Rachel 9 Months Old

Rachel @ 9 month (exactly) & Mummy @ 18 yr (I wish!)

Our darling girl turned 9 month old last Tue (20th Jul). It has been a wonderful journey so far and Shawn & I were very fortunate to have witnessed some of her 'firsts' like her first word 'ba' (@ abt 7 mth), her first crawl and her first successful attempt to stand (in the cot) & signaled us to carry her (today). Oh, how adorable.

Many times we choose to carry her not because she was whining but because she gave us her signature innocent sweet look that says 'I love you, can you carry me?' And her watermelon smile revealing her 2 tiny teeth just made it even more irresistible. Whenever she gives me 'the' look, I will simply scope her up and give her a tight (but careful) squeeze. Such moments always feel so warm and heavenly.

Heavenly feeling aside, we experienced different kind of 'warmness'. Like the warm poo she surprised us while drinking my EBM. So much so they all leaked out though she was already wearing a S size diaper, instead of NB. Confinement nanny got a total of 3 such 'bombs' in a month, all at home. I got several times but once was at TMC. She poo-ed all over my pants while I was nursing her in TMC. 10 pieces of wipes didnt help clear the mess. When I was waiting at the hospital entrance for Shawn to get the car that day, a security guard still asked 'you spilled curry on your pants ah?'. Yes, curry, a BM flavored one. :)

Rachel @ 3 days to 1 month old

Gotcha: Crawling

Yippy. We got her crawling on video! From the video below, she is still not very steady but this week, she has become a pro crawler. Go Girl Go!

Filmed on 19 Jul 2010

Sit, Crawl, Stand, Walk!

I havent been blogging for a week plus and today my #1 fan asked me "are you blogging today?" He knows everything that I'm going to blog so why does he seems so eagar for me to blog? So he explained "Because I want to publish the pictures that we have taken. But I let your blog to publish the pics first". So touching but chey, I thought he enjoyed my blog. After I gave him the 25cent look (aka sad look), he added "Of course I love reading your blog!". White lies? Dunno. But I like that answer anyway. Ha.

Time flies. 2 more days to Rachel's 9th month. My friends asked if I have plans for Rachel's 1st birthday. Hmm.. dont think I will have any big bash for her. She won't know anything so why the effort and money? We thought of going Japan in Sep/Oct period and take it as a birthday trip for her but its not going to happen now. Shawn just got news that he can't take leave from Aug-Oct because of a new project. What else can we do? Shall give it a serious thought when Rachel's 10 month?

Sit
She knew how to sit unsupported some time ago. And nowadays when she cries for us in the morning, we will find her in sitting position. She loves sitting up by herself. And good thing is that she loves high chair (because that would mean porridge or dvd time) so we dont need to drag the monstrous stroller to every eating place we go since high chair is usually available.

Me & Rachel in a high chair in House @ Dempsey

And the best seat so far? Sitting on the millionaire throne at Changi Airport T3 departure hall. What a nice chair to take pics in. We should buy one for our mini studio but that's way too huge. Oh yes, our studio will be ready tomorrow! Check us out at http://www.shapes.sg/. Website still in the midst of revamping.

Our Princess Rachel

Crawl
She has been doing push ups for a month and we thought she may just skip crawling after a few mothers told me that their kids went straight from push ups to walking! But seems like Rachel wants to crawl after all. She started sliding forward for a week or so by first bending her knees and then sliding her torso forward. Yesterday, we were taken by surprise when she crawled (properly)! So much so that we forgot to take video! Arghhh...

Stand
Surprisely, she could stand before she did the proper crawling. It was about 2 weeks back when my maid let her stand on her own, and she did for a few seconds. As usual, my mum forgot to tell me until my maid tried telling us yesterday in Bahasa and her self-invented sign language. Took me ages before I guessed it right. I definitely won't team up with my maid for the game 'charade'.

Rachel will also climb onto us or anything to get herself into standing position. With support, she can stand very long. Look how happy she is with her Little Tikes Walker. Standing at > 71cm (that's the height about 3 weeks back).


Walk
She doesnt know how to walk yet. But she showed good progress yesterday when she attemped a few steps with my mother-in-law supporting her underarm. I'm not very supportive of 'encouraging' them to walk. Why the rush? No prize for going first right? As long as they are progressing well against the motor development chart for baby, we are happy. Nevertheless, I won't stop the enthusiatic grandparents from 'encouraging' her.

Soon, we may have her running around, sweeping everything off the table tops and pulling every cloth she can reach. Just hope she won't pull Bessie's tail then. :)

Our 3rd Wedding Anniversary!

This year's celebration is slighly different from our first 2 anniversaries as it was just a simple dinner with no surprises but I still feel blissful. And we are thankful to our understanding babysitters (my parents) for giving us time on a weekday night to celebrate.

Feeling blissful is one thing, but no surprises is another. No flowers. No present. *Sob* Okay, its because I was constantly reminding him that I dont need any flowers (but that doesnt mean I dont want). Men are from Mars, Woman are from Venus. Ha. I told him its kind of silly that when he sent flowers to my office, I have to pick it up from the office lobby myself (due to building security), but I actually dont mind having the flowers waiting for me at the dinner table! Hee. Thats what he did on our 1st month-versary. :D No more for 3rd year?

Nevertheless, we had an enjoyable dinner celebration at Da Paolo @ Rochester Park, our fave pasta place, catching up on many many things from baby to work to our dream plans.

Outside the restaurant. This shot was actually taken after dinner. Seems like I have an orchid on my right ear but its not.

I just had to have my rocket salad with my warm bread! Yummy!

I had my fave duck liver fettuccine as usual. It was love at first 'taste' many many years back when my girlfriends (Lena & Yin Horng) and I celebrated Pey Yng's birthday (was it PY's?) at Da Paolo @ Holland. The duck liver just melted in my mouth then and still does. Though this pasta is no longer found in their menu, Da Paolo always dish it out upon request. So sweet of them. Ha. Of course la, they always charge a premium for special request but hack, I really love it and furthermore, Shawn pays! *Grin*

Shawn doesnt have a fave pasta at Da Paolo. He tries all kinds of pasta which is good for me as a sampler. But nothing beats my duck liver. Yum yum.

Picture below is kind of blur huh? Because it was taken by me. :P Shawn's camera is too heavy for my hands to hold steadily. Think he was scared I may drop his camera which explains why he has that stiff look. Ha. At least his Carbonara looks decent in the pic.

Picture below shows Shawn at Da Paolo @ Holland for our 1st wedding anniversary. Looks younger? I took him with the Canon 450D that I gave him as a surprise! Also blur right? *Opps* I'm just not good with bulky camera.

What about the below? Also taken with 450D in Bintan Kelong celebrating our 2nd anniversary. I was about 6 month pregnant then. :) Better shot huh?

I will strive to take better anniversary pic next year and onwards. But likely the pictures are not us but of our kids! Ha. But no matter what, wedding anniversary celebration is still a must. After all, its a good occasion to remind ourselves why we got married. :)

Love u my deor deor... and I know you will say 'Me too' with a kiss. *red teary eyes*

Bintan Angsana 1-3 Jul

Yeah! We are back from our first family trip! We anticipated a tiring trip but it was not at all. We took things slow, laze around, had our usual superb Angsana massage (by taking turns) and had great bonding time. Though it was a fruitful trip, I'm still comtemplating whether to go Japan this year. I have to bring a suitcase of diapers? How do I cook porridge for Rachel? Unless I stay in a suite or apartment like we did in Angsana. Hmm... shall let doting Daddy Shawn think about this.

Shawn took many pictures for this 3D2N trip and sharing some of my favorites. I'm thinking of making a 8" x 8" photobook using my coupon from http://www.artscow.com/ recommended by my friend, Pamela. The software silverstar provided by the site doesnt have nice templates but its free. Hopefully, my coupons have not expired yet. :)

Day 1

We reached Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal just 30mins before our 2pm ferry. :P Good thing we were allowed to board. Had a smooth boat ride.

(Below) Our resourceful Rachel read up on the activities we can do in Bintan, knowing that I have motion sickness and can't read in the boat. Good girl!

Upon reaching the Bintan terminal, we were greeted by very friendly locals and they were doubly kind to me because I had sleepy head Rachel on my shoulder.

We had a speedy check-in (because its Thursday) to our clean & spacious 1 bedroom suite with a well-equiped kitchen. However, we insisted using our own mini pot to cook moo moo's porridge.

(Above both) There was a sofa bed in the living room for moo moo to roll about and nap in the day while we watched her from the kitchen area when preparing lunch.

(Above both) In the room was a comfortable queen size poster bed for Rachel to do her push ups while we prepare her bath. It was then that I spotted her tooth O (see illustration in previous post). *Hee*

Despite having 2 queen size beds in the suite, we squeezed into the poster bed at night cause Daddy Shawn say its bonding time. My back ached from that night's 'bonding' (with moo spinning in her dream & Shawn snoring away). Sigh!

(Left) Rachel watching 'Your baby can read' before her night feed and zzz. Thanks to Uncle George (mummy's colleague) for the VCDs.

Day 2

Rachel woke up early at 6.50am and cried for milk. Bintan's sun rises at around 6am and even with the heavy curtains drawn, it didnt stop the blazing sun rays from entering our room, which probably was the reason that woke Rachel up. Or was it tooth O?

We went for a swim at 10am after breakfast and lazy cuddles. Rachel didnt like the neck float that we bought from Kiddy Palace so we just let her play with water and swim around. Good thing we decided to swim earlier than planned because it rained shortly after we got out. Rain continued till evening!

(Below left) Rachel enjoying herself and splashing water. :)

Shawn & I then took turns to be pampered in Angsana Spa in the afternoon. The massage was excellent and well worth every dollar!

After we fed our princess porridge in the evening, we went to the Kelong to have our dinner. Pity, food was not as great as last year's.

(Below right) Rachel was napping in the shuttle bus on the way to Kelong but she woke up minutes after we started our dinner. Put her in the high chair and she was so obedient and 'daze-y' (but for a while).

Day 3

Shawn suggested bringing Rachel for a walk in the beach after her morning feed (so that I can continue to sleep). The morning was chilling and I really would love to snuggle in bed but I went ahead with them. After all, its family bonding time. :)

(Below at the beach) Jap-wannabe... daddy call her moomooto.


After the cool refreshing walk, we went back to pack our stuff. Going back was much lighter without the 2 big bottles of Singapore water (for moo's consumption only) and the food stuff.

Rachel was crying for attention while we were packing. Her cries are getting 'pitch-ier' these days. Terrible. We really didnt want to carry her around while we pack so I threw 2 of the complimentary apples for her to play since her toy was in the luggage already. Luckily, she loved the apples and enjoyed smelling and licking them, leaving us time to pack.

(Below left) The green apple became a great prop for quick snaps.

The ride back was not as easy as she got super grouchy due to lack of naps. There was no proper sleeping area for her so we got to carry her throughout the 1 hr journey.

(Below right) Prior to her being grouchy, she insisted to sit by herself. Anyway, she paid for that seat. Wierd that the Bintan Resort Ferries charge though she was only 8 mth +. Thought charges usually for 3 yrs and above?

Picture Perfect

After I saw my friend's posted studio pics of her son in the facebook, I realized I have not published Rachel's first studio shots. Opps. Here's some! The picture with purple background is taken at home that same day as Rachel fell asleep in the studio after a few shots. Anyway, we can never have enough pics of her. :)

Instead of renting a studio (expensive) and having to bring diapers, milk, wipes and countless of essentials, we decided to turn a little corner of our place to a studio. We havent purchased the studio equipment yet cause the CFO (me of course) is still counting the numbers.

Do support us when our studio is ready. We will offer the lowest possible price for dear friends. Package is usually only 45 mins, we will shoot you for 2 hours (in case your baby fall asleep) and you dont need to worry about bed, hot water, wipes and anything, we have them all! Other than diapers that differ in sizes perhaps. And yes, we can digitize your flaws away (if you think you have). Shawn didnt remove my pimples in the picture below doesnt mean he wont remove yours. :)

Our first professional family portrait

Me & my purple bumbo

Pictures above taken at rented studio

Rachel the princess butterfly @ home