures. She was really pro for a tiny todd. I regret not taking of picture of Natalie trying to take pictures. She was really 'orhbit'! Put the camera at her forehead to take... Oh dear! Have I raised a bimbo???



Chubby and cute Annette taking pictures too. And note that she's also doing it the CORRECT way.


Little miss sunshine Annette.



Regina and Nat were born on the same day. Any resemblance??

The Girls-only Circle of Friendship. Poor Ewan was left out...


Doesn't Annette look terribly sweet with that smile of hers? We all love, love, loved it!

Nothing to do whilst the adults were chatting, so Mandy sat at the ledge and soon, all the girls followed suit. Cuteeeeee!

Except for the same kinda hairstyle, Nat is NOTHING like the sweet and gentle Regina. However, no matter how feisty she is, she'll always be my little darling and I love her all the same! MUAKS!

Recharged!

I read in a magazine, 'Forget the post-sex glow, it's now the post-sleep glow!'

And I'm on a post-sleep glow now because Cadence is now able to sleep through the night, I've got a new haircut that I adore (GG and Jared doesn't though...) and yesterday, I met up with my msn kakis for a long dim sum lunch and a karaoke session. God! I seriously can't remember when was the last time I sang a tune in a karaoke joint. And we were able to carry out adult conversations sans kids! Like Jamie said, we were speaking just like how we speak on msn too! 你一句我一句, not sure who's listening to who just we just yakked on! Such fun!!! I think we absolutely have to do it more more often.

Lots to say

I've so much I want to say yet have so little time these days.

I've so many pictures I've uploaded, yet all become saved to drafts because I have so little time...

It is at times like this that I wish I hadn't had kids yet and can relish all the time I have to myself.

A heartbreaking moment...

There will be no pictures for this post.

Of late, Jared has been rather trying yet at the same time, somewhat sensible. And because of this weird phase that he is going through, it puts a toll on his caregivers as well. Namely, me, GG and my mum.

We were leaving my mum's place for my home just now and Jared didn't want us to go. I opened the bedroom door and came out, Natalie followed suit and Jared was in the room still but wanted to close the door. Upon seeing that Jared wanted to close the door, Natalie retaliated and pushed it back. She was naturally not strong enough and Jared insisted on pushing the door and shutting it. So there they were, creating a huge ruckus with one wanting to shut the door and one wanting it to be left open. Natalie yelled and cried, Jared simply continued pushing with all his might.

I told him very nicely (in the beginning) to stop his act but it fell on deaf ears. Then it got to a moment when Natalie almost fell off that I really raised my voice and shouted at him.

"WILL YOU CUT IT OUT AND STOP PLAYING WITH THE DOOR???!?!?!?"

He simply stopped and pursed his lips as he so often like to do these days (looks really horrible by the way).

"I'VE TOLD YOU SO MANY TIMES NOT TO PLAY WITH THE DOOR. AND NATALIE IS THERE. DO YOU WANT HER FINGERS TO GET CAUGHT???"

I then pulled/yanked him away from the door rather forcefully and sat him on the mattress. By then, after shouting, I kinda cooled down slightly and told him that I had no wish to shout at him and that I did not understand why he simply did not want to listen to my instructions.

All this while when I spoke to him, his back was facing me. So I turned him round and saw that his eyes were red and that he was trying his best to hold back his tears and he was starting to sniffle. I then put him on my lap and told him that I had no wish to shout at him at all. I also explained why I shouted at him, why he shouldn't keep pushing the door against Natalie. And while I was explaining to him, I was tearing and when I finished with my explanation and told him to hug, he turned around, buried his face in my chest then started bawling.

I can't describe how I felt then. It was a mixture of guilt, sadness and anger all rolled into one.

He is only three this year. How sensible was I expecting him to be? And I'm not sure if it's the hormones or something but I get short with him so easily. I snapped at him when all he wanted to do was to come close and kiss his baby sister, I scolded him when all he wanted was for me to carry him because I've not been able to do so for the longest time.

It is at times like this I wish I had just one child. Then, I'd be able to devote all my time to him and not subject him to divided attention so soon. This is not to say I don't love the girls and regret having them... Things just happened too quickly, too soon...

He is starting to be able to display his unhappiness by sulking and moving away to a corner now. The only good thing is, he tends to forget it quickly enough and I always make it a point to explain to him why I reacted the way I did. We also don't leave the unhappiness lurking around so after I calm down and he does too, we'll hug and kiss.

I've so much to learn as a parent and much to pray for later: patience, more love and to be more level-headed.

Sept '08 Mums and Babes Gathering

Recently, I brought Cadence to attend a gathering to meet the rest of the babies her age group. Initially, I was a bit apprehensive about going since she shouldn't be exposed to crowds because she has not taken her jabs yet, plus, I'd have to travel to Bishan with her myself since GG was at work. After much contemplation, I decided to go anyway since I do so wanna meet the rest of the mummies and put a face to the nicks.

The gathering was scheduled for 1-ish and I kinda planned to wake early enough (at about 11), so that I can bring Cadence over to my mum's and bathe her there and prepare everything before leaving the house at about 12 plus to either take a cab or mrt (was really gearing towards the former). However, on that day itself, I woke up at 1.30pm!! I quickly fed Cadence, packed, changed and was gonna rush out when GG phoned to ask me where I was! Thank goodness for his phone call. Well, in the end, he came home and joined us in the gathering. So that saved me much agony of carrying Cadence and her bag of stuff.

Some pictures we took at the gathering.

The babies and mummies were all labelled for easy identification. Clever ya??

The mummies told me that Cadence doesn't look that small for a preemie. I must say I was initially worried that she'd be like the tiniest there despite being one of the oldest. She slept throughout the whole gathering and didn't wake up once despite some of the babies wailing away. She must be well-trained by Jared and Natalie at home!

That's all of us at the gathering. I wonder when we can all meet again. Perhaps when the babies can flip?