The Amazing Girls

I am surrounded by amazing women haha. Those of you who know my mum would know what i am talking about. Then there is Cindy who remained resolute about having more kids even immediately after a traumatic delivery (here in Aussie-land, they don't do episiotomies while the baby is popping out - i.e. the female part tears due to the baby's oversized head). Her bottom was unusually sore with stitches, a large haematoma and she still can't even walk properly (apparently, unlike most cases they see here). The midwife today insisted that she took painkillers which she'd refused until now, for the sake of keeping her milk drug-free. All this, above and beyond having left behind a comfortable lifestyle in Singapore to move over here and work to help her husband achieve his aspirations. I've told you about Anna and each of my sisters have shown superhuman devotion to their families or some special cause at one time or another. Seriously, who needs superheroes when we've got women among us?

Big Sister Anna

Anna was amazing. She was already asleep when Cindy started to have serious contractions. We put her in the car and drove to the hospital. There, we put her in a pram in which she remained blissfully unaware of what was happening until midway through delivery (just before Josh's head popped out)! She was quite scared initially because Cindy was screaming in pain but i explained that this was the moment we've all been talking about and Josh is finally going to come out! She then got to watch parts of the delivery and when Josh finally made his way completely out, i explained it to her and there was a smile on her face - the kind that comes from a joyful heart. At that moment, i knew it was all good and that it wasn't too scary and that she was going to love her baby brother. I'm not making her out to be some kind of a saint and in fact, she behaved strangely for the first 2 days, being unusually needy of attention. But she has shown amazing developments over the last few days. She now loves to 'pat pat' Josh and would often ask to cradle him. When she does this, she would look intently at Josh and smile - i.e. when Anna cradles Josh, she doesn't do it to please us; she looks directly at Josh and does not look to us for affirmation. She does it because she likes doing it.

While Cindy was home with Josh yesterday, i brought Anna to the beach and built sandcastles (her favourite activity). On the way back, i reminded her that daddy and mummy loves her as much as we used to and as much as we love Josh. Amazingly, she said, 'i know'. She now scrambles to fetch diapers and powder puffs and still asks to cradle Josh every now and then. Here's a picture of Anna squatting at the hospital room. We were eventually kicked out of the hospital and Anna cried her way home, having to leave mummy behind. No worries - the next day, she was back to her sunny-side-up self.

Bun in oven finally baked

The delivery was not something for the faint hearted! When Cindy delivered Anna, the obstetrician quickly forcep'ed Anna out after 4 good pushes by Cindy. On the other hand, Cindy had to work much harder for Josh (left) and the delivery was completely unassisted and without epidural. There was however some fun and funny moments in between contractions at the delivery suite during which i tried out the laughing gas (while the midwife was away, of course). Once, when the midwife came back, she asked me how everything was going and i started stammering because i was under the influence of the gas haha. In any case, here's Josh! The 4th member of our family! He weighed 3.11 kg at birth though he'd spent only 37+ weeks in Cindy's womb.

"This one, YOU write! Your son one!"

Yep, since i officially handed the blog over to Cindy, she's undoubtedly done a fantastic job but there can be too much of a good thing haha. So here i am, previous management doing a bit of part time blogging. This happens to be what Josh will be wearing when he hops on the plane bound for Singapore next middle of the year - well, at least the cap will be. We didn't see any dolphins but the tickets are usable for half a year. So some of you visitors here next year might get to go in free - haha. But it is a non-profit organisation. Tickets were relatively cheap at about err...$5 for adult.

f

Where is Papa?

Its Christmas Day and we are at the playground outside church. But where is PAPA? He is somewhere BBQ-ing , preparing food for the residents who live in the area. Last night we had a lovely christmas dinner and Anna had so fun till almost midnight. The minute we stepped into the house, she wanted to open all her presents! Well, its already very good of her to be so patient to wait till Christmas to open her presents.

A BIG THANK YOU to all (Grandparents, Gu-Ma-s, Uncles and Aunties, God-Ma and Friends)who have given us gifts during this season. Can't say how glad we are. . .

At the Swamp Reserve

More feeding of Kangaroos at the reserve. The girls thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Anna too was very bold in feeding the animals directly. She said that the kangaroo bit her fingers! Still that did not stop her from feeding. At least its a good way of getting rid of stale bread.

Me at the Peak too!

I did it too! I must say it was a rather challenging climb up the rather steep slopes. My pelvic ligaments were quite stretched but all ends well. We were laughing that this trip would probably prepare my body for labour. . . not bad for a start!

Trekking Up the 'Mountain'

At Bunbury, we went to a reserve famous for 40m-tall Tuart trees. Having outdoor blood in us, I couldn't resist ascending the 'Mountain' (in the state I am in, I can't help calling it that altho' it prob a tiny little hill).

Well the girls did a fantastic job climbing up to the peak and having a good view of the town.

Mary had a little lamb

When Anna saw this lamb, she couldn't help but started singing 'Mary had a little lamb'. She has really grown more aware of her surroundings and she is also less fearful of animals. It was actually her who asked me to take a pic of her and the lamb/sheep.

Down South

Today we travelled down South towards Bunbury. Along the way, we stopped by this very quaint town, Pinjarra, and had our morning tea and freshly-baked scones. Was delicious, both Sarah and Anna loves the home-made strawberry jam.

This is a pic taken with some green grapes hanging from the vines.

See what's that in my hand?

After dinner, we went for a stroll along the beach. The temperature dipped drastically around the coastal area. Anna was complaining cold and so had to be piggy-back to get some warmth. While strolling, we found this vey interesting seed-like structure with spines, probably for dispersal purposes ie. propagation for the plant.

Apparently, the girls collected a number of them and we actually brought them all the way back to Perth. Sarah even comtemplated bringing them back home!

One of the many activities they enjoy

he girls enjoyed feeding the ducks and sea-gulls at the park. See how happy they are, especially Anna with the company of big sister Sarah.

Check out the background. . .

Look at the number of formations! Its not just 'some' rocks!

Its actually a 3.5km drive into the reserve. I must say the drive inside is not easy: narrow lane and sandy too. We stopped at this lookout to take a few pictures. Oh yes, we saw 4 emus wandering around too.

Our Final Destination - The Pinnacles

On the third day, we reached our targeted destination. We were told there were just a few rocks, but lo and behold, there are hundreds if not thousands of rock formations. Its an amazing sight! Some are huge, and others smaller, no one is the same.

Its is indeed worth the trip!

Still Digging???

I was asked to join Anna in the building and digging of sand castle. It was quite an achievement for me but at the end of it all, I had so much trouble trying to stand up.

Look at the very 'COOL' guy beside me!

This is one rare opportuntiy that we can have a shot together. Still remember those days that we go trekking with towels around our necks. . . F said that it's a good way to prevent sun burn of the neck.

Me at 35 weeks

You think I am all ready to pop? No, not yet. . . not when we were having our holidays. HAHA!

We left Lancelin for Cervantes

We found a lovely family house for the night which overlooks the Indian Ocean. As usual, Anna would be asking to go and dig sand. It was cool and windy in the evening unlike in the day.

What a lovely Pic!

Despite the heat, we managed to take a nice picture together!

Afterwhich, the Tans and F went ahead for some sand-boarding up the dunes while Anna and I hid behind a bush. They had quite a bfair bit of fun boarding, even Susan enjoyed the ride. Soon Anna decided to board down the very tiny dune that we were sitting on using a card-board she found. She was really funny!

Sand Dunes at Lancelin

In the morning, we visited the sand dunes near to our accomodation. Check it out. . .it was rather hot and hardly any breeze. If only its slightly cooler. I had a hard time trying to climb the slopes of sand. But it was all worth the effort, the view is awesome!

Girls at Play

We stopped at Hilary Habour for lunch and the soon after that, the girls wanted to play at the playground. I must say they were both rather shy on the first day they met, but . . . look how much they are enjoying each other's company. They almost didn't want to go. HA!

When the Tans came to visit

Just last week, the Tans came to visit and we had the opportunity to travel up North and then South with them.

This pic was taken on the first day along the coastal area towards Hilary Habour. Our destination for the day was Lancelin, about 1.5 hours drive from Perth.

A Cosy Pic

Nobody has any doubt about the similarity of the two. She is indeed 'F's daughter!!'

Anna's New Dress

We or rather F has finally agreed in buying dresses for Anna. So, few days before the party, we went shopping. Anna has the privilege to pick 2 dresses for herself. She loves them, cant wait to hop into them when she came home from shopping.

This is the red and green one that she wore for the party.

Christmas Party in Daycare

Anna enjoying the company of her best friends - Karlee, Brianne and Bianca with Santa Claus. Look how good they are while Santa spoke to each and every child. They each have a lolli bag at the end of it.

A Tiny Christmas Tree

Frank has decided to make this Christmas a little more happening for Anna. So, he went to buy the smallest tree ever (due to storage space constraint) and of course, cheapest too!

Whats more happening is that he added some christmas light-bulbs on the tree too! That really made Anna excited. Now that she is older and more aware of things, Anna talks about Santa Claus and sings christmas songs.

'We are having a Christmas Party in school!' - A

Taking a break

After all the rolling and running around the park, Anna was hot and sweaty. She likes to sit on my thighs, must be very 'shiok' for her since my legs are probably filled with lots of water ie. edema.
My feet and ankles have started swelling these days and by the end of each day, they just look like pig's legs. . . often by the next day, the swell would have subsided and the whole swelling will start all over again.

Rolling on the Grass!

Anna loves to bring this huge ball to the park, other than kicking it, she likes to put her tummy on it and roll along with it! Its quite a sight and she often rolls off and falls onto the ground.

No Hat-No Play Rule

Remember the above rule, never leave home without the hat/cap. Well now that we are almost in Summer, we also never leave home without sunscreen and sunnies!

I think this pic was taken when I was 34 weeks.

At the Mini Tree-Top walk

Today we celebrate Papa's completion of exams. Yippee! We can play all day long. . . So we were back at King's Park enjoying the scenic tree-top walk. Somehow Anna is alright with the height.

Anna Learning to Take Picture

After building the tallest tower, Papa gave permission for Anna to use his 'big' camera to take this picture. Apparently, she took quite a number of shots and this is one of them that is rather sharp and with F's face in it!

How's the Pregnancy been so far?

Well I am into my mid 33 weeks already. Many people say its counting down time now. Another observation by several asian ladies is that my bump is so pointy that its gonna be a boy! They are always so confident when they said it. Amazing!

Still waking almost 3-4 times to pee at night. Frank told me to drink less water before bedtime. I did as told but still I ended up waking and peeing despite the small amount of fluid! Can you believe it? So I told him, its better to drink and get hydrated then to sleep with a dry throat.

Baby is 'engaged' now ie. 'head-down' according to the midwife 2 weeks ago. All she did to check was merely a few presses around my lower abdomen/pelvis region and said that she could feel the head. Well, its anytime now. . . one of my collegues said that baby will come before January!

I have gained almost 11 kg so far, my thighs are huge, hopefully its water and not fats. Fat hope, I think, since recently I have been enjoying ice-cream quite a fair bit. So I think my calcium intake has been good so not much legs cramp in the night. Somedays I can even deal with the cramp myself without screaming in pain and waking F up to help me! Great improvement from the last pregnancy. HAHA!

Update

Its been more than a month since I update the blog site. Well, let me do a quick update on what has happened over the past month.

(1) Francis has been studying rather hard for his semester exams. He is in the midst of his exams now, tomorrow will be his last paper. During this time, he is strucked down again by cough and flu. He had 3 episodes of fever prior to that and he is still coughing as of today. Poor thing. . . he wished that he had more energy to study. So he have been trying to recover and get well, sleeping more than he should but still the bug lingers on. . .

(2) Anna is also coughing. Father and daughter have been coughing into each other's faces, very funny at times. Well, the conclusion here is that I was the one who passed the virus to both of them as I was the very first person to be strucked down with cough and flu. HA, it took me almost 2 weeks to recovered.

Also, our laptop crushed and F had to recovered it. So see, no pic to add on the blogsite for a while.

Anna carrying Daisy

Recently Anna has asked me how to cuddle a baby. So, I used Winnie the Pooh and put it on her arms and taught her the right way to carry a baby. I must say she did a pretty good job for the first try. The very next day, she took hold of her white teddy bear - Daisy and held it in her arms and asked me to take a picture of her! Amazing, isn't it? She is indeed preparing for the real one. HA!

Strange looking Animals

As we enter Lottery West Family Area, one would notice these strange looking animals? Never quite figure them out, but I know one of them is a kangaroo. Somehow they are very attractive to children and even adults! Children likes to climb on them. Anna would never give them a miss whenever we passed by. So here we are again. . .

See how loving they are!

After we had lunch of healthy porridge at the park, Anna quickly digged into the picnic bag and see if there is any treats to eat. As usual, I would pack something more exciting or rather unhealthy like chips or pretzels. But this day, she found a package of cod-fish strips. Haha! See how they are enjoying the snack. I must say I couldn't resist the snack too. . . we wipped out the whole package and she even asked for more.

What you want to eat?

A year ago, Anna would never take off her shoes and walk on sand at the beach. Now, she will volunteer taking off the shoes herself!?! See how comfortable she is in the sand. Everyday after daycare, we must always remember to take off her shoes outside the house 'cos there will always be loads of sand in them.

Whenever she is playing with her sandpit toys, she would pretend to be preparing food for us. . .

You like my Smilz?

Anna loves to pose for pictures these days! She has a very werid way of smiling as well - the one with the under-bite.

Back @ Lottery-West

Anna loves this playground at King's Park. Today she spent heaps of time playing and this is one of the many attractions that she enjoys - some sort of a wind chime. You just have to shake them and they will produce beautiful sounds.

Mid-Autumn Festival @ Home

Anna was so thrilled over her 2 lanterns that she received last Friday! BIG Thank You to Auntie SM, Uncle TH and Uncle Clem and Auntie Jean! She couldn't stop playing with them. She was also reminded that back home at Nai Nai's, she has other lanters as well.

Family Hair Bands!

Anna has been wearing this hand-made beaded necklace as hair band over the weekend, so I suggested to her that perhaps we could buy her a stretchy headband. Well, she did not stop asking for it till we bought them last Tuesday.

She chose a set of 3 with pokodots - pink, yellow and blue. On the way home in the car, she asked who can wear the yellow and blue ones (obviously she has kept the pink one for herself), so I said that i won't mind taking the yellow one and the blue one can give to PAPA! She was elated. The minute the father walked through the door, she gave him the blue hair-band. . .

Knowing F, he came up with a good idea to wear them as a family symbol. . . check us out. . . cool right? We all had a good laugh at the picture!

Higher Papa!

Anna is really liking the swing very much these days. She will asked Papa to pushed her higher and higher! She has also grown to like wearing a hat and she knows that it will keep the sun out of her face. Somehow, daycare/schools here emphasised the notion: 'No hat, no play!' Its also mandatory for all school kids to be wearing their hat during the whole of summer, this applies to the senior school too!

At Healthcote Park

This is one park that we enjoy very much, mainly because of the scenary (look at the background). You can see many sailboats flying their spinnacle. . . reminds us of our sailing times. One complain about this park is that its always very windy. There was once in winter that we came and we tried to have a picnic. We failed terribly 'cos the wind then the rain came and we ended up eating inside the playground!

Cindy

We present ONDE ONDE!

Look at the delightful Anna! Of course she did not have any, but we had lots. . . there were even some left for breakfast the next day.

Cindy

Onde Onde

One of our many cravings for local delights. F made the dough, rolled them into balls and we placed a piece of gula melaka in the centre. Then we just boiled them till they float and coat them with shaved coconut. Easy isn't it?

Papa's Birthday Celebration Part III

See. . . they are already saying that the food is good even before trying! HAHA! Recently, Anna has been taking pictures of either her thumbs up or her index fingers (pointers) up. So cool, right?

Cindy

Papa's Birthday Celebration Part II

This is one cosy place that we love to be at. While waiting for the food to be served, Anna and Papa, as usual, posed for picture!

Anna is definitely looking forward to her rice, beef and chicken.

We especially love the very yummy Teh Tarik and Holicks Tarik.

Cindy

Papa's Birthday Celebration Part I

We found this Malaysian-run resturant called Makan Makan last year when we were here holidaying. So we are back here again to celebrate F's birthday.

Anna was trying to say grace for the dinner. But half way through she asked for help and as usual we have to complete the prayer for her.

Anna's Piggy Bank Part II

Half way through the painting, the piggy was not as stable as what Anna would like. . . so she asked Papa to help.

With one finger to steady the piggy, Anna was able to complete the painting. But the finger soon was covered with the red paint. Ha!

Cindy

Anna's Piggy Bank Part I

This is a piggy bank made from scratch. Anna chose the project from a children art and craft book we borrowed from the library. We started the shape by simply blowing a balloon, then we just use papier-mache technique. We added approximately 5 layers of newspaper and let it dry in the sun for a couple of days.

Afterwhich, Frank and Anna added the snout, legs, ears and tails. And we added another few layers of newspapers to smooth out the surface.

Viola! This is the end-product - ready to be painted. See how meticulous was Anna. . . I must say that she is quite good with painting these days.

Cindy

23 weeks

I am slightly more than half way through this pregnancy. I thank God for His blessings and pray that he continues to be with us.

Btw, last Friday, after a wonderfully delicious fish head curry, I had an allergic reaction! There were numerous reddish bumps like mosquito bites; they started on my arms and legs and later spread to my upper and lower body. I itched so badly. I think most of all, I was afraid it might affect the baby. So, we rushed to the A&E at Fremantle Hospital.

The doctor came after almost 1.5hours of waiting. He asked me to take the anti-histamine tablet if the itch was real bad. I was uncomfortable with taking any drug. Anyway, by the time I got to see the doctor, the inflammation was starting to subside and the itch was bearable. So I left the hosiptal hoping that the rash would go away soon. Doctor said it would probably subside completely by the next day. Indeed, I thank God that by midnight almost all the rash had already disappeared.

A Family Picture!

Who can resist taking a family shot! Cheers! Somehow F managed to put the camera on another branch that was quite far away.

Notice the big branch in front of us! Well, better than nothing!

Cindy