The weekend, oh sweet weekend!

This weekend was made special as we celebrated mom’s ever-28th birthday. Or so she claims to be celebrating every year whenever someone asks how many years young she is.

As always, I had mischief up my sleeves when it comes to birthdays. This year we caught her by surprise when a gorgeous table arrangement of her favourite tulips and a delicious birthday jelly cheesecake were delivered to her office at consecutive hours (she didn’t think I would know her new office address since I didn’t ask. But of course, BFF google was my go-to pal) to celebrate with her colleagues on birthday eve.

On her birthday, we celebrated over a hearty meal (we had super peking duck which was succcccculent!) as a family. And guess who took precedence over the birthday girl at the table this year?

{birthday grandmama insist on feeding the hungry little man despite my offer to feed so that she could enjoy her lunch in peace}

And guess who had the most fun entertaining himself throughout the celebratory meal?

{very amused with himself for cruising against the mirrored-wall}

Looking at the photos, sure looked like we celebrated the chungkin’s birthday instead. :D

{chungkin looking like the birthday boy here}

Happy Birthday Mom!

Wishing you another year of blessings as awesome as you are.

We love you so so so so so so so much.

The little chungkin turned ONE on Saturday, over the long Easter weekend. Hip hip hooray!!!

To celebrate, we threw a lovely themed party in the comfort of our home from one of his (and mine) favourite books – THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR – and invited as many friends (another great excuse to see our friends) to share our joy of being parents for a year!

We had so much fun! 

As co-host, I didn’t have any hands or time to snap as many photos as I would have liked, so here’s some teaser snaps taken during the preps till I get my hands on more decent photos of party day.

{the centrepiece was a simple DIY caterpillar that was put together on the eve of the party}

{personalized take home favour bags}

{at my most art + craft mode yet}

{our birthday gift to Liam – a book filled with memories and moments of his first year}

{on birthday morning}

More details & visuals of the birthday party on the blog, soon!

The Bo’s out with his bestie for late night coffee and I’ve some moments to spare by the comp before hitting the sheets so here goes…

25/2: mom surprised me with a text that she’s taking the PM off to spend some time with ‘baobei’ (which means ‘precious’ in mandarin). Plus she really wanted to witness his famed continuous, infectious giggles during music class particularly.

26/2: daddy’s week at playnest. The Bo hurries in 20 minutes late into the correct class without any of my directions because other moms sitting outside the class recognized him because “he and little one have same face”. LOL.

27/2: Had one of the best chirashi dons at a steal here. Lovely afternoon of shopping with the girls ensued.

28/2: I actually got out of the house at 9.15am to rush for Mothercare’s annual sale. Talk about being aunty. The q in was 45 minutes long (thanks to the cousin’s friend. It could have been worse). And the q out (for payment) was 1.5hours. I ended up with swim trunks, some nappy cream & snagged a tripp trapp for a friend vs. last year’s crazy sleep suit and all things newborn loot. I am so not going to next year’s. Then again, that’s exactly what I said a year ago. And look what happened :x

1/3: Did catching up with a lovely girlfriend over lunch & some shopping. I also appreciated how straightforward she (yay or nay) with my dilemma of a decision. Snagged 2 pretty accessories and helped me saved some impulsive, unnecessary cash. Whee!

2/3: Started the day with a much needed & near to perfection dose of caffeine at nylon coffee roasters. Took a stroll around Everton park with the bub, who was so taken in by the environment…the playground, the tranquil greens. Thereafter headed to one of his bud’s first birthday party which was amazing(!) and thank goodness Liam wouldn’t know better… that he’s having a simple one at home instead of a gorgeous ballroom filled with activities..no pressure :p. We had lots of fun thanks to my girlfriend Nani for putting in lots of effort into hosting such a fabulous birthday celebration for her very adorable son!

Happy blessed Birthday Hariz, enjoy being ONE!

I’m sitting in front of the comp, trying to soak myself in some me-time since the Bo is having some to himself with a bottle of sake downstairs.

I scroll through FB to see what everyone on my friend list has been/is up to, and I’m greeting my photos of compression shape wear in albums of sorts from various online shops – shops I’ve liked, shops my friends like, shops I’ve not even heard of (which I’ve no idea how it lands onto my newsfeed).

And I’m tempted. By the allure of having a seemingly slim silhouette simply just by clicking on “add to cart” followed by “confirm order” in just under 1 minute.

The online shops definitely know how to get me thinking about a purchase. “Just in time for CNY”, the words shout out big & bold. “Look slimmer by 2 sizes”, another promised. Gaaah, I’ve headed down this road before. I got myself a compression abdominal wear just weeks after the delivery in a bid to compress ‘em post partum fats and I think my roadblock was needing to be diligent in wearing it consecutively. I gave up on the compression shapewear faster than my jamu post natal slimming wrap. And even the latter lasted for 8 hours and 1 min. Indeed I kept to my promise to the lovely masseur that I had worn the nicely woven cloth wrap for more than 8 hours without spilling the details.

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It’s the last Sunday of Jan and it’s unbelievable how the 1st 31-day month of the year is almost coming to an end. I feel somewhat unproductive yet pleased with the ideology that the feeling of time fleeting by could be a possible indication of how occupied I’ve been (you’ve all been through “slow months” before, so I’m sure you know what I’m talking about).

***

I went out last Friday and bought a “budget book” for myself. While I knew I could have saved the money and track expenses on a spreadsheet I guess I just wanted to make myself pay for something cute enough to look at and a reason to start jotting every penny in. I would like to save more in 2013 and God Willing, be able to realize the big birthday trip project that we’ve been planning since 2 years ago in 2014!

***

Lastly, saying a prayer for speedy recovery & lots of positivity to surround a dear friend and her mom. I take a lot of things in life for granted and it’s unfortunate how it’s only when something hits close to heart that we start to realize & appreciate the littlest things in life.

***

I don’t quite know how to label today.

It was undoubtedly a fabulous day for the Enchanted Christmas Party with morning-mid noon showers cooling the weather down for a lovely afternoon coupled with cool breeze. The kids had their share of snow play in the outdoor with good weather (amen!), and it was such a delight seeing the kids laugh so heartily and enjoying themselves.

We finally did it! After weeks of insane rushing about, really late nights and working with wonderful sponsors – our first ever pop-up party was a success. We had some really appreciative parents who feedback how much their kids enjoyed themselves, and it was so encouraging to recieve these praises personally. Made our dark eye circles so worth the while.

I’m soo looking forward to finally clocking in some normal sleep hours,  spending more time with Liam and getting started on more Christmas presents shopping yet all that hyped up energy is not dissipating as quickly as I thought it would. My mind is still quite wound up!

Half of December has gone just like that and are we really only 2 weeks shy of another new year?

Today was the first time I left the little man entirely into the care of his papa (after 8.5 months since his birth), and I hear that father & son had a really fulfilling day together too. Looks like the Bo can handle the little man alone after all!

I had a rather dismal start earlier today just hours leading up to the party over a silly silly silly oversight on my part and as with all boo-boos, I got quite affected by it. Didn’t know how I was going to make it through the party but strangely I did…till after the event. Gah, it still eats into me at the thought of it but I guess with 2012 drawing to a close, I just got to learn to let this one go too and quit mulling over it as I do with a lot of things.

Meanwhile, I got to wear some pretty heels, carry a clutch and drink some alcohol at a wedding dinner last night sans the bub! :p

Liam had his first swim in the big pool on Sunday and he was such a charmer in water that I felt like jumping & joining in regardless how much grief this post partum body has been causing me in the self-confidence category.

{sideways like a dolphin}

But of course I didn’t want to risk any embarrassment of sorts on the little man’s first swim class with the onset of cramps and all, so thankfully papa was more than happy to have some father-son splashing good fun.

{1 little alligator sitting on the wall…}

 I was a little hesitant towards how Liam would take swim class initially since his last swim in a big tub (with a neck float which he hates donning on no less) was more than 2 months ago. Plus he hasn’t been a fan of having water trickle down his face during bath time of late.

So when I saw that our little man was practically kicking away from end to end, getting all excited each time the swim instructor stretched out her arms to do some surfing & turfing in the water, and squealing in delight whenever they had to do a little (aided) jump off the wall or device into the pool after every song for most of the lesson – it was too cute to watch!

And aw, lots of papa-son moments happened too! Especially loved how Liam trusted papa to guide him across the pool without any floating aid. Although there were few moments the chungkin looked around for mama *beams* for added assurance especially when it came pouring water over his head (which the Bo and I soon realized that our little fella wasn’t afraid of water getting into his eyes/nose/mouth. Turns out he just wanted to ‘manja’ and get mama’s attention – point  was proven in the shower post swim class).

And the weather…gorgeous weather we were blessed with – Liam got a fair share of sun and I got a tan from basking in it. It didn’t feel like dreadful, rainy December at all and that definitely helped made swimming every bit more enjoyable!

{happy bubba post swim class}

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Good grub  & good company  & good fun (with the little one in tow) was how I kicked off my weekend and boy was it such an adrenalin rush.

And tonight, date night with the Bo to catch Skyfall. Sure hope it doesn’t disappoint.

It really makes a world of a difference (at least to me) when I start the weekend on a high. I feel so recharged, overjoyed and am in a really, really good mood.

What gets your weekend going? :)

[ah soh /soh, səʊ/ n. & a.]  A n. A middle-aged or elderly woman, esp. one perceived to be of a low class.  B a. Of or pertaining to a middle-aged or elderly woman: old-fashioned, gossipy, complaining] and enjoys watching sappy HongKong, Korean & Taiwanese dramas religiously. 

{welcome to the ‘ah soh’ club}

I knew my days of becoming ah-soh would come soon once I embraced the role of being a mom. But what I didn’t anticipate was how fast & furious and subconscious it would suddenly hit me.

Last night, we had our 2nd mommies’ night out (a monthly affair), and golly was it so much fun!

When Ni-mama saw that one of her favourite TW dramas – 犀利人妻 -  was coming to the big screen, she knew that she had to watch it, with her favourite mommas in tow. We were gamed. Dinner & a movie it was. And even that felt short – signs you’re having such a blast.

It wasn’t till the husband kept asking me what movie we were going to catch (envy, much?) that I realized that I had no idea what it was about. All I wanted was a good night out with the girls and to take a little breather from mommy duties.

The lovely ladies offered to fill me in over dinner – ahh so the movie was sort of a definitive closure / ending to the cliffhanger in the drama – and before the start of the movie I kind of knew who to be looking out for / rooting for.

We even spied a bunch of older ‘ah-sohs’ in their late 50s sitting behind us, all eager to catch the movie too – talk about being in the same crowd. Sheesh.

My thoughts on the movie? Didn’t think much of the leading lady initially (her hair style perhaps) but she grew on me very quickly as the scenes went by. I’m such a fan of quirky characters (i.e.: Alice in Twilight, New Girl etc.)

‘Mr. Blue’ was very suave indeed *swoons* and the little daughter got on my nerves occasionally.

I even let out a tear or two towards the end of the movie, which is very very very unlike me. Weepy ah-soh maybe?

When the husband came to pick me (he was also all eager to know if I enjoyed the movie) later on, I practically went on and on about the movie… that it spurred him to want to watch the TV drama as well!

Seems like I ain’t the only ah-soh around in this house.

Friday night.

The older cousin, Sam & I decided to take our younger American cousin, Hannah (who was here for a visit) out just before she leaves on Tues.

And for us two mamas, it was definitely a much needed break that was welcomed with open arms. We had the night to ourselves, and the chance to dress up & wear our heels! What’s not to like!

Headed for some Japanese dinner as requested by Hannah, before hopping over to KPO for a round of drinks, soaking up the friday night vibes and headed to Ku de ta @ MBS.

I was looking forward to a nice chill out session with the girls at kudeta when we realized that they had transformed the lovely lounge into a club. Felt like an old fart not grooving to the music as readily as I used to some years ago, and instead camped at a corner, took in the gorgeous night view of the city as I sipped my drink. Sam then suggested that we hit the dance floor for at least 1-2 songs before making our exit and heading over to check out Avalon.

Our feet were aching from wearing heels so I wasn’t in the mood to really boogie until the song ‘Low’ by Flo Rida came on and everyone started wriggling up & down and so I followed suit. And then we stayed for about 2 more songs before we decided that we really needed a seat to rest our tired feet. I practically ran when I spotted a bench just outside the club and it was then I felt a little tug on my dress and realized that I had a embarrassing tear in it! Oh  my! Immediately it brought me back to some years ago when I attended a friend’s wedding dinner, wore a dress that hadn’t been worn in a while and my big step actions actually ripped it too that I exposed a tiny bit of my tush. Needless to say, I made a dash for home without attending the wedding event.

So anyhow, MBS refused to provide us a sewing kit because we weren’t guests of the hotel and we called it a night (plus everyone had tired, achy feet) because I was definitely not going to Avalon with a tear in my skirt.

It was quite the laugh & highlight of the night. And I figured that this sorta situation could only happen to me …because I wasn’t even wearing a fitting/tight dress on both occasions.

So much for the boogie-ing eh? But at least we had a really good fun night out.

‘Till the next tear in the dress…I hope not!

We had an awesome couple weekend, thanks to my mama who was more than happy to babysit & play with her little grandson. And it felt soooooo good, not needing to rush around, running plain o’ errands like what we’ve been doing within a 2-3 hour gap for the previous 2 Saturdays.

For a good 6 hours, we caught up over lunch, took strolls, fit in a hair cut, had coffee, went audio auditioning and caught a movie!  We even managed to squeeze in some major wallet damage at GAP’s 30% sale, with the Bo fawning at the Baby Gap section going ooooh and aaaaah at every tiny piece of romper he could imagine on our little man :)

And while I relished every moment being baby-free and spending an amazing time with the Bo, I couldn’t help but text mom after some 3 hours to check on things; only to receive reassuring updates that all was good, milk and naps taken accordingly as scheduled and that they were having a lovely time doing some reading, nursery rhymes during play time. Aww. She even updated my routine book for Liam!

Mom did such an amazing job (thank you so much mommy!) that when we were home to take over baby duties, we could pick up from where she left off easily.

Our little man was one contented bub and we were 2 happy, rejuvenated parents.

I heart weekends like these.

{ Bobo & me }

{ freshening motherhood with a hair cut }

{ contented }

It’s amazing, how fast these little ones grow. One moment they’re sleeping all day, between fussing for a diaper change and a feed and the next, they’re a month old and outgrowing whatever clothes they’ve been wearing?

Liam turned a month old yesterday and we had a celebration for the little one, well actually more for us (hah!).

Mama here kind of underestimated how long feeding and changing would take and as a result, we ended up arriving at the venue 50 minutes late (yes, I had a earful of nag from the daddy).

Thankfully everyone was understanding & patient with the fashionably-late-due-to-baby situation and welcomed us with so much of warmth & love.

We were also absolutely blessed that Liam slept through 80% of his celebration, so this allowed the Bo & I to catch a bit of a breather with our party guests without having to worry about the young man fussing for a feed, change or cuddle. And needless to say, he was indeed the star of the party as everyone took turns to have a look at him in his pram, stealing photos with him; and admired the amazing photo montage BR (his godmama) helped put up at the venue.

The balloons that filled the venue were beautiful too (thanks again BR!) as with the amazing balloon sculptures my grandaunt (who does this with so much passion and energy) entertained both young & old with.

It was a lovely event and one that definitely left us three knackered by the end of the evening.

Plus later that night, our little champ surprised us even more. He had been suffering from mild constipation for about 2 days and last night after a nice baby massage, managed to release his last 3-4 days worth of pasty poo which got me and the Bo cheering and celebrating as we cleaned up.

Oh, the kind of things newborn makes their parents get all excited about :p

Happy 1 month, my little Liam.