365 days of Gabriel and Charlotte - goodbye 2014

if motherhood has taught me anything, it's patience. patience is certainly not my strongest suit and ever since i became a mum in 2011, my patience has been and is still being tested more often than i would like. i can confidently say that i have become more and more patient person.  we had a challenging day today. Charlotte was exceptionally hard to settle. days like these are not uncommon and they come by more often than i would like. not surprisingly my mood was affected just like any other bad days we had and Jim reminded me that i should focus on the positive because there's a family out there who would give anything to be able to hear their baby's cries. i get that but I also hope we'll get less of these trying days in 2015.

365 days of Gabriel and Charlotte - car washed

the car needs a wash and Gabriel needs to be occupied so we got him to help daddy wash the car. seeing that he loves playing with water and he also likes to help,  we thought getting him involved in washing the car would be a great activity for him. needless to say,  he thoroughly enjoyed scrubbing the car with a sponge full of bubbles and wiping it dry after with a dry cloth. after he's done,  he says to me: 'mummy,  your car is all clean now,  don't get it dirty again,  (you) have to keep it clean. ' 

365 days of Gabriel and Charlotte - toilet training day three

after three days of not going out (except for today when he went out a couple of times to the shops with daddy), i'm proud to say, toilet training is a success! hooray! we did it! we've had no accident today and he actually knows to get himself to the toilet when he needs to go without us asking him every five minutes.  

whilst we still have to work on is number twos, i think we're 90% done with this intense three days toilet training?

Gabriel is so proud of himself. he says he wants to tell his friend, Lachlan, that he's not wearing nappies anymore and he also told me he wants to wear undies to school just like his best friend, Frankie.

365 days of Gabriel and Charlotte - toilet training day two

we're on day two of toilet training and we're doing better i think. we almost had an accident, almost. but we still have to work on doing number twos on the toilet because for some reasons, Gabriel is petrified of doing number twos on the toilet. he would rather hold it in. after three attempts and knowing how badly he needed to go, we gave in to him and put a nappy on him. i hope he'll be able to get over his fear in the next few days. 

365 days of Gabriel and Charlotte - toilet training finally - day 1

we've been meaning to toilet train boo for awhile now. he turned 3 at the beginning of the month and it's a little embarrassing letting him go out in public wearing nappies. the xmas/new year break seems like a good opportunity because Jim is taking some time off so they'll be two of us at home for the next 11 days. even though we had one accident, we did have a proud moment where he went to the toilet and did a wee on his own. i was so proud of him. the training will continue tomorrow. hopefully we won't have any accident.

365 days of Gabriel and Charlotte - happy Xmas eve to me

daycare finished yesterday so i had both kids with me today. for the first time in many months,  i somehow managed to settle them for a midday nap at the same time. so while they napped, i was able to put my feet up and sneak in a little power nap myself. it's like xmas came one day early. thanks kids. feel free to do it again. ... and again. .. and again. 

365 days of Gabriel and Charlotte - xmas picnic 2014

for the past couple of Christmas, we've been having gatherings and catch up with the Chans, the Chaus and the Dais. last year Kitty hosted a boxing day lunch at her place. this year, as the kids (mainly the two boys) are older and are full of energy, we decided to have a Christmas picnic at the park. this is not just any old park, it's the Blaxland Riverside Park. i've been meaning to take boo there after hearing raving reviews of this park and it certainly did not disappoint. He had a great time playing with Lachlan at the water fountain, the huge sandpit and the man made hills too. as we were packing up to leave, he told me how much he likes this park. i guess we'll be going there again. maybe with our scooter and trike next time. 

365 days of Gabriel and Charlotte - when Charlotte meets Aunty Rosie

At 19 weeks, Charlotte finally met one of my best friends, Rosie, today. If Rosie didn't move to South Australia with her family in June,  we'd be hanging out and having coffee dates at the Eden Garden like we used to when we were both on a maternity leave in 2012. we can't wait to see you again Rosie!

365 days of Gabriel and Charlotte - the dreaded 4 months needles

after putting it off for a week, i finally gathered my courage and took Charlotte to the doctor's for her 4 months immunisations today. i was going to wait till the weekend so Jim can take her but weekends are quite precious nowadays so i had no choice but to suck it up and take her during the week. she cried for less than a minute and was over it shortly after. as for me,  i'm glad it's over until the doctor reminded me that he'll see us in two months for her next needles. in other news,  Charlotte currently weighs around 7.4kg (dressed) which puts her in the 75th percentile.  apparently,  her cousin Rynn who is two months older than her weighs the same.  now i know why people mistake her to be much older than she is.

365 days of Gabriel and Charlotte - a big boy now

what a lovely Sunday we had today. the weather was beautiful, Gabriel had a great time at Blake's birthday party and the xmas tree is up! we've been to a few parties lately and Gabriel continues to show us that he's a big boy now. he used to be the shy kid who sits next to his parents and just won't join in any games or play with other kids. but lately, he's been less shy and more independent. he went off to Blake's room to play with Blake's toys as soon as we got there and he also enjoyed all the party games. i'm so proud of him. 

365 days of Gabriel and Charlotte - a trip to the hairdresser

i haven't had a hair cut for 18 weeks and i really need one. i had a window of opportunity yesterday and i took it. Charlotte was fine when we got there and i was hoping she would be happy to stay in her capsule and just watch. but she wasn't happy. she started crying as soon as i sat down. so, i took her out of her capsule and held her as i got my hair cut. lucky the hairdresser was very accommodating. i wonder when my next hair cut would be? 

reviving an old project

there are so many things i wanna remember about the kids, what they are up to now, their little milestones, the little moments in our everyday but every night when by the time i get to turn on my lap top and start to draft a post, it is usually after 10 o'clock at night and i try to go to bed y 10:30 just in case the girl decided to wake up for a middle of the night feed. to write a good post that is well structured accompanied by nicely edited photos at that time of the day, in thirty minutes, is just not possible. i'm generally too tired, my thoughts are jumping everywhere and my post is all over the place (just like what's happening right now). 

so, i've drafted about five posts which have not been published because they are all poorly structured and not very well written plus i haven't had the chance to choose and edit the photos to go with them. but i had a lightbulb moment at the dining table tonight. instead of writing long post (which are never going to be completed and published), i am going to revive an old project i did on instagram in 2012.  i called it 365 days of Gabriel whereby for an entire year, i posted a photo a day about boo and each photo is accompanied by a few lines of the things i wanna remember about that day. so, instead of bringing back this project on instagram, i'm going to do it on this blog and i'm going to call it 365 days of Gabriel and Charlotte. this way, the things i wanna remember will be written and published here on the blog rather than remaining in draft mode and never published. the project starts now! 

a birthday and a secret mission

for Jim's birthday last year, we were lucky enough to have his parents here so we could leave boo with them and had a date night for his birthday. we went to Sepia and it was the last time we had any fine dining.  

date night or day date or any kind of date/celebration on his birthday is not feasible this year with a 3 month old and a pre schooler. and because it was a weekday too. to celebrate his birthday this year, we've planned to go out for lunch as a family on the weekend but i couldn't let the actual day of his birthday go by without a mini celebration with the kids. so i gave myself a secret mission. i made a death star cake for him. because it was a surprise, i could only work on the cake when he is at work and also when boo is at daycare. i'm so glad his birthday this year was on Friday because that gave me Tuesday to Friday to make it. i baked the cake on Tuesday, ganached and iced it on Wednesday, worked on the embellishments on Thursday and finished the last minutes touch ups on Friday at 3pm. 

the cake was completed in between feeding and settling Charlotte, laundry, daycare drop offs and pick ups, groceries shopping, dinner preparation etc. suffice to say, Charlotte was pretty neglected and by the end of the week, i was knackered. 

i'm glad i managed to pull it off and completed the cake on time to surprise him because he truly deserves a special cake this year. he's been such a good husband to me and an awesome daddy to the kids. this cake is nothing compared to all the surprises he's given me over the years we've been together. hopefully we'll be able to have a date night again at a fine dining restaurant for his 35th birthday because i have no idea what other cake i can make for him.

to my little miss // 100 days old

my little miss, you are now more than 100 days old but i finally have a chance to finish this blog post i intended to complete when you were 100 days old. 

life has been pretty hectic since the in laws left but i won't go into too much details about it because this post is all about you, my little Charlie Bear. 

you turned 100 days old on 16 November. while we don't celebrate this milestone like some other cultures do, i thought 100 days old is still a pretty big deal so i took some photos for you to remember this milestone.  

these photos pretty much sums up what you were like when you were 100 days old - HAPPY! you're a little happy baby just like your brother and as long as you are fed and rested, you are very generous with your smiles. and with that smile of yours, you can ask for anything and everything and i would give them all to you. 

when i sent these photos of you to your grandparents (gung gung, mah mah and poh poh), they all commented on your chubby thighs. your gung gung asked me if you've put on more weight since they left just a few weeks ago. i looked at the photos again and thought to myself, are your thighs really that chubby?!? to be honest, i didn't even noticed them when i was reviewing these photos because all i could see was my little happy baby. i guess it's fair to say that when you become a parent, all you can see in your own child is perfection. in hindsight, maybe i should have put you in something nicer rather than a Bonds plain white onesie but i don't think it would make a difference because your happy face is all i can see in these photos. 

you are getting so much more interactive these days. you chuckles and smiles whenever i play with you and talk to you. i know just exactly what i need to do to get you to chuckle and smile. your favourite songs are baa baa black sheep and rockabye a bear and whenever i sing them to you, i would hold your hands and we would do all the actions together. i'm not sure if you like my animated face or my singing but you sure love these two songs. 

in terms of milestones, you discovered your fists and you can't stop putting them into your mouth and it's actually your favourite pass time to suck on them. apart from that, you have also found your voice. in addition to your normal cooing, you now also like to babble. your babble is especially loud when you are tired which is pretty handy because that's my cue that you're tired and need to sleep.  

time is going by so quickly this time around. soon you'd be 6 months old and ready for solids, soon you'd be crawling, walking and soon you'd be the size of your brother but one thing for sure, you will always be my littlest baby. my sweetest sweetest little Charlie Bear.  

my neglected boo

on the morning after the in laws left, the first thing boo did when he woke up was to look for his grandparents in their room. he had sent them off to the airport the day before so he knew that they won't be there but he still went to look for them in case they are there. he's normally very chirpy first thing in the morning but not that morning.  when he came into our room, he was not chirpy at all. he told me he couldn't find gung gung and his eyes started to tear up. it breaks my heart to know how sad he must have felt when he opened their room door to find an empty room. 

the in laws have been coming and going every couple of months since boo was born and every time they left,  he's been fine. we've always told him they've gone on holiday and he's never asked for them once they are gone.

this time around because i've been busy with Charlotte,  he had spent more time with them. for the passed three months,  grandpa has been taking him to daycare and taking him home after. every other day grandpa would take him to the shops to buy lollies, toys,  ice cream and his favourite kinder surprise. 

Bec at daycare spoke to me the other day about her observations of boo's behavior. she asked me if there's been any changes at home because boo's behaviour has changed from a happy little boy who listens and participate in group activities to not listening, getting upset easily and not participating in group activities. i told her his grandparents went away two weekends ago and Bec figured that could be the reason why he's acting up. she's commented he's very sensitive to change and they will help him get through this rough period.  

i feel so guilty as i haven't been able to give boo the attention he needs since Charlotte was born. it was fine when the in laws were here but i think he really felt the neglect once they are gone. so last week, i've been taking him to the shops after daycare. sometimes we would hang out at the toys section at target for a little bit so he could check out the new toys,  sometimes i would buy him a kinder surprise as a treat and last Friday,  i decided to take him to yogurberry for some frozen yogurt. he was very excited when i told him where we're going after i picked him up from daycare. i hope he'll get through this rough period soon and be back to his happy little self again in daycare.

little miss // the birth story

i drafted this post shortly after Charlotte's birth as the memory was still fresh at the time and i wanted to remember as much details of her arrival as possible.  i didn't publish it straightaway because i wasn't sure of the format of the post. i was thinking maybe i should change it to a timeline or maybe there's too much details and i need to scale it back. but today, i decided to just published it as it is. so, here goes the birth story...

we're 10 days before the due date and i've always had an inkling that baby #2 would come a week early. maybe because she's been measuring a week ahead everytime i had a scan. 

it was another Thursday night, except it was getting more and more uncomfortable to move around. especially from sitting to standing. after putting boo to sleep, i went into my own room and started watching Heston's great british food on sbs. the show finished at 9:30 and i got myself ready to go to bed. as it is still a little early,  i decided to watch an episode of nigelissima as i multitasked and played candy crush on the iPad at the same time.

about 15 mins into the show,  i turned to get into a more comfortable position and i felt a little gush of water coming out soaking my pants. it felt like I had just lost control of my bladder. i rushed to the bathroom as i told jim i think my water just broke. he went into a bit of a panic and started to ask me what we should do next. i honestly didn't know what to do next so i asked him to pass me the 'what to expect when you're expecting' book,  scheme through the index page and found a section on what to do when your water break. apparently i'm meant to ring the hospital. this whole water breaking business is new to us because my water didn't break at home when i was expecting your boo.

i rang the hospital,  explained the situation and was told to go in so they can check me out.  we grabbed the hospital bag and on the way we go. so glad i've got everything packed. i was pretty relaxed when we were on our way to the hospital because i didn't have any contractions yet,  i was asking Jim if he could believe that we're gonna meet our baby soon and i also asked him if he was ready to find out whether we'll have 2 boys or one of each. as we got closer to the hospital, it dawned on me that this is the end of my pregnancy.  i will no longer have an excuse to walk around with a big gut and have an excuse to eat more than i should. but on the bright side, i no longer need to go to the bathroom 5 times a night. 

we arrived at the hospital at about 10:30. as we walked from the car park to the birthing suite, more water gushed out but still no contractions. it was relatively quiet when we got to the birthing suite. we waited for the midwife to check on the baby's heart rate etc. at this stage, i still didn't have any contractions and i was thinking to myself i could be sent home if nothing happens. as the midwife started hooking up the monitor, i started to feel a little contraction and i wonder how long it is going to take for the contractions to get stronger and closer together. 

the midwife left us in our room to get settled in and when she came back she told me she spoke to Dr Ford and if my contraction is still quite mild, i could go home and then come back later or i could stay but Dr Ford would prefer me to stay just in case. after all, this is my second baby. Jim and i decided that we would stay. as the contractions were still quite far apart, he decided to take the opportunity to go home to grab a few more things like the camera which we forgot to take with us as we rushed out the door.  

he was gone for about an hour and during that time, the contractions were still relatively mild. when he got back to the hospital, the contractions started to get a bit stronger but still bearable. i was on the phone messaging my sisters and mum, keeping them posted. the midwife came and checked on me again and things are still progressing well. i was advised to get some sleep while i can. Jim set up the sofa bed and within minutes, he was snoring away. as for me, the contractions started to get a little stronger. i can no longer sit still or lie down. i had to walk around the room. i started timing the contractions as they got closer and stronger. 

when they got to five minutes apart, i called the midwife and they checked on me and told me we're getting there. i contemplated getting an epidural briefly but decided to settle on the gas instead. by that time, i was in quite a bit of pain and it felt like i didn't get any break from each contractions at all. i had to curl up on the bed and breathe in the gas hard every time i had a contraction. the midwife did another check on me and i was seven centimetres dilated. she told me she spoke to Dr Ford and he is on his way. by then it was around 2:30am. in between contractions, i could see the midwife getting things ready in the room. 

it must have been around 3am when Dr Ford arrived and that's when i felt the urge to push. by this stage, i was getting a little hysterical with the pain. the feeling i had was exactly the same as what i felt when i had boo. i had forgotten about them until then. i started to ask myself why oh why did i put myself in this position again. but at the same time, the thought of finally meeting the baby and holding him/her in my arms gave me some incentives to keep going. 

while i screamed the house down with every push, everyone around me was very calm and supportive especially Jim. he was trying to take my mind off the pain by reminding me how close we are to meeting our baby. 

at 3:40am, i did a final push and i heard the baby's cry for the first time. as Dr Ford lifted the baby up, i looked at the little face but couldn't tell if i had a girl or a boy so i quickly looked at the other body parts and i was really surprised to find that i had a girl. I HAD A GIRL!! a girl with lots of hair and she is gorgeous. even when she's covered in lots of blood and yucky stuff. Dr Ford placed her in my arms, he clipped the umbilical cord and handed the scissors to Jim. after that, i just couldn't stop staring at Charlotte before the midwife took her away to clean her up and to complete all the standard checks. 

as i laid there, i could hear Charlotte crying in the background and i thought to myself i was correct right from the beginning of the pregnancy. all that extra morning sickness and how different the pregnancy felt in the first trimester are all signs that i was having a girl.

i was always worried i might not have enough love for another baby but that worry disappear into thin air as soon as Dr Ford placed Charlotte in my arms. 

to my little miss // ten weeks (and four days)

my little miss,  you are ten weeks and four days today. i was going to do a post when you turned two months old but i was busy 'crafting'. oops! i guess it's better late than never.

i was going to write about your routine and milestone achieved at ten weeks but i'm changing things up a little bit and i'm gonna write about the things i love about you at ten weeks.

_ i love that you greet me with the biggest smile whenever i pick you up. whether it's one of your 2am feeds or after i've changed your nappy
_ i love it when i talk to you,  you would respond to me with your goo goo ga ga and lots and lots of smiles too
_ i love that when i want a smile from you, all i had to do is to touch the tip of your nose and talk to you
_ i love how you like to talk to the hanging toys on your play gym and i love that you enjoy playing on your own
_ i love that whenever someone talk to you,  you will give them a big smile. even if it's someone new
_ i love how you stare at daddy when he gives you a bath. you always look so relax and contented
_ i love the look on your face when your brother talk to you. it is as though you know he is your brother
_ i love your curious little face when you're checking out and learning about your surrounding
_ i love that when you are upset and unsettled,  nobody can settle you except for me
_ i love that you started sleeping through the night at 6 weeks. whilst you don't sleep through consistently yet,  every now and then you would surprise me and sleep through the night when i least expect it
_ i love you because you smell so good

getting my craft on

a couple of weeks back Charlotte started sleeping longer stretches at night, so i stopped going to bed as soon as i put her to bed. which means i started to have an extra half an hour to an hour to spare before i had to go to bed. sometimes this extra time is filled with chores like tidying up the mess from the day and preparing for the next day. and sometimes when i'm lucky i get to do some diy crafts i pinned on my pinterest board. 

 

so far, i managed to make some felt flowers headbands for Charlotte and her cousin, K-Rynn. i also painted some wooden beads and turned them into necklaces. these necklaces are already on their way to Malaysia for my sisters. 

it is quite therapeutic and relaxing to be able to slow down and enjoy what i like to do every now and then and 'crafting' is definitely a very nice way to end the day. 

my cheeky boo

my little boo is so neglected these days. whilst he still goes to daycare four days a week and Jim tries to spend as much time as he can with him, he is often left on his own to play with his Legos and his cars. he watches too much TV and spend too much time with the iPad. my Instagram used to be all about him but there less and less posts about him and more and more posts about his little sister. even this blog has been taken over by his little sister. so today i thought i'd write a post about some of the things he's saying these days because they are quite funny and i have no idea where he learnt these lines from. 

so far, he's proven to us that he is quite a caring and protective brother. when Charlotte cries, he will get up to her, give her a pat and say to her, 'Charlotte don't cry, gor gor (big brother) is here' or sometimes he would say 'calm down Charlotte, it's ok Charlotte' and before he goes to bed, he would give her a cuddle and say to her 'good night Charlotte my little sister'. i like how he has accepted Charlotte into the family and he has not shown any signs of jealousy. i hope i haven't spoken too soon.  

when he sees me having a cookie and he would like some too, he would say to me 'i don't have something in my mouth' and open his mouth wide to hint to me that he would like some cookies too.

he has been very understanding of the fact that when i'm busy with Charlotte, i won't be able to play with him and he needs to play by himself but every now and then, he would come up to me and tell me 'mummy i need you, come with me, come play car/Lego with me'. and when we are playing, he would put on his thinking face with his index finger on his chin and he would say 'i have an idea' or 'let me think about it'. it's hilarious.  

as he's been spending so much time watching tv, he has watched all three Toy's Story movies including the shorts which he found on youtube. he knows the name of most of the characters and his favourite character is Buzz lightyear. when he's playing with his buzz lightyear toy, he would say 'to infinity and beyond' and he also like to say to Jim and i, 'i'm buzz lightyear, daddy is woody and mummy is Jessie'. and whenever he wants to watch the shorts, he would say, 'i wanna watch shortcut'. the grandparents don't understand him but lucky we do. 

this boo is too funny. his cheeky little personality is coming through more and sometimes i wish he would be less shy and be his cheeky little self in front of others too. 

weekend baking \\ spinach and feta scones

scones is one of my favourite choice of food for morning/afternoon tea. the baker's delight at Carlingford Court has a huge variety from good old traditional plain scones to date scones to chocolate ones too. they used to make savoury ones too and the spinach and feta is my favourite. 15 seconds in the microwave and a smear of butter. yum. it's a shame they don't make it anymore. i've been thinking about making it myself. after checking out the many recipes on pinterest, i combined a few recipes and came up with my own version. 

whilst they didn't rise as high as the ones from baker's delight, they taste pretty close to the real deal and i'll definitely make them again. 

ingredients //

400g self raising flour
50g butter (at room temperature, cut into cubes) 
150g danish feta (broken into small pieces)
125g frozen spinach (thawed)
250ml milk 

method //

pre heat oven to 180c. line a baking tray with non stick baking paper

using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until it resembles fine sand.

add spinach and feta into the flour mixture and mix lightly with a fork.

make a well in the centre, add milk and mix together to form a dough and turn out onto a floured surface.

press the dough into a big square with your hands to 5cm thickness. using a knife lightly coated with flour, cut out 9 scones.

brush the tops with milk. arrange the scones on the baking tray in a way that they are touching each other slightly and bake in the pre-heated oven for 20 - 25 mins or until the top is golden.

to my little miss // 6 weeks

6 weeks is when i have to stop spoiling you with cuddles and start working towards shaping a routine. it also means you are no longer a newborn.

at 6 weeks,

_ you love it when we talk to you and would react with a smile
_ sometimes when we talk to you, you would respond with "ah goo"
_ your sleep routine is still very unpredictable. some days you will do proper naps but some days you will do 20 minutes cat naps. some nights you will sleep more than 3 hours at a time but some nights you would only sleep 2 hours or less.  you slept 5 hours on two nights (not in a row) last week and 7.5 hours last night.
_ you are starting to enjoy the bath. you no longer scream your head off during bath time and you are a little bit more relaxed
_ you still need help falling asleep especially during the day but you are getting better. it's time we start teaching you how to fall asleep by yourself before it's too late
_ just like your brother,  you're developing the milk rash on your face. poor little boo boo with your pimply face. i'm not too concerned because it cleared up for your brother in a matter of weeks. soon your skin will be nice and smooth again

i'm looking forward to the next few weeks where you start to be more interactive and have more play time and most importantly, a routine. 

to my little miss // one month

my little miss,  you are one month old today. how time flies when we run on a three hourly (or two and a half sometimes) schedule. three hours go by just like that with feeding,  changing,  settling and some sleeping. and before you know it, you're old month old. but one thing for sure is, everyday i just love you more.

i've enjoyed the endless cuddles we have. the health nurse told me it is absolutely fine to give you as much cuddles as i like as you cannot be spoilt in the first month so i did exactly that, gave you lots of cuddles. 

so, what happened last month?  we met you for the first time and we fell in love with you instantly.  there's been highs and lows. there were nights where try as i may, you just would not go to sleep and i would be up for five hours. but i'm glad we haven't had one of those nights for awhile and most of the time you wake up like a clock work for your three hourly feed. 

we are still getting to know each other and your personality is slowly coming through. one thing for sure is you are one strong willed child, just like your brother. some of the other things i've learnt about you:

_ your cheeks are getting chubbier and i just want to eat them. 
_ you are one feisty little thing and your cries can bring the house down. i wonder who you got that from.
_ your current favourite past time is checking out the room and the person holding you. i love it when you do tummy time on me where you would stare at me with your eyes wide open. sometimes you would give me a smile.
_ you hate bath time. as the weather gets a little bit warmer, we try to give you a bath more often and boy do you hate it. poor daddy had to bath you really quickly. we hope you'll get used to it soon because when the weather warms up in the coming weeks, bath time will be part of your bed time routine.
_ you hate car rides in the capsule. even though we haven't been out much, every time we put you in the capsule in the car, you get very distressed and would cry for most of the way. i hope you would get used to the capsule soon because i'm planning to go out a bit more in the coming months. 

my baby girl, i love you more and more each day. i look forward to what's in store for us next month,  as you become more awake and aware, i look forward to more play time with you, and as the weather warms up, i look forward to putting you in the stroller and going out for walks around the neighbourhood. most importantly, i hope we can get into some sort of routine soon and if it's not too much to ask, that you would start sleeping through the night soon too?  

one of those days

we have one of those days today. you were a little more unsettled than usual i don't know why. maybe it's because you reached your one month milestone today? 

you were pretty easy to look after the first two weeks sleeping most of the day (not so much at night) and you nursed well too. in the third week, your night sleeps improved (you mainly wake for your three hourly feed like clock work) but you became more awake during the day and your day naps got worse. we probably had the worst day today. well, i hope it's the worst.  it took me longer and longer to put you down for a nap even though i start the routine as soon as you've been up for an hour or an hour and a half or as soon as you start to show signs of tiredness. i tried giving you the dummy,  i tried nursing you and i also tried singing to you but nothing seems to work today.  it's days like these that make me doubt myself. it makes me (over)think and (over)analyse everything i do to find out why you are not sleeping during the day because all i want to do is to make sure you have enough sleep during the day.

when your brother was a newborn,  he was a challenge too,  especially to a new mum like me. your grandma told me this old wives' tale where most babies will settle down and become easier to look after when they are one month old so i was hopeful when he was three weeks old and hoped that he would be one of them babies. but no,  he didn't. he was the same high maintenance baby when he got to one month old. it could be that we were having some challenge with breastfeeding. so grandma said to me,  i didn't stop crying until i was three months old so maybe my own child would be the same. so i waited again and sure enough once we settle into our routine,  your brother was easier to manage. 

so you are one month old today.  it looks like you're following your brother's (and mine) footsteps. now i shall keep my fingers and toes crossed that you will settle down when you're three months old.

ps: i was planning on taking a nice photo of you to remember this day when you turn one month old but i was too busy coaxing you to sleep and nursing you. so, no photos today.

little miss // three weeks old

my little miss is three weeks old already. it's hard to believe how quickly she grows. soon, she won't be a newborn anymore. 

_ she is becoming a lot more alert and interested in her surrounding. she's looking around whenever she's up

_ she is a lot more interactive this week as she reacts to me when i talk to her. every now and then she would give me a smile when i play with her
_ when she first got home, she was swimming in size 0000 body suits but these days, they are getting a tiny bit snug on her

_ it looks like the witching hours may be behind us but she's definitely less sleepy during the day and are not doing 4 hours stretches anymore. she's harder to settle for a nap between 11am to 2pm

little miss // two weeks old

friday came and gone. i was planning to take a photo of this little miss with the 'today, i'm two weeks old' milestone card but the three hourly feeds, settling and sneaking in a nap here and there got in the way and before i know it, there was no more daylight for a decent photo. this photo taken on wednesday will just have to do. 

two weeks already. time flies when you're sleepy.  at two weeks old //

_ she is still sleeping lots during the day, she generally sleeps for 3 hours in the late afternoon
_ her witching hours go from 9pm to 1am. i always prepare herself for this time of the day and have been pleasantly surprised a couple of times the past week when she didn't turn into a 'witch'
_ she is slowly sleeping longer (than an hour) at night. hopefully she'll start sleeping longer stretches in the coming weeks
_ she is feeding well and she had her first growth spurt few days ago where all she wants all day is to be fed constantly
_ her face is looking chubbier by the day and she's generally looking rounder than she was last week. Jim says she looks bigger every time he sees her when he comes home from work. i'm pleased about it because it means she's getting enough milk from me

i hope the next post about her milestone would be 'i slept through the night'. i know it's a bit of a stretch for her age but there's no harm dreaming. 

little miss // one week old

Rosie bought me a box of milestone cards as part of my baby sprinkle present. so far i've taken one photo of the little miss with the 'one week old' card last week and i thought i'd start a series on the blog to tie in with these milestone cards and to write down her development for each milestone. 

at one week old, she is \\
_ very sleepy. she sleeps most of the day after each feed
_ rather hard to settle at night when she goes through her witching hour from 9pm to 1am. so far, we only had 2 nights where she didn't turn into a 'witch'
_ getting lots and lots of love from her big brother who cannot get enough of her. the first thing he does when he gets home is to find her and give her a big cuddle and a kiss
_ feeding well. when the local health nurse came to do her one week review, she has already put on 270gm in three days
_ wearing a lot of blue onesies from her brother because the few new onesies mummy bought are all gender neutrals

just mummy and boo and bump #2

a couple weeks ago, i got Jim to take some photos of boo and me and baby bump #2. i had some bump photos taken when i was pregnant with boo and i wanted some photos of me with bump #2 too. i'm actually not very keen of taking photos when i'm pregnant because i don't look my best. i feel like the size of a house, i look tired and i have double chins and my face is rounder than a full moon. but i also realised the round face and the double chins are all part of the experience of being pregnant and expecting a child is such a magical experience. even though i may not look as good as i did on my wedding day, what i look like when i'm pregnant is still worth documenting. 

not only do i want to have  photos of me with my 37 weeks bump, i also want some photos of me and boo when he is still the only child. when he is still the centre of my universe. when i can still give him my undivided attention and all of my love. 

at first i suggested to Jim that we take these photos at Centennial Park but Jim had a better idea. he suggested that we take these photos at home to make it seem more real. i'm quite happy with what we managed to achieve. 

my family is now complete

it was friday august eight. all was quiet in the maternity ward.

at 03:40, a little baby made out the loudest cry.

Dr Ford lifted you up so we could all see your face. daddy and i fell in love with you as soon as we laid our eyes on you. we love your thick black hair and your tiny little mouth. you calmed down as soon as you lay on me and all the pain of labour disappeared. all i can feel was unconditional love for you.

i never thought i'd have a little girl but here you are. now all i can think of is peach and purple,  spots and stripes, girly shopping trips and tea party for just you and me.

little ms Charlotte, you complete our family.

bank holiday lunch date - Chiswick Restaurant

we started a tradition last year. our annual bank holiday lunch date. 

we have never appreciate bank holiday so much until we became parents. it's the only day off we get to go out as a couple without having to make special arrangements for boo because he will go to daycare as usual. it has become the most looked forward to holiday for both of us. this might make us sound like really bad parents but considering we don't have anyone here we can rely on to look after boo for us for the rest of the 364 days, i actually don't think we're bad parents at all. 

anyway, last year, we went to Jamie's Italian so this year, we decided to try Matt Moran's new venture - Chiswick. Chiswick is located outside of the city. nestled in the posh suburb of Woollahra. we arrived ten minutes before our booking and we easily found a good parking spot right outside of the restaurant. it's all day street parking and it's free! we wander around the front garden before making our way to the restaurant. 

we were seated right next to the windows and our table looked out to the lush lawn right in front of the restaurant. after a quick scan of the menu, we ordered our food and the restaurant starts to fill up with more diners. 

this is what we ordered: 
entree: snow crab sliders, pickled vegetables with avocado cream
main: the Moran family roast shoulder of lamb and a garden salad. the salad sounded boring but we ordered it because it is literally a garden salad as the greens are all freshly picked from the kitchen garden of the restaurant
desserts: i had the waffles with vanilla ice cream and rhubarb compote and Jim had the hazelnut rocher
drinks: Jim had a glass of red from the Barossa Valley while i had a homemade lemonade and a green tea to go with my desserts. 

all in all, we enjoyed the food very much. the shoulder of lamb is full of flavour but it was a little bit on the lean side. that dish was meant to be shared between two people but we could only finish 3/4 of it. we could have done with just one dessert but we were feeling greedy so we ordered one each. i was so full after that meal that i went into a food coma as soon as we got home and i didn't eat dinner until 9. 

i wonder where we would go for our next bank holiday lunch date?