It hasn’t stopped raining since yesterday afternoon. Thank God the heavy downpour didn’t start until I stepped into the comfort of home. Someone must have watching over me.I love it.

I even retired early last night to the whispers of the rain(well.. it was more of the fatigue from having only 4 hours of sleep for Saturday and Sunday), and woke up only 4 hours later with expressing milk on my mind.

I was so lazy to get out of bed until a call came in at 2-ish and dissipated the drowsiness.

The only time the weather did disturb me a little was when I sat up from the bed after getting off the line with SBB, all ready to head to the hall, and 2 consecutive flashes blinded me in the dark, taken me by surprise with the merciless roars they brought along.

I jumped back into my bed, and my heartbeat accelerated to a new high.

It took me a while before I could calm my nerves and crawl out of the bed again, not without my baby pillow in my arms.

I cuddled my baby pillow into the hall and sat there to do my cow-ly duties.

Moo.

I crawled back under the duvet and felt the luxurious cosiness… it wasn’t too long before I dozed off, and woke up automatically at 8am.. to pump pump pump again.

Mooooooooo.

***

I still have yet to finish the previous entry I had said I would.

Despite having a help around, I realised how little time I have for myself… to even check my phone. Missed calls, missed messages. Uh oh.

I had sat in the hall yesterday to feed her, watch her pooped in her pretty girlie gear, lull her to sleep on my chest, wash up, blarblarblar… and before I knew it, another day had passed.

I didn’t even have the time to squeeze in a couple of episodes of CSI, though I had planned to do so.

***

In her 2nd week, Minibean…

.. turned to her side on her own, and slept curled up like an adult.

.. grew alert to sounds and noises, tilting her head in all directions inquisitely to search for the source.

.. grew lotsa pimples on her face cos her Mummy couldn’t resist kissing her all the time. Now, Mummy only kisses her hands, tummy, shoulders….

.. made known her dislike for cold, and love for warmth. She doesn’t enjoy aircon that much, but loves to sleep in the heat all wrapped up without fan nor aircon. She sleeps on very well despite how her lush hair would be soaked in sweat.

.. was finally carried by Grandpa one morning, making Grandpa grin excessively.

.. increased her appetite from 40ml to 60ml.

.. could hold her head up by herself, especially when we burped her(14/12).

.. made a 2-syllable sound while lying on my bed… ‘Ayeeeeee waaaa’.(12/12)

.. Spent a day alone with Mummy(16/12).

.. had her first baby massage(15/12).

Notice how much her hair has grown? This was her when she was barely 2 weeks!

Gee.

And yes, she farted halfway during the massage. So lady.

And muahahaha, I like what the massage lady said towards the end of the video. Muahaha.

***

In Week 2, there were days she would sleep throughout the day, and there weren’t much chances for me to take her pictures.

And I didn’t keep up with my original intention of taking pictures of her everyday.

But when she was awake, I did manage to capture some pretty cute pictures of her on Monday (11/12) as she struggled out of her bundle and freed one of her hands into the open.

I have no idea what was she trying to do, but I thought it was hilarious seeing her doing a series of poses as if she was dancing.

I have a feeling that she could do good in kickboxing classes.

She kept repeating the sequences, with kicks into the air as well.

Uhm.. she seems to have some potential to be a politician here.

Strong legs, she has too. I know, cos sometimes when I sat her on my thighs, she would try to launch herself away from me with her kicks.

And I tell you, it is no joke when she kicks into engorged breasts. Ouch.

In the evening, she was subdued by the blankie, and without the freedom earlier on, she gave me the puppy-eyed look which she has mastered with perfection.

I couldn’t help but tickled her neck cos she reminds me so much of a kitten..

Especially when she *Purr…*

This is the most feminine picture of her to date. Aww..

12/12 – Auntie Lisha dropped by to coo over the little one.

Look how she was disfigured by her Mummy… baby acne!

Auntie Lisha also gave Mummy a nice massage as she lazed in bed, refusing to move.

And Mummy is glad to have clear up misunderstandings in the air and mend the awesome friendship they once shared.

14/12

She started to get curious over everything, though she still gave me the standard puzzled frown whenever I try to talk to her.

This lass will grow up to have lotsa attitude.

Tsk tsk. Jia lut for me.

‘Kua simi?’

I think she just loves to sleep in this position. Taken on the 15/12.

***

On Sunday, Zhengming and Xiuzhao came by with Lin Li and boyfriend, with Christmas pressie for Minibean(thank you darlings)!

Xiuzhao became Mrs Zhengming on the 8th!

I.AM.LIKE.SO.HAPPY.FOR.THEM.CAN?

I mean, cough, let me claim some credit here.

If not because I had wanted to bake cookies(that were rock hard and my friends nearly claimed dental fees for dental damages) and cook for my friends on a particular day 7 years ago….. they wouldn’t have met.. and if they didn’t meet…. then then then..

See! I am half a match-maker alright?

Congrats, my dears.

They are the nicest people, most down-to-earth pals one could ever get. I am glad I met such beautiful people in my life, and they deserve each other in every way. They have came a long way, and I wish them eternal bliss.

We sat in the hall and brainstormed for Minibean’s Chinese name, and I think the couple nearly died from my fussiness. Laughs.

Minibean tried searching for milk when Zhengming carried her. Muahaha.

Yeah.. she is constantly hungry.

***

I just realised it is already the 19th. I have yet to think of her Chinese name. Not yet register her birth cert at ICA.

Not yet apply for her Malaysia passport at Malaysia Embassy, which would require the above.

Not yet apply for her PR back at ICA, which would require the passport.

Blarblarblar. Basically, I have to do the running myself during confinement cos some issues of the registration I can only settle by myself. I couldn’t be possibly authorising my dad to do the running for me, and put him through those awkward questions, eh?

And oh, did I mention how I have yet to start on the full month celebration planning…?

And the date has been fixed!

The 31st December(going by lunar calendar, her lunar full month falls on this day. Somemore can countdown!) or the 1st January(since going by calendar, her full month should be on the 2nd, and it could be earlier too since it is a holiday the next day, and signifies a new start).

So, 31st or 1st?

Wah.. shit. Only 11 days to make arrangements.

Ahh.. I really no like making decisions myself, you know.

***

Everyday, there are new things I learn about her.

Everyday, her features are making tiny changes.

Like today, I noticed how her once-defined chin is slowly merging together with her neck.

Her appetite has grown so much by Week 3, and I could hardly keep up with her demand for milk.

And I think.. that’s a double chin I am seeing. Heh.

I was sitting in the hall yesterday when I was playing with her, I held her close to my chest, and she slowly drifted off to sleep in the security of my arms.

She had earlier refused to sleep, and when I held her to my chest, she ended up tilting her head up, searching for my face.

And she would fixate her sight on me for the longest time, with her neck held up in an awkward angle.

I would just stare at her and talk to her, and she would give the occasional smile.

My confinement lady was telling me how she is growing to be really strong, eating much more than other babies she had cared for, and how she is showing her sharp mind with her responses to adults.

Though she still has this habit of tilting her head to the sides when carried by adults to find sources for milk.

And finally, she fell asleep amidst the heavy storm..

Right then, Eveline dropped by in the heavy shower with her self-baked cookies.

She was all drenched when she arrived at my doorstep, and I felt terrible x 10 for that.

She had ‘forewarned’ me that the cookies weren’t that nice.

I finished half tub of it right after she left. Even my confinement lady commented that her cookies are very nice. The soft texture, and they weren’t overly sweet. Yummy!

I forsee the cookies being emptied out by this evening.

Thank you dear.. reminds me of the Chinese saying.. ‘Xue Zhong Song Tan’.. Hmm, ‘Yu Zhong Song Bing’?

Next time I bake cookies for you also.. *cough* that is if you don’t my history of cookies-gone-awfully-wrong.

***

I brought Minibean out on my own yesterday!

No sling, no pram. No confinement lady. Basically it was raining earlier, and the floor was wet, and I didn’t want to fuss over a pram if it happened to rain.

As for sling.. I haven’t gotten any, so I made do without one.

She was bathed and dressed prettily for the 1st time since her birth, wearing a nice, princessy garment from Eileen.

I put on nice bright pink socks for her, and she looked a pretty sight.

I carried her to my gynaecologist’s appointment in the neighbourhood, but I didn’t expect that I would stay out for 4 hours, with her in my arms most of the time.

I took a bus to Jurong East Central, climbed the overheard bridge for the first time in a long while.

As I popped into the clinic, I greeted the faces I have grown to like over the months.

They were also the people who had helped me through, and gave me encouragements every few weeks when I go for check ups. The nurses, the receptionists.

As usual, they were brilliant.

They cooed over Minibean, intrigued by her hair as usual, and were bemused by my quick drop of weight(yay!).

It was a pretty long wait, and a Chinese couple, with the lady’s mother, came in.

The heavily pregnant lady was so excited when she saw Minibean and started striking up a conversation.

She was really cute and when I came out of the consultation room, she asked what did the doctor say(I told her it was just a wound checkup and she thought it was the baby!) .. before her husband reminded her the baby goes to a paediatrician. She giggled at her cluelessness, and was really nice.

The mum had flew in to take care of her only daughter, who is carrying a boy. She then commented baby has my chin and jawline. Ahem. I am not sure if that’s true though.

They were pretty eager for her to see the ultrasound of the baby.. and I thought it was.. sweet that they could share the moment of seeing the baby sucking his fingers, kicking around, yawning, or sticking his tongue out in the womb.

Shit. Typing this actually brings tears to my eyes.

***

When I went in for my check up, there was a new nurse and a couple of nurses whom I already acquainted with. Normally there was only one nurse but then there were 3 this time round.

And this nurse whom I already gotten acquainted with came in to offer her help to carry Minibean.

Then, I was told to remove my undies for the checkup.

The new nurse then asked beyond the curtains.. ‘do you need any help?’

I was like speechless for a while.. I mean, uhm, you want to help me take of my undies? Hehe, so kinky.

The rest were then playing with the sound asleep Minibean whilst I took a while to take off my undies and climb onto the bed(this sounds so wrong).

The most dreadful part came….

Dr Chua needed to check the stitches, and as usual, I was darn coy.

‘You have to open your legs or else I can’t see anything you know?’

‘I shy.. I scared. Hmm, this sounds like the exact same thing you said to me in the delivery room!’

Oh yes, I was even shy in the delivery room.

Eventually, I took a while and some ‘ah.. ah.. ahs’(not that it was painful, but you know, the anticipation was just scary) before she said ‘hmm, the stitches healed very nicely on the outside, I need to check the inside.’

And for the first time since the birth of Minibean, I was poked.

No infection, no nothing. Yay.

But wearing pads for almost 3 weeks already is no fun.

I went off after chatting a little to the ladies at the reception table, carrying Minibean with me to do some grocery shopping for some stuff that are running out at home.

I messaged FF for lunch, and it was only when she knew baby was with me before she agreed to meet me. Hmphf. Boohoo.

I had some time on hands before she reached, and I checked out the book fair at the heart of Jurong Entertainment Centre. I ended up buying 3 books for 10 bucks, all of authors I like, and 2 of them are hard-covered books somemore.

I spent 20 minutes standing there with Minibean in one hand, and another reaching out for the books and reading the summary.

I almost contemplated(I don’t actually MEAN it) to put her on the pile of books while I sift through the pile.

Eventually, I sat at McDee’s waiting for FF with tired arms.

And she gave a demure smile in her sleep!

After lunch, I grabbed a cab home, and she had actually slept throughout her day out with Mummy!

The sky darkened and it suddenly stormed big time after I reached home. Gee. God is kind to me.

She had her lunch and when we pulled out her diapers to change to a new one… she pooped!

And, she pooped onto her new clothes, staining them yellow.

When she was being changed, she kept turning her head back to give me the innocent looks…

Tsk.

So we had to change her again.

Into something blue.

How cheeky.

Eh! Why a bit cross-eyed one?

And tsk, those spots are still stubbornly lingering on her face.

***

Hmm, the long post that I had said I would finish, is still yet to be finished.

I guess.. I will take quite some time. Heh.

Today, I saw how strong her little legs are.

She kicked away the pillow that were covering her legs, then the blanket.

And as she kicked those things away, she had launched herself further up, and she was originally lying in the centre of the sofa, and before we knew it, she was moving up and her head touched the sides of the sofa.

And then… before we knew it, she was stretching, moving, kicking around in her sleep, and we found her to be in another position – 90 degrees to her original position. She managed to move 90 degrees clockwise on the cushion!

And she constantly stretches herself.

Good good. Like that can grow taller fast!

Time for my cow-ly duties again.

Mooooooo.