...Little footprints...

Happy Birthday to Kung-kung

2009-09-27T14:13:00.004+08:00

We celebrated Kung-kung's 60th birthday earlier this month at a chinese restaurant in Yu Lek, Cheras. I ordered a cake for this ocassion from here as the usual baker that I like was not able to take in my oder for that day. To me, the price was reasonable but it's on the higher side.

Result: the design and workmanship of the cake were good and the cake was HUGE for about 20+ pax. We only consumed 1/3 of the top tier and left the bottom tier untouch. The texture and the flavour of the cake itself were so-so. Not very much to my liking. Oh well...at least my parents and others were pleased with the whole presentation of the cake. Never try, never know right? Norelle was fasinated with the cow figurines (my dad born in the year of the Ox), she had fun decapitating one of them into bits and pieces (sorry...a bit gross).

Preston @ 9 mos

2009-09-27T14:02:00.005+08:00

Time flies, now lil' Preston is 9+ mos and he's been acting up a lot lately. His always amuse us with his endless expressions. Now he:

is teething: 2 bottom teeth have sprouted and more to come, gnawing on everything he can find / drooling a lot

is standing: able to stand unsupported for a few seconds..sometimes he does it so effortlessly (without realising that both of his hands are not holding onto anything)

is babbling: graduated from ba..ba..ba.. to deh..deh... maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...daaaaaaaadiiiiiiii...no no no....

is a milk junkie: still needs his night feed (could be a habit)

still sticks to me like a PLASTER! enough said!

Run...Norelle...Run

2009-08-31T23:56:00.009+08:00

Yup! Norelle did just that on 8 August 2009 as she participated in her 1st ever Sports Days organized by her school, Summer Academy. The event took palce at a multipurpose hall at Subang Jaya. When we arrived, the event has just started and very quickly, she was being 'whisked' away by her teacher to be with her team mates. She was placed at a 'Yellow' team (I was also on a Yellow team during school time) and we were told before hand to wear something to reflect the colour of the team. HY had a bright yellow shirt on, and me, well..the closest thing I had on to yellow was my 'beige' top (hey, I've been out of the 'fitness' world for quite sometimes).

She was lined up as the 1st person in her team (due to her petite size) and oh, she looked adorable having a yellow sash pinned onto her top :) She had no clue or whatsoever what's gonna happen, so she just followed whatever she was being told to do. Hahhaa...then the game started and she was supposed to run until she reaches a bench and crawl underneath it and run to the meeting point, turn back and run back to her team mates. Phew! I was so nervous for her as she looked quite 'lost' when the teacher was briefing her what to do. Then, the whistle went off, and surprisingly she did all the things correctly. It was so exciting and fun to see my lil' baby ran and ran..Hahaha...

She took the other games pretty well too. She had lots of fun on that day. We brought Preston along as well. There were also games for the daddies and mummies too. It was a fun event and in the end, the yellow team was in the 3rd runner-up position but to all of us there, all those kids were already a champion in their parents' eyes. Well done, Norelle. Daddy, mummy and di di were so proud of you :)

Lil' Preston @ 8+ Mos

2009-08-31T23:32:00.011+08:00

Infact, he's going to be 9 mos in 11 days time :P I've been slow in updating their milestones recently as I was caught up with work (what else!). At this moment, this lil' rascal of mine is getting quite a handful to all of us.

Now he:

- crawls like a pro, able to sit up from crawling position

- climbs stairs like a pro as well

- able to pull himself up and started cruising

- more babbly (making a lot of baby talk)

- capable of making funny faces/expressions (this guy is such a drama king)

- loves his food (he eats practically whatever he's been offered)

- better control of his pincher grips

His characteristics (so far):

- quite cautious (he will make sure of his surrounding before making his next move, i.e. one hand to hold onto something before letting go of the other)

- loves attention/crowds (will bawl his eyes out when being left alone)

- loves his jie-jie a lot (also means he likes to disturb her)

- of course he loves to smile (he's a happy baby overall)

Hopefully I'll be on time to update his next milestones accordingly :)

Beach Retreat

2009-08-29T01:51:00.024+08:00

My PIL (parents-in-laws) informed us that they are going to Hong Kong from 21 - 25 August to visit my FIL's (father-in-law) eldest brother. So I had to take leave and be a SAHM for a few days. Since I'm onleave, I thought of going somewhere, and we decided to head to Kuantan.

We left on the 22nd August, with 2 of my kiddos strapped onto their car seats at the back of the car. The journey took about 4 hours as HY took the 'old' road - more scenic according to him. Lil' Preston fell asleep not long after we started our journey. We stopped for lunch at Termeloh as that place is famous for their 'live' patin fish. Well, the food was mediocre but the price was cheap.

We checked ourselves into Swiss Garden Resort & Spa and when we arrived, we could see that the lobby was newly refurbished. Very resort like - with dark wooden panel but with a modern twist. Norelle was estatic that she's finally there as she has been asking about the trip for a whole week.

We chose the 'Deluxe Sea View' because I checked that they have refurbished that too. The room was spacious enough - with a huge King-sized bed and wooden flooring. It even fit 2 baby cots (for my kiddos) and still plenty of room to move around. We had a clear view of the swimming pools (altogether 3) and partial of the beach (it was blocked by trees).

So what did we do? Of course we hit the pool. But it was already close to 6pm so we didnt spent a long time in the pool as the weather was getting bad. The nice part of pool was, there's a baby pool (2 feet), an adult pool (1.5m) and a heated jaccuzi. We spent quite some time 'soaking' in the jaccuzi :)

All we did on the trip was eat, pool, beach, sleep, eat, pool etc... Norelle and lil Preston enjoyed the trip a lot and we're glad that we chose this place. The slightly put-off part was the things which we brought. With a toddler and a baby in tow, there were A LOT of things to pack. Somehow as a mom, I have this habit in me to pack extra of all the things that I am bringing - better be safe than sorry. Thank goodness we went by car and a huge car boot does make the difference :)

We checked out on the 24th August and both of the kids slept mostly all the way. It was a good trip but I'm glad that we're home.

Water Play

2009-08-29T00:06:00.007+08:00

Ok..this is a (super long) overdue post. We went to a friend's house on a Sunday afternoon for a little get-together as HY's college friend was back from Australia for a holiday.

The highlight of the day was of course kids-centered event - water play! It's great that the house has a huge swimming pool as the kids enjoyed themselves tremendously. Norelle of course was very excited and she can't wait to get into the pool. Having seen the rest of the kids splishing and splashing away, lil' Preston also wanna have a share of the fun. But he's not going into the pool as this 'forever-rushing' mummy forgot to bring along a change of clothes...so he settled in the big red basin instead...hahahha...

Preston @ 7+ Mos

2009-07-21T22:25:00.005+08:00

Here is our lil' Preston @ 7+ months. Some milestones at this stage:

- his weight was about 9.32kg (2 weeks back)

- able to pull himself up

- can crawl VERY fast on his tummy

- able to crawl on his knees (a few steps forward)

- able to climb afew flight of stairs: all by himself!!!

- having 2x porridge meal (a FULL chinese bowl) then subsequently down a bottle of milk

- able to sit more steadily

Norelle goes to school

2009-07-09T17:27:00.003+08:00

We enrolled Norelle into a half-day nursery at Summer Academy in Damansara Utama. This place was recommended to me by Fu Bee as her girl, Sophia is going to this nursery. Summer Academy’s main branch is in Subang Jaya where we attended their Open Day. We like the programmes they are running and the teachers seem passionate with education and kids.

On a Friday morning, we decided to visit the branch in Damansara Utama. The nursery is housed in a corner unit of a HUGE bungalow. The surrounding area is very quiet and calm and it is facing the DU primary school. The place used to be Pat’s Schoolhouse but it has since ceased its operation and moved back to Singapore.

The place is very airy and bright, and comes with complete facilities such as proper classrooms, play room, library, outdoor garden and many educational toys. Norelle was very excited when she first saw the place. There and then we decided to put her for a trial class and she loved every minute of it. She didn’t even notice that we’ve left and she had a great time there.

So after that we enrolled her for the nursery. It starts from 8.30am to 12.30pm with a tea break and lunch provided. The fees for this nursery is higher compared to the rest but judging from the quality (teachers) and quantity (of kids) there, we feel that it’s worth it.

Norelle started her first official day in school without much problem. She’s so eager to mix around and play whereby she forgotten to bid me goodbye. She has been attending the nursery for a week now and she’s been adapting very well. She didn’t even cry for once and didn’t look out for us while in school. We are so proud of our little girl.

Sweet Moments 2

2009-06-27T17:58:00.006+08:00

I just want to document this down while it's still fresh on my mind...

One morning while I was surfing the net and Norelle was by my side reading her books, she suddenly asked me (she spoke in half English and Cantonese):

Norelle: Mummy, kam yat yau rain mou? (mummy, it is raining today?)
Me: Nope...It's not raining
Norelle: Then jang kan hui kau slide, ok mou? (then, we go and play on the slide, ok or not?)

I was caught off-guard! She's so clever as she knows when she asks me such question, I would normally answer her by saying 'it's raining outside, the slide's wet' or 'it's too hot to go outside'. With that, she knows that she can't go and play outside.

This time, she twisted the question around!! Did I answer her???? Hah! I tried to divert her attention other things :P Bad mummy......

Preston 1st Solid

2009-06-27T16:59:00.002+08:00

Preston started on semi solid earlier at the 5th month as he seemed not contented with only milk. His first reaction towards 'real food' was so much better compared to his jie-jie. He finished everything and asked for more.

Hong Kong Trip (15-20 May)

2009-06-27T11:45:00.015+08:00

We brought Norelle to Hong Kong last month. It was her 1st time taking the plane and to our surprise, she handled it very well. No fussing, managed to nap for about 2 hours (to and fro) and enjoyed the inflight entertainement and food. She was given a complementary baby kit by Cathay Pacific - a bag with some crayons, stickers, colouring book, etc.

Hong Kong was ok overall - we dont really enjoyed it very much. Maybe we had too high expection for that place. Anyway, we brought Norelle to Ocean Park - nope, we didnt make a trip to Disneyland despite that would what most people thought we should/ would go especially when we are going with a toddler. Norelle enjoyed Ocean Park very much and she had a blast - looking at those dolphons, sea lion, panda and the rides.

Overall, it was an experience and we look forward to bringing Norelle to other places since she's fine with the plane - more vacation? Oh yes! We (at least I do) need another vacation after this one......and actually it's going to be one soon....................... :)

Too much

2009-06-27T11:42:00.004+08:00

The title says it all...too much to update, too much to handle (all of us in the family were sick - just recovered), too little time...

And..I'm TIRED!

An Easter-licious Sunday

2009-04-18T18:26:00.010+08:00

Last Sunday we went to Delicious at Dua Residency for its' Easter brunch buffet. The setting of the place was very spacious and bright. Love the different shades of blues and white that decorated the whole place. There were 2 floors whereby the buffet-line was laid out at the upper floor and all the kids' activites such as face painting, bounching castle, arts & crafts were located at the lower floor.

There were quite an impressive spread of food ranging from fresh oyster to foie-gras, champagne to desserts. Norelle had great fun at the arts & crafts whereby she did her first 'bunny mask'. It's such a great joy seeing her little hands cutting and pasting and colouring her masterpiece :)

Indeed, it was a great Easter to all of us....

Lil' Preston @ 4-month young

2009-04-11T20:10:00.004+08:00

Lil' Preston turns 4-month young today and he's getting cheekier day-by-day. His waking hours stretches longer now and he's eating more. Well, not surprising, judging by his size :)

He is more receptive now and able 'realised' the existence of his hands. He loves to suckles his fingers and fists (which I fondly call them 'french fries' and 'drumsticks'). He is not flipping yet but he loves to be on his tummy. He loves crowds and loves to play with Norelle.

Some 'not-so-new' updates

2009-04-01T18:43:00.004+08:00

Was lacking behind in updating both my kiddos' milestones. Work has been crazy since I returned begining of March. Well, good and bad. And plus having to adapt my pumping schedule minto my work routine = crazy! But I am surviving through these 'chaotic times'.

Ok, now move to my kiddos :) Norelle turned 26 months on 30 March and lil' Preston now is 3.5 months. Both of them are fine and growing well respectively. Let's see at some of their milestones:

On Norelle:

- her vocab is getting much much advanced. Her knowledge of some words amazed me from time to time.

- she loves to sing and can complete the entire song on her own such as:

twinkle little star, happy birthday (out of tune), baa baa black sheep,

and some other songs partially like:

yi san yi san liang jing jing (twinkle little star - mandarin version)

liang zhi lau fu (2 little tiger - mandarin)

london bridge is falling down

- can count 1-15

- can recite A-Z

- able to differentiate between alphabet and number

- able (understand) to count some items (as in 1 ball, 2 sweets, 3 cakes, etc)

- able to recognise some colours, red, blue, green, orange (her favourite is green)

On appearance wise, not a big jump as in her weight - she's about 12kg and she has a very small feet . I call her 'cinderella feet' as she can fit into the smallest size for Crocs (C4/5) and is still wearing the same size since last year!!!

On Preston:

- getting much more alert

- still on total breast milk

- loves to talk / sing (he can actually make a tune when he's 'talking')

- loves to smile

- able to reach out his hands and grab things

- able to sleep longer at night (6 hours straight)

- he weighed 7.4kg and 62cm in height

- outgrowed most of his 0-3 mos clothes, he's wearing 6-9months now

- realised the presence of people and able to 'interact' and play

- can sit longer in car seat/stroller (which makes going out easier)

These are some points I can think of right now. Hopefully I am able to post next updates soon :)

Norelle's new haircut

2009-02-15T19:25:00.004+08:00

Her worst fear.....getting a haircut. It's such a nightmare for all of us whenever we bring Norelle for a haircut. No amount of coaxing, treats, bribing will do for her. We can reason with her all we want BEFORE the haircut and she will obligingly says OK but once she sits on the chair, all the OKs are gone. Think I will try cutting her hair myself next time. Wish me luck!

Preston @ 2 Mos

2009-02-13T23:04:00.008+08:00

Another month passes by and Lil' Preston is 2-month young :) These two months are indeed a challenging one for all of us. But, looking at our lil' Preston growing day-by-day is even more rewarding. He is much more alert now and is able to lift up his head for a good few secs when we put him on his tummy. Still the ultimate drinking machine :) He now weighs 6.3kg and 59cm tall. Loves to 'talk' and smile. His favourite time of the day - BATH time! To the extent that he will instantly stop crying / fussing the minute his body touches the water. Now he is able to sleep longer at night but haven't sleep through yet.

Oh, he has the CUTEST pout ever!, which melts your heart instantly :)

Norelle turned 2

2009-02-04T17:07:00.005+08:00

Our cheeky Princess finally turned 2 on 30th January 2009. We had a pre-birthday celebration for her together with Lil' Preston full month in early January, so on her actual day, which was also the 5th day of CNY, we just had a simple 'mini' celebration for her. We had yummy 'dim sum' at Chuai Heng Restaurant at Jalan Imbi together with Norelle's poh-poh, kung-kung, yee po and cousin sister.

Glad to say that her T2 phase is getting better but she will still launched into that 'monsterous' mode on-and-off. While her behavious is getting better, it's Lil' Preston turn to cook up some challenges for us. He's very demanding as in ALWAYS wants to be carried (upright position), ALWAYS wants to suckle, not interested to be on his own even for less than 30 sec! He's driving me up the wall and it's impossible to even go to the loo when he's awake. I can't remember Norelle being so 'difficult' when she was younger.

Anyway, I just hope that he will grow out of this phase (one after another) soon or another alternative/consolation for me is I'll be hitting the workforce again soon :)

Double Celebrations

2009-01-14T09:40:00.021+08:00

On last Sunday, 11th January we celebrated the full month of lil' Preston and Norelle's 2nd birthday which also falls on the same month (30th January). We had a small gathering from both sides of the immediate family members which comprised of 12 adults, 3 children and 1 baby.

A quick look on the development of lil Preston:

Weight: He is now 5.3kg (he put on 1.74 kg for the past one month, about 54.38g/day - which is 2.5x more than the average weight of 20g/day)

Height: 57cm (he has outgrown the bath tub!!)

Feeding: Paed termed him as the 'Barracuda' eater whereby he eats more than 10x/day

We had a simple yet very tasty nyonya peranakan lunch at BibiChik located at PJ SS2. The food was very good as usual and after that we had a simple 'ceremony' of singing the 'Birthday' song and cake cutting for Norelle. For her 2nd birthday, I ordered a'Barney & Friends' cake for her as well as some cupcakes for Preston's full month from Lau of Heavenly Sweet.

The children were estatic upon seeing the cake and all the adults also went 'Oooohs' and 'Aaaahs' looking at the cake and cupcakes. Norelle also got a 'Barney' doll from her 'Dai Pak' and 'Dai Pak Leong'.

Here are some pictures on the double celebrations:

Lil' Preston @ 3-week young

2009-01-02T12:13:00.006+08:00

Ok, things started to change a little. This lil' fella finally kind off awake from his slumber and started to 'realised' that he's now no longer inside mummy's cosy big, fat tummy. He's awake for a longer stretch now. And oh boy oh boy, he can really eat. Apart from waking up, he's constantly looking foor food - in this case, I'm stuck with him. He doesnt like to poo. Every time he does the biz, he will cry. And yes, we checked his bum. No rashes or whatsoever. Maybe the food I ate? Cant help it though but will soon be over. Confinement ends in a week's time :)

He likes to do this 'fish' mouth 'ooooooooooo' so cute

See, cant be sleeping the whole day eh..Must do some workouts

Ok, I'm done with the workouts, and I'm hungry and I want my milk NOW!!!

Norelle @ 23 Mos

2009-01-02T12:03:00.003+08:00

Getting more and more talkative. Her T2-phase is still here to stay (please GOD, help us!) Loves her didi a lot. Diet wise, poor as she's on a strike now - T2 again. Vocab wise, superb! Can converse in a full sentence consisting in a few words... And we cant even 'trick' her. She knows. Apart from that, she's still as loveable as she can be :)

With mummy at Paddington House of Pancakes (mummy still in confinement :P)

Lil' Preston @ home

2008-12-25T18:27:00.012+08:00

Lil' Preston @ 1-week young

Norelle 'jie-jie' giving a lil' kiss to baby Preston

Lil Preston @ 2-week young

The strike of the BIG 'T2'

2008-12-25T17:32:00.003+08:00

The first week of the arrival of lil' Preston was a challenging time. Well, the problem was not with him as a newborn - so far he has been quite 'predictable'. He feeds every 3 hours, not a very fussy baby, pees and poos quite often...(well, compared to Norelle, he's much easier to handle).

Now the BIG problem is Norelle, herself. She has been quite 'difficult' and has been throwing tantrums since the day I've been admitted. She has been very demanding, stubborn, ignorant, rude, etc. She knows the arrival of her lil' brother and she will shows her affection towards him such as kissing, cuddling, and 'sayang' him. But her 'inner' self was somehow 'disturbed'. Since I'm doing my confinement at my MIL's, she also stays with me as she has never spent the night with another person (well she did spent 3 nights with my MIL when she was 4 Mos old - but she was still too young then).

And she's finding 'comfort' in her Barney. She practically asking to watch Barney 24/7 - which can be quite daunting when you are facing that 'Purple Creature' so many times a day. When we relented, she turned into a different person - wailing, screaming, kicking, fussing for the whole day. She will even 'cry out' for Barney in her sleep! We bought a few toys for her telling her that those were given to her by her 'didi'. That worked a little. But she is still very 'focus' in her Barney...

So we made a decision to bring her home (me and lil' Preston too) during the weekend. To let her 'break-away' from being station at my MIL's for so many days. She will tell us that she wanna go home as she misses home or misses all of us being together. Can tell that she is frustrated as her 'normal' routine has been disrupted. And she was better after the weekend stay at the home. But she still ask for her Barney DVDs but much better.

*Sigh......I hope this Terrible 2 phase + jealously will be over soon..........

Happy Birthday to Mummy!

2008-12-25T11:40:00.003+08:00

15 December was my birthday - 4 days apart from lil' Preston's. So this year since I'm still in confinement, we had a rather simple celebration at home. HY bought a cake for me (hehehe..still able to had my share of birthday cake). So all of us (together with my inlaws) just had a small celebration. HY gave a me BIG pressie the night before. He bought me a Sony DSLR-A300 camera :) Didnt expect that from him though. So now I can take lots of pretty pictures of my 2 lil' kiddos (but....please dont ask me to read the manual)

My birthday pressie from hubby :)

Introducing our new addition to the family

2008-12-14T12:59:00.006+08:00

We would like to present the latest addition to the Chew family. Our baby boy arrived on the 11 December 2008 (6 days earlier than EDD). Here's a little summary of the event:

11 Dec 08 11am - Went for check up and CTG as gynae will be away for holiday on Fri and Sat (edd 17 Dec)

12pm - CTG showed contractions every 10 mins and gynae did VE which showed I'm already 4cm dilated (didnt notice at all - no pain, etc)

1pm - Gynae said admit and said I'll deliver tht night. Was quite taken aback as didnt prepared to be admitted at all. HB sent Norelle back to MIL and went home to pack my hospital bag.

2-3pm - Still 4cm dilated. Nothing much happening as I feel 'normal' lor. But regreted that I didnt have the chance to feast before admitting.

3-4pm - Gynae came and checked and surprisingly dilated to about 6cm. So doc decided to burst my waterbag and put me on drip to 'fasten' up the whole process. Still zero feeling.

5pm - Waterbag was burst and put on drip. Waiting game again. HB was back and brought laptop. So went online in the delivery suite :P

6+pm - Felt contractions but still bearable. Decided to forego epi since already abt 8cm dilated. Still online then :P

7pm - OK...contractions getting more intense. Asked for the pedithine (spelling) jab on the buttock. Seriously to me the jab is no use lor.

7.23pm - Wah lau..the urge to push was so darn painful man...but luckily it was quite fast and after a few pushes...our boy finally made his appearance :)

Photos will follow soon....

Updated on Sunday, 21 December 2008:

Ok, here's a picture of our lil' Preston (2nd day):

Sweet Moments 1

2008-12-04T11:20:00.002+08:00

Looking at how talkative my girl is nowadays, I came across a short conversation between her and my HY's nephew, Neils (4 YO). Both of them were playing on some puzzle blocks and this was what I heard:

Neils: Eek...eek..eek...(Grumbling as he cant fit one of the puzzles)
Norelle: Tor-tor, srow-ly (Gor-gor, slowly) - pacifying him to be patience
Neils: Eek..eek...Ngem tak geh (Why cannot eh?) - already losing his patienceNorelle: Tor-tor, man-man lei (Gor-gor, take it slowly)

Wahahahha..... so cute.

Norelle @ 22 Mos

2008-12-01T14:58:00.005+08:00

Let's look at her development so far...

Weight
Erm...should be over 10kg (didnt weigh her)

Height
Erm..seems taller already lor (yeah, I know that I am a lousy mother - I dont keep track of her vital stats)

Teeth
I think she is still at 11 teeth. Or maybe sprouting some new ones????

Diet
Eat almost everything but not a big eater. More like she is interested in every single thing which she sets her eyes upon on. Her main meals are stil rice (cheena girl) and she likes soup. Not so keen on western food - except fren fries (not surprising). I think she has flavoured quite a wide variety of food/snacks/drinks already.

She LOVES to jump! Pratically that's her everyday 24/7 routine. Be it on the bed, sofa, stairs, baby cot, door-grille, gate, car, you name it, she's done it. This girl is not afraid of height or whatsoever!. And she can jump non-stop.

She is quite good with hands - she can screw and unscrew those bottle caps since very young. She has a knack of 'dismantling' things and put them back in one piece. She can fix those big ABC playmat puzzle (correctly) and those with pictures of fruits, etc. She can hold pens/pencils the correct way - think she's a leftie. She can self-feed pretty well now.

Vocab
This is the fun part. This little chatty box of mine is so talkative nowadays and most of her words / sentences are in cantonese as that's what she picks up from her cousin brother at my mother-in-law's. She knows quite a lot of words and has been speaking in sentences more foten now. Let me list down some of the sentences that she knows (cant remember all)...

"mummy/daddy/whoever..., lei zhoum mat yeh" (what are you doing?)
"yeh-yeh/ma ma/..., sik fan lor" (come and eat your dinner)
"I want Barney water" (I want to drink water - Barney bottle)
"I watch Barney ah"
"Barney spoil chor ah? / wai jor ah" (Barney CD spoiled?)
"I want to buy ta-kult' / ti-ta-gen'" (yakult/vitagen)
"Got somemore"
"I dont like...."
"mummy, tor ji ngo" (hold my hand)
"mummy, cannot reach wor"
"daddy play tennis"
"we go kai-kai first ah?"
"ngo em moi yi koh" (I dont want this one)

And some other sentences which I can remember. But she definitely knows a lot! And I dont know where she's getting all these from. Another funny thing is she knows how to form a sentence using 'and then'. Like for instance,

Me: Baby, you pooh-pooh already?
Norelle: Pooh-pooh already
Me: Who wash your bum bum?
Norelle: Daddy lor
Me: What happen to the pooh-pooh?
Norelle: Daddy pour away the pooh-pooh and then flush away lor

She can sing a few of the nursery rhymes (not the complete song). She can sing the first 2 lines of 'Twinkle twinkle little star' quite clearly and also the mandarin version of it, 'Yi shan yi shan liang jing jing'. Her favourite song so far is the 'London bridge is falling down'. Oh, she can also count from 1-10 and some parts from A-Z.

*Sigh*..that's my girl :) Just love her innocence. So pure and simple. Yes, she is quite a handful but I just love the 'free spirit' in her. Being totally carefree and laugh and cry to the fullest. I love her being totally her at her age. That's how a child supposed to be. And they only get to be like this once...........so cherish it.

I am a little hippo drinking my favourite 'ti-ta-gen'

Hi from baby Elmo and me!

A (Very) Short Escapade

2008-11-14T12:17:00.012+08:00

I did something impromptu last weekend. I booked a night's stay at Boulevard Hotel, Mid Valley just to surpise HY. Well, aslo as a post-birthday celebration plus a short get-a-way for all of us. Work has been crazy for the past few months and time is drawing near for me to deliver our precious boy. So I guess this little short (really short) holiday would put some sanity back into our lives.

I managed to keep this 'agenda' from HY and the night before I secretly packed the bags with our stuff and sneaked them into the car. Wahahaha...I felt so naughty but at the same time I got the thrill doing something so 'secretive'. But I did tell him not to make any plans for Satturday and Sunday. Then on Saturday morning we went for our breakfast and I couldn't hold on any longer, so I just got it out. He seemed very pleased and excited (I hope!). We went home to prepared some last minute chores and rested a while (the check-in time was from 2pm).

We got to Boulevard Hotel and proceeded with the check-in. Norelle was very excited and has been running around (and climbing up and down on every chairs available) at the foyer. Our room was located on the 16th floor and the size of the room was decent enough. Quite a good value for the price I paid. Before that I did some 'research' and read some reviews on TripAdvisor. Turned out that those reviews were quite accurate and I'm pleased with myself :)

Norelle wasted no time in exploring the whole room, pulling out all the drawers / cupboards, etc. Then she busied herself by doing 'play-pretend' in making us tea / coffee with the mugs, spoons, coffees and tea sachets. HY offed for his squash game while we got some rest (it's Norelle's nap time). She was so excited upon seeing the babycot and insisted that she sleep there and she did :) So I had the whole King-sized bed all to myself and we had a good nap.

The funny thing about our little 'escape' was, that night, we still went home for dinner :) And we kept it from our family members. Hahaha..Somehow it made the whole thing much more 'sweet' and fun. We headed back to the hotel after dinner and we even managed to do some shopping at Carrefour. So convenient. We also stayed up to watch some movies on TV (it was such a luxury for me - laying down with fluffy pillows and thick duvet while watching TV).

Next morning we headed down for our breakfast at the coffee house (Wild Rice), located on the 9th Floor together with the gymnasium and swimming pool. Norelle was very excited upon seeing the swimming pool and we promised that she could go for a swim after taken her breakfast. Food was good and fresh. A good mixture of local and international spread. We had a little dip in the pool after our breakfast - yes, me included :). Just loved to be in the water - so light :) Norelle on the other hand, was having such a fun time in the pool. She got bored with the children pool and had more fun at the adult pool. Hahahhaa....

We checked-out at 1pm and walked around for a while at the mall before going home. When we got home, all three of us took a nap (a good 3 hours!). We truly enjoyed this 'holiday' of ours and looking forward to do it again.

Hmm...let's see what I can make out of this

This is so much fun! I can do this all day long

I wonder...I wonder....I wonder.....

Did I mention that I ABSOLUTELY love to swim??

A Lazy Holiday

2008-10-27T17:46:00.007+08:00

Today is Public Holiday inconjunction with the Deepavali celebration. We decided to take the easy (lazy) way out so that we can recuperate after our fun and tiring outing to Sunway Lagoon on Saturday. We went to 1 Utama where there's an indoor 'Rain Forest' whereby a man-made waterfall, a trail of stream with koi fish surrounded by a lush greenery (real trees). You wont realise the fact that you are in a shopping centre.

The we headed for a yummy lunch at 'delicious' where we had a wholesome (HUGE) lunch of spaghetti and Gado-gado. And to quench out thirst on this hot day, we ordered a 'watermelon lychee burst' (fantastic). We walked around for a while. Bought some groceries and finished off with a ride on a 'Barney mobile' for Norelle. What a great and relaxing way to spend the holiday :)

Hello from daddy and baby Norelle

'Daddy, those pumpkins look really big and yummy :) '

'Mummy, do you think my left or right profile looks better?'

Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! I'm driving off with Barney and friends!

A Splish Splash Outing

2008-10-27T09:53:00.011+08:00

HY's company organized a 'Family Day' on 25 October at Sunway Lagoon Themepark. Gosh! It's been zillion years since I went there and am not sure what to expect from it. We got there at about 10+ am and Norelle was already very excited upon seeing the slides and the swimming pool. She said to me, 'Mummy, got swee-meeng pool ah, shhhlike (slides)' and shrieked with laughter.

The place has changed a lot and more 'colourful'. It's really like a GIANT playground with slides, pools, with different themes everywhere. After a short briefing, we all adjourned to a smaller wave pool where HY and his colleagues carried out their tele-match. Whereby for Norelle, it's off to the pool!. She was a bit hesitated at first (still blur) and was reluctant to get into the water. There's a slide catered for children and she doesnt want to get near it.

With a bit of coaxing, she finally climbed up to the slides and slided down into the water. Of course we (HY and I took turn) held her as she's still a lil' young to go on her own. After that, she's all set. As if she suddenly remembered that, 'Hey, I like to play with water' and she went again and again on the slide. I also took this opportunity to have a dip since I have never been in the water in ages.

I bought a jacket float for Norelle at the store there and put it on her and I brought her into the deeper level of the pool. I felt good and LIGHT! And I can't believe that I could 'move' so easily. Norelle was doing great and after a while, she doesnt want me to hold onto her. Instead she 'float' on her own (I'm still holding onto her hands though). She wanted to go for the slides (which are bigger, higher and definitely I cant go). So, we told her that we are having a break first.

We rest for lunch and later HY brought her to the other area where there are lots of stairs, slides, and kids everywhere. And me just watched them (with my camera) from the bottom. Norelle wanted to go on the slides but those were too 'dangerous' for her. Then we came to a slightly smaller slide and let her have a go at it. Still, to me it's pretty scary for a child so young. But to my amazement, Norelle didnt fliched at all. She slided down the slide with water splashing all over her face and she was getting emmense joy from it. She went again and again on that slide. I seriously wonder where she got that courage from????

Then we adjourned to the bigger wave pool as I wanted to 'float' for the last time before we go :P Norelle of course no problem with that. And this time, she doesnt even want to wear the float. So we stayed at the level where she was able to stand.

We all have a wonderful time there and I was grateful for the opportunity to 'relieve' myself for a short time from all the heaviness and achiness of my body. Mind you, at 32 weeks, carrying a 2.3kg baby plus anything else in my body, it was indeed heavy.

All ready for the BIG adventure

'What are you looking at? Get your own float. This is mine!'

Ready or not, here I come!!!!!

Commando in training

Daddy, can we get one of these install at our bathroom???

Mummy with a BIG tummy :P

The Chew family

Norelle @ 20+ Mos

2008-10-11T18:56:00.002+08:00

Norelle turned 20 mos on 30.10.2008 and it's such a great joy to have her by our side. She's getting more and more responsive and she is getting more and more curious. She can express herself pretty well. She's on 3-word (sometimes more) syllabus. And it's amazing sometimes the words that are coming out from her mouth.

Mummy: Baby, do you want to go to class? (her kindermuzik class)

Norelle: Want

Mummy: So, we better get going.

Norelle: Mummy, late jor lor (we are running late)

Mummy: -_-!

Guess she must have picked it up from me as I was always rushing and telling HY that we are running late :P. Another of her favourite sentence is, "Ah Mi, I watch Barney, AHHHHH?" (with a super sweet and smiley face when she's saying this). She is OBSESS with that purple he/she creature! She asks for it day and night. First thing in the morning, before nap time and before bedtime. If we dont give in, she retaliates by screaming, kicking as if it's the end of the world!

Besides tons of DVDs, she also has other paraphernalia like a soft toy each of Barney and BJ (another character), a water tumble and a small velcro sling bag. The best is, she was being introduced to Barney only a couple of weeks ago. That purple creature sure knows the way to the little ones' hearts.

Other than that, she's all good and loves her 'didi' very much. She will constantly kiss my tummy and put her ears to it and strokes it. Awwww...so sweet. But I wonder whether she really understands that I'm actually carrying a lil' human being inside me??? I have less than 10 weeks to go before she actually meet her baby brother and right now, HY and I are spending as much time as we can with her. And I still cant believe that I will become a mother of 2 very very soon. Another thing is, I am still ponder whether I will have the same amount of love for my baby boy as I have for Norelle? I know people say of course, you will love each one of them 110%. Hmmm...we shall wait and see.......

3rd Anniversary

2008-09-30T17:56:00.005+08:00

We celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary on 24.09.2008. And it was a coincidence that I was on leave as I was due for my check-up. So kinda kill two birds with one stone :)

So in the morning we went to SJMC for my check-up. I was 28 weeks and our baby's doing very well. He weighed about 1.27kg and according to my gynae, at 28 weeks the baby should weighs at least 1.2kg. So, he is doing perfectly fine.

Then we went to Sunway Pyramid for our 'anniversary' lunch. It's much easier going for lunch when you have a child with you. So we settled for Sushi Zanmai for some Japanese feast. Norelle had the whole cup of chawan mushi and some rice too. And I, had too much of everything. HY still amaze how I can actually eat that much. Hahhahaa... well, I'm eating for '2' right? Thank goodness for this pregnancy I didnt gain as much weight as the previous time :)

Genting Trip

2008-09-21T11:56:00.008+08:00

On 20 September 08, Saturday, we decided to go for a short trip to Genting Highlands. We took this opportunity as it did not coincide with any school / public holidays. It's been ages since HY and I went to Genting and it would be Norelle's 1st time there.

We took off at about 10.30am in the morning and went for tim sum breakfast at our usual place in Damansara Uptown. Then the journey up to Genting only took 45 mins and we reached the 'peak' at 12pm.

The weather was colder than we thought - about 19 deg. It's Norelle first time being in a natural 'cold' environment (apart from air-conditioned places). We headed straight to the ticketing counter and purchased tickets for both indoor and outdoor theme parks for HY and myself as Norelle is (still) young enough to enter FREE. And the best part was for my ticket, I only paid half (kiddie price) as I'm pregnant and a lot (mostly all) of the rides are deemed not suitable / not permitable for pregnant woman. Better still, save more $$$...

We started taking Norelle on a slow cable ride (indoor) and after that we took the journey to outdoor since the weather was still good and sunny. HY accompanied Norelle on most of the rides and she was having fun. She doesnt portrayed a slight fear towards all those rides - be it bumpy rides, escalating high up and plunging down or being few hundreds (I think) meters high up in a ferris wheel.

She even went on a few rides on her own and she totally loved it. And there I was holding my breath fearing that she would cry her lungs out without either one of us accompanying her. Nope. I was totally wrong. Those fears that I had were not neccessary. What I saw was my girl was all grown up being able to 'handle' the situation by herself. And she did great!

We had our lunch there and it was our lucky day as there was a 'Thai fair' at the outdoor theme park and some stalls selling thai food. Well, at least better than those food inside. But I have to admit that there are lots of new (maybe not anymore) shops / eateries like Old Town Kopitiam, Hainan Kopitiam, etc..so I guess food wise would be much better now.

Finally we conquered most of the rides and it was time to go home. We never have the intention to spend a night there as nothing much left for us to do. So at about 4+pm, we bid farewell to Genting. Within 5 minutes in the car, Norelle fell asleep all the way back home and continued sleeping until about 8pm.

There....a day well spent. Just the 3 (or 4) of us.....

Mid Autumn Festival 08

2008-09-20T07:29:00.010+08:00

We celebrated the mid autumn festival a.k.a. lantern festival last Saturday (13 September). We went to Norelle's poh-poh & kung kung's house to have a small gathering. We bought a fish-shape lantern for Norelle and she loved it.

There were lots of food to go around and everyone had a great time including Norelle. She finished her dinner and the ebst of all, we got ourselves a 'baby sitter' (my cousin's girl - 9 YO) to accompany her. The weather was fantastic that day but it rained the next day (the actual day of the festival). All in all, it was a great night.

'Can I set the lantern alight?'

Spotted with a new haircut - NOT mummy's idea!

The scrumptious spread for the night

Norelle with Kah Yan cheh-cheh

My 'Kay-poh' girl

2008-09-19T07:29:00.000+08:00

See what she did when she spotted a 'displayed' vacuum at a shopping mall??? She was 'showing off' her domesticated skills. Mummy was proud of her 'skills' but would be good if she shows it off at home instead.

'I'm a goooooooooooooood girl, mummy'

Norelle @ 19mos

2008-08-30T10:31:00.003+08:00

'Hmmm...where's my food? I'm hungry' 'See, I have perrrrrfect table manners'

'Hey, it's hard to eat a watermelon with spoon, ok!' 'Don't look at me like that. I'm just trying to have a decent meal'

'Wave like a Queen' 'I've gotta go. My shinning stallion is here to take me away'

2nd Singapore trip - July 08

2008-08-08T14:40:00.006+08:00

Here we are again in the lion city. The occassion for this trip was to celebrate the wedding of Uncle Howard and Aunty Joyce. For this time around, we stayed for 3 days and didnt do much cos not much time and nowhere else to go. But of course everytime when we make a trip there, I make sure that we wont come back empty handed. So for this trip I managed to get a Maclaren Ryder, light-weight stroller for Norelle and also a Graco infant car seat for our Prince-to-be. Oh, and also not forgetting mummy's loot from Aunty Jaslyn AGAIN...hahahha. Bought some Gymboree clothes for Norelle through the website. The last time was Old Navy. Hahahhahaa....Cant help it when the bargains are too good to let go. I hardly buy clothes from the stores anymore once I got to know the price the brands offer online. Cant imagine before this I used to pay such a high price for those stuff.

Back to the trip. Unlike the last trip, this time the weather was much cooler and it rained almost everyday when we were there. This time we stayed at Novotel, Clarke Quay and we loved the place. I think they have refurbished the hotel as it is very 'ultra-modern chic' look. The room was spacious enough and the bed was extra wide :) The hotel is right next to (more like attached) Liang Court whereby there's a Japanese supermarket (Mediya) and lots of Japanese frequent this place. So it's very convenient for us.

The three-day getaway ended very quickly and how I wish we get to stay longer. The next day when we got back to KL, we went for my routine check-up with my gynae. I was 20 odd weeks and the baby had grown quite a bit. According to doc, he seems to have a set of long and lanky legs :P And of course we were made certain once again about the gender. Haha...my boy doesnt seem to be 'shy' in showing us his asset in every visit.

Hi Singapore, remember me? I'm here again :)

You think this pose is ok? Can charm all the hansome leng chais in Singapore ah?

'Daaaaaaaaaaady, please grip me tight tight or...dont drop me into the pond. I just had my hair done.'

My best time during the entire trip - Pool time!

My little shopping queen

2008-08-08T12:07:00.004+08:00

Norelle loves shopping or 'kai kai'. Everytime when she sees us change our clothes, she will automatically says, 'kai kai ah?' and will proceed to take her shoes from the shoes rack. Or sometimes she will fusses if we didnt bring her out. Anyway, I love to bring her out as I love shopping (nowadays it's more window shopping or bring-her-out-to-shopping-mall-and-let-her-run-around). She loves big spaces where she can practice her running and also training to be a good consumer (enter every single shop and pulls whatever is reachable and pretend to compare prices) :P

Well I guess I shouldnt complain much as there's a sayinng 'monkey see monkey do' and in this case I would say she's following HY (hahahhaa...)

'Ah-mi, let's do shopping..catch me if you can'

This picture has nothing to do with the 'shopping post. Just like the way her hair looks in this picture - so uber stylish :)

Norelle's new haircut

2008-08-08T11:58:00.004+08:00

Norelle with a new haircut (well now longer). It has never been my idea and my wish to cut short of her hair. My MIL has been and always complaining that Norelle's hair is too thick and long and not suitable for the weather. I would rather let her hair grow longer so that I can doll her up with TONS of pretty clips which I have (and keep on buying). Oh well, I guess at the mean time, Norelle will have to do with a short hair-do. And it's never easy to bring her for a hair cut. So sometimes her hair cut would be uneven.

Hmmmm...maybe next time I'll ask the hairdresser to give her a 'Katie Holmes' hair-do??? hehehe

Hair cut ala coconut shape :)

A weekend with 'kung kung and poh poh'

2008-08-08T11:50:00.006+08:00

We were having lunch in one of the weekends with Norelle's maternal grandparents a.k.a kung kung and poh poh. Her kung kung and poh poh dote on her very much as she's the 1st grandchild (well, mummy is the only child of kung kung and poh poh lor).

Norelle with kung kung and poh poh

Norelle @ 16 Mos

2008-08-08T11:21:00.005+08:00

Here are some pictures of my cheeky gal at her 16 mos...

'Ah-mi ah (that's how she calls me)...can you please dont take my picture when I'm busy savouring my meal???'

'AH-MI!!! no more picture of me pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee'

Singapore trip - May 08

2008-08-03T18:44:00.018+08:00

We went to Singapore on the 1st to 4th May 2008 and it was Norelle's first trip to the land of the 'Merlion'. We were there to attend a wedding celebration and also took this opportunity for a short get-a-way.

We went by car as this was much easier judging that we have TONS of things with us and also more convenient. Norelle was doing well along the journey and as for me, not at my 'very best' condition as I was having some 'morning sickness' at that time.

We stayed at Grand Mercure Roxy hotel for the first 2 nights and later moved to The Regent hotel for 1 night (where the wedding dinner was held). For this trip, we went to quite number of places as I would like to tak this opportunity to expose Norelle to this place.

We went to Sentosa whereby Norelle had her first contact with the beach. But it was a HOT HOT day. And the weather didnt budged throughout our stay there. Norelle was sceptical at first when we placed her on the sand. She didnt like it that much. Then HY brought her down to the sea and again she was overwhelmed by it.

We didnt stay long as it was such a hot day so we proceeded to our next destination - The Jacob Ballas's Children Garden. I've read a lot about this place at the forum so I was happy that finally we got there. The garden was designed especially for children in mind, informative and fun. Then we saw an open area where children are allowed to get wet. Hahaha...good idea since it was such a hot day.

Then we went back to the hotel where there was still some time for a little dip in the pool (for Norelle of course). What an eventful day. It was a fun trip for her and for us as well. On this trip I managed to meet up with Jaslyn and her oh-so-pretty Yun Xi where she came to pass me the 'loot' (my online shopping craze)

What I like most about this trip was our stay in The Regent hotel. The room was big enough and the best was the baby crib. It was so HUGE and it came with fluffy mattress and full cot-bumper. And also not forgetting a set of baby toiletteries as well as baby bath tub (with anti-slip) mat) - which we didnt even request for. This is truly a very-family friendly hotel.

Our journey back to KL was a breeze where Norelle slept almost throughout the whole journey.

Singapore here I come!

At Vivo City

In the coach on the way to Sentosa Island

Get down and dirty with the sand

On a trail track at Jacob Ballas' Children Garden

Oooohhh..water spurting out everywhere

And to end a wonderful hotday, a dip in the pool!

We're back!

2008-08-03T18:36:00.003+08:00

Hello everyone. After a LOOOOOOOOONG hiatus, we are now back in action. For the past few months I was not in the mood (being pregnant gives you the license to say this!) to look, write, read, etc anything on the blog. Blame it on the pregnancy hormones. But I thank God that fot this pregnancy, I am feeling MUCH better compared to the last one. Currently I am about 20 weeks (5 months) preggie and this time we are expecting a PRINCE :) Good excuse for me to 'close-shop' after that.

Well, enough said. Stay tune for some really-really-really back dated posts and sme recent ones as well.

15 Mos and blabbering away...

2008-04-30T12:21:00.015+08:00

Norelle is 15 mos today and she is getting more vocal day after day. It's quite amusing seeing her trying to communicate with us. She is very responsive to things around her and it's easier (sometimes) when we want to get her response towards something. But sometimes she still talks in her own baby language, so at times we have to kind of 'guess' what she is trying to say (maybe she is just pulling our legs by making us listen to her blabbering away?????)

She is also getting more and more on my nerves nowadays with her throwing tantrums for no apparent reason. She is sooooooooooooo demanding and behaving out of her usual self. She is vying for attention 24/7 and a slightest thing can trigger her tantrums. Perhaps she can 'sense' the lil baby inside mummy's tummy? I am now about 7 weeks preggie and we brought her together to the gynae so that she got to see the ultrasound of the baby. We want to include her in every step of this wonderful time and I would want her to see her lil sis/bro growing day by day inside mummy's tummy :)

And she seems to be able to communicate in 2 languages quite well, cantonese and english. When we ask her in english, she will answer us in cantonese or vice versa. So cute.

Some of her vocab:
- bau bau (bread)
- ter ter / mag mag (water)
- oi poh (wants to be carried)
- oi sek (wants to eat)
- tan (egg - her favourite food thus far)
- oi tho (wants to sit)
- thoo (shoes)
- tock (socks)
- 'pen (open - with silence O)
- put ah put (put back)
- em mai (dont want)
- tur ter (turtle)
- dog
- cat
- berd (bird)
- fshhh (fish)
- bear bear
- didi / daaaaaaaaaaadi (daddy)
- yeh yeh (grand pa)
- jie jie (big sister)
- ah pak (uncle)
- chis (cheese)
- bis bis (biscuit)
- poon (spoon)
- bow (bowl)

forgot to add:
- baaaabu (bubble)
- lop (drop)
- light
- mit (peel)
- jiiiita (guitar)
- poon (spoon)
- sup (soup)
- thair (chair)
- bag
- pak (park)
- leng leng (pretty)
- klip (clip)
- dum (drum)

So far thats all I can remember. HY cant wait for his lil princess to talk more and I can tell that would be pretty soon.

Oh, we are going to Singapore tomorrow for some R&R and it would be Norelle's first trip to Singapore. Finally get to use her passport (we have it done since she was 4 months old!). Fingers crossed that my nausea wont be getting any worse (quite bad now) and Norelle will behave like an angle throughout the trip (yeah, right!) , still am praying for the best :)

More pictures after the trips.

Photo taken by Steph's photographer during Amanda's 1st birthday

Amanda's Birthday Party

2008-04-15T19:33:00.013+08:00

Last Saturday on 12th April, we were invited to Baby Amanda's 1st birthday party at Cafe 888 located at Dataran Sunway. We went there straight after Norelle's Kindermuzik class and the timing was just right. The place was nicely decorated with mostly pink and white balloons and birthday banners.

As 'teddy bear' was the theme of the party, the cake was a 2-tier round cake with a 3D bear as the cake topper. The cake was beautiful and sweet. And Steph has gotten many little teddy bear as the party favour for all the kids.

It was great to be able to meet up with June and Renelle again together with their little ones, Baby Zhun Yin and Baby Isabelle. We all had fun that day and the party was great. So many good food and most of all, Norelle enjoyed herself too. She even let me wore the party mask on her. Hahaa...she looked so cute.

The lovely 'teddy-bear' theme birthday cake surrounded many many teddy bears party favour

The three little friends (l-r: Norelle, Zhun Yin & Isabelle) at the party

The birthday girl, Amanda with mummy and daddy

Norelle is 14 Months!!

2008-03-30T22:35:00.003+08:00

Hiya everyone, the cheeky girl is 14 months today. We had a great day as we brought Norelle to TTDI Park in the evening. The weather was cooling and the wind was very breezy. What a nice day to stroll on the park. HY slowed down the car when we were approaching to the park so that Norelle was able to see the monkeys roaming around the area. Those monkeys were quite tame and they wont disturb people. Norelle was taken in at awe by the sight of those monkeys. She always has this 'blur but serious' look on her face when she is concentrating on something.

When we arrived, we let her walk on her own since she's able to walk now. And I want her to walk instead of sitting on the stroller. I showed her the flowers alongside of the sidewalk and she recognized it and said ' Fwa wer’ while pointing at them. Then we spotted a monkey sitting on the fence and she got so excited and gave out a loud shriek! The monkey was disturbed by her loud voice and started to climb up a tree nearby. Norelle still kept her sight at the monkey while kept pointing and shrieking at the same time.

Next, we let her walk on the grass bed towards the children play area. I let her touched the grass and felt it on her tiny hands. She was enjoying the new sensation and when she spotted the 'view' (play area) in front of her, she quickened her pace and tripped. Luckily just a small fall and it did not hurt her knees. She was beyond excited when she saw the slides. She wasted no time in getting up to the slide (with the help from daddy) and happily slid down. This continued for a while and then we moved on to the next spot – man-made stream. TTDI Park has a nice man-made stream where little children (or adults) can have a lil’ dip or catch some tadpoles. There were also some banks of sand where kids can built ‘sand castle’. Families can even have their own picnic literally by the stream! How wonderful is that?

We were eager to see Norelle’s reaction towards the stream and decided to let her have a dip in it. HY held on to her while trying to dip her little feet into the cold water (as the weather was quite chilly), she was taken aback due to the coldness of the water and she doesn’t seem to like the sand either. Hmmm…must be the weather. We continued our ‘journey’ to the man-made waterfall. But was disappointed as the waterfall was ‘turn off’ when we reached that place. So, no waterfall only rocks formation lor…

It was getting late so we decided to walk out of the park, and then we spotted some turtles and fish in the pond. Norelle was delighted to see them swimming in the pond. Then her attention shifted to some birds on the ground and she was ‘trying’ to chase the birds. It was such a nice sight looking at how happy she was just by seeing those birds. That reminds me to always ‘take some time out and smell the flowers’.

All in all, it was a nice outing whereby Norelle learned a lot about nature and we were happy that she got to see, smells, taste, touch and feel the things that GOD created.

'hmmm...where should I go first?'

'I want to do this on and on and on and...'

'daddy, have you check the pH level of the water? I dont want it to damage my delicate skin'

'daddy, can you please make sure my feet are completely dry before putting on the shoes?'

'bird, bird..wait for me...'

Isabelle's Birthday

2008-03-23T17:33:00.004+08:00

We were invited to Baby Isabelle's 1st birthday yesterday at her house. The party was in the evening and we were late as we were stucked in traffic due to heavy rain (which has been going on since the afternoon). When we got there, we already missed the cake cutting ceremony. There were a lot of people as there were 2 birthdays being celebrated together (Isabelle and her cousin were born on the same date, month and year) thus explained the crowd.

There were so much food and the deco for Isabelle's party was so pretty and so PINK! There were ballooons everywhere. We met up with June and hb together with Baby Zhun Yin and Sze Lynn, hb and Baby Andrea. Baby Isabelle was so pretty and all dressed up like a princess - complete with a tutu and tiara. She's such a lady and so demure. We had a great time there and thanks to Renelle for the invitation.

The birthday girl, Baby Isabelle and mummy Renelle with us

Baby Zhun Yin and mummy June with us at the party

H.A.L.F. Time

2008-03-23T17:22:00.009+08:00

Norelle has the tendency to break her milk feed for every single feed. She can never / will not finish her milk in one go. She will 'pause' after awhile drinking half way to roll around or to get up, look for her tutu (pacifier) or something else. Then I have to make her lie down again and continue to drink her milk. But she will again 'pause' for the 2nd time, roll a bit and started making noise, 'negk ngek ngek'...and I have to repeat the procedure again and again until finally she has finish the milk and falls asleep. PHEW! It has been going on since she started on formula milk (about 7 month old) and bottle-feed full time. It such a tedious process and sometimes I get very frustrated.

I wonder why she has to/wants to/likes to do this. She will at least 'pause' for 2-3 times before I can make her finishes the milk. Why??? Is anyone out there having the same situation as Norelle or is this normal??

I am back!

2008-03-18T19:22:00.005+08:00

Hello..it's been a while since the last post. It is certainly a busy month for all of us as my best friend, Crystal, got hitched on the 1 of March. And I brought Norelle to her first wedding dinner. I had to bring her along as my MIL was attending a wedding dinner as well. I was not too keen on the idea as she was still having a bit of loose stool. And you know how grouchy a baby gets during such event. But then, she was quite ok throughout the night but did passed some loose stool and my mom and I have to cleaned her twice. She had lost so much weight and she felt so light when I was carrying her. Poor baby :(

Finally the whole purging episode was over and guess what??? She started waking up in the middle of the night and cried (for no apparent reason). We thought she was teething as she was (still is) drooling a lot more and kept biting/chewing on things. I applied some teething gel, it did not helped...I was so shacked as I didnt have proper sleep for 2 weeks!

When I thought that I couldn't take it anymore and would just collapse there and then, she decided to let me have a rest and stopped waking up! Babies...they are SO unpredictable. And she is NOT teething. Ha!

Now things seem to well again and she has been eating well. She eats rice more often and she eats like a pirahna (with 2 teeth). She can finish 3/4 of a bowl of rice with an hard boiled egg, sometimes with some fish, tofu, pumpkin, etc.

Guess she is trying to catch up on those times when she was ill.

Norelle is 13 months!!

2008-03-01T11:45:00.000+08:00

Well, since there's no 30th in the month of February, Norelle is 13 months today and she is ill. She was hit by the stomach flu bug and has been vomiting and purging for several days. The vomiting has then subsided but the purging persists. Then came along the fever. This week is a hectic week for me as I developed hives on Monday night and HY was in JB. So I was all alone with Norelle cleaning up her sick, changing bed sheets, her clothes and mine as well for the umpteenth times.

Right now, her fever has subsided (fingers crossed) and just hope that the purging will follow suit. It is so heart wrenching looking at her shrinking frame. She hardly eat anything besides medicines and gallons of ORS (oral rehydration salt). Thank goodness she is willing to drink.

I didn't take any of her picture on this day, the picture below was taken shortly before she fell ill.

Happy Birthday Mah-mah

2008-02-20T22:49:00.006+08:00

Last Saturday was Norelle's paternal grandmother's (mah-mah) birthday. All of us went to Chilli's at Bangsar Shopping Center to celebrate the event. HY and I always enjoy going to Chilli's for their good food, not forget to mention their HUGE serving, cheap beer (happy hour) for HY, and great atmosphere (for family). And the best part, kids get to eat free! That day was truly a 'makan' day for HY and I as just before that we went to HY's colleague's house for CNY open-house event where we 'lined' our stomach with some food as we were hungry already :) and then prior to that, we were treated by HY's client to a seafood lunch consist of abalone, lobster, prawns, fish etc. CNY period does give us the license to indulge in food - plenty of food! And I am not complaining :)

wah...so many fish in the pond

hmmm...nobody is looking, I can go in and take a quick dip in the pond

Mah-mah, do I get to eat the cake as well?

Precious moments...

2008-02-20T22:23:00.005+08:00

We received the photo album from Izad and I was truly amaze with the end product. It came in a nice black box case where the front was a close-up picture of the cake-topper. Inside the box nestled the abum and also another smaller box case contained the master copy of all (800+) photos taken that day. The photos were nicely done and the quality is really good. Am glad that we are able to keep this precious moments of ours in such a lovely album.

Let those little fingers do the talking...

2008-02-14T15:47:00.036+08:00

I am sure that the title of this post sounds familiar. It is the slogan of Baby Signs Malaysia and to those who have read my previous entries, know that I do sign to Norelle. Got to know about it when I was still carrying Norelle and I bought some books on it and I started signing to Norelle when she was 4 months old. It takes time and perseverence when you are signing to your baby and that's what I did. I waited and waited and one fine day, Norelle started signing. Her first sign was 'fan' and few more months down the road, she started doing more signs.

And I am grateful to Jamie as she brought in the program into Malaysia and now we all can benefit from it. To those who have never heard of this program before, it is a good way for you to communicate with your baby before they can talk. And you will be amaze with what those little fingers can do or tell you.

To help you with all the signing, Baby Signs Malaysia have many wonderful products which are very user friendly and they conduct classes as well for you and your baby which are fun and educational. Recently, they have launched some new products (which I am very excited about, because I just ordered from Jamie). Since Norelle is starting to get more vocal, these books are great for her:

My First Spoken Words books complement signing and make it easy for babies to learn to speak their first words. When babies open each page, they will hear words and sounds that help them learn to say their very own first words. My First Spoken Words books compliment signing and make it easy for babies to learn to speak their first words. There are 2 titles:

My First Spoken Words: Animals

My First Spoken Words: Babies

Next in line they have I Can Sign!. It is an interactive lift-the-flap book and DVD work together to provide your baby with multiple examples of each sign for faster learning. It consists of 2 titles:

I Can Sign! Animals

I Can Sign! Playtime

They are running an introductory offer price for these products, great for those of you who would like to give the program a try. And see those little fingers work their way....

I will review the products once I have gotten them from Jamie (I mean, Norelle will 'review' on them, and I will post the result up)

And I learned that they are looking for a Baby Signs Instructor through their Independent Certified Instructor (ICI) Program. I am so interested because I love the program so much BUT I can't afford to give up my full-time job :( For those who are seeking a new challenge, do give it a try. Read on to find out more....

(disclaimer - this is NOT a paid post. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely based on my own experience, observations and beliefs)

Gong Hei Fatt Choy!

2008-02-14T14:55:00.004+08:00

I know, I know, I am late...but not too late yet. And probably you all notice that I am catching up with my posts as my PC has finally decided to called off the strike and back to become the submissive type :)

Nevertheless, Happy Chinese New Year. This is Norelle's 2nd CNY and she has much more fun this year as compared to last year, she was barely a month old. And I had more fun too - I got to eat all the goodies which I was prohibited to touch last year. And more importantly, I got to dress Norelle up and myself too of course. I love festives period, they are the perfect excuse to buy things - especially for CNY, where everything have to be 'NEW' :)

We here at the Chew family would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very happy new year.

"Health makes all things possible,

Wealth makes all things work,

Love makes all things beautiful.

May you and your family are blessed with all 3 this year."

Unwrapping ceremony

2008-02-14T13:54:00.017+08:00

Right after Norelle's birthday party on 27 January, that night itself we had the pressies unwrapping ceremony. I dressed Norelle up in a sweet polka dots dress from Oobi with a matching bloomer (hahaha...I was very into the theme of her birthday) This dress I bought yet again from an online shop in Singapore. Online shopping has been my best friend lately :)

There were so many toys given to her for her birthday. And she also received many dresses and tops. Enough to last her for another year!!! Hahahhaa....that save me lots of money :P But knowing myself, I know I will continue to buy more clothes for her lah. If not, I have no more excuse to go out.

So there you go, all the pictures of Norelle and her pressies. Once again, thanks everyone for all the lovely pressies.

Norelle posing with her birthday pressies

Let the work begins - unwrapping the pressies

Ta dah!!! The pressies unweiled

Photos Galore!!!

2008-02-13T11:07:00.104+08:00

Let me present to you the 'super long over-due' post.... I will not say much anymore, so let's the photos do the 'talking'...

That's all folks!

Thanks everyone who came to the party and thank you for all the ang pows and pressies.

See you all again next year!

Crash! Boom! Bang!

2008-02-11T17:30:00.000+08:00

Hello everyone. First of all HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!

And sorry for the 'no-show' for a while as our home PC was out. It crashed while I was uploading Norelle's birthday bash photos. Jeez! And I know you'll have been waiting for those photos. Arrrggghhhh!!!! The PC is fixed now BUT (there's always a catch, eh) the modem is NOT WORKING!!! How suay can it get leh???? So HY is busy scratching his head trying to fix the modem.

So, do stay tune ok...

Norelle is O N E!

2008-01-30T10:26:00.000+08:00

Our precious little girl is ONE today!!! Norelle is officially a toddler now. And she is expected to BEHAVE as a toddler :) Mummy and Daddy will love you always and thanks for bringing us immense joy and a wonderful year.

Norelle would like to share with everyone a little something on her special day (please turn on the speaker)

NORELLE'S BIRTHDAY CLIP

(Norelle: Ok mummy. I WILL behave myself and will do what a toddler should do - to start with, I WANT MY ICE-CREAM :) :)

Norelle's 1st Birthday Bash

2008-01-28T23:38:00.001+08:00

Norelle celebrated her 1st birthday yesterday (actual day is on 30th Jan) at Fasta Pasta, IKANO Power Center. We chose the venue because of its location as it's easily accessible, plenty of parking (a bit hard as it's nearing CNY time), big space and entertainment for the kids as they were balloon and sand-art stalls for the kids. Dean, the manager in charge of Fasta Pasta did a very good job in decorating all the chairs with pink balloons and birthday banner. Simple and nice :)

We arrived at about 12pm (where the event supposed to start at 12pm) cos it's not easy when you have to run after your child to bath her and get her dress for 1/2 hour. Then we went to collect Norelle's birthday cake and the duck cookies (as party favours) from Tracey at Tropicana. The cake was so nice and so cute. Tracey did a fantastic job. I love the design. It was a 2-tier round cake with pastel colours polka dots and a sweet pink ribbon bow as the cake topper. Most of all her price is reasonable (believe me, I did asked around about 5-6 other bakers) We chose moist carrot as the filling of the cake. And it tasted good as well.

I asked for a space where I put up a playing mat (those ABC mat) and some toys as there are many babies and toddlers at the event, so they can entertaint themselves while their parents get to eat. I prepared some party packs for the kids which consist of some snacks, sweets, party hats, party blowers, a puzzle game, stickers, etc). I managed to look for some cute round-shape animals paper clips which I used them to sucure the party packs. There were some polka dots on the clips where it matches the theme perfectly.

We had about 70 guests at the party and it was a fun event although a tiring one for us. Norelle was a bit cranky (she's teething again) but other than that, she's fine. She had fun walking all over the place, seeing so many of her little friends and all the attention on her. She was wearing a sweet polka dots (what else?) birthday dress from Rare Editions (where I bought it online - all thanks to Vivianz for her help). This adorable white birthday party dress has pink, aqua and yellow dots and a balloon applique with dangling streamers. The interesting part of the dress is, it come with an interchangeable number patches of number 1,2 and a heart where you can clip it on for any age you are celebrating.

The food was good but I dont get to eat much (as expected) and the atmosphere was fun and lively. Kids were running around, parents chasing after them, feeding them, friends catching up with each other, busy taking pictures with all the babies, etc. The sand-art was a big hit among the older children. And it was a good activity for the parents and their children to have some bonding time. A simple activity but it requires trust, understanding, creativity and team work (wah......it's just a sand-art wor, hahahaha) And seeing the children holding on to those colourful balloons in different shape (bicycles, flowers, poodles, bears) add colours to the event.

And I am so glad that I am finally able to meet up with some of my friends which I got to know through the Malaysia Brides forum (hahahaa..last time lah). We got to know each other when we were planning for our weddings right up to now where all of us have babies and we continue our journey at Malaysia Motherhood Forum. After 3 years of 'talking' and endless of MSN, YM, we finally met up yesterday. And you know what, when I first saw them, I felt like I knew them for years (I mean literally). And there's no awkwardness among us. Really appreciate their effort for attending Norelle's birthday bash.

Izad and Azam from Secupak Photography helped us to capture all the nice moments so that I have one less to worry about. They were very hard working and professional. Very accomodating and nice people with pleasant attitude. Highly recommended to those who are looking for a photographer for any occassion. And they are extremely affordable. But I have yet to receive the photos from them so this post I am only able to show some pictures taken by my friend, Stephanie. Will put up the photos once I receive from them this weekend. Till then, here's some sneak peek on yesterday's event...

Splish Splash!

2008-01-20T15:59:00.000+08:00

Norelle's favourite time...

Double celebration

2008-01-19T16:31:00.000+08:00

Today, Norelle turns 1 year old according to Chinese Lunar Calendar. She was born on the twelth day of the twelth month (12 12). We went out for dinner together with my ILs. We didnt follow any sort of tradition such as preparing red egg, steeping on the ang ku (guess this is more the hokkien tradtion and we are hakka) etc...But I guess it would be nice to have this kind of tradtion but no one both of our families pratice this.

Today Norelle also attended Baby Caitlyn's 1st birthday. So many birthdays this month. Baby Caitlyn is 5 days older than Norelle but she is waaaaaaaaaaaayyyy bigger than Norelle. When they stand together, Norelle looks so tiny, hahaha...Baby Caitlyn was so lady-like unlike Norelle. She's very obidient even tough she's not feeling well. And Baby Caitlyn is such a pretty girl.

Together with Baby Caitlyn and her pretty mummy, Elaine

Upgrade...

2008-01-16T17:38:00.000+08:00

Finally we are able to put Norelle into front-facing on her carseat. I've been waiting for this day for so long and I'm so happy for her. Come on, imagine sitting in a carseat rear-facing for about 10 months and all you can see is just the top of the rear screen. Plus, everything seems to move the opposite direction is no fun. Once we changed the position of the carseat, Norelle seems to like it and she can even stays longer on it. She managed to stay put in the seat for about 1 hour!!! But am not sure if this will continue once the 'novelty' wears off. Keeping my fingers crossed **

Oh, you mean all this while we are moving 'forward'?

Fun Day at Home

2008-01-11T15:40:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was a public holiday, HY and I together with Norelle went for an early brunch at Subway, 1 Utama. We were there at about 11am after we met up with Tracey (the baker for Norelle's birthday cake - more on that in next post). Out goes the Christmas decorations and in comes the cheery blossoms and laterns, etc. And I love CNY!! I just love the hustle-bustle, the ever-so-loud 'dung dung chiang' songs (which seem never ending). But we have not started preparing for the festive season just yet.

We were there for a little walk and we went straight home after that. Upon arriving home, HY remembered that Alice (his 2nd sis-in-law) gave Norelle a small baby pool. He took it out and start inflating it. The 'baby pool' is really small but I guess that is why they called it 'baby pool'. So I brought Norelle up and change her into her bikini. See, I bought that sooooooooo long ago and she never really has the chance to wear it. Even though it's just at home, I can also dress her up for the appropriate occassion, right?

HY already filled the pool with water. She was a litlle bit sceptical when I first placed her in the water due to the temperature of the water. But that was only for a few minutes. Next, she was sitting in the pool happily splashing the water. She was enjoying so much with just hitting the water with her palms. Such a funny sight.

I wanna stay in here forever and ever and ever!

Norelle is 11 months old!

2007-12-30T10:30:00.000+08:00

Norelle is 11 months old today. Can't imagine that it's going be a year since she first came into the world. And it seems like only yesterday that I held the little body in my arms - looking so angelic and sleeping soundly away. Zap! now, she's busy walking around (she can walk pretty well now) I cant even sit down for a minute and yakking away (in her own language).

And remember that I posted about 'finally' Norelle's teething? Well, it turned out to be a false alarm. I waited and waited for like, a month and yet still nothing. Hmm..but yesterday I saw her 1st tooth cutting out on the lower left gum. This time I swear that it's really happening. I checked a few times and I can even feel the tooth with my finger when I was bathing her. When I told HY about this, he broke out into a song, 'All I want for birthday is my 2 front teeth'. Haha..

My baby is growing up now. Venturing into toddlerhood very very soon.

Mummy, will I be growing up soon?

1st Christmas!

2007-12-27T14:22:00.000+08:00

It's Norelle's first Christmas this year. And it was very kind for VT and Paik Ling to invite us for Xmas lunch at their home. And congratulations to Paik Ling for the good news. Hope your wish will come true ;) Norelle got to play along with Bryan gor gor too (more like snatching toys from each other). Norelle had so much fun playing and exploring all the toys. Baby Bryan is so adorable and macho (like VT, haha). He's so active just like Norelle and has a huge appetite. It's so much fun seeing both of them playing. Should let them meet up more often.

Busy exploring Bryan gor gor's toy

Paik Ling: Say cheese everybody
Norelle: Let me go!!! I haven't finish playing with the toys!!!
Bryan: Hmmm....how many times do I have to pose for a photo? This time, I am not going to cooperate!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Peek-a-boo!

2007-12-22T17:19:00.000+08:00

Norelle loves this game. She knows how this game works. Mainly is because I'ven been 'playing' this game with her since she was born. So now when we say 'peek-a-boo' she will cover her face with a cloth and when we say the word 'boo', she will 'unveil' herself and laugh :)

This is Norelle doing 'Peek-a-boo' :

Now you see me...

...now you don't

...TA DAH!! Now you see me again

Norelle is walking...

2007-12-22T17:00:00.000+08:00

On Wednesday (19th December) evening, Norelle and I were at the living room playing as usual. Half way through playing, she got up on her feet and clapping her hands - which is usual. She likes to display her ability of standing up and would clap her hands when she does. But that night, after getting up on her feet, she leaned herself forward and at that moment I thought she would fall down flat front on her face. But to my surprise, she didnt and she took her first step forward!!! Then only I realised that she's actually trying to walk - on her feet - on her own! Ha. Then she placed the next foot forward and slowly she made a few steps. I was estatic to witnessed this important milestone in her life.

She plonked on her butt after a few steps but that only made her more eager and more confident to get up and walk again. Each day, she is making progress by walking further and further. And she just can't get enough of walking - which means I have to walk with her too - right behind her. She's still abit wobbly, so I have to watch over her.

I recorded a video of her walking the walk:

Norelle is (was) 10 months old

2007-12-04T21:48:00.000+08:00

As clearly indicated from the title of this post (above), Norelle was 10 months old on the 30th November 2007. This post is wayyyyy long overdue, thanks to the mummy who's buried herself into the pile of work at the office.

Well, back to business (Norelle's bisuness), Norelle is getting more and more active. Can hardly hold her down. I wonder where she gets the energy from? Maybe I over-indulged myself with sugar when I was carrying her?? Hmmmm.....

She can stand unsupported now. And has been doing it very frequently. And now, she wants to stand ALL the time. Irregardless where she is - be it on the stroller, bath tub, high chair, bed, car etc...PHEW! Imagine trying to feed her porridge/cereal while she's standing ON the high chair. Seriously, these past few weeks Norelle has gotten more and more mischevious. Sometimes, I think it's a bit out of hand. She is VERY stubborn, has a character of her own (this already being determined since birth!) Bad tempered (I wonder for this she takes over me or HY???)

We bought a walker for her to practice on her walking since she's been standing on her own quite steady and firm. The moment she saw the walker, she loved it! We guided her on how to walk using it and now she can 'walk' on her own using the walker. It's fun and exciting seeing my little girl is slowly learning to take her first step. Gosh....seems like just yesterday that I held the tiny little body on my arms. And in less than 2 months' time my little baby will embark into toddlerhood.

She is also getting more and more vocal - but mostly still in baby talk. She can say mamamama or mumumum. Sometimes she makes those sound like she's calling out for her daddy - dadadddadyyyy daaaaaaaadddddyy something like that, but I doubt she's calling for HY :P

Oh..she's teething now (or has been for the past 2 weeks). There's a white spot on her lower gum and I can't be happier when I spotted it. I mean - FINALLY! I am dying to see some pearlies on her gum. It would be soooo cute when she's smiling and you can see those little teeth. But that was 2 weeks ago and she is STILL teething. How long does it takes for a tooth to sprout out???

She is more responsive to us now when we are talking to her. And she did a new sign too - sign for bib. Hahaha...I notice that when I was feeding her the other day. I put her on the high chair and usually I will put on her bib before I start feeding her but that day I forgot to put it on. And there she was holding out her index finger and kept pointing it on her chest. Then I realised she was actually telling me that I forgot the bib. I was surprised when she did that.

And she learned another sign as well at my MIL's. Whenever we bid goodbye to HY's nephew s (age 5 and 3), he will do the following - wave bye bye, fly kiss and salute (dont ask me why) . So this little ritual of them has been going on for a long time and Norelle somehow has picked it up. It's so cute seeing her doing the 'salute' sign (put hand at the back of the head).

So all in all, it a good month and the year is coming to an end and when next year begins, it also marks a new begining to all of us. For Norelle especially as she will be celebrating her 1st birthday in January. Yippeee! Can't wait.

Norelle @ 10 months - and with a new hairstyle (NOT MY IDEA!!!)

A video on Norelle's learning to walk using the walker:

For the first time...

2007-11-20T17:05:00.000+08:00

Last weekend, there were many firsts in Norelle’s life:

On last Saturday, we brought Norelle to Putrajaya Marriott for HY’s friend’s wedding. Initially we wanted to put her at my MIL’s place (as usual when we are going for a wedding dinners) but not this time as MIL also had an event that night. Looking at the venue of the dinner and the distance, we decided to book ourselves into a room for a-night stay. It marked the first time for Norelle to be away from home – a mini holiday.

We arrived at Putrajaya Marriott at 5pm and we checked in straight away. The weather was breezy and nice. A vast land and greens surrounded the resort – we truly felt that we were somewhere far far away . No noises from cars, only sounds of trees swaying and wind blowing.
The room was spacious enough. We have 2 twin beds and I decided to get Norelle a baby crib for her. Then HY wanted to bring Norelle for a swim – her 1st swim. I changed her into her swimsuit and off we went to the pool. She was so excited upon seeing the pool – to her it’s like a GIANT bathtub! Once HY placed her at the edge of the pool, she wandered off straight away. She was happily crawling at the edge of the pool while patting the water! She was having so much fun. I was surprised to see her taking the pool so well – since it’s the 1st time for her. Halfway through, she got chocked by the water and she puke! Luckily, HY managed to whisk her away from the pool.

So we brought her up to the room and bathed her. Then she took her milk and dozed off. While HY and I prepared ourselves for the dinner. It’s so nice to be able to take our time and no need to worry about the traffic, parking or the weather. Then I changed Norelle into her dress and put her into the pram – she was still in her la la land.

The dinner was fine and Norelle woke up when the newly weds marched in – from all the hands clapping. She was quite well behaved throughout the dinner. Just an occasional whining as she wanted to climb out from the high chair. She didn’t sleep well that night. She kept waking up and cried. I guess it’s because of her blocked nose. In the end, I just scooped her up from the crib and let her on my bed.

All in all, we did have a nice weekend despite the fact that Norelle is now sick – Arrgghhh!! Cough and cold. Can’t wait to bring her for another swim.

Busy checking-out the BIG bed - can't leave home without ALL her toys!

Testing the 'water' - no pun intended

Ok, time for a pose with the Zebra

Splish! splash! and all wet

Norelle is 9 months old...

2007-10-30T22:27:00.000+08:00

My baby girl is 9 months old today. Time flies. And I am glad to announce that she is all well now. No more fever, blocked nose, cough, or what-so-ever. She is now one-happy-active baby. She is getting more and more mobile for now and we all have the same belief that she will walk before she's 1. She had her 2nd dose pneumococcal jab today (what a pressie!) and she weighs 7.75kg (I know, I know...she's a light baby)

She did her first sign the other day. Well, apart from the usual 'bye-bye' and 'fly-kiss', Norelle did her first real Baby Sign. One morning she woke up being very cheerful and she was just 'talking' to herself and playing with her toes on the bed. We had the fan on and suddenly she looked up towards the fan and did the 'fan' sign - hand up in the air 'swirling' gesturing the movement of the fan. I was estatic and couldn't believe my eyes and asked her to do it again. True enough, this time it's real. She's responding to what I say - FAN! Hahahhaa...so all the hard work paid off after all.

I began signing' with her when she was around 4 months old. Having read about Baby Signs when I was still pregnant, I was interested in trying this method with my own baby. I went and bought a book titled 'Baby Signs: How to Talk to Your Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk' . When Norelle was about 4 months, I started some simple signs with her like 'milk, fan (as she's very much amazed with it) and 'bath'.

I am still doing the signs with her and have been adding on some new signs whenever the needs/situations arise. But she more or less getting the 'idea' of it when I do the 'milk' sign, she knows that it's time for her milk feed. And she will show me her widest grin when I show the 'bath' sign. Which means, she gets to play woth the water.

I am thankful to Jamie from Baby Signs for bringing in the program into Malaysia and would definitely encourage mothers to take up the signs. But I do know that many people will be hesistant or having doubts in 'signing' with their babies. Most often associate signing to people with hearing diabilities or mute. But we are teaching our babies about signs everyday without us knowing/realising it. For instance, we will 'shake' our head when we say 'No' or 'nod' our head when we say 'Yes'. Those are signs. Or, we teach our baby to wave their hands when we say 'Bye-bye' . That is a sign too. So, signing is actually a very natural way of us trying to communicate with our babies. And babies are way smarter than we think. They actually understand what we are trying to tell them and by seeing them 'communicating' with us using signs, it's the most rewarding feeling.

Mummy, faster take my picture, I don't know how long I can hold on to this post.

First time sitting in a swing - and loving it!

A bunny in a sack

2007-10-24T22:40:00.000+08:00

Sleeping time is one of Norelle's many 'work-out' rountines. She does the rolls-turns-tosses-flips routine in her sleep. We practice co-sleeping which means she sleeps with us in the same room and is sharing the bed (not exactly - she practically owns the whole King-sized bed by herself) with me. HY has been kicked out from the bed and he has been sleeping on the floor since then. We have the air-con on most of the time, and with Norelle's acrobatic moves in the bed, it's very hard for the blanket to stay in place. She was kicking off her covers every night and we were going bonkers with sleep deprivation.

Then I read about 'sleeping bag' for babies. The sleeping bag is not like what we use in camping trips. Sleeping bag for the babies is soft, mostly made out of cotton and which, as it turns out, was the norm for babies in many parts of Europe. So I decided to try it on Norelle. Now, at least I can rest assured that she is properly covered and the sleeping bag also tends to minimized her 'acrobatic moves'. All these equal to longer and better sleep for all of us.

Norelle in her sleeping bag - do you like her just-out-of-bed look?

Christmas comes early?

2007-10-24T22:24:00.000+08:00

Last Saturday, I received a nice surprise. Crystal came over in the afternoon and I went out to open the door gate for her. Then I saw it. In the postbox, I saw the handle of a paper bag sticking out from it. So, I opened the post box and a small paper bag was in it. I took it out from the post box and inside there's white cloth being rolled up and tied with a nice golden ribbon.

I imediately untied the ribbon and the cloth unfolded to a white Ralph Lauren Polo shirt. It's very obviously that the shirt is for Norelle as the size indicated for 18months. And I searched around in the paper bag but couldn't find a single card, paper or a note. So I do not know who sent it. I phoned HY and asked him but he was as puzzled as I am. HY went out in the morning and he said he didnt noticed the paper bag in the post box. So 'the sender' must have put the pressie in the post box after he left.

I felt suspicious and at the same time intrigued by this mysterious 'sender'. It's like Santa just delivered a Christmas pressie down the chimney but left unnoticed. I did asked around but to no avail. It was a nice surprise but on another note, this whole incident is a bit creepy. Hahaha...I don't mean it in the bad way, just that I only thought this will only happens in the movie.

So, whoever the 'Santa' is.....THANK YOU....

An early Christmas pressie

A stroll in the park

2007-10-23T22:02:00.000+08:00

HY suggested that we should expose Norelle to other things instead of shopping malls (hehe...:P). So a few months ago, we started taking her to the park at TTDI. We usually go on a Sunday morning as the weather is still cooling and the air is fresher. The first time, we brought Norelle to the park, she didnt quite warmed up to the idea (too many greens..hahahha) and she started crying after a while.

We tried again the following Sunday, and it was better. Now she is getting used to the idea. She started paying attention to the trees, greens, people running around, etc. We let her touched the tree leaves and even dipped her legs into the stream (man-made stream). The TTDI park is nicely landscaped. And it provides good jogging/walking tracks so that you can get a good workout surrounded by litterally trees and the sounds of the birds chirping.

It's a good idea after all to take a stroll in the park once in a while. As cliche as it sounds, try to go back to nature and take a step back and enjoy those beauty that GOD has created. It definitely will do you and the world some good.

It's obvious that I'm not a morning person

Mummy and daddy, stop dancing around the tress. You two sure cheered me up with your 'Bolloywood' act.

Updates...

2007-10-10T15:36:00.000+08:00

OK. A little updates on Norelle. Seems like she is (really) on her way to recovery this time. She had diarrhoea for about a week. Brought her to Paed and was sent home with some ORS (Oral Rehydration Salt). Her appetite was low (again) and she couldn't held any food in her. Once she had cereal/milk it came right out again. Despite this, amazingly, she was still her usual self - actively crawling, climbing up and down. And all my hard work of training her to sleep through is haywired. Since she only took smaller amount of milk each feed, she started crying for milk in the middle of the night.

When her diarrhoea persist, we changed her milk powder to lactose-free milk powder (advised by Paed). YUCCKKKSS!!! when I first smell the lactose-free milk. It smells like soya sauce. How on earth Norelle going to take that???? True enough, she rejected it. She rather go hungry than drinking the milk. In the end, we have no choice but to gave her the usual milk powder.

Thankfully, the diarrhoea has stop (fingers crossed) and she is getting better and eating more. HY and I on the other end, were totally shacked from all the endless nights. I can just collapse anytime soon (hopefully I won't).

Anyway, I know all these will only make her stronger and bring us closer as we understand and realised that we all need each other so much especially when one of us is sick. That's what FAMILY is all about. Without one or the other, it will never be WHOLE.

Good night and GOD bless.

Hmmm...is mummy going to make me drink the yucky milk again??

Norelle is 8 months old

2007-09-30T14:52:00.000+08:00

Hi all. Norelle is 8 months old today. My baby is a big girl now. But not in terms of her size though...she looks smaller than other babies at her age. Or rather, she is a petite baby. Not underweight, just petite. Small bones I guess, like me.

She is on her way to full recovery after her 1-month stint of endless sickness (fever, baby measles, running nose and cough) Her appetite is up again which means I will be occupied during night times making purees for her. I am not complaining, in fact, I enjoy doing so.

She is quite clingy to me now. Having her 'velcro' to me once she sees me is no fun - AT ALL! Just hope that this phase will pass soon. Other than that, she is fine. Always flashing her BIGGEST smile (no teeth yet) to everyone and displaying her endless energy.

Now she is starting to respond to me when I talk to her or ask her some questions. When I ask do the 'milk' sign, she will go and pick up her milk bottle and she will look at the aquarium when I ask her, "Where's the fish?". She will look for her rubber duckie when I ask her to. Well I know all these seem easy/small compared to other babies at her age but nevertheless, I am so proud of her achievements. The fact that she understands what I am saying is already a great feeling and having her responding to me is a bonus! I am looking forward to have more interactions with her.

The 'shy' look (only for 0.05 milisec)

At 8-Month Old - doing what she does best - SMILE :)

An eventful day

2007-09-28T23:22:00.000+08:00

This gonna be a looong post…

I was on leave yesterday as my parents-in-law went for their routine check-up at the hospital. I started the day at about 8.30am (which considered later than usual) as Norelle slept in longer. The reason for that? The night before yesterday, she slept in about 9+pm and I was dead tired so I slept earlier as well. At about 12+am, I was woken up by her cry - usual. And she fell asleep again after I stuffed the pacifier into her mouth. And I did the most natural thing, sleep and man I did sleep like a baby. You know why? Because while I was in La La land, I was woken up by a loud THUD! And the next thing I know - Norelle was screaming on top of lung. I turned to her side and to my horror, she's not there!!! Yup, you guessed it right - SHE FELL OFF THE BED!!!!!! I jumped off the bed and found her face-down lying on the floor. I carried her up and pacified her. She cried for a while more and fell asleep again. Then I looked at the clock, it showed 6.40am...which meant I had a straight 6 hours of slumber. It felt so good but on the other hand I felt bad as I couldn’t prevent Norelle from falling. So for tonight, I placed a mattress at the side of the bed – for that ‘Just in case it happens again’ scenario which I hope it won’t.

So we slept in a bit later and started our day as usual. Changed her diaper and brought her down to the living hall and let her play by herself as I went and prepare her breakfast. Fed her cereal with 2 cubes of peach and broccoli mixed with sweet potato. Not too bad. She finished most of them except a little left over for the broccoli. Too thick I think. Then she poop so I prepared her bath. After her bath, she took her morning nap at 11am. She woke up an hour later (she morning nap is usually 2hours) and she refused to sleep again. Then I dressed her as I was meeting my girlfriend for lunch. It was my first time driving with her being all alone in her car seat at the back.

I went to pick up my friend at Phileo Damansara 2. She was OK as the distance was quite near. Then we headed to Decanter at Setiabakti for lunch. The place was nice and cosy and the food was great. Norelle was at her best behavior where she did not fuss when seated at the high chair and was extremely smiley. I ordered escargot and steak pie for me and some toasted bread for Norelle. She enjoyed her bread so I managed to have my lunch in peace.

Then we headed to The Curve as I wanted to get some small microwaveable containers for heating up her purees. I managed to find the microwaveable snack cups by Nûby at Anakku. A good buy at least I am now able to store some cereal/purees in them when going out. I also bought a pair of shoes for her and also a new teether and a pair of pants (on sales, ok) and a pack of Healthy Times Apple Cinnamon Puffs!!! Hehe...I am a happy Mommy. But I was not able to get the Baby Yogurt as apparently Cold Storage had run out of stock??? Both Baby Heinz AND Baby Yoplait!!! There you see..I did not buy the whole departmental store back, ok.

She slept in her pram at about 4+pm, as I did not want to wake her up from her nap..I walked around for about 2+hours then we headed home. She was still tired and continued sleeping in her car seat and we when reached home at about 7pm, I woke her up as I do not want her bedtime to be interrupted. Then MIL came and delivered my dinner – I love my MIL and about 9pm, I wanted to prepare Norelle for her bedtime and she gave me a good night work-out – she pooped. I had to washed her and ‘fighting’ to dress her up (our usual routine before sleeping) and fed her milk and then she’s off to her La la land – leaving me with sweaty body and a good soiled diaper to be washed…..

So there you go. Quite an eventful day huh? Miss HY terribly (another 22 hours to go before he comes back from Bangkok)

Good night.

Twinkle twinkle little Moon

2007-09-26T23:46:00.000+08:00

On Tuesday we celebrated the 'Lantern Festival' a.k.a. 'Moon Cake Festival'. The nite was bright where the moon was big and round and shone brightly thus literally like a star. The weather was fine too. Not too hot, a bit breezy - just the perfect day for this ocassion. As usual, dinner with my in-laws where my MIL (mother-in-law) whipped up a good 9-course dinner leaving us all like the smiling buddha - the smile on the face as well as the tummy too :P

Did the most natural thing - 'played' with lanterns and candles. More like me carrying Norelle looking at her cousins, uncles and aunties lighting up the candles and lanterns. Took some photos of Norelle where she tried to crush the lanterns everytime we went near them.

Snapshots of Norelle

2007-09-25T20:42:00.000+08:00

Just a simple slide show that captures Norelle's milestone so far. Enjoy. Oh, please turn on your speaker when viewing. Thank you.

I am a Star!

2007-09-20T14:09:00.000+08:00

span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#339999;">Well, not quite. Just something that I did for Norelle (not exactly, I just uploaded her picture)..Thought it's quite fun and surprisingly easy to do :)

Anyone who's interested, give it a try...here

Norelle's a Mummy's Girl

2007-09-11T12:56:00.000+08:00

Hahaha…see? There’s definitely no mistake about the result. Norelle is truly a mummy’s girl. She’s got all the good genes from me…:). But I do think that she has daddy’s nose. To be frank, even HY and I cant really tell exactly who she looks like. Maybe a bit of him and me - the fact that she's OUR baby :)

And oh, I want to thank Vivianz for sharing this wonderful site with me.

The light at the end of the tunnel...(soon)

2007-09-10T23:48:00.000+08:00

Updates. Norelle's fever has finally subsided (last Saturday) and so happy seeing her being smiley and happy again. Well, she's not 100% of her usual self but that's enough seeing her getting up and playing again. She's still a bit weak and her appetite is low. She doesnt seems to be hungry and not so much interest in taking her milk. She has not been on solid for about a week and me being the 'gung-ho' type, tried feeding her pureed carrot and broccoli on Saturday morning. She took a few spoons of them and that's about it. It's fine with me even though I have to pour away most of the them. And I tried again on Sunday, it got a bit better. She managed to finish 2 cubes of pear puree and 1TB of multi-grain rice cereal. But her milk intake is still not back to normal.

After the fever, I realised that there were some red bumps on her back and soon after, her whole body and face were covered with all those red spots (like heat rash). Hubby did a quick search on the net and found that it is Baby Measles. It happens usually after a high fever and there is no cure/medication for it. And it will usually stays on for few hours/days.

Sigh...one incident after another. And now at night, she wakes up every 2 hours - wailing on top of her lungs for no reason. Her cry is so loud and heart-wrenching. Sounds like she's in pain/fright/ or something....I really dont know why...She doesn't want her milk, she's not cold/hot and she can barely open her eyes (can tell that she's really tired and still sleeping) Could it be she's experiencing trauma from all the mid-night feeding of medicine? I really don't know the answer and seeing her crying unconsolably makes me sad and lost....

Hoping that the light at the end of the tunnel will appear soon...real soon....

Fever, fever go away!

2007-09-05T21:48:00.000+08:00

Since this morning (about 4am) Norelle's forehead was quite warm. Took a temperature and it read 37.5oC. Fed her paracetamol and about an hour later the temperature subsided. Phew! HY and I didn’t manage to get enough sleep and I kept waking up taking her temperature every now and then. Have no idea what causes the fever – could it be she’s teething?

Morning came and off we send Norelle over to MIL’s. Called home while at work and Norelle was pretty cranky (as expected) and she vomited. Felt so helpless seeing her like that and even more so when there’s nothing I could do to take away her discomfort. She’s still having fever now – her temperature raised up to 38.2oC. She was very tired and she slept early (at 7.30pm). I fed her paracetamol again and she vomited it out together with her milk. But she continued to sleep even though her clothes (and mine) were covered with puke. My heart ache looking at her being so weak and fragile. Just hope that the fever will subsides and I want to see my cheerful, active, smiley Norelle again….

I like food!

2007-09-03T21:48:00.000+08:00

Since Norelle hit 6 months, I have started semi-solid with her. I have exclusively breastfed her for the first 6 months of her life and on the day she turned 6 months, I couldn't be happier. I'm not saying that I dislike breastfeeding her (I do support breastfeeding - so mummies who are reading this, do continue with the good work!) I was eager to let Norelle trying out her first food besides milk. I have read up a lot on weaning and already printed out quite a fair of baby food recipes so, I just cant wait!!

Ok, I started Norelle with Heinz's baby rice cereal mixed with little breastmilk. I was all prepared with the feeding essential and prepared the cereal. Then, I put Norelle in the Bumbo seat and laced the bib around her neck. I got the sippy cup ready, wipe cloth, some hot water (just in case I need to dilute the cereal) and most importantly my great enthusiasm! In my mind, I pictured Norelle would be eagerly awaiting the cereal where she will open her mouth big and wide and taking every spoonful of cereal with great sense of joy :)..Ahhh, wouldnt it be so perfect..just like on the tv???

*Snap* , then I was hit with reality! She hardly opened her mouth and when she did, I fed her the cereal and ....she gagged and *phui* out all of them! Then she squirmed her face and shut her mouth tight!! Next, she started to wiggled her way out from the Bumbo and she wailed!! I gave up after merely 5 minutes of feeding her.

But that didnt deter me from trying. Everyday my MIL (mother-in-law) and I tried and tried again feeding her the cereal and she did took a teeny weeny bit of it. Well, that's an achievement. And this lasted for almost a month. Into her 2nd week of semi-solid, I started making some purees for her. I made pear puree for start. Well, that seemed to do the trick. She was eating a bit more with the pear puree. And now in her 7 months (one month since she started solid) she is taking it well, in fact very well.

Now she is looking forward to take her solid and I have since introduced quite a fair of variety of food to her. She has tried (so far) pear, carrot, sweet potato, potato, pumpkin, spinach, broccoli, apple, and chicken. I made all the purees before hand and I freeze them in air-tight containers. It's actually fun doing all the purees and seeing the food turning into mushy state :)

So what's next on her menu??? I'm thinking of zucchini and something with cheeseeeeeee...

Busy munching away - she loves spinach

My new found Abilities (so far...)

2007-09-03T21:00:00.000+08:00

For the past few weeks/months, Norelle has achieved quite a lot at her age. Let's see...

@ 4 months she managed to flipped over succesfully and since then she wouldn't want to on her back and that makes our lives more challenging especially when changing her clothes/ diapers.

@ 5+ months - out of fun, one evening I tried putting her in a 'sitting' position just to 'try' out. To my surprise, she managed to hold on to that sitting position (no aid) for about 10 secs. I was estatic. Later on, I tried again and she did it again. I was so happy that I snapped so many pictures of her (more or less in a same position) till to a point where she got a bit awestruck - there, she got her first experience photographed by a 'papparazi'...:P

@ 6 months - she has been sitting quite well on her own at this time (but will still tumble over when she got excited). During the day, she'll be put in her cot (at MIL's) as my MIL does her chores. So, one fine day, she was playing in her cot and suddenly she started pulling herself up using the cot rail. My oh my...this girl is really daring. And the best thing was, when she managed to stand up, she will gave you the BIGGEST grin where you thought she strike the lottery! And from that day onwards, she has been busy 'perfecting' her new found ability. But this 'hard' work of her also resulted in many bumps on her head/legs/hands, etc. Now somehow it makes my life easier (sometimes) that I just put her in standing position when I change her clothes/diapers.

@ 7 months - Just few days ago I realised that she started to raise her cute lil' bum in the air as in getting ready to march forward but tend to stop everytime her bum was high up in the air. Then today she finally able to move forward on her knees - no more 'crawling' like a snake. It's still a funny sight seeing her getting on her 'fours' and doing the proper 'crawling'....

My baby is really a big girl now...

Norelle and her standing 'stint'

The Beginning

2007-09-02T12:55:00.000+08:00

Hello. Finally Mummy and Daddy set up a blog for Little Norelle after Mummy had spent quite a fair numbers of hours sitting in front of the computer.

Ok, let's start with the basic. A little background on the Little One:Norelle Chew Zeen Hsiu arrived 6 days earlier than EDD on 30.01.2007 at Subang Jaya Medical Center @ 1406pm weighed 3.37kg. Such a beautiful baby and already busy suckling her little fingers when she was out. She loves to smile and even does that in her sleep. And oh, she was the 'biggest' baby at the ward.

Since birth, Norelle has developed her own character and here are some of the things which describe her -

Norelle likes:
attention food (ooohh.....her favourite)
to be carried (even though Mummy will try every hard not to do that often)
to watch TV (in this case it's educational programme like Baby Einstein and Baby Signs)
to bath (she loves the water so much but used to wail like no tomorrow when she is younger)
to go 'kai kai' (more like tag along Mummy)
to be in the crowd (she is such a PR Queen - always put forth her 'BEST' behaviour)
to be in her Baby Bjorn
to 'bully' her Yeh-yeh (paternal grandfather - trust me she is good)off course she likes to manipulate her daddy (what do you expect?? She is his Little Princess)
Last but not least...she loves to SMILE =)

She dislikes:
to drink water (to her it's like forcing poison down her throat)
to be left alone (not exactly alone - just out of sight)
her milk to be too warm/too cold (has to be the exact temperature!)
to change diapers (I wonder her back and bum have torns as she doesnt like to lay down)

Well, so far this is what I can think of. Will definitely add on as time goes by.... Stay tune for more exciting updates of Little Norelle!

Baby Norelle busy suckling her lil' fingers