A year ago for my birthday, Foops wrote something in a card that made me tear.

Let's hope this time next year we'll have a new family member to celebrate your birthday!

Perhaps it was all fated because we found out the very next day after that I was expecting.

That was a big turning point in our lives and hey, we haven't looked back since!

So this year, a whole 365 days later, we brought said new family member - decked in the cutest Ralph Lauren romper - back to Morton's to celebrate the big 3-0 :)

Grand enough an occasion to wear mah shoes!

I daresay we've started a yearly tradition :)

Chilled ocean platter: mmm, oysters!

A Morton's favourite: Double-cut filet mignon

Blowing my candles with Sean curiously looking on

Now plus one

What a difference a year makes indeed. Blessed, I feel so very blessed.

So I turn 30 today.

Of course, my son had to choose today of all days to wake up at 5am wanting to PLAY PLAY PLAY! Maybe he wanted to be the first to greet his bleary-eyed mummy many happy returns?

The sweet husband sent me this message this morning too: Happy birthday, my dear wife! I've made reservations at our fave restaurant to commemorate your joining me in this new decade - don't be late.

He sure has been waiting for a long time! HAHA.

Ah, the new decade. So that's what they call it.

***

This year has been a most eventful one for me and turning thirty seems to be the very pinnacle of it.

It is all very bittersweet for me.

On one hand, I am sad to part ways with the fabulous swinging single, carefree twenties where everything and anything was possible. The world was our oyster. I really do feel like I am saying goodbye to a part of myself - a slimmer, bushy-tailed, fresh-faced and much younger me.

At the same time, I am a lot more settled and at peace with where I am in life now.

I have a lot to be thankful for: a wonderfully nurturing family and dear old friends (as old as I am now, ha!) who have seen me through thick and thin in the past thirty years, a husband whom I am still crazy in love with and very recently, I became mother to a beautiful, precious baby boy.

Who would've thought?!

The many freckles and laugh lines that now dot and criss-cross my face, my still jiggly post-pregnancy tummy and heavy-duty eyebags are but a small price to pay for all of the good things in my life.

Sure I have many things I still want to achieve in my life - restart and build my career, write, travel and go places, design and build my dream house, watch Sean grow up, give back to society... all of which I have the rest of my life to do.

In some ways, it really feels like my life is just beginning, like I have been given a fresh new slate to do anything I will with it.

Can't wait!

***

Some pics to share from my little birthday celebration with my family over the weekend, crazy hats and all :)

Ginormous birthday pizza

Philosophising about the big three-o

Hats for all!

Cher Yiyi with my little China boy

Grandma gives the best cuddles

With my favourite drooly little boy

Mother and son

Turning 30, you gotta have cake!

*OshKosh outfit from Auntie Andrea - Toldja he's really filling out into all his clothes!

It's that time of the year again.

Our tree is up - well, better late than never - and adorned with pretty twinkling fairy lights and finally, it's beginning to feel a little like Christmas :)



Now to find myself some elves to help me finish my Christmas shopping!

Dear Sean,

It has been four months since you came into our lives and we haven't looked back since.



You are an active, squirmy little being now and your energy knows no bounds.

It took a while for you to finally figure out how to roll onto your tummy on the left - you could do the right side very well. You would get all frustrated and red in the face when you couldn't make it over.

Yet, you persisted at it for days, huffing and puffing, until you finally got it right.



Now you are a unstoppable human rolling pin!

That, my baby, is just one example of how your little personality is emerging. Fiesty little thing, aren't you!

You love being in an upright position when you are awake. All the better to kaypoh and see the world.

A few weeks ago, I let you have a go at an old hand-me-down walker from the twins (despite reservations you may be too young for it still) and surprise surprise, you loved it!

Don't mind me, I'm very busy!

We can now leave you to entertain yourself in it for short stretches. You always look so preoccupied and busy in it. It's such a laugh watching you. You'd be banging on the table noisily, hollering at us and grabbing and thumping at your toys to your heart's desire.

Funnily enough, your favourite thing to play with and munch at is this free bag of chips I got from a goodie bag. You don't know what is inside but you love the bright red colour and smashing your fat little palm down on it to hear the crinkly sounds it makes.

Rest assured, nobody will be fighting you for the chips because not only is the packet covered in your drool, the insides are pretty much crushed into smithereens by now.

You also love bouncing around in your Jumperoo (a welcome-to-the-world present from Papa's colleagues). Your little feet are still a bit short to reach the ground, even at the smallest setting, but that hasn't stopped you yet.

Look at you go!



As you grow each day, we see more and more glimpses of your character coming through.

You charm the socks off everyone you meet.

The grandparents adore you

You have become a nosy little thing.

You reach out to paw fascinatedly at everything around you. You pay rapt attention to conversations around you - even though you have no idea what we are talking about. You crane your neck to look at things and people.

Whassat? Whassat?!

Sometimes, even feeding you requires a lot of patience because you keep getting distracted by the slightest sounds. You are a little busybody alright!

You know when people are being funny or trying to make you laugh. You giggle and squeal with laughter when Papa blows raspberries on your tummy or when Jiu Jiu Leon fist-bumps and plays pretend-boxing with you.

*squeal*

You flash me your precious crooked little grins when I playfully munch on your fingers as you feed. You also know how to reach your little hand to give me a hi-five when I hold my palm outstretched in front of you.

Peace out, dude!

Recently, you have also taken to screeching with delight whenever we carry you. It's so cute but a little embarrassing when we bring you out because you are super noisy!

Laughing baldy

You are a lot more settled now. There is pretty much a set pattern to your days.

You wake up at the slightest hint of daylight between 6 to 8am everyday (even on weekends!).

We are still working on your day naps - you can sleep without your rocker now (since we went cold turkey in Hong Kong) but not for long. 45 minutes to an hour at best, perhaps? It is a very tiresome process putting you to sleep!

You seem to know when it is night time. You start to rub your eyes sleepily right around 7 to 8pm and once I feed you, you fall into a blissful, deep slumber for five to six hours in your cot. You refuel about once or twice in the night and I'm really hoping you will learn to drop those feeds soon so we can both sleep through the night in peace!

This month has been an exciting one because you went on your first holiday ever.

You were quite a terror on your first plane ride. I am guessing your ears were hurting during takeoff. I tried to feed you to ease the pressure and make your ears pop but you were too upset.

In the end, it was my ears that hurt - from your wailing.

You even did a major poo-poo once we were in the air and I had to change you in the impossibly tiny toilets amidst the mid-air turbulence. We then spent the best part of the plane ride marching up and down the aisles to appease you.

Because of that, all I had to commemorate your very first plane ride were these two lousy, blurry photos and a splitting headache!

Ooh, we've landed?! That's my cue to sleep now. Yawn!

(Fortunately you were a lot better on the return leg - you magically dozed off before takeoff and didn't stir till we landed!)

Otherwise, like we'd predicted, you were a real trooper the whole time we were in HK, perfectly content to out and about and carried by us all day long.

In fact, you love to going out very much. You really enjoy our little afternoon walks.

Sometimes, we chill out for a bit on the deck chairs enjoying the breeze and just watch other people play in the pool. You really do know how to kick back and relax.

Ah, this is the life!

Our biggest challenge right now is to get you to sit in your carseat without drama.

You would sit quietly and play with your toys at first, then I would start to hear grumbles two minutes later, then tears and full-blown rage if nobody comes to your rescue.

In this video, I am actually sitting right next to you as your Papa was driving watching you mumble and grumble in your carseat. Please note this is a very, very mild representation of your true colours.



When you are on your own, you make it very clear to me that you absolutely detest being in it. This makes bringing you to and fro Grandma's house everyday a very stressful ordeal for the both of us.

So much so that one day, I decided to ditch the car and take public transport.

Yes, I lugged you and all your barang barang in the hot sun and hopped onto a bus. And our experience could not have been any more different from our car rides because you were so comfy snuggled up next to me with the aircon blasting overhead you dozed off as soon as we got on and slept all the way!

The wheels on the bus go round and round... woah, I'm feeling woozy!

Very recently, you have also realised that I am really truly your mummy and not just a milk bottle.

Your eyes will always follow me when I leave the room. When you spot me, your face lights up and you squeal with delight. When I pick you up, you happily wrap your little arms around me and bury your face in my neck and sigh happily.

Baby hugs are the sweetest thing in the world :)



To my surprise, you can also recognise your daddy, even though you hardly see him on weekdays! You often kick your legs excitedly when he comes home and greets you, often leaning precariously towards him urging him to carry you.

Who's your daddy? This guy is!

The other day, I packed away some of your newborn clothes that you have outgrown and felt a pang of sadness because it made me realise how very fast you are growing before our eyes.



I wish I could freeze-frame all our past and present moments together just so I would never forget them but then I realised that is just silly because I know we are going to create so many more.

We are so glad to have you in our lives. We love you so very much, don't you ever forget that.



Happy, happy four months, baby boy.

Much love, Mama



Read reflections at two weeks, one month, two, three and three-and-a-half months.

Look at what Godma got me from her holiday!



Mummy thinks it's the funniest thing she's ever seen - yeah yeah so it reaches my ankles and I still have to grow into it! Check it out, I even have a tail :)

*Please ignore my semi-naked uncle in the background

It was our last day in Hong Kong.

Of course, we weren't about to leave without a full-on yumcha experience so we headed to City Hall for brunch at Maxim's Palace.

The lunch crowd was just building up when we got there (at 11am) and there was a nice buzz to the place.

Yumcha at Maxim's

I have always been very intrigued by the yum cha culture in HK. It is especially evident on weekends how integral it is in their everyday lives. The scene can get a little crazy and overwhelming with everyone hollering with their mouths full at the top of their voices and gesticulating wildly, above the clatter of dim sum servers pushing their trolleys among the crowded tables. I love it!

The dimsum dishes were really top-notch - our table was overflowing with steaming baskets of siew mai, har gau, po lo bau, tsun guen, char siew bau, pheonix claws, steamed carrot cake, custard buns...

For some reason, Sean was in an extremely good mood that day. All the dim sum ladies were very taken with him.

Nei hou!

Happy tummies, we rolled over to take The Peak Tram up to, um, The Peak. Also met some superstars along the way.

Yo, Jacky!

Hey, Bruce!

Waiting in line for Peak cable car

Hogwarts Express at Station 9 and 3/4

Cityscape from the peak

Very peak-turesque indeed

While at The Peak, we found some very cool street art installations by G.O.D., one of my favourite lifestyle brands! They have very, very cool oriental-themed stuff - it is one of those shops where I wish I could live in :)

HK streetscape

Get out of our way!

Come evening, we headed back into town for some chow.

Stumbled across an Itacho Sushi outlet near our hotel and Japanese it was. Hard to believe it was almost empty at dinner time when there is always a long queue at the Ion outlet!

Starvin' Marvins

Scallop sushi with sea salt, our fave

Did some last-minute shopping around Causeway Bay.

For supper, we had big, yummy bowls mango+pomelo desserts topped with icecream at Hui Lau Shan. Just the perfect combi of sweet and tart.

Mango heaven

Next morning, we flew home.

I was hoping Sean would pull his screaming stunt again, just so his Papa would get a first-hand experience of what it was like to fly with him (we flew to HK to meet Foops so he had no idea how bad it was). But nope, he terrorised his cat rattle for a bit before knocking off. Peace till we landed in Singapore.

Must.destroy.cat!

And that's a wrap for our little holiday, folks :)

We went to a Christmas party the other day.

Sean was too young for most of the games so he just sat in my sling quietly watching the other kids while the adults chatted and tucked into the lavish buffet spread.

Then they had this fun little corner where kids could pick out a soft animal toy to stuff and bring home.

I chose a big white, fluffy bunny rabbit out for Sean because I thought it looked quite sad and lonely sitting in the giant bin of the more popular teddy bears and monkeys.

Come on, have you seen a sadder face than this?

Sean dozed off for a nap while we were in the queue. He woke up just in time to see the stall vendors breathe polyester life into Mr Rabbit. I can't figure out who is bigger - baby or rabbit.

All set to go home!

Will let him name the rabbit himself when he gets older :)

On our third day in HK, we boarded the ferry that would take us to Macau.

One day is enough to cover the compact city. First stop: The Venetian.

The Venetian

While it doesn't hold a candle to the real Venice, its faux blue sky, lush interior and prettily lit up street lamps set around its winding canals makes for a rather representation of its sister casino in Las Vegas (which I visited in 2004).

It looked like evening here, but it was actually broad daylight outside!

They even hired Caucasian men to row the gondolas

Us

Next time, we'll bring Sean to see the real Venice!

Gambling is not my cup of tea at all but we thought it'd be fun for the family especially my brother (who just made the cut for minimum age) to have a look-see at the inner workings of a real casino.

I stayed outside with Sean while the rest went in. They came out an hour later on a gambler's high, raving about their experience and their (miniscule) winnings, which was just enough to cover our ferry ride back to HK!

What I really wanted to do was watch Cirque du Soleil's Zaia at the Venetian. Decided against it in the end because the show started too late and clashed with Sean's bedtime.

If only we won enough money to stay for the night, hehe...

Leon contemplates his winnings atop the canal

Oh Christmas tree!

After the short gambling stint and some makan, we made our way to Largo do Senado, the city's main square.

Its cobblestone streets and carefully preserved colonial buildings line the square, giving it a laidback, mediterranean charm.

Just wish there were more cafes because it would be a great place to have a cuppa and people-watch!

We also visited the ornately impressive ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral, another must-see in Macau (there really aren't many), just up the road.

Facade of St. Paul's

We haven't taken pics together in a while!

Of course, we weren't going to leave Macau without having some Portuguese-style egg tarts. I don't know which is the 'original' shop but both Foops and I love the ones by Margaret's Cafe e Nata.

They taste so gooood fresh from the oven! Seriously, after you have had them, you would turn your nose up at all other egg tarts!

Best Portuguese egg tarts in the world, really

We love Margaret (and her tarts)!

We rounded off the day with a jaunt through the neon-coloured streets of Macau.

The surrounds of Hotel Lisboa

We were pleasantly caught off-guard by an elaborately choreographed water fountain show just as we were passing by Wynn Macau. My mum ran away hurriedly carrying Sean when great balls of fire shot up from the fountain! It was very cool. Even my camera lens got soaked!

Wynn-ing fountain show

Fun day away. Last day write-up coming up!

Yesterday's Stanchart run was easily one of my most enjoyable runs, ever.

For once, I wasn't nervous or jittery before the race and that made all the difference, I think.

Of course, it also helped that I had a sooper-dooper running partner to plod along with - I've really missed running with my best friend :)

Great day to be outdoors - the weather was cool and breezy, the race atmosphere buzzing with excitement. We ran at a slow, comfortable pace, taking in the cityscape and nattering like old times.

I was plagued with stitches on my side quite early on but they went away eventually. Felt quite tired by 5km - at the infamous Sheares Bridge incline - but not tired enough to stop so I carried on.

I surprised myself by managing to run the whole 10kms without stopping. I actually felt fine and finished in high spirits (under an hour and a half, according to the official timing board).

Yay, so happy!

And guess who was waiting at the finishing line?

Zzzz, what took you so long, mummy?

Li girls

Finishers

Another shot with everyone

Going to sign the boys up for the Kids' Dash next year!

Aching all over today, oww.

Not too long ago, I was as big as a house.

I gained 16kgs during the pregnancy (3.16kg of it being dear Sean!), a whopping one-third of my own weight. Throughout the whole nine months, I tried my best to eat well and keep active with walks and yoga.

Now three months later, I have thankfully lost almost all of it.

The first 12kgs or so were easy. They just melted away magically during the first couple of weeks.

It was the last 5kgs and the stubborn paunch that took (or rather, still is taking) a while to go away.

Even now, I am still about 1-2kg off my pre-pregnancy weight. I have a hint of a quivering jelly belly and I secretly worry that my belly button may never look the same again (it's half an innie, half an outie).

Childbirth does take a lot out of oneself. So I gave myself about a full two months' rest to regain my energy and feel somewhat whole again. That was also just about enough time for my c-section incision to heal properly.

First thing I did after the two months was to go back for yoga. I really missed it and was so glad to immerse myself in the classes again. But sadly they didn't quite work out in the end - I couldn't find someone to watch Sean for me on a regular basis - so I had to suspend my membership till further notice.

So I did the next most convenient thing: I picked up my Adizeros and started running again.

I have to admit starting from ground zero again was so hard - I had gotten extremely lazy, I had a thousand and one lame-ass excuses NOT to exercise (biggest one being I JUST HAD A BABY), my stamina was non-existent and I would feel faint after a few minutes of exertion.

Did I really used to run from one end of East Coast to the other and back again?!!

But I faithfully stuck to the regime - once or twice a week, I would sneak off for an hour or so when Sean is taking his afternoon nap - and slowly, it got better.

I knew my own limits and was never too ambitious. It could just be one or two rounds around the park or a short 3km jog at the gym. Just to get the blood flowing and adrenaline pumping again. That in itself was good enough for me.

All of this in preparation for... the Standard Chartered 10km run, which I will participating in tomorrow. EEKS, I am quite anxious about it!

I feel quite under-prepared frankly, having not had the luxury of time to run the full distance before this. It is really quite impossible to just disappear for a few hours when you have a baby!

Anyway, I am just going to treat tomorrow's run as a little welcome initiation back into exercising again.

My goal is simple; to enjoy the race and finish it in good shape. Wish me luck!

All the best to those who are running tomorrow, whether the full, half or ten :)

Bright and sunny, we set off for the day's destination: Lantau Island.

It was my brother's birthday and he was one happy chappy that day :)

Taking a tram ride to Central (for the MTR to Tung Chung)

Sean (in Grandma's sling) taking a snooze during the ride

A short side-note here, I have to say I was quite disappointed of all the times we travelled via MTR, bus or tram, we were only offered a seat (for the baby) a grand total of ONCE during our entire trip. People would point at him sitting/sleeping in the sling and whisper among themselves - babies are quite a rare sight in HK, I realised - but that was just about it. I was quite appalled by their nonchalance! (Singaporeans are a wee bit better in this regard.)

At Tung Chung, before taking the cable car

Happy grandparents

I had last been to Lantau in 1998 and my somewhat hazy memory of the place was that it was a very sleepy centuries-old town of wooden stilt houses and musty incense-filled monasteries.

This time though, I couldn't recognise any bit of it.

The island has totally transformed and I think they did a mighty fine job of developing the infrastructure. We saw many newly-paved roads and sky-high condominiums on our way in and of course, besides the Ngong Ping 360 cable car station, there's also the swanky new airport and Disneyland on the island too!

(No Disneyland for us this time - Sean is too young to remember anything and we too old for Mickey!)

I enjoyed the pleasant, breezy half-hour cable car ride from Tung Chung to Ngong Ping Plateau. The view from above was breathtaking and we could spot the famed bronze Buddha statue (the largest of its kind in the world) from afar.

Up, up and away

... in a cable car

Taking in the view

We stopped over at Ngong Ping Plateau where the air was noticeably colder and fresher.

Sean donned his GAP hoodie with bear ears (which sadly he is about to outgrow very soon) and wool booties lovingly knitted by Mas' grandma :)

No one could resist the baby bear

Papa Bear, Mama Bear and Baby Bear (Giant Buddha in the background)

Rest break at Ngong Ping

The sullen Emperor and his silly grinning concubine

And their lovechild, the flying baby monk

Leon and young Simba

My ants-in-pants mother was very excited to climb up the two-hundred-something steps to the monastery at the peak.

I wasn't too keen to carry an increasingly cranky Sean (or all his barang) who was hankering for a nap so she, together with my father and brother, went up without us.

The following pics were taken by Leon on their vertical trek up to the monastery.

85m-high bronzed Giant Buddha in the distance

Up the few hundred steps to the monastery

Mum at the peak

Bronze statue at the monastery

We ended the day with some factory outlet shopping at Tung Chung. Quite a decent selection of brands but they carried mostly winter wear which I have no use for. Pity.

In the end, after much aimless wandering around, I bought a cool jet-black biker jacket and a boyfriend-type blazer, and I think that's about all I bought for the entire trip!

We got back to Causeway Bay and had a huge, sumptious Chinese dinner for the birthday boy (my brother) that night.

And that's all for Day 2, folks!

Sean is going through a big developmental spurt of sorts at the moment - the change in his behaviour has been very noticeable in recent weeks and he looks so much bigger, doesn't he?

*S is for Sean onesie, courtesy of Godma

He is such a wriggly worm now. He rolls over the minute we put him down and always does this cute little bum shuffle thing like he is about to scoot away.

I usually find him in a completely different position from where I placed him. He's really fast!

He gave a heart attack yesterday morning when I left him on our bed to get something from the next room and came back a second later and saw him teetering precariously on the edge of our bed! One more inch to the left and he would have plunged onto our cold, hard marble floor!

(Arg, my blood still turns cold just imagining what could have happened!)

My mum and I now do everything we can to stop him from flipping over now, especially when he is sleeping (because it is very disruptive) - funny, just few weeks ago, we were doing the exact opposite!

Escaping diaper changes is his forte. He even has that furtive sideways glance down pat!

Catch me if you can, mum!And in case you didn't know already, he started off in the middle of his changing mat!

He has also begun to resent confinement.

I used to be able to leave him to sit happily in the Bumbo while I took a shower but now he screams when I put him inside and struggles to get out. That thing was useful for, umm, two weeks, maybe?!

Escape artist

He is very curious and likes being held upright to look at the world all the time.

If we so much so tried to lower him into a reclining position, he will arch his back defiantly and lurch forward in protest. Now he prefers sleeping upright, like a stubborn little right-way-up bat.

Must.sleep.upright.zzz

Once breezy affairs, car rides have turned into absolute nightmares.

Since returning from HK, he seems to forgotten how he used to ride in the car every day and developed a very strong dislike for his capsule seat. This is bad news because it makes our daily 20-minute commute to and fro my mum's place everyday a misery for the both of us.

And yes, I have tried everything: distracting him with toys, music, talking and singing to him, NOT talking and singing to him (so he thinks no one is listening to his whines), timing his nap time with the car ride hoping he would take the purr of the engine as a cue to fall asleep. Nothing works.

I think he just hates being strapped down and not being able to sit upright. Now he always arrives at our destination hoarse from screaming, with his face soaked with snot and tears - it's quite a sight!

Another not-so-pleasant development: his once-perfect sleeping schedule has gone to the dogs.

Just as I was finally getting the hang of a somewhat reasonable night feeding schedule (just one crucial refueling feed at 4am), Sean suddenly changes tack and expects a 24-7 all-you-can-eat-buffet!

For example, last night, after going to bed at 9am, he woke up at 12.30, 3, 5 and 7am wanting to nurse!

(An aside, you should have seen the his mega explosive poop job this morning!)

I don't know about him but for the past week, I have been feeling like an absolute train wreck every day!

So it is not surprising he has been super cranky and clingy during the day. The late nights are certainly not helping his mood, or mine for that matter!

It takes forever for us to put him down for a nap in the day and even then, he fidgets a lot and doesn't stay asleep for long. I think he takes two, at the most, three short naps a day now.

Now that he has better hand-eye coordination and has stopped clawing at his own face, I let him go mitten-less.

He loves clasping his hands together and the sensation of feeling his own fingers. Of course, in the process it has also struck him that two hands taste much better than one!



He has also discovered he can do a lot more with his hands besides shoving them into the wonderful sensory organ that is his mouth.

He rubs his eyes with his little fists when he is sleepy. He is slowly reaching out for and grasping things with his hands now. He loves playing with my Tiffany's starfish pendant when he is nursing. He swats violently at the yellow, bobbing rubber duckie during bath time. It is very amusing to watching his face scrunch up in deep concentration each time.

We have also noticed since returning from our holiday, he has lost a bit of his chattiness.

He still responds animatedly when we talk to him now but he is no longer at that adorable stage where he seems to be testing his vocals and goo-ing and gaa-ing all the time.

At first, we thought it was because we didn't engage him enough in HK, amidst the constant buzz of the distractions of the city and bright lights.

But now I think it could be because he has SO MUCH else going on - all that rolling and exploring to do! - that he doesn't have so much time for mindless chatter anymore ;)

So yeah like I said, MAJOR growth spurt. Exciting times!

If you are interested, here is a very informative article about developmental spurts here. It sure answered some of my questions!

We had a rather uneventful start to our holiday in HK.

On our first day, Foops had a work lunch scheduled at the very last minute so we thought we would just keep the day's itinerary simple.

It was nice waking up to pleasant, cool weather (20 degrees Celsius thereabouts).

We had a hearty breakfast at one of the cha chan tengs just near the hotel. I wolfed down a huge, satisfying bowl of noodles in beef broth - it's true no one does noodle soups like the HongKongers do!

We'd forgotten how big the portions were!

We then hopped onto the tram that would bring us to the IFC where we parted ways with Foops.

Granted it is not the most kid-friendly mode of transportation but it is one of the fastest (and cheapest) ways of getting around the city center. We managed just fine with Sean in the sling.

Tram, incoming

Sending the husband off to work

Go bring home the bacon, Papa!

That evening, we stopped by Mongkok for a quick wander around the Ladies' Market.

I would probably have given this HK version of a pasar malam a miss if we were travelling on our own but I thought my parents and brother, who hadn't been there before, may find it interesting.

Trinkets galore at Ladies' Market

Personally, I thought it was amazing how the stalls look exactly the same as they did when I last visited in 2005. And they looked like they were still selling the same tacky merchandise too!

Come nightfall, we visited the Avenue of the Stars at Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront, which also boasts a spectacular night view of the HK skyline.

At the Avenue of the Stars

I gather from his expression Sean was suitably dazzled by the view.

Agog at all the lights

While we were waiting for the Symphony of Lights show to start, we couldn't resist taking some cheesy touristy pictures.

I (used to) heart Aaron KwokDamn, I got my hands so dirty taking this shot!

HUZZAH!

Hi Bruce, meet Sean

Leon having a friendly pow-wow with Bruce

Sean paying rapt attention to the Symphony of Lights showCan't say the same for his mum who found the show quite boring!

We had a similar photo taken at the same place in 2005!

After the show, we chugged across the Victoria Harbour back to HK Island. Love how, like the electric trams, the Star Ferry has become such an institutional icon in the HK culture.

Chugging back on the Star Ferry

*squish*

We had a late dinner at a quaint hole-in-the-wall sushi restaurant. Sushi is surprisingly very affordable in HK. And the sashimi doesn't come in limp, measly slices like they do in Singapore. If I had my way, I would have had it every meal...



Sean has a rather early bedtime so we tried our best to go back and put him to bed at a decent hour every night. No partying at Lan Kwai Fong for us old farts ;)

Calling it a day

And that's the end of our first day in Hong Kong.

In Hong Kong, we stayed at a spanking new, cosy boutique hotel called the Butterfly on the Morrison at Causeway Bay which had just opened its doors a few months back.

It was in a nice locale - we were a comfortable five-minute walk from Times Square, the tram and MTR stations which made getting around quite easy.

And just downstairs, you had your noisy, colourful hodge-podge of wet market stalls, provision shops, medicinal halls, cha chan tengs (Chinese tea cafes) and confectioneries serving simple, hearty fare.



The neighbourhood scene is so vibrant and full of life it feels like I'd just walked right onto the set of a Cantonese drama serial sometimes :)

Sleeping arrangements-wise, we discovered upon our arrival that our queen-sized bed was way too small to accomodate Sean.

I don't know why it didn't occur to me to ask for a cot at the time but the sofa in our room seemed like the perfect size for him so I just pushed the open end up against our bed and ta-da, we had our makeshift cot.

Sean shared his 'bed' with his friend Ben (of Ben 10 fame, courtesy of SIA).

Roomy enough for leg raises, mummy!

Oh, I should add that since he has figured out how to flip from his back onto his tummy, he cannot stop doing it now. Arg, now I have to keep getting up in the middle of the night to un-flip him so he can settle back to sleep!

We slept in on most mornings bringing him to our bed for sleepy snuggles when he woke.

Morning squishes are the nicest way to wake up

It wasn't that long ago when I used to worry about accidentally rolling over him in bed and crushing him but now that he is bigger, I have no qualms of tossing into bed to rough and tumble around with us!

One thing the hotel didn't have was a tub. Fortunately, our sink was quite sizeable with a flat base which was good enough for baths!

It is my secret wish to have a picture of my little chubster bathing in a sink and now I do :)

How cute are chubby naked babies in sinks?

Day 1 writeup coming up shortly.

Sorry for the radio silence here - I didn't manage to squeeze in an entry before we left for our week-long holiday in HK. My bad.

Just got back yesterday and we're so spent Sean actually slept from 4pm yesterday till 8am this morning!

It was a bit maddening travelling with a three-month-old, especially in a frenetic city like HK, but it was nice getting away from 'real life' for a bit, watching him take to new experiences and rediscovering old gems of places again, now as a family of three.

Sean was actually very well-behaved the whole trip, perfectly content to be in our arms.

Well, save for the flight there where he decided he hated flying and screamed two-thirds of the way there. Big apologies to you if you were sitting near us that day!

I'll post some pics and short write-ups over the next few days once I get them sorted.

But here's one in the meantime:



I know it's such a touristy thing to do but the silly romantic in me just loves taking the old, rickety Star Ferry across the Victoria Harbour and soaking in that spectacular HK skyline - no MTR experience can even come close :)

I brought Sean for his third month checkup today.

While I fully understand the long-term benefits of immunisation, I feel very sorry for babies who have to go through jabs after jabs in the first few months of their lives.

Sean was due to take both rotavirus and pneumococcal immunisations today. I wasn't so worried about the rotavirus which is administered orally; it was the latter I was more concerned about.

He may have forgotten it already but I hadn't quite gotten over the trauma of last month's 6-in-1 injection yet.

I know I really shouldn't be projecting my own fears on him but I can't help it!

(An aside from my own childhood: I remember how much I hated injections and would writhe and scream before the doctor even so much so as touched me. It took three adults - my mother, the nurse and the doctor himself - to hold me down into submission. Hmm, I think I just figured out where my fear/dislike for hospitals and doctors stems from!)

Anyway, just as we were about to enter the doctor's office, I suddenly remembered Foops mention he saw an advert for a topical numbing cream that could help take away a bit of the pain of the injection.

I immediately asked one of the assistants about it and yes, they had it in stock!

The only requirement was that we had to apply the cream on his thigh (the site of injection and let it sit for at least half an hour or so before the injection can be administered.

We were more than happy to comply with the wait.

So did it hurt? Yes, it still did.

(Apparently, the Emla cream only takes full effect some two to three hours later.)

He yowled very briefly, staring imploringly at me the whole time but quickly got over the pain after a reassuring cuddle.

A far, far cry - mind the pun - from his blood-curling scream from the last month.

It is a small price (SGD15) to make it less traumatic for mother and baby, I think - I'm definitely going to request for it every time from here on.

Otherwise, the checkup went smoothly.

Just for the record, he's growing well for a 3-month-old, measuring in at a decent 5.65kg and 60cm.

He is meeting all his developmental milestones and is a happy, sociable little fella.

Very recently, he has even begun to cackle when we play with him and you can see it in his eyes how he wants MORE MORE MORE! It's so infectious you cannot help but just laugh along.

His eczema is well under control and we haven't had any major recurrence since I switched to off-the-counter Physiogel cream on some of your recommendations (thank you, wonderful Internet people!). Could be the cooler year-end weather recently playing a part too.

His breath has also been sounding quite raspy and phlegm-y lately so I asked Dr Tan about that. She said it could be an allergy issue (again), triggered by what I am eating.

There's still no saying which foods exactly but as long as I take everything in moderation, she assured that there is no cause for worry.

Sean is running a very mild fever from the injection and has been a bit clingy today but I think he'll be okay after sleeping it off.

Till next month!

PS. I just found some other tips on how to make immunisations less traumatic for children here.

Foops flew off for a one-week work trip early this morning.

He has been on countless similar trips in the past but somehow this time, it's not quite the same - there is another little person to say goodbye to now.

As if he knew, the kiddo woke up earlier than usual and managed to give his father a goodbye hug before he left for the airport.

It was the sweetest sight - Sean's tiny form in his red sleepsuit barely awake and clinging onto Papa's shoulders with his short, chubby arms. I choked back a tear watching them.

It's still crazy unbelievable when I think about it sometimes - we are really a family of three now :)

Guess who has been cramming really hard for his 'O' levels?



Solve: x2 - 10x + 25

[Quadratic equations aside, he sure does love the Bumbo!]

Grandma always says I am her little kampong boy.

Here I am wearing what Mama calls my country bumpkin outfit (a comfy hand-me-down from friends).



We ran out of clean mittens so Grandma slipped booties on my hands instead.

You can imagine I was quite a sight flapping around with floppy socks on my hands but it didn't matter to me one bit - why, they tasted just as good!



Here I am practising how to sit. I really hate lying down now - yeesh, that's so last month.

(Psst Mum, I think it's time to break out the Bumbo!)



Jiu Jiu came home from school and I took a ride on his hard, bony shoulders while waiting for him to finish his lunch so he could play with me.

He let me watch some TV too. Shh, don't tell my mum.



And here I am, sharing a hearty laugh with Grandma. It's true - it's simple moments like these that make life grand.



Hope you are having a great day too!