Christmas at Sabah

This year Christmas was pretty similar to last year's. We went to Aunty Anna's place for dinner. She is one fantastic cook. She roasted lamb, beef and turkey! And each has its own sauces. Yummy! And we got the camera out and snapped our hearts away. All of us were dressed very nicely so you can imgaine how many pictures we took.

Handsome kau fu Matthew with Daniel

Daniel with Matthew Kau Fu, Stephanie Yi Yi and Jodie Yi Yi

... and with Kung Kung

... And Po Po and Daddy

Daddy taking care of Daniel

Maternal Family

Surrounding baby Daniel (oh.. the glory...)

Then there was an arm wrestling event between ZX and my brother, Matt. You can see the video on the left. It was really hillarious.

Matt's hand was all red from ZX's grasp

Then as usual, my siblings have their night life to go to. I still can't believe my siblings actually go clubbing and drink now. Gone are my days... My gang came over too and more pics were taken. This time, the aunties took more pics. (These aunties can drink!) Sham finally got to carry Daniel.

Aunty Cyn, Aunty Sham and Aunty Elaine

The KK Gang

A visit back home is never complete without meeting my KK gang for 'yum cha'. When ZX and I arrived without Daniel, they literally shooed us back to get him out. So that night, there was a blue moon. I actually took Daniel out at 10 pm to meet my friends. I felt bad cuz he was already sleeping. Yet, when I know he's gonna wake up at 12 midnight for feeding, it won't harm to bring him out for a while. But still, I felt bad.

Among the guys, Lenz and Felix have been dying to see Daniel. So I had to make sure their hands are clean (from chow kuey teow stains) when they insist they want to carry him.

Daniel with Uncle Lenz, Uncle Felix, Aunty Audrey, Aunty Cyn Chia and Philip Pak Pak

Checking out Daniel's hand

Uncle Felix' ham zhu sau

The guys were "oooh" and "waaahh" at him. They marvel every feature he has. The size of his fingers amazed them. And the sight of his foot was astonishing. One of them said it looks like a doll's. So maybe I can collect Daniel's finger nails and sell them. Or maybe sell his smell. Haha!

Meet the 'Yen's

Ahhh... KK is nice. As usual, nothing much has changed except the flyover has progressed 10% more. Yes, construction work is slower that Singapore.



It was nice to see my siblings. My brother was not at home though. He followed his gf's family up to the mountains. Jodie, my youngest sis, as usual was stuck to the comp for the whole holiday season.








And there's Uncle Peter from Singapore... talking with Daniel.











Daniel's eyes are very alert now. He can recognize colours (not just red and black). So he's pretty fasnicated with toys that have LEDs and music. And of course, Christmas trees!

This is Daniel's fave position. He likes to "sit" so that he can see the world.

His curious look

That's his grandpa trying to amuse him with a gigantic pig from China. It's sent from Beijing by Steph's boyfriend apparently which takes up one whole seat of the sofa.

This is Aunty Stephanie... who freaked out when Daniel started to wail.









And we got back in time to "tung" with my family.



And just before everybody said good night,...

1st Plane Ride!

As I was contemplating if I should go back to KK for Christmas, I was worried that Daniel may not take the plane ride well. But I figured since Daniel will be flying to Perth to attend Rita's wedding in March 2008, I might as well take this trip as a test to see if he can take plane rides. Besides, my siblings will be home for Christmas as well... moreover, I am still on maternity leave! Hmm... why not? So I booked tickets for all 4 of us including Mia.




So we started packing and there were 4 suitcases! 2 of them are full of Daniel's stuff. I had to bring back the steriliser, warmer... oooh! The paacking itself takes 2 full days! I even had to pack his "special" shower gel, detergent for both clothes and bottles and not to mention the many cloth diapers etc. The list goes on. Yes, as if Sabah has no diapers and baby wipes.




So we set to fly on 21 Dec. ZX nearly missed the flight! Thank God he made it just at before the last call. So as usual, if you are last in line, it's quite hard to get good seats at Air Asia. Yes, sad to say, Daniel's 1st flight is Air Asia... that's the only carrier for JB-KK. Thank God a nice man is willing to let us have a row of seats of 3. Surprisingly, he didn't fuss at all during take off! Maybe he can click the pressure off with the tiny bone in his eardrum like his mummy. Hehe! Yes I have what you call pressure equalization ability. Oh, but one thing for sure, during take off (both plane rides to and fro) my li'l angel will poop.

1st flight with Daddy and mummy

Daniel checking out his surrounding

Getting ready to take off by drinking water

Daniel has been nicely accuquainted with Mia. He smiles a lot whenever she makes funny sounds to amuse him.

Last but not least, ALAS! A nice picture of Daniel with me... Nice meaning, I don't look so fat.

Family Bed

Given a year ago, I would not have imagined my "zen" bed will turn into a family bed. Daniel sleeps by my side nowadays, with the bed pushed right next to the wall and having cushions layered with more cushions so that the "prince" will feel no "pea" or any discomfort.

Daniel's cosy corner

We have a nightlight, which I hate a lot. Apart from Daniel, I am a creature of comfort too. I can only sleep soundly with perfect condition; in the dark, cool temperature, 2 pillows and 400-tread count bedsheets beneath my skin. (I am kidding about the 400, but yeah, at least 340). Nyeh-heh! So by the 2nd night, I tried switching off the night light, and it works! I only switch it on when Daniel wakes me up for feeding and diaper change. Amazingly, he doesn't cry or wail. It was more like "calling". Maybe that's what you called baby cooing.

Daniel has been a darling. I thought I would have to wake up 3 times in the night, but thank God he only wakes up ONCE! The only challenge is putting him to sleep. He sleeps at 1 a.m these few nights. That's because it has been raining so much, he loves to sleep during the cool day. Oh, and another trick is that he has to be exceptionally full before he sleeps (to be sound asleep). Thus, I will give him more milk right before his sleep. Supper works well for babies apparently!

Moments from dreamland

(this is such a darling photo of him)

"Daniel, you will only wake mummy once and don't wake daddy up tonight."

"Yes sir!"

Another good thing about family bed is that, ZX can spend more time with Daniel. He comes home pretty late from work these days. So if Daniel happens to be awake, he can interact with him... and help me to sing a lullaby. Daniel looooves ZX's singing. How ironic. Whereas for me, Daniel seems to be distracted when I sing (distracted by the smell of milk). And yes, nursing women tend to have "milky" scent/aura... which can be fixed with extra squirts of perfume.

My little prince has been gaining a bit of weight too! From the last check-up, he has gained 1.7 kg! Also, his cheeks are definitely chubbier. So when I hold his cheeks to burp him, it felt more like holding a big pau rather than a small charsiew pau.

Ah... the side of Daniel that is seldom displayed to the public on the blog... the fussy, demanding and I-want-it-NOW face.

Sayonaro Confinement Lady

Ha Che has left tonight... after her 28-day service with us. She has really taught me a lot of tricks in handling a baby... how to bathe, nurse and understand Daniel. Of course, it didn't come cheap, but it was worth it. Will I get her back if I have my next child...? Hmmm... I wonder.

Ha Che with Daniel

Farewell to her, and hello to sleepless nights! Even though dad has brought Mia (dad's maid from Sabah who has worked for us for... 15 years??) over to help me out with Daniel and the house till March, but I think I will let Daniel sleep with me. That's because I know Mia is a heavy sleeper and her snore can shake the whole room!

Mia with Daniel

Full Moon Part II

Yes this is Part II of the covering story of Daniel's Full Moon Party. Here's the lamb...

The 'lok-lok' cart...

The awesome helpers (maids from Kim, Chen Ku and mother-in-law)





And presenting the Star... (not the bloated mummy of course!)

Daniel in hot pants

Daddy entertaining the guests

Daniel received heaps of presents. THANK YOU ALL! Among the stuff he received; a DKNY shirt from one of my students, Yong Ren, a cool diaper bag from one of the Jiu Mu's and a singing toy from CHEC. And of course loads of clothes, shoes and diapers! Yes as mentioned comprises a whole new world of motherhood shopping.

Prezies

My parents and father-in-law

Among those came from Singapore are my collegues (Jeremy, Chye Siang and Clara) and CG pals like the 2 Victors, Von, Ivan & Reanne. As usual we had great laughter as Victor entertained us with his humour. Really miss that a lot ever since I was confined!



Many thanks to Timothy for being an excellent tour guide too! He brought my collegues all the way from Singapore!

Victor taking a picture of Tim and Choo

Me freaking out as Choo trying to carry Daniel