Look What I Got!

He arrived on 27 Dec 2009. So, those people who were betting on a Christmas baby weren't too far wrong.



Things actually got started on the night of the 25th. On the 26th, I went to the Boxing Day sales in the city before making my way to the hospital. Things were really slow. They almost said I should go home because it didn't look like 'real' labour. They did insist that Richard go home so he left me to my pain.

Two hours later things went from slow motion to fast forward. Even the midwives didn't quite expect things to move so quickly and each time they checked to see if I was at whatever stage they thought I would be at, I was a couple of steps more advanced. Within 20 mins of them getting me to the birth suite and saying that I was at 4cm and to relax, the baby was out! Lightning Boy!

Everything is good now and we're home trying to get as much rest as possible. I won't be the almost-daily blogger I was for awhile but I also can't stay away from the internet completely, so, check back every so often for posts on my life as new mom of TWO! (It still hasn't sunk in.)

Happy New Year Everyone!

Christmas Eve - HOT!

I have to admit that I've found it a little hard to get into the Christmas spirit today. The morning was cool but by the afternoon, it was hot and humid. Horribly hot and humid. Anyway, we sent Richard out to get us some ice cream and we were all soon feeling a bit better.

The underneath of the Christmas tree is looking very exciting with a full load of presents in place. It reminds me of my own childhood Christmasses. I hope Aaron will not only be blown away with the presents but also feel the warmth and joy of being with family during this season.

I wish you all a Blessed and Joyful Christmas. Enjoy the time with your families, the good food and festive cheer. But, as you exchange your gifts don't forget the real meaning of Christmas - the giving of love EVERYDAY.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

The Baby Will Be Here Soon.....Maybe

"You're having a Christmas baby."

"You're not going to last until 7 January."

"Not long to go now."

Those are the sorts of comments I've been hearing a lot this past week. Even from total strangers.

With Aaron, he came eight days early and that cut out all the anticipation and any waiting time.

And because Aaron was early, I've always had it in the back of my mind that this baby will come early too. I know there is absolutely no scientific reason for it to happen but I've got that sort of expectation built into me already.

So on top of that, there are all these people who look at my belly and say "Its coming soon!" and thats just building the expectation in me even higher. I really prefer not to have all this anticipation but its happening whether I like it or not.

What have I been doing about it? I've read about the 'nesting instinct' where expectant mothers supposedly get this uncontrollable urge to clean, tidy and organize. In the final days of pregnancy, this is often a sign that labor and delivery is close at hand.

I definitely have not been cleaning and have no desire to do so but I have been doing a lot of online organizing. I've set up and checked that anything that can be done online, is set up. I've cleaned up my hard disk and updated all my documents.

The other thing I've been doing is eating. Not to get this baby any bigger but in anticipation of several months of potentially bland food. With Aaron, he seemed to react (by not sleeping) to anything I ate that was not vegetables stir fried with garlic. I couldn't eat anything with too much meat, oil, food additives or flavour. So, I've just been snacking on junk food all day long for the past week.

So back to when this baby is coming out. Who knows?? Sometime in the next two or three weeks? Do I want it before Christmas? Not really. Before New Year's Day? I don't mind. All I know is that it'll come when it comes and in the mean time, I'll be eating lots of junk food, maybe in front of the computer.

First Contact

What a Sunday! Our house has been full of laughter, crying, sharing and snatching. A cousin that I haven't met up with in over ten years came to visit. He has a son that is three weeks younger than Aaron and a two year old girl.

So, today was the first day that Aaron has met a cousin. At the moment, Aaron only has one first cousin and these two second cousins. And unfortunately, it doesn't look like there will be any additions soon. He really has no idea about what it means to have relatives and with the Chinese way of addressing various aunts, uncles and cousins, today was quite a confusing introduction. None of the kids worried about that though. They hit it off right away and started playing really well.

Today was also Aaron's first time playing with another kid his age. In the past, they have all been several months older or younger than him but the little boy and him today are almost exactly the same age. It was mostly peaceful play but as they both got more and more worn out, Aaron especially, started to forget about sharing. That was to be expected.

Here are a couple of photos from when the two of them were busy 'cleaning' our glass doors.

Did he mean "Stop Nagging"?

As I've mentioned here before, Aaron is at that age of saying lots of funny (and embarrasing) things. He seems to have his ears pricked up all the time, picks up on all our conversations and then saves them for repeating at a later and more inappropriate time. As his vocabulary grows, he has also been coming up with some interesting original conversation too.

I always listen eagerly when he has something to say because they are often funny observations. Tonight was no different, and even though I know its not going to be so amusing in the future, it was still entertaining tonight.

After dinner, Aaron went to his desk to do some drawing. I called out to him that he'll have to stop in a few minutes, go brush his teeth and get ready for bed. Immediately, he came back with "Why do you tell me things I already know?". I told him that I was just reminding him and he went on to say that I keep telling him things that he already knows, too many times.

Its true, I repeat myself. But thats just because he usually doesn't move immediately. I never said the words "Stop nagging" to my parents but I can't help thinking that if Aaron know of the word "nag", he'd probably have used it tonight.

I have my first New Year's resolution ready for the start of 2010 - Only say things once!

Wanting More Face

I think most people these days would be familiar with terms like 'loss of face' and 'not giving enough face'. I'm not even going to attempt explaining what 'face' means but you can browse through this Wikipedia attempt at various definitions.

Anyway, I remember being chided quite often by my mother when I was a child for wanting too much 'face'. And now, I hear myself thinking the word with Aaron. The closest English idiom that I can think of to describe the situation is to "give an inch and he will take a mile". Something like that...

Even though it can be hard work when there is no back up around, Aaron is extremely well behaved and easy to handle when he's in a one on one situation. If I'm at home alone with him for the day, he's entirely co-operative, willing to entertain himself and we get everything done. If its just the two of us when we go out shopping, he just holds my hand and walks obediently wherever we need to go.

Recently, Richard joined us. And a couple of days ago, my aunt from Holland also arrived for the Christmas holidays. And Aaron has been wanting more and more face everyday.

Its fun to have so many people in the house but at the same time, he's playing all of them. And its tiring for me to try to keep him disciplined. I'm relieved to see that he still has some respect for me and doesn't try to con me into things but it has been increasingly harder to get him to do the normal stuff like go to bed, brush his teeth, pick up his toys and even eat. And when we go out, if one person doesn't follow his insistent arm pulling into some book/toy shop or other, he'll just grab the next arm available. And at the end of the day, I'm always the bad guy that has to try to get the face wanting kid back in line.

Christmas time, its not only diets go out the window, routines, discipline and good behavior seem to take a beating too.

Wiggling With The Wiggles

We have had THE BEST day. This morning, we went for The Big Big Show by the Wiggles. It was incredibly fun and as crazy as it sounds, the most enjoyable concert I've been to in my life. It was fantastic to share in the joy that Aaron experienced watching the Wiggles live.

I don't know how we got to be this lucky because I tried to buy tickets for this show when we were still in Palembang and at that time, they appeared sold out before I got any. A couple of weeks ago, I tried again and we got front row seats! It had a circus theme with a lot of acrobatics mixed in with all the usual favourite songs.

Aaron had such an enjoyable time because he knew all the songs and we had such great seats right in the center. I think all the adults there had a good time too because we, of course, also knew all the songs. LOL! Just kidding....it was a really fast paced, colourful and well planned concert. I just kept thinking of how hard they were all working and how well spent my $35 per person was. I'm sure that they could charge more than that and people would still go but they've kept it very affordable and still high quality.

The Wiggles definitely have a magic way with kids. They've been around over 15 years and it was mentioned today that one of them has qualified for a seniors card! And yet, I didn't see any little kid throw a tantrum today. There surely must have been at least one around somewhere but I didn't see or hear anyone unhappy. All the kids I saw (and there were hundreds of these little under 5s), waited excitedly for the show to start, then danced their way though it and afterwards, they all seemed to be on some sort of a high from all the singing and dancing.

I've really had one of those days where I've felt incredibly lucky and happy to have had the opportunity for some great family fun time.

Richard took a lot of photos but when I looked through just now, this was one of the only ones with the four Wiggles together.