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).
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.
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 :)
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:
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..........
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)
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):
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.
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!
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???
