Watermelon

This is my stomach as at 29 weeks...it's like having a watermelon strapped to your body. It's getting increasingly hard to flip sides when I sleep, and getting out of cars and bed is tedious.

Had a scare early yesterday when I thought my waterbag was leaking, but it turned out to be a false alarm. Still went to KK nonetheless to have it checked out and was monitored for an hour and tests conducted, which yielded negative results. Blame it on paranoia after hearing about two cases of waterbags leaking prematurely in the same week, plus on Friday night I had flopped on my stomach after trying to catch Nat from falling off the bed, while she did a somersault so I just wanted to check Nike was alright.

Everyone's been saying I look un-pregnant from the bust up, I do feel slightly slimmer this pregnancy, less water retention plus I haven't been able to eat a lot of sweet stuff because it triggers an infection...so everything in moderation which means not as much weight gained, though there's still 2 months to go. I might just go on a binge!

Spice Girls at the Esplanade

The Spice Girls were reunited today at the Esplanade Promenade, actually it was not much of an activity for the kiddies, just walking around and looking at the skyline, river and Merlion. They entertained themselves by playing hide and seek and going up/down the stairs.






Riley, Sarah and Nat were kind of co-ordinated in green outfits, and Ananya as usual was cranky!

While the rest stayed on to have dinner at Glutton's Bay, Nick picked me up to bring me to Sengkang, where dinner awaited at Kannaki's house.

Me and Nat were the first to arrive...I changed her diaper upon reaching, only to realise there was only 1 left in the bag. We usually pack 4, but had not replenished this time and suay, suay, Nat decided to poop 5 mins after receiving her fresh diaper. Had not anticipated this, since she had already gone in the morning but thankfully there was no need for any more changes after that!

Nat nearly gave me a heart attack at one point, knocking over a tall speaker near a lit candle...thought we would set the house on fire but I managed to catch the speaker in time.

Eventually Puni, Siva, Nikesh and Vig arrived, Puni had a pressie for Nat and all seemed to be going well but not long after she had a crying fit, the first of several. Every little thing would trigger her off, she must have been really tired and cranky. I couldn't eat in peace, she leeched onto me and I had to eat with one had, Vig even helped me peel my chicken wing!




The moment we left, she crashed in the car. Guess it had been a long day for her.

Welcome back Vig!

Vig's in town for a visit and I met her for dinner this evening, together with Puni. She still looks gorgeous, hair is longer and no sign of on Aussie accent.

Met at ViVo and had dinner at Marche...we had so many dishes and struggled to finish towards the end but still made room for dessert!

It was great catching up with them, I miss our school days! I should endeavour to go to Sydney one of these days while there's still free accommodation!

Wedding by the pool

A distant cousin got married last night, his family used to live in Spottiswoode Park so we used to hang out more when we were younger. Our great-grandfathers were brothers.

Dinner was a poolside North Indian affair at Golden Landmark. Though the invite said 'smart casual', lots of ladies were dressed to the nines!

I wore a maxi dress tailored during the last HCM trip, and Nat could finally fit into a Gap satin party dress I bought ages ago...I couldn't resist the print!




Thought we would be seated near the other cousins i.e. Kaelash and Kavi were there too with Riley and Ananya but we were quite far apart. At one point, Nat stood on her high chair and shouted across the pool for Ananya!

The couple only strode out after 9 pm, by which time we were starving. But there was the cake cutting, solemnization and champagne pouring to get through first before the buffet opened! Which by the way, there was only one line to serve over 200 people so you can imagine the speed...



There was a whole evening of singing and entertainment planned because Ravin the groom sings on Vasantham sometimes but we had to rush off after the couple stopped by our table as the toddlers were getting restless. It was way past their bedtime by the time we had finished eating!

BTW, Nick is in Malacca this weekend and coincidentally, the hotel he is staying at was converted from a shophouse my grandfather used to live in and care-take antiques! Fate or what?

Men in Tutus

Last night, Swana, Merianne, Kavi, Rachel and I watched Men In Tutus at the Esplanade. Show was so-so, we were seated way up high in Circle 3 so were too far to appreciate the men in tights...could hardly see their faces!

Prior to the show, Rachel, Swana and I had some light bites and drinks at Pierside Kitchen. The bar snacks were reasonably priced but portions tiny, the crab cakes were worth it though. The mini-burgers were the cutest I had seen!







Saw lots of familiar faces at the show, including a SHATEC classmate Shalini who knew Rachel too. Their husbands work together and Shalini was also pregnant! Also bumped into cousin Shyam, his ex-bro in law Thiru; Dennis from a treasury association whom I had only met the night before during an event I had at Novus, plus an ex-classmate from UNISA who was seated in the same row. Small world!

Kavi left right after the show but the rest of us adjourned to Balaclava for a round of drinks. It's been ages since I'd been there last, had myself a strawberry margarita and some quesadillas. I went home once we finished our drinks but the rest went to Clarke Quay.

Nick left for Malacca this morning for a company retreat. I gave him instructions to buy any nice pair of Vincci shoes but am willing to bet he'll come home empty handed!

The final stretch

Went for the 28-week scan this morning, brought the whole village with me! Well, ok not whole village but an entourage of 4 - Ma, Swana, Gigi and Nat. Swana and I were on leave and Ma had never been to see any of her previous grand-daughter's ultrasounds. Nick had a presentation at SHATEC so they accompanied me instead.

Dr Siow said my stomach was nice to scan, no tissues blocking, water levels just nice so he could get a good image. We all thought Nike looks like Angeline Jolie here, ha ha...check out the pouty lips!


Everything's in order, head circumference normal. Her back is on the right of my stomach and legs towards the upper left, no wonder I feel internal bruising all the time. Am into the last trimester...another 12 weeks to go if not sooner. I hope I make it to April instead of end-March, we'll see.

This year seems to be a real baby boom year. I've lost count of the number of friends and acquaintances having babies in 2010. There are at least 20 I know of already, and there's still time to make more!

**Updated 28 Mar 2010:

Jan - Deavi (10th), JJ (22nd), Mischa (23rd), Felicia (27th), Daragh (28th)
Feb - Wilson, Samir (21st), Esther (2nd), Geraldine
Mar - Shalini
Apr - Me, Aaron M.
May - Jamie, Judy, Rena, Josephine, Joyce
June - Vansy
July - Ming Feng, Alicia, Michael, Diane
August - Shannon, Hui Choo
September - Erlina, Jeannie
October - Gee

Beach Babes

3 out of the 5 Spice Girls (or as Kavi calls them, The Spicy Girls) met at Sentosa today. We thought we better go before the entrance fees go up.

As usual, the Lims were the first ones to arrive with the Dopes and Jays arriving an hour later.

Nat was a 'fraidy cat, refusing to step on the sand without her shoes on. She played in the sand with her Daddy and when her 'kakis' came she was reluctant to get into the fountain area because it was too cold.





Riley wore an itsy bitsy green polka dot bikini and is a typical water baby. She had no qualms about getting wet, unlike my daughter and soon Gigi was in on the fun after protesting in the beginning...Swana got drenched carrying the babies!


There was a sight for sore eyes in the form of a middle-aged man wearing high-waisted clingy trunks/shorts that left little to the imagination. Eeew.

I brought some tuna to make sandwiches, plus chips and drinks while Jeanette made banana bread with cream cheese frosting. Yum! We bought some snacks from Koufu but didn't really have lunch.

After the babies had their fill of water and sand, we fed them their lunches. Nat and Gigi weren't too keen on their rice and soup once they saw Riley having fishball noodles. They got to try a bit, Jeanette had ordered without some of the oils and sauces but it was still tasty enough for the bubbas. Nat kept saying, "I want some more noodles".




Showering the babies was a logistical challenge, we formed a production line. Since Swana was already wet, she did the soaping and shampoo-ing, with Jeanette assisting to press the faucet and hand her stuff. I did the drying and changing. Riley and Gigi were ok with the cold water after a while, but Nat was a handful - squirming and wriggling. A bit 'kuniang', that one!

After Sentosa, everyone headed back to our house to hang a bit more. Riley enjoyed Nat's slide and no one wanted to nap, although we managed to make Nat sleep for an hour. Tapau-ed food from Everton and thereafter went over the Papa's house. Aunty Gowri, Aunty Susi and Aunty Devi were visiting Aunty Sarda and in the evening, Aunty Amy arrived from Seremban. It was nice to see all the aunties.



Nat slept rather early so Nick and I met the Dopes and Nathans for a late dinner at Tiong Bahru market. I was sooooo looking forward to having a plate of Hong Heng's hokkien mee and asked Swana to order for me as we were reaching. She declined because she was in the middle of her meal and noted that the stall was still open, however barely 5 mins later when we parked - we saw the shop packing up. I of course gave Swana the evil eye for depriving me of my hokkien mee!

Boys are back in town

Nick's Darwinian cousins Daniel and Chris are back in town and we met them for Japanese a la carte buffet this evening at Minori, UE Square together with Xinyi, Ben and Wendy.


Nat was more interested in the restaurant's water feature than sitting and watching the adults eats so we all took turns bringing her around.

Food was alright, I can't eat much these days but still managed to pack away quite a bit. It was worth it for the 2 boys though, they can EAT! Ha ha!


After dinner we took a stroll to Clarke Quay with the hopes of having dessert and coffee but everywhere was crowded so we landed up at Merchant Court's lobby bar. Tried to put Nat to sleep there and almost succeeded but she woke up in the car. Had to run an errand at Mustafa and Nat was still awake though it was already 11pm! We drove down West Coast Highway to make her fall asleep again and it worked.

Dan, Chris and Uncle Alvin bought a new soft toy for Nat, a koala bear. Here she is with her new bear...

Almost Famous

Swana messaged this morning to say the boy was in today's TODAY and I scrambled to find a copy. Turns out SHATEC had featured him for a recruitment ad, he says it was taken a while ago...can tell too, his face looks younger and I recognise the suit as one of those that don't fit anymore, ha ha.


Also in the news recently are Kavi, Siva and Ananya who made the cover of this month's Voices at Central Singapore magazine. Kavi discussed their adoption of Ananya, who will be turning 1 in just a few weeks. How time flies!

Spice Girls at Go Go Bambini

Nat, Gigi, Ananya, Riley and Sarah had a play date this morning at Go Go Bambini at Dempsey. It was our first time there but definitely not the last. Nick didn't want to keep anyone waiting and rushed me out of the house but I was like, "These are my cousins. Trust me, they're gonna be late. We're Indian!" True enough we were the first ones there, despite arriving 15 mins past the scheduled meeting time.

Nat had a blast in the padded indoor playground though I had to rely on Nick to bring her around. If I wasn't preggy, I would have gone on the slides and stuff meself!


Being older, Riley and Sarah hung out together while Nat was content to spend a fair bit of time at the ball pits and some of the lower slides. She was also fascinated by some levitating balls. We bumped into my ex-colleague from SingTel, Yvonne, and Nat got to play with her daughter Chloe who was very quiet and shy.




After about 90 mins, it was time to feed the babies the lunches we brought, which we did at their in-house cafe. Nat and Gigi ate without much fuss but Kavi and Siva (who are on the cover of this month's Voices magazine!) had a hard time with Ananya who refused to sit in the high chair and had to be entertained/distracted throughout her meal.


We wanted so much to get a group photo of the girls, but it was impossible to get them to stay still. I've dubbed them the 'Spice Girls' - There's Ananya "Aniseed", Giselle "Ginger", Natalie "Nutmeg", Riley "Rosemary" and Sarah "Saffron"!







We adjourned to House for lunch, none of them had been there before except me and I was 'craving' for some skinny pizza. We shared 3, as well as some burgers and lots of dessert. Everyone except Nick loved the food, give him his mee pok anyday! We ordered about 6 desserts and polished off everything, tried their alcoholic ice cream - Black Russian and Pineapple Malibu...both were yum!






Nat fell asleep midway but woke up after 30 mins crying from a nightmare just as we finished dessert so we left first.

She refused to go back to sleep after that so barely 30 mins after reaching home, we were out again to Joo Chiat to visit an interior decorator's office...looking at making a built-in wardrobe for Nat's room. Walked into an art gallery thereafter called One Piece Painting, drawn by a sign that said 'Sale' and saw some potential pieces that we could consider for our living room. The guy there was very friendly and didn't mind Nat running all over the shop!

Fed her an early dinner once we got home before going out yet again! The plan was to go Kallang via Nicoll Highway but after 'kena-ing' $2 ERP for entering the Marina area, we decided to stay put and ended up at Marina Square instead. The food court was surprisingly quiet, Nat enjoyed the view from the outdoor seating area. I love our skyline!




Nat could point out the Merlion and kept saying she wanted to go there...I think another river taxi ride is on the cards!

Nick went to Carrefour to pick up a few supplies and we managed to convince Nat to sit in the stroller while I browsed the Zara sale. Just holding on to a hangered top was enough to make her comply. She would pull some clothes off the racks and say, "I like this one" or "Nice" when I held something against me. When I showed her a sequined pair of shoes, she said, "So shiny". Am starting her fashion training young...I let her fingers run over some leather and velvet so she learns about different materials!

She crashed in the car on the way home, took a drive down West Coast Highway...roads were clear and she was out like a light! And now it's my turn...