En's Outing III - An Exploratory World

En had a real trooper day out at Sentosa again last weekend.. Grandparents went to stay at the new Siloso Beach Resort hotel, and baby En popped by to see what's happening at this brand new hotel..

It is a world of discovery for him as he crawled around the hotel room, and overlooking the scenic view offered by the glass windows..

And the little boy is fascinated with water fountains, and he loves to play with the gushing water with glee..

It is quite a joy to see him playing with the water hesitantly, and exploring his world in little touches and baby steps.. What a wonderful world it must be for him..

Baby En - the Ah Beng?

These days, as we see more facets of En's cheekiness and his blase responses to our repremands, both dad and mum are beginning to habour great fears that Baby En may turn out to be much more than we can handle..

At just 1 year of age, En has already started defying us, and displayed his many faces of being quite the "Ah beng" sometimes. And he is insistent on getting his way, but thankfully both mum and dad can be equally stubborn and firm in not letting him have his way all the time... Still, the battle of wills can be so exhausting..

His boundless energy has really made me wonder if I have enough energy to keep up with him and his antics.. Just the other day, En was engaged in a battle of wills with his cousin, refusing to let go of his cousin's toy and we had to sternly ask him to let go.. While we have won that battle, I suspect that the war is far from being over.. more of such tussles are sure to happen and I just worry that we won't win them that easily the next time!

We are definitely NOT looking forward to his Terrible Twos stage.. keeping all fingers and toes crossed that we can cope and manage!

Baby En's First Many Unassisted Steps...

happened on 16 Nov, at 27 College Green, quite unexpectedly!

Both Papa and mummy were sitting around and chatting when suddenly the little boy was in front of us, having taken 4-5 steps unassisted!

"AND WE FORGOT THE CAMERA!!" were both our first exclaimations.. We have always wondered when he will be taking his first baby steps! And until the last weekend when he attended his trial Kindermusik class (more on that next time), Baby En has not shown much interests in walking..

And knowing that boys tend to develop a tad slower than gals, we were not anticipating him walking any time soon..

And what a lovely surprise to see him tottling and tumbling! Since then, he has been walking both assisted and unassisted... it really would not be long before he will be all over the place on his own..

Meanwhile, we probaby have to get him another new pair of shoes as the little boy is already beginning to grow outta his size 3 size!!

Proprietary Mummy Skills

All along, my pregnancy food cravings have been quite a challenge for my hubby to fulfill, cuz I tend to crave for food that I have tasted overseas, like the roadside potatoes wedges we had in Vienna, or the galette in Britanny, the gelato in Venice, the tang yuan in Shanghai.. sometimes I wonder if its the food or that feeling..

Anyway, recently for once, my craving for the "siew mai" (chinese pork dumplings) can be fulfilled, but only those made by my mum... I have always loved my mum's cooking, it has a special quality about it that is hard to replicate... Years later, I still remember some of her signature dishes with fond memories.. and this is a special bond shared between my mum and I..and even now, I will ask her to specially cook those dishes for us..

That got me thinking, that I will want to have some proprietary skills that my kids relish, and for years later, whenever they return home, I will be able to do that for them, or they will always associate and remember me in relation to those fond moments..

Unfortunately, I am not a terrific cook.. i love baking, though i hardly find the time to do so.. Yet I have been toying with an idea recently, that i should start my own special blend of chocolate chip cookies .. Much like my hubby loves the cookies that his mum bakes.. so I will be able to bake that for them weekly or monthly.. and they will grow up loving and remembering those "cookie moments'...

Another skill that I have been thinking of has been the "piano moments", when we move, we will be able to bring along hubby's piano to our newhouse, and En has recently been fascinated with the piano at his cousin's place, and coupled with his enthusiasm for his weekly Kindermusik class, I think music may be a good bonding mode for 2 of us.. and I will be able to overcome my all time regret of being scared off music classes by the evil music teacher!!

So the chocloate chip cookies and piano classes shall form my proprietary Mummy skills that hopefully my kids will appreciate :) though I am still sourcing for the unique blend of chocolate cookie recipe.. all contributions welcomed!!

En Strapped In...

Way before we have Baby En, we always wonder when we saw one parent sitting at the back seat, accompanying their kids while the other parent drive.. and typically they are Singaporeans..

In contrast, the foreign familes which we observe hardly do this, both parents remain in the front seat while their kids remain at the back..

To me, the latter's way seems more wholesome, and perhaps, symbolic of the values they believe in.. that parents stay together, just like being seated together, instead of splitting up to focus on their kids.. It is inevitable that parents tend to be very kid focussed, and hence, will "give up" or trade off their spouse for their kid..

So we have decided when we have Baby En that we will train him from young to stay in his infant seat alone while both of us remain in the front seats. And must say we have been rather successful in training En to stay in his car seat since young.. Though as he grows older, sometimes he will wail incessantly to get our attention, but in general, he is quite a well behaved baby when strapped in..

We have already transitted him from his infant seat to his new car seat some time back in anticipation of Bao Xuan, and it works better for us as we can now see his funny expression facing forward now.. Then again, when we have 2 baby seats in the car next time, I really wonder what the 2 babies will do at the back.. hm...

Baby En - the Goldfish??

These days, bringing En out for dinner or lunch can be a real challenge, because we find a real Cookie Monster with us all the time..

Baby En really loves food, all kinds of food.. and it is amazing how his radar detects the "food" category, which makes him go "mum-mum-mum-mum".. His chant gets louder and louder if we ignore him.. which can be rather embarrassing for us .. And the way he clamours for food, sometimes, even trying to climb out of his baby seat to grab at our food, makes other diners wonder if we are the selfish parents who are relishing our food and not feeding our baby... When the reality is that Baby En already had his usual specially prepared lunch or dinner and is just greedy for more!!

So these days, we have to try to master the skill of feeding him bits of food to stop his chant, while at the same time eat our fill.. so much for being able to multi - task..

I used to hear a story about goldfishes, that they are such silly creatures that they will eat whatever you feed them.. They do not know when to stop and can eat till they bloat...

Momo, our dog, shares that trait.. we once brought her to a doggie X'mas party feast where she ate all the food that was given to her, till we had to stop her or her belly will burst!

Now I am wondering if Baby En is like that as well... he seems to keep wanting to eat, no matter how much we have fed him for lunch/ dinner. Sometimes I am afraid he will be like the goldfish - not knowing when to stop and eat till he has stomach problems!

Then again, for kids, this may be a phase - something I think I better enjoy, because most kids I observe, once they know the value of play, will trade play readily for food, anytime..

My future problem is more likely to be trying to coax En to eat during meal times... in any case, it will still means that the luxury of me enjoying a quiet peaceful meal seems out of reach for some years yet!! Sob Sob..

Introducing Yap Bao Xuan, Edric

Finally.. we have decided on the name for Baby 2, and even had a glimpse of his face and features at the recent scan..

Introducing Yap Bao - 3 Xuan-1, Edric, on the left, little brother of Baby En.. Well, after going thru the many "Baos" and fitting almost every word in the Chinese dictionary with the word "Bao", we concur that Bao Xuan is not too obiang a name, and quite meaningful.. It was a close and tough fight with other Baos, such as Bao Kai-3 and Bao Kun-1...

Xuan is typically associated with books and literacy, and in one of the dictionaries, Xuan also refers to having a charismatic quality.

Since baby is due to arrive in early Jan, he will be a Capricorn, a star sign typically associated with leadership and ambition, so we have also named him Edric, which means "Properous Ruler" in Gaelic.

At about the same time, 31 weeks, Baby En also showed us a glimpse of his facial features (scan on the right), and comparing the 2 scans, we find that Bao Xuan seems to have taken after En's features, except for the stubby chin... and perhaps not as smiley as En seems to look in his scan..

Now what's left is to think of a nickname for Bao Xuan..
From the beginning, we have called Bao En Baby En or En-En for short, which suits him fine..

Xuan Xuan, however, sounds a tad too girlish... though I have a good mind to call him Xiao Bao (little precious) !

Time flies so fast... We have about 8 more weeks to go before Bao Xuan will reveal himself..

As for whether I should re-vamp the blog, I am still thinking how to go about it, and how the "air-space" will be shared by the 2 brothers..

Feeling So Ashamed..

of myself. Just on Sunday, we went to the ever crowded Marina food court for simple dinner with En and my parents...

And 2 tables away from us, I saw a teenage boy on a wheelchair, and it was obvious that he had some disability which seems to prevent him from even lifting his head, nor move any parts of his body...

Yet, his expression was one of contentment and joy as he ate his dinner, and I saw his mum was painstakingly feeding him his dinner one mouthful at a time.. also with joy and at ease... The boy was well dressed for the outing, even with a watch on his hand. Other family members sat around the table, conversing with ease and well, very normally...

And as I watched, I was awashed in shame..

- Ashamed of those times when I have allowed myself to feel dis-spirited because I felt so alone in my pregnancy and for having a kid, which set me so apart and alienated from friends who are either single or married without kids
- Ashamed of those times when I face my own fears of how we can cope with bringing En out and the hassle it involves when bringing a kid out

As I watch the boy and his family, what seems so easy and at ease would not have come easy, yet these people are taking it in stride and moving on with their lives as normally and enjoyably as they can..

It made me re-think and reflect how we should just adapt to changes with courage and take on life-changing changes in stride.. That is what it means by moving on in life, if you care, come along for the ride, if not, each new change and experience bring their own little joy and satifaction too, if we can only face them with ease and courage.. and count all our little blessings..

I Hope You Dance, My Sons...

Someone recently asked me what are some of my hopes for my children.. What do I want for my kids.. Wow, its really quite a tough question to answer.. As parents, we tend to harbour too many hopes for our kids, and to simply put them into words can be so tough..

Then I remembered a song which I sent a friend when things were rocky for her, I wish for her to hang on to her strength, her faith and have hope.. And now looking back, this song "I Hope You Dance" By Lee Ann Womack describes all my hopes so aptly..

For for both my sons, it is just a simple hope - I hope you will both embrace life with courage and choose to dance to the joys that life offers ...Check out the song in En's JukeBox Ravs!

I Hope You Dance

by Lee Ann Womack

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger
May you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty-handed
I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance, I hope you dance

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance
Never settle for the path of least resistance
Livin' might mean takin' chances, but they're worth takin'
Lovin' might be a mistake, but it's worth makin'
Don't let some hell-bent heart leave you bitter
When you come close to sellin' out, reconsider
Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance, I hope you dance
I hope you dance, I hope you dance
(Time is a wheel in constant motion, always rolling us along
Tell me who wants to look back on their years
And wonder, where those years have gone)

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

Dance, I hope you dance
I hope you dance, I hope you dance
I hope you dance, I hope you dance
(Time is a wheel in constant motion always rolling us along
Tell me who wants to look back on their years
And wonder where those years have gone)

En's Outing Part II - Of Man and Dogs

We accomplished something 2 weeks ago, we brought Baby En and Momo out to the Dog-Run and McDonald's - SANS the helper!

It was not as bad as we thought...aside from En's incessant whining in his car seat during the journey, both En and Especially Momo were exceptionally well behaved...

En is quite well socialised with dogs, and he was not fearful even when the dogs barked at him.. Momo proved herself quite the nurturer.. when we placed her leash on the pram (with one of our hands on the leash still of course), she trotted along with the pram - no sudden lurches or speedy running, not even when she came across other dogs.. It was as if she knew...

It was a Joy watching En trying to grab momo's leash.... and when we let Momo free, she would still stay close by while Dad tried to get En to walk.. Momo would sit in front of En, as if protecting him from other dogs.. Momo is just such a sweet and sensitive dog.. She has always been a great dog, and now I see the potential of her as a great companion to my 2 boys..

At the McD, En kept asking for fries and ice cream - well the junkie mum fed bits of the fries and sips of the ice cream to satisfy the little junkie.. All in all, it was a good trip, and we ought to do that more often... To enhance this special bonding between Man and Dog.. 

En - The "Manja" King

Recently En acquired a favourite animal - THE TORTOISE.. He recognises the eyes of that tortise, he knows that green thing is The Tortoise, and he even knows how to hug The Tortoise...

And he does it very well indeed... He will look around for the object of his affection and put his side of the face onto the tortoise, hugging it..

Quite funny, if only he knows how to manja us this way too - more frequently.. :)

Baby En's First Balloon...

I have always wanted to buy En a helium balloon, and just as well that this balloon came along with Baby En's gift from Sharon and PH, and it kept En occupied for quite some time trying to catch the floating balloon...

Well, for one, it expanded his vocab - now he knows what is a balloon and I have been trying to get him to walk in order to grab the balloon.. yeah, incentive and bribery.. anything to help Baby En walk more steadily...

Baby En's Birthday Bash.. Remains of the Cake

The left was supposed to be Baby En's Birthday cake.. Well as there were soo many people that day, what we have are more like post-event pictures..

Next is what remains of the cake... well, not too sure whether En really enjoyed his birthday since he was crying and clingy most of the time with people milling around..

He was only back to his own self when the party winded down with only half of the party left.. think he really hates crowd and no matter how much socialising we did with him, he only likes intimate small crowd.. It is not so much strangers per se, its lots of strangers that he does not like.. haha.. but well... at least we enjoy the cake immensely.. it is indeed money well spent :)

Parenting - What does it really mean?

To quote my fav satirical playwright, Oscar Wilde,

"Children begin by loving their parents. After a time they judge them. Rarely, if ever, do they forgive them." It is a scary thought...

Recently I have been embroiled in several heated "debates" on what being a parent really means, and what it means to nurture and look after a child.. and what it means to be the primary care-giver of Baby En...

No doubt, the opinions out there are as varied as you can get.. but long before En came along, as I watch some of others' kids, and observed how some parents at work, I have already formed my own opinions of how I envisage my kids will be nurtured and taken care of.. but if I am wrong, will my kids love me less, will i sufffer their judgement, worst, can they forgive me?

Well, in my view, there are some marked differences in parenting style and beliefs.. and could be led by the generational difference or divide..

- The functional care -giver: those who look after the kids' physical growth needs, quite the basic care to ensure kids eat and grow well.. but less of the developmental and emotional bonding as they feel that schools and teachers and time will teach these "knowledge" to the kids..

Classic lines: "You better listen to what the teacher say in school huh, or I will cane you" or. ." Aiya, why your kid so skinny, mine is well taken care of, see so chubby"

- The Go by Book Nurturer - these new age parents lap up all the parenting books, internalise them and spit them out wholesale for the kids. They drive themselves nuts bending in every way to make sure all aspects of the kids are well taken care of (fr. the physical diet to the emotional and psychological aspects). As they are such gurus, they tend to insist child are brough up in their way...

Classic lines: "The book recommends no caning of my kid..." or "i practise XXXX's diet plan"

The thing is whichever style we are, there may not be right or wrong way about it.. every generational has the "in" parenting way..

The drill and cane were very much part and parcel of my generation when i was growing up.. comparing kids' size were a norm.. Today, no cane policy and an abundance of reasoning are the flavors of the day.. and comparing kids' emotional EQ is the competition amongst mums..

Assuming that is the case, then what happens when you have funtional primary care givers from the by-gone era? Can they be good primary care-givers for my kids and to equip them with values and skills for the world which my kids will grow up in?

I was told that the by gone era care givers do not mean any harm to the kid, that their motivation is also to love and develop the kids, albeit their manifestations are different from the modern parents..

Am I the child in Wilde's quote - i grow up loving my parents, when I have kids, I judge my parents.. and if they do not adopt my parenting style, I find it hard to forgive them.. Does it have to come to that? Is this not one of the many problems modern parents face..

How do we deal with the anchronistic manifestation of parenting from care-givers of the by-gone era? If we do not grant them the care-giver status, are we denying their rights to their grand children? If i give in and let them do the anachronistic form of parenting to my kids, am I compromising the well-being of the kids?

These mind-boggling questions continue to be mind boggling .. and the steamy debates seem destine to continue for quite some time .. after all.. there may not be an easy right or wrong answer to this, that i strongly suspect..

What's Your Best Feature?

A rare pic of Baby En sleeping - since I can't take pics of him sleeping in the night, the few rare sleeping pics were taken during the day & on days when he napped long and deeply enough..

Sleeping pics are good for looking at the baby En closely without interference - interference in the form of his roving eyes, his cheeky or frowning expressions.. so i feel they give a more representative feel of his face.. and if I want to assess what i think his best feature is - sleeping pics are the best..

And not sure how many of you will agree, but I love En's eyelashes best - they are dark and really long, enough to make many gals jealous, including me, and they fringe his eyes so nicely.. and the best thing abt eye lashes is that they are sooo Subtle, many told us how they love En's eyes and that they are his best feature.. but to me, it is the subtle quiet eye lashes that captivate me..

I also happen to think that men with long eye lashes are really sexy.. maybe En's future girlfriend ll think so too.. Don't ask where the lashes come from, yes, cuz both daddy and mummy have adequately long and dark lashes :) truly.. 

En in a Boxz...

The number of En's toys have grown such that it has warranted getting a HUGE box to keep them all.. well, it also serve to train him in digging for his choice of toys and hopefully, keeping his own toys..!!

Yet, before we place all his toys in them, I simply cannot resist placing him IN the box - hahaha! Quite a Good fit ya?! hekhek.. 

i Miss Your Smiles...

Ode to En's Endearing Smiles
"Oh, Baby En, what has gotten you so down
And have you looking so glum now
Come, put us under your magic spell
With your toothy, enchanting smiles!!"

En has been one grumpy baby recently, as he tries to cope with the change of domestic helper in our household...

He shows his likes and dislikes obviously, and when he does not want to come home with papa from the nanny's place, we know something is very wrong..

We are quite hands on parents, even with the helper helping out with En, I will feed him his solid meals while hubby will bath him on weekends.. every night en and I will play hide and seek around the bedroom till he is ready to go to bed..

The helper is the one who can coax him to drink his milk and plays with him while we get ready for work in the morning.. and he really likes the previous helper over the new one...

Am keeping my fingers crossed that he will get along with the new helper soon.. I always think that baby and young kids need stability.. not that we should shelter them so much that they become weak in adapting to changes, but at their tender age, changes bring about much anxiety and insecurities that they may find difficult to cope with..

These days En is more often spotted with a grumpy face and I miss his spontaneous cherubic smiles so much!! He never fails to greet us with his smiles every day and I am really heartbroken that he looks so glum these day...

What Does A Birthday Mean?

Here's Baby En's Mug shot at 11 months plus..

Now that we are counting down to Baby En's First Year birthday, suddenly I find myself asking what does the word "birthday" means..

Well, according to

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary:
birthday (noun) = the day that is exactly a year or the number of days after a person was born

Merriam-Webster provided 2 meaning:
1. the day of a person's birth
2. the anniversary of a birth

If a birthday only signifies the number of days that have passed, it seems so clinical and scientific, to me, it does not have any of the emtional values when we scream, party and toast to "Happy Birthday".. So really what does a birthday mean?

Merriam-Webster's second definition is a bit closer to what i have been thinking about..
To me, I dun think I am gonna celebrate Baby En's birthday per se, I see it as celebrating OUR First Anniversary, a year that we have spent together.. and the numerous memories and events that we have shared together.. the amount of time that we have spent together, and those are the stuff worth celebrating - The journey that we have travelled together for the past year is worth marking and celebrating..

So in about 20 days time, it will be our One year anniversary with Baby En, by the time he is 1 year old, it will be a celebration of the amount of precious memories acccumulated with Baby En in our lives.. and for this, I will look forward t0 celebrating many future anniversaries with Baby En as they signify the abundance of memories we have jointly shared together..

Many cheers to Baby En and us!!

Happily Married To be Better Parents!

" We often focus on (material) things and take people for granted, it should have been the other way round. We should focus on people and take (material) things for granted..."

"No one can gurantee you that a marriage can last, ... only you can provide the guarantee that your love will last..."

"(A couple) should hold hands while fighting, because they are fighting for their marriage, the issue that they are fighting about is not worth fighting for, but their marriage is what is worth fighting for.."

These words were delivered yesterday at my friend's church wedding by the Father and it stayed with me long after I walked out of the church..

I am the typical kooky Aquarius who believe in signs and serendipity. What others term co-incidences, to me, are all part of a macro-system of signs - signs left out there for us to discover and to unravel the meaning behind them..

Recently, I have been having some troubling thoughts on how do we, as parents, make a commitment to our children, that as a couple, we will be able to stay together for good and be good parents for them... Are we in a position to make such a promise to them? To do so, my hubby and I need to have the confidence and commitment that we will be together for keeps... a Daunting thought in this day and age where divorce rate is climbing, where being from single parent family is not necessarily a stigma or a secret .. and I was looking for a sign that will reassure me that things will be fine.. seriously..

With baby 2 on the way, in the worst case scenario, can I still be a good mum to the 2 boys if I end up a single mum? While I was grappling with such thoughts, what the Father said when I attended the Catholic wedding got my attention and seemed to be a sign pointing a way forwards...

What he said reminded me that we have to be a good partner to our spouse first before we can perform our role as parents to our children.. As Steve Biddulph alludes to in his book "The Secrets of Happy Parents", one of the greatest gifts we can give our children is to remain in love with our partner, we must love our spouse first before we can adequately love our kids..

Before we had En, hubby and I agree that kids would not be the only focus of our lives, that we will continue to keep our couple time sacred... however, along the way, sometimes the going can get just so TOUGH.. as I was just chatting with a friend with a 4 mth old baby, that it is so hard to just find time away from the baby and the energy to keep the romance alive in marriage..

Things get in the way...
- Work, work and more work..
- Resources (the money/ the capacity to look after the baby so you get adequate private time)
- Energy (after working & playing with the bb, the only thing you really want is to sleep or to veg out in front of the TV)
- Our role as a parent, and this insidious identity seems to take precedent over all other identities easily, which makes you forget that you are first your own person, and then your spouse's partner..

Now I am beginning to think that even the media seems to have gotten the message wrong.. with all the focus on family day, kids day and campaigns to have flex time or time off such that we can spend time with kids, well, before ALL that, we should find time to be a loving partner to our spouse FIRST!! And it is so easy to overlook or forget that...

Well... while what the Father said had not given me the complete solution to my musings, still, perhaps by remembering to keep the marriage alive, sizzling and sparkling, it will be a big step towards being better parents for Baby En and Baby 2... This I hope and seek..

Letter Without Stamp

Recently I experienced one of the most awkward heartfelt moments in my life.. I lost touch, literally lost the contact, of one of the most important persons in my life..

I have known Him for over 10 years, since I was in college.. subsequently we corresonded via letters when He moved back to his native country. (Email was outta qn as he was still trying to learn how to navigate the net and I love to read his funny drawings and handwritten letters anyway). He is one of the most important persons on my life, with one of the greatest impact on my life, aside from my parents, and i never realise this more acutely than when I am a parent and now a parent to be again.. I am who I am today, really because he had believed in me and was there through the difficult, rebellious college days when my parents really did not know how to handle me...

He is like my 3rd parent, and I saw this more starkly when I read Steve Biddulph's book on The Complete Secrets to Raising Happy Children.. In an age back then when we were brought up by parents who were not so into displays of affection, praise and time spent listening to the troubled minds, He was ahead of his time in all this modern age parenting psychology.. He dedicated his life to the kids he taught and his favorite cats.. and back in those days, when parents are apt to blame and scold the kid into decent behavior, his form of nurturing was a refreshing balm to our troubled souls..

And a very troubled soul I was at the age of 17/ 18.. it is that age of rebellion, it is that age where i am trying to find and understand a sense of self, and he was there to provide the right guidiance and assurance by believing that we are not beyond redemption..

He listened without judgement and censorship, and I felt free and safe to voice whatever i was thinking, things that would have appalled my parents could be communicated to Him for advice and opinions cuz He provided the assurance that His love for me will not lessen because of what i said or think.. He provided insights to the difficult choices we face by trusting that we will make the right choice for us, and by believing in us, He also made us believe in ourselves and cherish ourselves more..

Years after college, though our correspondence was infrequent, He is often in my thoughts:
- When I am happy, I said Thank you for making this possible
- When I am sad, I wish i have the strength and your strong belief in me to carry on, as I do not want to disappoint you..
- when I was getting married, I wish you have been here to witness this
- when I was having my first born, i so wanted to name our child after you...
- when I come across books of people who have made a difference, I wish to tell you again what what difference you have made in mine..

Now that I am a parent, many a times, I find myself thinking I want to be just like him for my kids.. and discovering that He had moved without any of my contacts knowing where He has moved to filled me with anxiety.. I hope it is not because age has caught up with him, I hope it is not cuz He has left us, but the thought of not knowing what happened was difficult to cope..

What i want to say to him is like a letter written but without stamp, i cant send this letter out, and this sense of helplesslness is akeen to a huge loss.. a loss that does not have a closure because of the unknown.. I hope one day I will be able to fix a stamp for my letter to Him.. and I hope that day does not come too late..

Grey's Anatomy - Be Touched

As my fren Bak Chew wrote it in her blog before, Grey's Anatomy is simply great! I have been a follower since the first season, and am avid fan.. Usually i dun like the hospital shows, ala ER kind, as i can't stomache the bloody & gory scenes.. Even now, there are numerous times that i watch Grey's Anatomy between my fingers.. but this i endure as I love the meaningful plots and musings, i love the witty conversation, the sound tracks are divine and the cast are solid, WHAT IS NOT TO LOVE!!!

However, last night's episode, Damage Case, for the first time, had me crying.. Maybe its the pregnancy hormones, but I am finding it much harder to stomache scenes of premature babies.. last night's episode showed a pregnant mum who had all her insides all messed up in a car crash, and while all the brilliant docs were trying to re-arrange her insides, and baby remained alive in her. ..

Well, I learnt a fact, (i hope it's a fact), that a baby can stay alive for max of 5 mins in the womb after the mum has died... and yes, the mum did not pull through the mega surgery but her baby survived, thanks to intern Alex.

When I saw the tiny baby placed in the incubator, somehow tears just started to flow.. from a mum or mum-to-be-again perspective, such scenes are heart wrenching. And I really love Grey's Anatomy for depicting these and the varied human emotions starkly... these greater issues of love, hate, forgiveness are all augmented in these episodes...

And the image of the dad's hand caressing the baby through a tiny opening in incubator really got to me.. and that tiny hand.. everything about a baby is so TINY. And yet, everything that they inspire in us are so GREAT- the great awe, the great love, the great wonders, of course, at times maybe, even the great pain... For such a Tiny bundle, babies do bring some Great joy..

In 3 more months I am due to savor the arrival of a baby.. I must savor it - the great, the good, and even the baddest, for it may really well be my last chance to feel first hand THE moment..

En's Outings (I)

With boys, it is sometimes quite hard to stay cooped up at home. Esp. these days when En moves around so much and is often up to mischief with dangerous stuff, no matter how hard we try and hide the wires, block the fan. shut the doors to the cupboards..

If he is not trying to test the limits of danger, he will be hiding his balls and building blocks underneath the sofa and cupboard, and in my current preggie state, it is too much effort to keep hunting for these treasures, no matter how much he likes the game..

Well, I always believe that novel experiences augment the brain - something like an extreme stimulation to the brain perhaps, well ..so on fine weathered days, we have brought him to the beach and to the gardens.. I thought he will be excited with Sentosa, given he always can't seem to get enough of playing with water during his bath-time..

Much to our surprise, En was not excited at all by the beach.. he seems to find the sand dirty and was hesitant to lay his hands on the sand.. well, i suppose i should be thankful that for once, he was not putting everything that he touched into his mouth.. but more surprising was his seeming fear for the sea water.. we tried to place him by the edge of the water and he was not impressed at all. So much for novel and stimulating experiences...

Still, I am not giving up.. I am of the view that the outdoors do babies a lot of good.. well, when En starts going to school, he will spend half of the day cooped up in classroom, when he progresses to work, he will spend 3/4 of his time cooped up in the office jungle (unless he really chooses the alternative career such as tram driver in the zoo? etc). He will never be the kampong boy for sure, but he should see more of this world beyond his cot and playpen in our tiny flat... and this I will try to make happen..

Chasing Cars

Well, the theme of CAR seems to be quite salient in our lives recently...

Baby En has his brand new toy car that he whizzes around in, though our tiny flat probably did not offer much room for any Fast and Furious driving..

We are struggling with limited space in our car when we have our parents on outings with us.. and I wonder how we can cope when Baby 2 arrives (BTW, he is called Baby 2/ X cuz his parents cannot make up our minds about the name, and he is very likely to remain Baby 2 till birth at this rate haha!)

Then there is this song that refuses to go out of my head - Chasing Cars... The song and its meaning resonate quite well at the moment..

"We 'll do it all, everything, on our own
We don't need anything, or anyone
If i lay here, If I just lay here
Would you lie with me
And just forget the world...

Forget what you're told
Before we get too old
Show me a garden
That's bursting into Life

Let's waste time chasing cars
Around our heads..."

At the moment, I am quite contented to just be where I am, and enjoy the daily simple joys of live, living and let live.. no targets to chase, no ladders to climb, no battles to fight...

Just relish and savour what we have at the moment.. and i am trying to forget the numerous insinuous "rules" we live by daily... and Enjoy the satisfaction and joy yielded from little things such as finding that violin album i have been looking for, finding that book which I am dying to lay my hands on.. sometimes we just need to break free from the routine and whatever we have been feverishly chasing.. and take stock of what we have instead, and in a way I am glad that having babies has allowed me to do that... kinda forced me to slow down if you look at it..

So there are the babies - Baby en and Baby 2/X - both growing fine and well.. en seems to be contented just to just crawl around and trying to stand - we are now waiting to see when he will take his first baby steps.. well, it does seem a bit ironic that he is driving even before he has learnt to walk!!!

Every night when I see him in his cot, i cant help thinking how fast time has flown and what a sturdy boy he is growing into, and right before our eyes.. and while I will be so glad to complete my child bearing national "replacement" duties before i turn 30, i just have this niggling feeling that somewhere down the road, i will begin to miss these moments now which is passing by so fast!! Carp Diem Carp Diem indeed! and perhaps it really wont be very long before i will be preoccupied, instead, with chasing Baby en....

Jay Chou and Boyz

As the hardcore Jay Chou fan, I am now listening to his latest album "Still Fantasy" and it made me think quite a bit about Jay Chou and raising Boys...

I have always been a Jay Chou fan, as a girl, I appreciate his musical talents and love his "bo-chap" attitude.. in the past albums, the references to his mum and some of his socio-polictical stance also made me feel that he is more than your run of the mill usual pop idol..

And contrary to his rebel, bad boy, bo chap image, i feel his songs demonstrated depths of emotions and thoughts (well, Ok not all lyrics are written by him, but his faithful partner Fang Wen Shan), still for someone to identify that talent in words must mean something..

In this album, that is a song 听妈妈的话 (Listen to Mum) written by him (listen to that on En's JukeBox!), with themes of protecting mum and not hurting her... which led me to think that just cuz a boy looks rebellious, it may not mean he is not capable of a close releationship with his mum..

If my boys turn to punk and rock, walks around recalcitrant with a bad boy attitude - should i be worried? Not necessarily - I am thinking.. true, they may not be the meterosexual or the expressive mummy's boys, that does not mean their emotional links to me may be any less right?.. in fact, when i look at Jay chou and the subtle ways in which he has expressed how much his mum meant to him and how aware he is of a mum's love and sacrifice for their children, I am impressed with the depths and subtlety of the emotions..

Often, still water runs deep, this must be what it means.. for boys and men, having a strong character and attitude are important.. being able to stand firm on issues and matters are quintessential.. and of course there is the idealistic vision of the male as the protector of females (oooh, the feminists are gonna kill me, but..) yeah! it will be great to know that my boys cherish and are protective of me..

As a gal - I absolutely adore Jay Chou, and now as a mum, I appreciate the understated and subtle glimpses of his relationship with his mum...

Sometimes we hope our children turn out to be of the usual mould with the usual traits - happy, expressive, contented etc etc.. well, from Jay Chou, I am beginning to think it is important that we have faith in our kids, no matter whether they fall out of the "angelic kid" mould or not..because ultimately love comes in all forms , even in bad boys with a rebel attitude...

Raising Boyz...

I grew up in a household where the ratio of females: males is 3:1. I am the daddy's gal and my dad is a gentle man, stubbborn as a mule sometimes, and has all the absent minded traits of a male at times... which sometimes aggravates my mum and us no end, still he is one good man.

So when i hear that my second kid is gonna be a boy - i am not sure how i can cope.. now i am thinking of raising a few GOOD men.. howz.. The ratio in our family will now be 3 males: 1 lone female (ala me and not counting momo..)! Hubby and I were hoping for a gal to complete the family.. And not withstanding that, we now have to now crack our brains to find a nice name that goes with Yap Bao - X (all contributions welcomed), having a second boy is really giving me quite a bit of jitters..

I went to buy a book "Raising Boys" to try and understand what it takes to parent 2 boys.. what are boys' needs and what kind of childhood will help mould them into gentle, responsible and charismatic men? Hubby is an only child, so a household of 2 boys will be a novelty to him too..

Well, it seems like having an important role model in form of a dad is critical from 6 yrs onwards, and having a community/ mini society that will nuture him into living with others, will help from age 14 onwards.. well the book cites anthropological references to age old tribes who understood this concept betta than us modern man - SO that's why there were those rite of passage for boys to move into manhood, and they are mentored by tribes elders (as opposed to parents).. sor des....

well.. the good side of this is I will always be the QUEEN and Princess in the family, by virtue of my gender.. i shall teach the boyz to pamper me (that is before they start pampering their girlfrens) and i figured i should never have to carry the grocery bags, fix the lightbulb and do any of those elephant tasks with 3 men around the house.. hmmmm... sounds nice doesn't it.. :) I wish!

Cookie Moster

En is really quite an eater.. he prefers his meals to milk, and solid to liquids..

We started him on cookies just recently, quite late in fact since the labels on most biscuits for babies state that they are for babies of 7 months or later..

He relishes his cookies though most of the time, he seems to be trying to understand the concept of eating and swallowing.. it can be quite heart stopping to watch him navigate the cookie in his mouth, hoping fervently that he will swallow the moistened cookie easily..

Yet, these little moments are a joy to watch and celebrate - a celebration of how far he has come from just a liquid guzzling baby to one who is chewing now.. Oh my cookie monster.. how i adore thee!!! i can't wait to feed you tiny bits of your first birthday cake -what an achievement that will be!

Busy Baby En

It's been some time since the last blog.. En has been pretty busy within this short span.. Let's see..

>> There's the prelims for the Pretty Baby contest, well, En did not get into the next round, but to us, he did V well.. Not only did he not cry on stage, he even managed a weak smile.. BIG Phew for Dad who had to bring him on stage.. BIG thanks to all the supporters who were there too..

>>En started to crawl proper, so he has been everywhere horizontally around the house lately...

>> En also started to stand and climb, so he has been everywhere vertically as well, up the sofa, edge of his crib, standing by his playpen...

>> and just yesterday, Grandparents bought him his first Rolls Royce of a car.. went to a Little Tikes warehouse to get a XYZ model of a travelling machine.. well, I was trying to source for a second hand one.. but En's Grandparents were of the view that the car could be shared with En's baby brother..so there... well, a $175 bucks car that has to be one of the grandest indulgence to date! These same set of grandparents didn't even spend those kind of obscene money on toys for me as my parents when i was an only child for 4 yrs ok... gee...

But it has been a fulfilling time with him now as he babbles, plays and entertains.. definitely quite the cutie pie I was hoping for.. :)

The Sulky Head Shaker

When baby En is in a funny mood, he really is quite funny..

These days, he just leant how to shake his head, and he does it for all occassions..
this clip was taken in a Japanese restaurant - we felt like having authentic Yakitori, and brought baby En there too, keeping our fingers crossed all the way that he would behave!

Well, not only did he behaved quite decently well, he amused the hell out of the patrons and waitresses!!

A Castle in Our Hearts

My Hubby and I are travel-addicts, we take joy in long endless holidays roaming the streets and learning the transport systems of the foreign countries..

So while we recognise that some of these long travels will be compromised with the arrival of Baby En, we did not feel that it will be too much of an impact - or at least i thought as we will still be able to travel on our own, and leave bb in the very good hands of his nanny and Juliet, our helper. But perhaps, we will not travel as long as we used to, 3 weeks to a mth of holiday is a long time to be away from baby!

So when En was at the tail end of his major illness, we were due to leave for a well deserved break in Bangkok.. after all i am really suffering from withdrawal symptoms from being grounded - literally - since birth of En.

So in addition to the madness of last minute packing, we had to make long list of phone no., instructions for Baby En, when we used to only make LONG list of instructiosn for Momo, our corgi..

While the flight was taking off, bizarre thoughts ran thru my head - i ve been stalling on my CPF nomination for the longest time, what was my arrangment for the insurance and stufff again.. if anything were to happen to me.. have i left adequate instructions for the care of En?

I never had such worries before.. and it was dis-concerting.. En's godma used to tell me how she missed her kids when travelling and how the sight of kids on the travel reminded her of her own kids.. now we know how that feels..

When hubby & i saw a blind lady holding on to a sick baby - with a cloth spread over the kid's forehead as if the kid was having a fever, we felt the pain that the mum must feel and remembered how we felt when En was seriously sick.. it was a cold, wet night in Bangkok and the vibes of despair, helplessness coming from this woman tore at our hearts, so much so that my hubby went forward to give her some money - and she seemed genuinely surprised cuz she was not begging for money, she and the sickly baby was seeking shelter from the rain? or were they not able to return homes..

at that moment i realise parenthood is universal, it transcends nationality, class differences and all the other parameters that divide us human.. and i did not know when En has held such an important place in our hearts, i always maintain that we should not cling on to our kids nor should our life revolve all around our kids.. kids are an extension of our lives, but not ALL or the ONLY of our lives.. yet at some point in time, between En's birth and his major illness, this little baby of ours has wormed his way into our hearts and has built a stronghold there...
It leaves a warm glow in me, but yet at the same time.. i feel so strange.. this feeling seems so foreign to me... will i get over it? More to explore and discover I suppose..it's a long journey ahead..

Temperature control!!

By the time En was 8 months, we thought we have pretty much mastered most of the essential skills to deal with a baby - bathing, feeding, diaperng, etc etc.. Imagine the shock we had when En fell seriously ill 3 weeks ago.. it started innocently enough with a swim and some tantrums which we mistook for his fatigue...

But when his temperature shot to 39 degree, he got our full attention.. we found ourselves obsessed with measuring his temperature every other minute, both to reassure ourselves that we had his temperature under control as well as to make sure we did not mis-read the numbers shown..

When en started to lose his appetite, and the fever not going down despite the medicine he took, we were seriously worried.. and whenever the number hits 39, it's red alert and we would start sponging him every opportunity we got..

The poor baby could not really sleep nor eat and we followed him in that as well.. doc said it was viral fever and would take time to go away..and true enuf, he went on to develop cough and running nose.. guess it had to get worst before it got any better.. and he even managed to pass the potent virus to us.. while we still had to spend every night monitoring his temperaure.. and sleep seemed a hazardous activity as we feared his temperature shooting up suddenly esp. in the middle of the night or the wee hours of the morning..

This was by far En's most serious illness to date.. he had always been quite a sturdy baby.. and seeing him so sick was heart-aching and really took a toll on us and the helper..

Still thru it all, i felt it has bonded us closer to the baby.. and it made me realise how close the baby is to our hearts - more than i thought possible, but more on that next time..

Tools of Survival

Although we En has only been with us for 8 months, we now have in our "Xiao Ding Dang"'s Bag a variety of Must Have tools for parental survival.. and here is the count down to the top 5 Must Have List:

1. A trusty Thermometer: every sensible parent must have a reliable and snappy quick thermometer. When En was a few weeks old, dad went to buy one which seems to work well, until 3 weeks ago... when En had viral fever and our lives are consumed with temperature taking.. You will want a thermomter that is fast and accurate in such situations, cuz you will not want to grapple with a baby that is wailing away while trying to determine if the temperature is under control or not

2. Baby Monitor: A life saver for any parent that values his/ her sanity.. In the first few weeks when En was born, we kept creeping into his room to see if he has awaken, if he slept properly (given the horrors we read of SIDS - sudden infant death syndrome), but we also end up waking the baby sometimes with our opening and closing of door.. and it gave us no rest with going in and out of his room every 15 mins.. When we got the baby monitor, life became a bliss - as it picks up every little sound that baby makes -so for peace of mind - get a baby monitor!

3. A power "Distractor" - This is one that needs plenty of trial and error to get it right i suppose - and for us, it was a funny rattle that produce a weird "ee-oh" sound when shaken (left), one that we co-incidentally found from my hubby's old cache of toys - En is just fascinated with the sound and whenever he cries, that cheap rattle (only $1.50 found in Kiddy Palace) never fails to distract him from his crying.. so agai, for peace of mind from the incessant wailing - find a powerful distractor..

4. Snap fast Camera cum video cum sound recorder: When En was about 2 months yrs we decided to ditch our old camera for a new one that enables us to take video and sound recording.. you won't want to lose any moment and for a while, I was camera crazy - so long as En is around, I felt compelled to have a camera nearby.. Babies grow too fast - it's a fact and they change so fast too and when I compare pics of En within 2 weeks of him - he looks so different! and you will want to capture those motions and sounds as well - so to keep the memories alive - camera is a must!

5. Baby Blues Comics: For a comic twist on potentially agonising and distressing moments from parenting - reading these comics is a must - hubby and I are addicted to it now - you can find this in Straits Times Life, or get the series of comic books.. while it makes one scream with hilarious laughter, there are practical tips that really helps to destress and cope with the occasional pains of parenthood. A must have to preserve emotional and mental helath for parents!

Fatherly Bond

Now that En is coming to 8 months. it is inevitable that he will have preferences.. but he demonstrates it mostly clearly in his choice of THE Favorite Person..

En is strongly attached to his dad, he smiles readily when he sees his dad, he whines and pretends to cry when dad walks away..

Perhaps it is written in the stars, after all Cancer is one of Scorpion's soul mate, so what can an Aquarius like me do?

Considering that Daddy is the one who could calm him down when En was in his colicky tantrums, daddy was equally involved in feeding, diapering and bathing him, and daddy is the one who brings him to and fro the sitter's place daily, well, daddy does deserve the rewards of En's spontaneous response..

So long as one of us parents can manage the baby, i suppose i shall not be too overly concerned? Then again, if you are looking for a classic case of role reversal, that is definitely us... hehee. 

A Trip to Mcdonald's...

When En was a baby of a few months, we brought him once to McDonald's where he spent most of the time in his baby sleep..quite blissful..

Now that he is 7 mths, we ventured another trip to McDonalds' and its much more of an adventure for him..

First he sat in the baby sit, and he was fascinated with the surroundings and the kids runnning around the place.. that kept him busy for quite some time..

Then we provided him with some stuff to keep him (or rather his hands busy), and it all went pretty well.. we were able to carry on with our adult conversation and the food, while he was kept entertained by the novel environement... Definitely a potential McDonald's kid in the making!!

But what impressed me more was the fact that we should have more faith in him that he would behave decently when we bring him out to dining places.. my previous encounters of seeing wailing kids had always made me rather wary of bringing kids out - 1. I am worried that we won't be able to control him and 2. that will be such an embarassment on us as bad parents and disrupting the peace of the other diners, and finally, my worry that it will be a futile effort where parents struggle with the kid and will not be able to have our meal in peace as well.

Well, perhaps i should have more faith in En, or faith in myself that things will work itself out.. perhaps En is now at a stage where he is still softly babbling and his cognitive skills has not brought him to the stage of "tantrums as a means to manipulate your parents" yet... Until then, I shall try to bring him out more often and socialise him to the correct behavior at dining places..

then again, if younext see me with a wailing En in a restaurant, pls pardon me for disturbing your peace, I am only a parent trying to lead a normal life - with baby En.. well, I can'talways eat at home yah! :) 

Prints of Our Lives

Guilty... It has been ages since I last blogged.. esp. since I have already decided on the topic for this blog - the long gone Mothers' Day!

Well, It's my first as a Mum.. for a start - a card in my fav lime green cheers me immensely.. and with Baby en's tiny hand prints in them? Priceless...

Of course I am sure all these festives stuff come from a generic account call "En's Debt", where we as parents charge to this account stuff like the uoming Fathers' Day gift, urm, birthdays gifts for mum and dad, urm.. x'mas gift.. etc etc.. when he comes of age to clear the debts, oh dear,i can't imagine what the amount will be.. indebted to his parents En will be.. hmm.. (I have not even decided which bank's interest rate should be the benchmark - foreign banks seem to offer attractive rates hmm)..

Then again, arn't we all born indebted to our parents? Money or not? the above is just one manifestation of the debt - albeit more tangibly..

Still.. the card is indeed lovely, and i am as much indebted to baby en as he may be to us as parents.. without En, i probably will not have experienced the little precious moments of motherly pride...

I am sure there are different facets of motherhood enjoyment/ torment, so for now, carp diem! But I shall always remember this First Mother's day with fondness... as we grow older - there isn't many opportunities when we can still claim our "first xxx", so this first Mother's day must count for something! 

En @ 6 months...

It is a amazing how time flies, and En has already reached the 6 months mark..

In another 6 mths time, En will be blowing his first candle, that is something quite exciting to look forward to indeed!

Manym parents advised that kids become easier once they are past the 6 mths mark, and I fidn that quite true, in fact, after 4 mths, when the reflux has become much better (no more merlioning after evvery feed) and learing to sleep for longer periods, things do stablise somewhat..

And what makes a huge diff between a post 4 or 6 mths and the inital 3 mths is En's ability to respond, well it is so much more enjoyable playing and talking to a responsive baby than one who just seems quite stoic most of the time.. To more good times with baby En! 

Sit and REACH -For the Gems

Much as I am often skeptical of the fulfillment derived from childbearing and parenting, (and many of my friends can attest to this), I have recently been v. pleasantly surprised by the amount of satisfaction derived from seeing En go through the various key stages of development..

His first flip, his first, and the numerous subsequent, attempt to crawl, him being able to support himself as he sat.. these tiny but significant stages gave me great excitement and courage..

Many mums use "joy & happiness" to describe such feelings, for me it is more complex than that.. it is almost as if I learn the power of life through every little growing stage that En goes through.. for a jaded cynic like me, who kinda believe one goes thru more woes & hardship than bliss in life, these little surprises gave me the stength to keep going.. as if little gifts or gems thrown in one's life waiting to be discovered...

Its amazing the strength one derives from the desire to discover these nuggets along the journey.. and for these, I thank Baby En...

The Social En?

According to the Scorpion horoscope, Scorpions are magnetic and charismatic beings. A friend also mentioned that her ex-boyfren who is a Scorpion, is also very attractive.. Hence, her conclusion that most Scorpions tend to be attractive in looks and personality..

En's babysitter told us that he charms the aunties at the RC with his smile.. does that make him attrractive and charismatic? I have no idea.. but for my sanity, I sure hope he turns on his charm for us, I love to see him smile than to have to suffer through his wails!  

Blessed En En is Series - Male Bonding

I think I can honestly say that i have not been too much of an *evil* Preggie during the 9 mths of pregnancy.. no midnight runs required of my hubby, limited leg rub requests (unless i was having cramps) and seriously not much of tanturms (a little short on the fuse perhaps).. so En's Daddy had a relatively easy 9 mths..

However, pay back time came after En arrived, with En's super short fuse, fiery tantrums and the nightly wailing colicky fits, it requires a great deal of patience to deal and manage baby En..

Through it all, my hubby has demonstrated infinite patience (now, i can safely say I am not the ultimate test of his patience, haks!) and tender loving care towards Baby En... No matter how loud the screams were, how long the wailing went on, my hubby has the patience to outlast Baby En. Cocooning En tightly in his arms, my hubby would relief me of these stressful moments and tend to En till En dropped off to sleep. It is no wonder baby En adores him on sight - always gurgling with laughter when he sees my hubby..

Jealous I am not, proud of the 2 men in my life I am, indeed.. and En is really blessed to have such a dad, who possesses the depths of patience to put up with en's antics, and a dad ever ready to take on more than his fair share of parenting.. from waking up in the middle of the night to tend to En to the tough experience of feeding En when En started to pull stunts such as blowing bubbles into his milk bottle ..

through it all, I see unrelentless patience, steely resolve in putting up with the difficult moments, and unconditional love for his little boy.. and grateful I am to have such a great partner to steer through these challenging months... through his deeds and actions, my hubby has challenged me to strive to be a better mum to En! For that, En and I have much to be thankful for!!

Blessed Baby, En En is Series - Super Nannies

Difficult as En is since birth (with his ferocious tantrums and impatience), he has been blessed to meet with great nannies - from the confinement auntie to the baby sitter - who shower him with loving care and patience.

Our confinement auntie took real good care of En post birth, and En's transition from a wrinkly baby to his chubby self during the 1st month had been quite smooth..

And the current babysitter dotes on him lots.. she ensures he is will taken care of in all aspects, from his physical needs to his developmental needs, and even goes the extra mile for stuff such as helping us bring en to barber and even buying him caps (one of which en wears above) to hide his stark botak-head.

To these great care takers of En, we are really grateful as they give us lots of reassurance and support as newbie parents. And it is great to have peace of mind knowing that En is left in very good and capable hands when I am at work!! These super-nannies are really god-send!!!