Counting our Blessings

I'm staring at the toys in Shanah's room and wondering to myself, how can such a little person accumulate so much stuff? When put together all these toys are bigger than her. Well actually, many things are bigger than us. Our bed for one, and thankfully the TV is wider than me, for now. But really, first there was a little baby in the tummy who had no earthly possession. And then both grandma bought her cute dresses to die for, grantaunt got her beautiful shoes, mama and papa when alittle mad with many other things and loads of people gave us so many toys and clothes.

Thank you everyone, we are truly blessed. By your love, your generosity, warmth and kind words. But most of all, thank you Lord for our precious little girl who never fails to brighten our day.

I'm able to sit in Shanah's room to nurse and reflect because the husband's out there in the warzone with the vacuum and the mop. He hates cleaning and anything related to it. But for me and my slightly clinical obsession with cleanliness, he is now rather well acquainted with the various brands of detergent and cleaning tools. And I know he does it because he loves me from deep deep down down.

They say staying home is tough. Aside from the 24 hour work schedule, it can get alittle lonely at times - and in these crazy moments I actually crave work. Mad I know. At least my sanity is kept in check by nice warm dinners by daddy and mummy who gives Shanah her evening bathes when we are over. I especially love it when Shanah squeals in delight when she sees them. Grandma love. Shanah's happy and I get to use both hands - one hand on my phone and the other on the tv remote. Awesome.

Come weekends, the little one gets her dose of laughter and cuddles from Nana and some baby-raction with her cousins. Daddy gets to finally do his favourite thing - drink his tea and sink in front of the telly.

In quiet moments like these, I pause, ponder and thank God for everyone and everything we have been blessed with. Sure, not every moment is poo-free, but we live for the highs and hold on tight at the lows.

Life could be better...or worse. But since we can't predict that, I'm gonna ride on the waves and enjoy this quiet moment with the little girl.

A swollen tiny finger

When Shanah was about 2 months old, she started reaching out and touching the toys on her mobile. We were thrilled and really excited. Gradually, it progressed to pulling the toy, putting it into her mouth and biting it. Today she fights with the dragonfly and threatens to pull off the butterfly from the mobile altogether.

Those little hands really grab just about anything that can be grabbed. And if I were to say no, it made the object even more enticing.

So as I was preparing to blend her lunch today, her chubby little hands reached out to touch the steamer. I said no sharply and pulled her away. Naturally, she wasted no time in attempting to touch the steamer again. Which resulted in a huge long wail. Those kind that tells you something is wrong and baby isn't faking it.

When I took a good look at Shanah's fingers alittle later after soothing and nursing her to sleep, they were red and swollen. Oh my poor baby. It must have hurt alot. I can deal with wails, punches and kicks for now. But I don't think I can deal with a swollen tiny finger just yet.  :(

Hello Fishy Fishy

I used to think a trip to Sentosa would warrant the entire day. We should buy our snacks and pack our bag the night before, set off really early the next morning and then make full use of all the facilities we paid good money for before attempting to settle for a cheap dinner somewhere on the island. Which was why I've put off a trip for our little girl to Sentosa till i feel ready enough to pack my entire house and plan an entire day of activity for her.

Well, i was wrong. A trip to Sentosa could just simply be a trip to the Underwater World. We can head over somewhere around mid-afternoon, not pack the entire house and still have everyone very happy and satisfied. The little girl was as fascinated with the fishes as long as a baby's attention span could hold, and then alittle more. Isaiah was equally excited, if not more, for visiting the Underwater World for the first time. And I was just glad to have everyone happy and excited with something new.




And the underwater scene was indeed breathtakingly beautiful.







The main attraction in the Underwater World would be the 83-metre long travelator where you go through a tunnel with fishes swimming by your sides and over your head. Shanah was particularly fascinated with the huge fishes that were at least 2 to 3 times her size. The little girl even tried to reach out for them! There's also a sidewalk by the travelator if you wish to pop on and off for photos or just to establish some form of eye contact or communication with the fishes. We tried that. Maybe only the little one succeeded.

The main drawback of the trip was the crowd. People were everywhere. Each time we spotted a display or tank that we would like to see upclose, there would be someone there. And when it's finally our turn to see the sealife, we had to do so quickly to make way for the next person in line. Having throngs of people all around just made us feel alittle more kanchiong and kiasu. So when we realised that the crowd had dissipated for the dolphin show after our first round on the travelator, we heaved a sigh of relief and went for a second round.







All in all, it was an awesome trip that's considerably fuss free. Recommended for families with babies and happy bellies!