Hi Gwyneth Hii!

Attended the full month party of Michael's latest darling today, the 'Just too cute' Gwyneth. Food was good and so were the decadent cupcakes! Must find out where they were from.




I brought Natasha with me, Nick had to work this weekend and Ben had kindly offered to bring Nat out. I was going to catch a cab to The Bayshore but at the last minute Swana said she was going to bring Gigi to Chai Chee for Riley and Ananya to play with so I had a free ride.

Was the first one there, killed time by feeding then putting Natasha to sleep and was halfway through my meal when the others started arriving.


Jeannie was radiant with her baby bump, only 7 weeks or less to go. Tummy was quite compact. She's decided on Gareth for her son, not long more before we attend another one of these!


I'm surprised Hong Wei actually turned up, he usually doesn't show up for weekend events and had passed me money to pay Jeannie when we had lunch last week in anticipation of his no-show.


It was a pity I didn't bring Nat, she could have played with Cameron. Tristan is looking more like his brother, snapped a pix of him with Natasha reminiscent of when Nat met Cam for the first time. Two years down the road and the Lulu Guinness' are getting a new lease of life with the younger siblings.


On the way home, Ben picked me up, so I saved on cab fare again. Nat had requested to go to the airport after a pit-stop at Suntec so just nice for me!

The Mamas and the Papa

Met JGR today for a belated birthday lunch, they granted my wish of having dim sum at Wah Lok, Carlton Hotel. Joanne is in town again and she joined us too, along with Ray.



Jane, Rena and I were already munching on our har kows and siew mais when Germaine and Joanne strolled in. Germaine happened to go home to change and picked Jo up. They looked like a couple especially since Germs was pushing the stroller, decked in jeans and a blazer - hence the 'Papa' title!



Food was good, the polo buns as I remembered. Some of them tapau-ed buns home. We had a leisurely lunch, entertained by Ray. Rena was looking radiant with a new hairdo, she goes back to work next week after 3 months maternity leave. Jane's lost more weight too. Not so long ago we were all preggers at the same time, including Joanne - how time flies!


Made the waitress take some pictures of us, I wore a cheongsam I haven't been able to fit into for at least 4 years. I have to maintain this weight!

Natalie ver 2.5

Nat is 2 and a half and so far we haven't had to deal with much nonsense for the so-called terrible twos. Touchwood!



She really tries to be a good little girl, especially well-behaved for a while when reprimanded for anything. She has her naughty moments but thankfully she knows who's boss!


This month was all about the monkey dance and penguin walk. The former started after she and Gigi imitated a monkey's actions after listening to an animal sound book. She'll take on a sumo stance and bounce up and down. I'm not sure how the penguin walk started but it's quite Chaplin-like.



The novelty of pooping in the potty wore off after a few days so it's back to square one. She refuses to try again and instead finds quiet corners in the house to do her business. Her favourite spot is behind the high chair, if not, she'll stand between my bed and the playpen or hide behind some curtains.



She likes sour stuff, sometimes insisting on eating the lemon slices in our drinks. When we eat at food courts, the de facto meal to order her is macaroni soup and/or chicken rice.


She still stubbornly insists she has boobs and milk. She stole my bottle once and tried to turn on the pump! Caught her in the act!


The sibling rivalry has started somewhat, especially when only 1 parent is around. Sometimes when I carry Sasha, she'll ask me to put the baby down and carry her, but she still loves her little sister lah.



She mothers over Gigi though, reminding her to 'be careful' and to drink her water so that her poop is not hard. Likewise Gigi tells Nat to sit properly on the slide so they look out for each other.

From hiding in the wardrobes, the two munchkins have progressed to hanging off the clothes rod and swinging from the bar. They wear their sunglasses at home and pretend to be 2 blind mice.

They have gone all holy and sometimes will 'bless' us by catching air from the fan and going to each individual and saying "Bless you".

Gigi's teeth are still growing really slow, she has only 8. 4 front and 4 back. Think more are on the way because she's been quite cranky.



She's looking forward to her birthday next month, already practicing singing the birthday song to herself. Her sentences are now 6 words or more and she can a few nursery rhymes.


She's gung-ho and independent, unlike Nat who's still very scared of new experiences. She's going to enjoy her first holiday next month, Swana is contemplating visiting Alicia in Perth. She gave birth last week to a little girl, still no name yet though.

Happy birthday to me!

I am officially 32 and at this juncture in my life, things are pretty good so I am grateful for all of life's blessings.


I have 2 lovely daughters and a cheeky niece who provide constant entertainment, been married for 7 years and so far no itch yet, work is ok (it pays for the shopping and can be quite flexible so I really shouldn't complain), I have a roof over my head (in a central location too!), the extended family are well, I fit into my old skinny clothes...all that's missing are more holidays!



I am itching to travel but Nick won't go anywhere this year and it's hard to get up and go off on a whim with 2 bubbas to think about so I just have to be patient. I've compiled a list of unexplored places I have to go at some point in my life but I don't want to be a senior citizen by the time I get to them! They are (in no particular order):

1. Italy (Rome, Tuscany, Florence, Capri, Sorrento, Venice)
2. Spain (Madrid and Barcelona)
3. Provence in France (to see fields of lavender)
4. Hokkaido (never been big on Japan but Hokkaido is appealing)
5. Bora-bora (Paradise on earth!)
6. Melbourne/Sydney (to see where Nick studied, 12 Apostles etc)
7. Scotland (Went through a tartan phase once!)
8. Holland (to see the tulips in season)
9. California / Nevada (Hollywood, San Fransisco, LA, Vegas, Grand Canyons etc)
10. Alaska or Scandinavia (to see the Northern Lights)

There's lots more places of course i.e. would love to go London, Paris, New York, Maldives and Santorini again but we're not printing money! Maybe my birthday wish should have been to strike TOTO instead of just a night of 8hrs uninterrupted sleep!

Was on leave today, I try not to work on my birthdays. Woke up to Sasha's gummy grin and Nat singing me 'Happy Birthday'. She gave me a big kiss and hug too, awwww.

Brought Nat to gym, Swana was on leave as well, and Mummy and Aunty Sarda tagged along so we all had lunch at Bakerzin after. In the afternoon, I brought Sasha for the second dose of her 5-in-1 jab. Naturally she threw a fit when the nurse jabbed her!

Dinner at home was Aunty Sarda's treat, she won some money on 4D thanks to a number provided by Lita and ordered Banana Leaf Apollo - Nick was a happy man!


I had requested a strawberry shortcake from Bakerzin, that was yums. Nat and Gigi helped me blow out the candles.




Nat is a budding photographer, she prefers to be behind the camera instead of in front and will proudly show off her shots. These are ones she took, not bad for a 2 year old huh?

R2-D2

Natasha is 4 months today and the teething is well under way. Her gums are so sore, I have to rub it most evenings. I think she prefers my finger over the teething toys she has, she will hold tight and guide my finger to her mouth and bite real hard.


I bought her a Sophie from eBay - apparently the most famous teething toy in the world. Nick calls it the 'Expensive Giraffe'. Retail price here is $40, eBay with shipping was $25. But she can't hold it properly yet, though sometimes she manages to awkwardly guide the pacifier in her mouth herself.


She relies on the pacifier to fall asleep only. And sometimes when I leave her hands bare, she'll find it hard to fall asleep. As soon as I put on a pair of mittens, she'll cover her eyes and snooze - maybe I should get her a little blindfold?

She's been trying to turn, arching her back valiantly but succeeding only a couple of times. Think her bum is too heavy! When I give her tummy time, she can raise and hold her head up but if she's at it too long, she gets cranky especially when she gets tired and 'smushes' her face on the mattress. She's been doing a lot of crunches though.



Since her neck is stronger, I've been putting her on the Bumbo chair, she rather enjoys being upright. But her head still lolls about sometimes. Speaking of head, it's still odd-shaped but slightly better. Now when she naps, we lie her on her side and alternate directions.

Her pooping habits have improved somewhat, instead of 4-5 days, it's now 2-3 days and I don't have to assist her with a cotton bud. Don't ask. Her diaper changes are few and far between, sometimes after 8 hours it's still relatively dry...guess she's absorbing all the milk instead of peeing it out!

She's still getting booby milk, about 5 out of 6-7 feeds a day. I lug my pump to the office everyday. Tried a manual one borrowed from Jeanette but it was too squeaky, tiring and slow. Luckily the pump I have comes with a portable battery pack.




She now drinks about 100ml per feed and is still on a 3-hr routine although sometimes she finishes 120ml. Will gradually increase it to a 4-hr cycle this month and increase her intake. Her latest weight is 6.4kg.


The cradle cap has improved though sometimes in the middle of the night her mittens might come off and she'll scratch her head. She scratches real deep and hard till it bleeds, poor bubba.

Sometimes she'll blow bubbles. When she's bored or wants attention, she'll gurgle and coo and squeal. She makes all sorts of funny noises, hence Nick calls her R2-D2. Mummy can make her giggle by pretending to do a lion dance, she loves that!

She's growing so fast and outgrowing all the cute rompers she has. Probably gets to wear each only two or three times...but her wardrobe is pretty set. With a mom like me, she need never worry about what to wear!