Team Dinner

finally we went for out belated team xmas dinner... actually it could haf been anything... dinner, lunch... range shooting, wake-boarding, shark-diving, parachuting... u name it... but the team was juz too inadventurous to try such things (6 girls!! only me and boss are the real MEN ard!!)... and we were too busy to think of exciting things to do... we almost settled for blading and happy meal!!

anyway we went Cicada... it's this restaurant at the very end of Portsdown road... yea very ULU... cant really get there unless u drive.. or take a cab... there's this one bus that goes there though... that comes in like once every 2 days or wad... i din notice....

food was good, place was great... i like the place more than the food... but it was too bad that we arrived slightly late... too late to properly enjoy the early evening sitting in the outdoor with cool breezes... one of the reasons i like early evenings... it's a great place to hang ard under the rain trees, alfrescos on couches, occasional car whizzing by (i shld haf taken a scenery shot!).. with friends of ur spouse/partner... the food's good too... i did say that right? i'll love to go there often for food if it is not that pricey... sure the price is actually alright if u think abt the places whr angmohs go to... we spent on an average of $50 per person? but it's the boss's treat.. *shrugz* Hehz!

my main course! sea bass! slow cooked... grilled to almost perfection... flaky and juicy...it's served with this creamy gravy.. like the bed of french beans too.. juz find the serving too small.. can hardly fill my stomach... good thing we did order starters and desserts.. and a couple of the girls cant finish wad they'd ordered and gave me sone... or mayb they took pity on me....

oh and Janielle slept through the night for a straight 6 hrs!! amazing!!

hmm.. hope that it's gonna be consistent like this from now...and not juz my alcoholic breath doing wonders....

diaper change

do u know wad is the most frustrating thing abt changing a baby's diaper?
that baby simply loves to poo/pee on fresh clean nappy/diaper!! even b4 u can pin/stick it, u suddenly hear a splatter... gone... one diaper wasted... pee still ok...since diapers are made to hold a few pees... yan juz change 4 nappies at one go... all juz b4 she managed to pin it... why can they juz poo at one go....? urgh..!

Baby to the Dino Family

yup a baby girl was born on the 1st of Jan 2008, abt 9 hrs too late to be the 1st baby of the yr, but she's already early! EDD was 9th Jan 2008.

it was amazing to see a baby popping out from a mother... i mean 2 lives from 1 leh.. the bump that was in mummy which was growing from juz a "peanut" on the ultrasound scan to something which kicks... from a bump that wriggles when mummy is eating to a crying baby in the delivery ward.. i mean yes ppl know wad happen in reproduction and birth... but being there for the whole pregnancy makes me appreciates it more... a baby can be concieved juz like that!! cool!

yes the labour pain was horrible... ya it's not me who experienced it la... but i know coz yan was taking in deep breath every few min when the contraction comes... she din slp a wink the night b4 she was admitted to the hospital.. she was screaming when the contractions were strong enough to push the baby out.. (i can do nth but offer my arm for her to hold..) shortly after, the screams of the mum was replaced by the cries of a baby in the delivery ward... it's a girl!! (actually we've long known the gender la)

Baby Janielle is well and healthy.. pink and chubby... and looks a whole lot like dad...

Happy New Year!

been away (from the evolving world) for a while.. been at home being the househusband while the wife is in her confinement month... it's not really much of a confinement really... she's been walking abt in the house.. bathing (in herbal water and she smelling like a bag of herbal tea... HEHE...)... been out 3 days in this week!! haha... but with reasons la... twice was for medical follow-up of baby and for herself... once was to meet a seller of a electric breast pump..

baby janielle is doing well too.. other than the usual things like slight rashes and colic... right now she's fine... there had been worse days... the worst had been when we were still trying to get her to be breastfed.. the little one simply refused to bite on and suck.. we even consulted the lactation consultant during our visit to the hospital.. janielle literally had to be forced on the nipple and her head held there despite her crying and screaming... the milk from mummy is still on it way too... so mummy got quite worried and depressed..the nurse did managed to get jan to suck on both sides after some time and of course jan got so tired of fighting back and crying that she juz fell aslp in mummy's arms... still sucking on...

back at home everything was repeated all over.. imagine over an hour of forced feeding.. and feeding interval of 3hrs... there simply wasn't any time for us of the baby to rest at all.... imagine this to go on in the night... *sigh*.. there we decided to give it 2 nights of trying.. after which if jan still isn't able to latch-on, we'll juz bottlefeed...

we were not able to hold on for 2 nights.. mummy was tearing seeing the baby scream at her chest.. mummy was crying slightly.. "at most i'll work harder and pump more milk lor.. hor?"... we finally decided to express mummy's milk and bottlefeed the baby... afterall, wad's the difference in breastfeed and bottlefeed? bonding? we'll hold her tighter to mummy's body lor! yan left her number at the lactation consultant to be informed of anyone selling their electric breast pump... the manual one we currently haf is draining off not yan's milk, but her energy and sleep... imagine having to stay up for abt an hr to manual pump for only 15-20ml of milk... not worth it...

we managed to get one at almost 30% the original price! though the warranty is expiring, it's working well and the previous owner said that we're fast in making our decision... jan was only 7 days' old when we bought it over from her.... it took her many months to forgo breastfeeding despite many of her relatives suggesting otherwise... she succeeded thou, her baby now 9 mth is latching on... but bottlefed occasionally... she's a strong woman yan says.. having to fight back so many and holding onto her own beliefs...

anyway all is fine now... everyone in the house seems to be getting on with having the baby ard... thing i shld be able to return to work soon... let's hope the staying home for 2 weeks din rot my brain...

cant wait to bring the baby out!!

oh yar.. btw... happy new yr!
may 2008 be a great great yr for all of us!