Happy Nathanael:)

Nate's a happy baby and he has been doing all sorts of adorable stuff - squealing and shrieking at Ethan & Isaac to get their attention amongst other super-cute stuff.  Some recent pictures of the guy:

b.

Birthdays!

It has been a mixed week!  Being at work was really tiring coz there were a number of external meetings and running around with expressing barang-barang was so lecheh!!  But thankfully, it was a somewhat short week coz I was on leave for 1.5 days - Monday afternoon (coz it was my mum's 60th b'day) and all day Tue (coz it was Perky's birthday)!

J & M flew down from Shanghai for 2 days as a surprise for my mum's birthday and it was really nice seeing them.  Tho, both looked damned tired...so poor thing!  It was also wonderful that they got to see Nate as they last saw him over Christmas.  It was also nice that my uncle from Perth had come to Singapore as well.  So, the whole bunch of us went to No Signboard Restaurant at VivoCity for mum's birthday dinner.  It was actually pretty frustrating because service was very very slow (they were obviously short of staff!) and the food was kinda so-so.  Still, the company was fantastic and it's always nice to spend time as a (huge) family!

Tue was awesome because the husband and I took the day off and what a wonderful and relaxing day it was!  We spent some time in the morning with Nate who tried eating his Daddy's pressie:)  And after that, it was couples massage at Spa Esprit at House, shopping and nice meals!  It felt so nice just being in each other's company and it really felt as if we were dating:)  My mum decided that Perky's present would be Sleep, so she insisted that we leave Nate with her that night.  How wonderful that was - coz I benefitted also, lah!

Anyway, Perky and I managed to have a romantic dinner last Fri as well.  We went to Viet Lang at the Old Arts House building and it was so pretty!  The food was pretty good too.  Here are some pixs of the place:

Perky's presents - besides the day out, I bought him a cute bear cuddling a baby panda (coz that reminded me of his wonderful relationship with his son) and a Georg Jensen elephant keyring for his car key:)

The week also ended with the birthday of Pants (also affectionately known as Panties).  The whole bunch of us went to NYDC at Novena Square and as usual, it was a thoroughly enjoyable lunch.  We even managed to embarrass the poor girl by singing her a b'day song (with the NYDC staff, no less!).  I'm just surprised we didn't buy her a bunch of panties as a gift...you know, being literal and all.

b.

A changed woman

Motherhood has changed me irrevocably.  People who know me well, know that I'm a softie. I think it's gotten worse now! I get all mushy when I see babies now and I realise, get upset when I see children in distress as well.  I was waiting for my food at the foodcourt near my place when I saw this poor girl (prob about 3 or 4 years old) puking badly in the coffeeshop while her poor parents were trying to mop up the mess with those really useless tissue papers.  You know, the ones that tear the moment your snot gets onto it?  Anyway, my heart really went out to the poor child even as I was struggling to ask the drinks "aunty" (in this case, a Chinese national with limited knowledge of English) for a plastic bag for the kid to vomit into.

Anyhoo, Nate has been in a fantastic mood over the last week - he gets into these laughing fits, where every silly thing that the husband and I do is the most hilarious thing for the little guy:) I'm gonna try to upload a video of him in one of his laughing fits as soon as I download it onto my laptop.

I was telling MG that I think my little darling has been "bullying" me - I find it really difficult bottle feeding him coz he has developed a habit of holding bottle and playing with it while I'm trying to feed him.  And he thinks it so funny.  He doesn't do this as much when the husband or my mum feeds him!  Cheeky fella!

b.

It sucks to be ill :(

Just as I finished writing my last post and dragged myself to bed, I started feeling funny (as in odd and not hilarious).  I started sneezing and coughing pretty badly and well, developed a really nasty flu.  To think I was overjoyed about having a super-long weekend that Easter Week having taken the Monday off!  The symptoms worsened on Monday night - I guess the lame medication I was given because I'm breastfeeding didn't really help - and had to sleep in the baby's room.  The poor husband had to take care of Nate that night and well, both of us didn't get much sleep.  I guess it's a lot easier breastfeeding at night than having to wait while warming up the bottle!  Both of us must have looked a sight coz my mum insisted on taking care of Nate the next night while the both of us go home and rest!  It was so strange sleeping without Nate by my side and I couldn't wait to see him the next morning.

Anyway, the husband and I truly appreciated the rest and I really was glad for the super short week!  I was just reflecting on this and remembered what an awesome miracle it was that I didn't get ill (not even a cold!) throughout my pregnancy!  And my immunity sucks - I'd get ill everytime someone in the office or at home got sick.  Imagine my anxiety given that I was pregnant at the time that H1N1 was at it's worst.  My anxiety bordered on paranoia particularly because my research colleagues and I were breathing H1N1 issues given that we had to put up daily reports on how the disease was evolving around the globe.

Praise God for watching out for Nate and I.

b.

Getting Wobbly

We went to my mum's for lunch today - it was soooo good!  Mutton chops, beetroot salad, prawn and quail egg sambal, briyani and two kinds of desert!  Yum!!  After stuffing my face with food, I felt bad coz I've been eating for two :(  

I just find myself really hungry all the time (I blame it on breastfeeding!) and I've been munching on cookies and other unhealthy stuff at work.  I'm gonna be so fat!  The rot has to stop!!  Perhaps I shouldn't choose lunch over badminton next time!  

Nate went for his second round of immunisations on Saturday.  He cried about a few seconds each thigh (2 injections) and after that, was back to his smiley self.  The side-effects this time round were much better - in fact, apart from a slightly elevated temperature, he has been perfectly normal:)  

Anyway, we've been reading regularly to Nate and it's great that the lil fella has been enjoying this (for now at least!).  So the husband decided to go buy a mini library for his son!  Here are some of his books:

Er...sorry about the vertical pic!

Happy Easter!

b.

Nathanael's journey over the last 4 months

It's just amazing to see how Nate has grown over the last 4 months:)  I was just looking at all his pictures and I can't believe the transformation.

This was Nate when he was just born!

Nate at 1 month....when he had the heartbreaking rashes all over his face :(

Nate over the last two months

I just love the way he laughs out loud and makes really strange noises - as if he were exploring the kinds of sounds that he can make with his voice box!  

b.  

Of Breastfeeding and 'Tamlans'

It hasn't been easy being back at work!  During my maternity leave, I had snatches of time during the day that I could rest.  But having to work and then nursing and expressing during the night is well...exhausting.  I'm glad that it was a short week last week and I decided to extend the long weekend by taking the day off tomorrow.  Yay!  

As much as I love breastfeeding my son, I think women have a tough time dealing with the expectations that they set themselves with this whole breastfeeding business.  There's a real sense of failure (of being a good mother) if a woman is unable to breastfeed her baby - especially, if the child has allergies.  Even products such as formula milk, milk bottles and other such feeding paraphernalia has the catchphrase "Breastmilk is best" printed on it.  This is reinforced by all books that we read during our pregnancy that carries the same message.  In fact, I've been asked if I "totally breastfeed" my baby by random strangers - including an elderly woman at church!  I'm not one of these women that gush milk (or at least I don't anymore!).  I need to work hard at it and when I get stressed, things get kinda plugged.  Literally.  

I had one such incident at work last week.  I was feeling pretty stressed and very tired and when I went to do my motherly duties, found that the milk was really slow in coming.  In fact, one boob was on strike!  I gave up after a while and while I was trying to sort the expressed milk, it went tumbling onto the floor.  Yup, all that effort....  Naturally, I went into a funk state (I'm so thankful to Lily who came to my rescue - thanks, babe!).  That evening, I made the decision not to put such a huge pressure on myself and that I'm just gonna try my best and leave everything else in His hands.  

Work has been cranking up and my office has been in a tizzy with preparations for a HUGE event.  So, I have been attending some of these meetings and a particular meeting with an external vendor was just downright entertaining.  There was this particular guy with freakily skinny ankles who kept saying that the "tamlan" was going to be pretty tight.  And he kept using the word "tamlan".  Of course, he was referring to the timeline.  Geez.  

b.