Goodbye 2014.

2014 was an eventful and significant year for me. So many things happened. I've grown so much over the past year.

 

My main highlights:

1. Learning to be mummy. 

I gave birth to Leia in December 2013. So 2014 really was about me learning how to be a parent... From the basics of feeding my child, changing diapers, bathing her... Trying to soothe her when she cries. Getting her to sleep at night or nap in the day. 

Struggling with lost sleep and emotional coaster rides post delivery. Getting used to loss of me and couple time.

Becoming mentally stronger to deal with all challenges because I love Leia so much. 

I believe I've grown in ways that hard to describe in words. If you're a mummy, you would understand.

2. Watching Leia grow up so so fast.

They always say children grow up so fast. And it's especially true in their 1st year! It's amazing how they transform from a little newborn to a toddler at one year old. The 1st year yields the most milestones! 

A lot of 2014 holds moments of me delighting in Leia doing new things.

3. Renovation and moving into our home at Punggol.

Yes, we moved into our very own home on 30th April this year. Designed just the way we wanted. Having your own place to stay is seriously one of the best joys and milestones in life. 

You have your own space to create memories for your own family. A place to seek comfort and rest from the outside world. A place to do anything you want!

After moving in, I've learnt how to grocery shop and manage the household. Now I can proudly say that I'm capable of grocery shopping own my own and I do it very systematically! Lol.

3. Engaging a helper and becoming an employer.

We hires a domestic helper from Philippines when we knew we were going to move to Punggol. 

We're so thankful to have her help and stay with us. She's good with Leia, which is the most important thing since I've gone back to working flexi time.

I've learnt how to become an employer, which isn't easy. There are many things to balance. You have to treat your helper right yet at the same time, maintain authority and assertiveness at times. 

4. Going back to work after half a year of maternity leave. 

Honestly, I was dreading going back to work because I wanted to spend more time with Leia. But it turned out well because working kept my mind active and busy. 

And I had an interesting project to do when I went back so it was a good experience. I was lucky to be offered the option to work flexi time, until 3pm everyday so that I can go back early to Leia =). Really thankful for that. 

5. Completing a major work project in September. 

I learnt so much during this project and met some really fantastic mentors who are so patient to guide me and the team. 

6. Couple trip to Hong Kong in December!

We enjoyed the trip immensely, especially since we haven't travelled in a while. We had much couple time needed to connect with each other again.

7. Leia's 1st birthday party!

8. Our 2nd year Anniversary. 

We celebrated simply by having dinner at Ambush then watched Hobbit at PS. I originally planned to have a fancy dinner at Black Swan with G but we felt it was more us to do the former.

9. Celebrating our first Christmas as a family and at our own home!

We invited my family over to have a cosy Christmas celebration during lunch. Always nice to have family around.

I remember how my mum, brother and I would celebrate Christmas by going to town together and see the lights. Such memories are precious. 

(Little Leia) Learning so fast!

For the past 2 weeks, Leia has been picking up things really fast! Is this what happens when they turn a year old?!

1. She knows how to wave and say bye! But sometimes, she says 'dye' instead, which is so funny. I love it when she waves her little hand whenever we go to the door.

2. I love this one. Leia literally roars like a baby cub when I say 'lion'. I just discovered this! She learnt this because whenever I read Dear Zoo (one of her favourites), I roar immediately after I point and mention the lion to her. G heard witnessed this yesterday, and he found it hilarious!

3. She's been pointing at things and says 'dis'. I've been reading to her regularly and asking her 'what's this?' when I point at images. Maybe that's how she picked it up!

4. Uhhhh... She points with her middle finger. I have no idea why! No one taught her that and I've been trying to correct her -.- hopefully she will outgrow this phase!

5. In the evenings, I call G using the house phone and I always let her watch me use it. So recently, when she holds the house phone, she puts it next to her ear and says 'hieee'. It's the cutest thing ever. And it's so funny cos she always holds the phone the wrong side. 

Baby Leia's milestones: 1st birthday!

Leia turns 1 today! =D My sweet little girl is a big girl now hehe. I'm feeling happy but also bittersweet.

Exactly one year ago, I went through labour and delivered our sweet Leia. At that time, I knew life was going to be different but I didn't know how much it would change.

We learnt that over the past year that parenthood isn't a bed of roses. We developed a new found respect for our own parents and others as well! It was tough, especially the first 6 months for us. We  struggled with breastfeeding issues, lost sleep (constant panda eyes), baby reflux, baby sleep regression. Lost me time... The list goes on. 

But these really cannot be compared to the immense joy of watching your little one grow and hit new milestones! Her first smile, laugh, reaching out for a toy... Her flipping over, first solid food... Learning to crawl. And when she starts to look at you lovingly for comfort. Everything little thing she does makes you happy and makes your heart melt.

You come to love your child so so so much that sometimes, it's hard to comprehend. You don't know how it's even possible. 

And with Leia, G and I have grown. We've grown mentally stronger and when you become parents, you really let go of things that don't matter anymore. 

We love you Leia! Happy 1st birthday! You make daddy and mummy so happy. And you definitely make us better people =) 

We threw Leia her 1st birthday party at our place yesterday! It was a blast! It was a yellow themed party with DIY decor, huge alphabet balloons and nice polka dot ones! Food was from chilli padi again. We invited close family and friends only... About 30 came. It was a happy happy occasion! Will post about it another entry soon!

Anyways, here are her latest milestones!

1. Leia can now understand what 'give' means! Everytime we say that, she hands us her toy or whatever she's holding. Uber cute! And after that, she claps her hands because that's how we re-affirm her for being such a good girl!

Her claps are better than before too! Previously they were silent claps. Now they're definitely louder!

2. She claps her hands when she hears us sing 'when you're happy and you know it clap your hands!' It's almost immediate! When I sing to her 'daddy finger', she sometimes moves her fingers too!

3. After our Hk trip, she somehow started talking more! She tries to say words with meaning! Her recent favorite have been 'da da da', 'ba ba ba', 'ding er' and the list continues hehe.

Hong Kong Travelogue: Day 4 at Jordon and Mongkok

It's our final day in Hong Kong! 

We started late because my poor G woke up early in the morning with super, abdominal pain. It was scary because we didn't know what it was... Gastric, food poisoning or something else. I gave him gastric medicine to try my luck. Thank goodness he fell asleep and woke up without the pain.

Here are our highlights of the day!

1. Mike and ky were so sweet. They bought soupy breakfast for us from Tsui Wah and we had brekkie in our room. Soup was so yummy! 

2. The four of us and lil luke went to Jordon! We wanted to try Australian dairy company and buy our luggage at Wing on. We reached the cafe and it had a loooong queue! So we decided to try Mak's noodle that was just a few shops away! And whilst it wasn't the original Mak's at Central, it was soooo goooooood! We had soup beef brisket and tendon noodle and it was just yummmmy. I think it's was the best food we had during this entire trip!

We bought Huai lau shan to go before we headed to Wing on!

3. We actually had fun shopping for luggage at Wing on! We bought a nice Beverly Hills polo club luggage for about $115 only! Really good deal.

4. We went back to our hotel to rest and shop at Langham! I wanted to check out h&m but unfortunately there was nothing to buy! We visited the higher levels for fun. So we ended up at Lush =D More  wonderful soap bars and body creams!

5. G went back to Gwang hua street to buy his Gundam. So we got street food from Dundas again! We had lychee share tea and this tasty waffle with condensed milk + peanut butter. Super great combination! 

6. Dinner was at Chan kee again! Had to eat our roast goose leg with rice! =D

7. Did some last minute shopping at Gap, Aldo and Kee Wah! We bought an uber cute Gap denim jacket for Leia. G got a pair of cool shoes.

8. We went back and I have my lovely, indulgent bubble bath to rest! 

Hong Kong Travelogue: Day 3 at Mongkok and Sham shui po

Managed to wake up early today! Left our hotel at 10am after going to Mike and  Ky's room to visit.

Here are our highlights for day 3!

1. We had brekkie at Man Wah again lol. Wanted to eat my steamed rice with minced meat + octopus. And we tried their chicken feet which was heavenly! I love this restaurant just that it's kinda far and we have to walk quite a bit.

2. Visited New town mall @ Argyle center but all the shops were closed! Apparently the female shops open quite late after 12pm only. I went to the Colour Mix on the ground floor though and got Innisfree volcanic mask, bioderma and fancl washing powder. Bioderma is so much cheaper in hk! Only 95hkd whereas sg sells at $29.90 I think.

3. Shopped along Sai Yeung choi street. I wanted to buy my cosmetics from Laneige, Bonjour and Sasa. The original Laneige store doesn't sell much cheaper than Singapore. I only managed to get my water bank gel cream for 196hkd at Bonjour. Bought Dollywink and my beauty diary mask at Sasa. I have nothing much to buy actually! Unlike all the mainland Chinese who are stocking up so much at these stores. 

4. After resting at our hotel, we took a train to Sham shui po and exited b2! We wanted to get to Fuk wing street to see G's toy street and eat at the original Tim ho wan. It's such a bustling area! So many shops selling toys, Christmas decor and cute stationery. 

G found the shop he was looking for!

One of the shops sold super cute, small fluffy toys. I'm not a fan of soft toys but I still couldn't resist. Isn't the totoro uber cute?!

5. We walked a looooong way and finally saw this!

THE original Tim ho wan! This place is quite far man lol. But we found it! 

Dim sum was really really really good. Better and cheaper than Lei garden! Better than Singapore's!

A Russian tourist was actually sitting beside us and told us, in basic English, how good the baked BBQ pork buns and liver cheong fun was. G was friendly and had a lil chit chat with him and found out he was going to Singapore in feb next year! And he's staying in MBS! Man. 

Hongkong Travelogue: Day 2 at Tsim sha tsui

We slept in today! Lol. Only woke up at 10am and didn't realize it was already so late! That's the thing when your room has blackout curtains!

Here are the highlights of day 2!

1. Breakfast at Man Wah at Tung choi street. We just missed the cheaper brekkie set meals since it was 11am when we reached. But thank goodness for all day breakfast!

We ordered the breakfast set which came with toast + scrambled eggs + ham and marcoroni with char siew! This tasted better than capital cafe's! Also ordered the beef curry set which was soooo yummy! 

Man Wah also has my favorite steam rice! So want to try that!

2. We took MTR to Tsim sha tsui and exited at B1 to get to Granville road for some shopping! 

Was so happy to find Lush! We have a bathtub in our room so I wanted to get a foamy bath ball for our bubble bath! Ended up buying 2 bath balls and quite a few handmade soaps which smell so divine. G bought some for his colleagues too! 

3. Found an awesome pie and tart shop at the end of the road. Tried a milk tart which was so YUMMY! Omg.

4. Visited K11 mall, exit N4. G wanted to buy his onisukas which were only available at that mall, in a shop called Mitra. And yay he found a really cool pair!

5. We walked over to Locke road for a late lunch at the Macau restaurant! Still remember my mum bringing my bro and I there a few years back! We ordered their specials: Macau fried rice and curry pork shops. Too bad G didn't want to eat roast pigeon =(

6. With our full tummies, we walked along Haiphong road to reach canton road, one of the main shopping streets at TST. We went to Habour City, the crazy huge shopping mall which has mainly high end brands which we weren't interested in. We window shopped at the Ocean  terminal side.

I did buy my Mac angel lipstick there, at the popular Faces shop.

And we went to the kids section, where there were so many high end brands like Gucci, Burberry, Stella Mcarthey. Thankfully there was the affordable Toys r us there so we checked it out! I was so tempted to buy a Vtech interactive nursery book for Leia but it was kinda bulky!

Oh we had yummy banana split yoghurt ice cream there!

7. Bought the famous egg rolls at Kee Wah at the TST MTR station. Can't wait to eat these yummy snacks!

8. Took a train to Yau ma tei to find another Otaku spot called In's point. Gosh there are so many otaku places in HK! It's along Nathan road and actually quite near to Sino center. G bought a Dragonball set there! 

9. After our rest at our room, we brought our friend mike out for street food at Sai Yeung choi street and Dundas! Tried the noodle in a packet, coconut drink, fries, Korean fried chicken, smelly beancurd and chicken kidney + pig's intestine + pig's ears from Fei Jie! Omg I love Fei Jie so so much. 

10. We went for dessert at Hui Lau Shan near our hotel. Tried the bird nest + hasima + mango + fruits combination which was so delish!

11. Late night shopping at Langham place! It was 10pm plus and the shops were still open! There was this shop called Log on on level 6 selling quite cool stuff. Also saw Melissas on level 5!

12. Ended our night with a nice chit chat session at our room before having a nice bubble bath with my yuzu bath ball!

Hongkong Travelogue: Day 1 at Mongkok!

Yes, G and I are in Hong Kong! Our Cathay pacific flight was at 2am and we reached HK at 6am sharp! I totally concussed during our flight and still woke up groggy when we landed. 

Here are our highlights for our first day!

1. Took airport express from airport to kowloon. The journey was so comfy and fast via the train. Reached in 25 mins! We took a taxi to Langham place hotel Mongkok. Short taxi ride.

We bought the 300HKD airport rail card which includes two transfer via the airport express and 3 days unlimited MTR rides. Hopefully we utilize the MTR rides enough!

2. Checked in at our hotel and the service was awesomeeee. Our service personnel told us we can freshen up at their 41st floor Chuan spa and also likely can get early check in! 

So we took a shower at the spa, which included luxurious shower facilities + sauna + steam bath + jacuzzi! Such a waste that I only showered and didn't use the other facilities! Felt soooo much better after that. 

3. We went for breakfast at Capital Cafe at Sai Yeung Choi street south. The place is famous for their breakfast menu, especially their scrambled eggs. We had their set at 35HKD which included ham marcoroni, scrambled eggs with butter toast and milk tea. Also ordered some toasted bun with butter and condensed milk.

Anyways, it was so funny cause we had problems reading the Chinese menu, not knowing that an English menu was available! Doh. Food was okay. We didn't actually find it that fantastic even though it's recommended by openrice and some friends.

4. Wandered around and walked along Tung Choi and Fa yuen streets! Most of the shops and stalls were closed though since it's so early. We also walked along Sai yeong Choi south street and Natahn road to see what shops there are!

5. Checked in at hotel at about 11am and took a rest. The room is so amazing and rather luxurious! You can actually choose the type of pillows you want and they have special ones like scented jasmine etc. And yes! It has an amazing bathtub!

6. We had dim sum at Lei Garden (Sai yee) for lunch! Lei's a one Michelin star restaurant serving traditional dim sum. We almost couldn't eat there cause dim sum ends at 3pm and we reached at 2pm. Thank goodness we were just in time!

Ordered quite a bit for the two of us! Our top picks: Pan fried radish, chicken feet and egg tarts. Honestly, the dim sum didn't blow us away. It was good but not like wow wow if you know what I mean.

 

7. Shopped at Fa yuen street since the shops were open. But most of the shops were selling winter clothes! So I really didn't get any clothes. But we did buy 1 chrismasy Pj for Leia and a really sweet pink sweater for her. This is parenthood! You just keep thinking about your kid hehe. 

8. Such a great day for G today. He managed to go to most of his otaku shops at Richmond center @ Argle street, CTMA @ Sai yeung choi street and Sino center @ Nathan road. 

9. I did some shopping too! Bought my favorite masks from Innisfree and the raved about jelly lipstick from Etude house.

10. Visited ladies market at Tung Choi street. We weren't very impressed with the stalls. 

11. We found the famous Fei Jie at Dundas street and I ordered grilled octupus which came with mustard for 11hkd. It was so yummy. Definitely coming back for more snacks! Wanna try the chicken kidney! 

12. Roast goose is a must in HK. We hopped over to Chan kee roast at Reclamation street to da bao roast goose leg rice + roast pork. The dinner was expensive at S$20 each but it was really really yummy!

(Baby Leia) My sweet little one.

This morning, before I left for work, I was playing with Leia on her playmat. And she was so sweet. 

She crawled to my lap and layed on it. She was trying to snuggle with me! And my heart was going to burst from bliss. 

Sigh, going to leave for Hong Kong tomorrow night and I'm so gonna miss my little darling! 

(Baby Leia's milestones) Happy 11 months!

Just one more month to turning 1! Leia's growing up so fast!

I've started planning her first year party! Venue, food, cake and decor more or less settled. Just need to go buy balloons and more decor after our Hong Kong trip!

Here are her recent milestones: 

1.Leia's getting more independent! She's learning to play more on her own now. She absolutely loves crawling around the house! We have to close all our room doors because sometimes she's so quick to crawl into them. 

I allow her to crawl into the study to explore and she loves it! Just have to be super careful because the chairs have wheels and she might fall trying to hold on to them.

2. She loves to chase after her ball toys! Like a lil puppy going after a ball that's thrown. She gets into her excited and giggly mode just crawling after her favorite pink ball. 

3. Our lil girl can totally cruise! She cruises along our sofa, both on the floor and on the sofa itself. She cruises in her cot.

4. Leia can stand without holding anything for like 5 seconds! She's so cute when she does it. For her, she always looks like time stands still lol. She'll try to keep her balance as long as possible. 

Baby Leia's milestones: Rolling to sleep!

Before Leia's bedtime, I usually start her night routine half an hour. I will put her on our bed and read her 2 bedtime stories: The going to bed book and Goodnight moon. Then I will let her roll around our bed for quiet play. Sometimes she likes to crawl around the bed and slam herself against our soft mattress lol. When it's close to her sleep time, I will carry her and sing her 'somewhere over the rainbow'. When she looks very sleepy, I will then put her in her cot, switch off the light and leave the room so that she can fall asleep.

For the first time ever, last night Leia just rolled around on our bed and fell asleep on her own! Without me carrying her and singing! I think she was really tired hehe. She was playing with her pjs and hands... Starting at our light and then, her eyes started to close. It was so funny. And it was such a pleasant experience because there was no crying involved at all! I wish she could do this every night!

Anyways, it didn't happen tonight. She was so full of energy and kept playing for such a long time. And she didn't want me to carry her and stop her play time! She started crying and struggling so much -.- Had to just put her down and let her sleep on own. Sigh. Hopefully she learns to fall asleep rolling again!

(Weekend highlights)

We brought Leia to Vivocity and Sentosa for the very first time! 

It was also her first time taking the MRT all the way to harbourfront. It wasn't too bad. She did fuss after 10 mins in her stroller so I let her sit on my lap. I had to distract her with many random things from my handbag to keep her occupied! Lol.

Anyways we brought her window shopping on the entire 2nd level of vivo. Went to all the baby shops and I had to withstand the very strong temptation to buy all the adorable and very pretty baby clothes! I did well =D didn't get anything. I almost did get something in Cotton on kids though! The clothes were soooo niceeee. Definitely going back there next time. 

And we spontaneously went to Sentosa RWS to get dinner hehe. Wanted to show our helper how to get there by the express train. So Jo and Leia got to go Sentosa for the very first time! We took some awesome pics just outside Universal Studios hehe.

(Baby Leia's milestones) First kiss

G and I were playing with Leia on the sofa last night. My little one looked at me, leaned closer and kissed my lips! She was soooooo sweet! Totally melted my heart!

G and I were kinda surprised when she did that! I tries getting her to do it again but she didn't hehe. 

Anyways, it was a moment to really really remember. 

(Weekend highlights)

It has been a productive weekend!

Saturday: 

Got my grocery shopping done!

Met my sis after 2 weeks of not seeing her. Had a good lunch with her and the 3 kids! And we bought Crocs shoes together! =D 20% off for more than 3 pairs so we combined and bought! Love the black, platform strappy shoes I got. Finally some comfy heels to wear with dresses or more formal clothes!

Spent couple time with G at PS. We went to challenger to get a better router and home camera for Leia's sleep training. Lol we spent so much time and $$$ there. Guess shopping habits change when you have a home and family. You end up spending your moolah on very different things hehe. 

Oh I also got a very sweet ballerina top for Leia from Mothercare! *so happy* she doesn't have many tops so I'm beginning to look out for more. Especially simple, classic pieces.

Sunday:

I made waffles for breakfast! Yay! Felt so accomplished. I was feeling rather down after a night of very bad sleep so I wanted to do something different to make myself feel better. Making waffles helped!

We brought Leia out to Ikea at Tampines! Finally got our shoe rack to organize our shoes at the corridor. Yay! Been wanting to do that for a while. Now our corridor is so much neater! 

Ohh and we got uber nice scented candles too! Been wanting to try candles after watching so many YouTubers rave about how nice it is to have some burning. One of it is lavender and the other is raspberry. The latter smells sooooo niceeee. I think I'm gonna try that after this post! 

Life is short. We should always try new things and have new experiences!

(Baby Leia's milestones) high 5!

Leia learned how to high five today! Daddy and I were playing with her in bed when daddy decided to try high five with her. She was so so so happy when we both exclaimed 'yaaaay!' when we helped her raise her hand to high five daddy.  Kept grinning and grinning. 

Hope she remembers how to do it tomorrow!

(Baby Leia) *slap slap slap*

As I was putting Leia to sleep today, she decided to slap my collarbone area with both her hands! She was very amused with the slapping sounds she could make and couldn't stop doing it! She would look at my face whenever she did it. And I was like 'oooooowwwww' in my head. I didn't want to make a fuss and get her so excited. I think she would find it funny I reacted that way.

Then she tried to grab my collarbone! Lol. She must be wondering 'hmm what's the bumpy thing? Let's try to see if I can get it off mummy!'. Leia's such a funny one.

(Baby Leia) Feeling blessed.

As I was singing my usual lullaby to Leia tonight, she began to sing softly too. In her own lil 'aahs'. I felt like my heart was melting as I cuddled her so so close. That moment was priceless. 

I felt so happy and blessed to have her in my arms. Felt so content just looking at her fall asleep. She was so so sweet tonight. 

Oh and she was so adorable too. As she was singing along, she was waving her hand because she could see her shadow moving on our wardrobe. Babies are just so intrigued by the simplest things that we take for granted. 

Baby Leia's milestones: Happy 10 months love!

Leia's 10 months old! 2 more months and she'll be 1! Ahhhhhh! 

Our little one is soooo active. Recently, she got her first cold and even then, she kept crawling about and talking! My girl is reaalllly vocal. 

Here are are recent milestone:

1. Leia keeps pulling herself to standing position, using the sofa or the coffee table. She uses us as her pillar of support too! She loves to stand!

2. She can now take baby steps holding on to our hands. She gets so excited when she gets to walk.

3. Man, my girl can talk! Now she goes 'dadada', 'mamama' and 'bababa' ALOT. And of course, she screams like nobody's business. My helper told me that Leia vocalizes like a toddler lol. Oh my, what's she gonna be like when she becomes a toddler! 

4. Leia can now imitate us opening and closing our fist when we say 'close open' or sing twinkle twinkle little stars. It's soooo  adorable. My heart feels like bursting when I see her do it!

5. She's starting to not want us to carry her sometimes. Nooooooo! =( previously, people tell us to cherish those moments when your baby still wants you to carry her because she won't want that one day. I fear that day has arrived! Sometimes when I carry her, she wants to be put down so that she can crawl. She just loves to explore. 

6. Her top 2 teeth have cut through too! So fast!