As we approach the new year, it is again the time to reflect on the 2013. I was reading my last post of 2012 and gosh, I cannot believe this year just flew by so quickly (ok I think I say this at the end of every year)!! 2013 has been a 'mixed' year.. filled with extreme ups and downs - unfortunately there were more 'downs' and 'ups'. 

As a matter of fact, the one and only 'up' in 2013 is the birth of my sweet little Den-den in March.. He is my miracle baby and the sweetest chubby blessing. After this, it all started to spiral downhill as all the other 'major' events which took place in the year were all extreme 'downs'.. i.e. the passing of my grandmother-in-law in April, my cousin's passing in May and my father-in-law in November. I have never experienced losing so many people close to me within a year, and I certainly hope there will never ever be another year like this. 

I am glad (and I bet Mark is too) that 2013 is ending and as we usher in a brand new year, fingers crossed that 2014 will be a kinder and smoother year for us and everyone we know. 

Told Mark that I am going to make an effort to bring little bun to the playground nearby as often as I can... suddenly realized that we hardly take him for much outdoor activities ever since little bun #2 came along. 

Chatting up a little girl. Hehehe.. someone's starting young!!

My happy boy with his blue ball.. He likes gnawing on this ball because of the texture.. since he is teething, I guess this soothes his gums (??).

Hershey joined in our Christmas photo taking madness too! Last year she was 'Rudolph' so this year she joined the boys and became 'Santa'!

Christmas 2013

This is Den-den's 1st Christmas, so I figured he should have his own 'solo' post!! He was being super cooperative and did not try to 'escape' even once! I think he was puzzled by all the hullabaloo that Mark and I were creating in order to get his attention. 

Isn't he the cutest little Santa ever? 

This is my favorite photo of him so I touched it up a little.. It is now my Facebook profile pic!!

Christmas 2013

Merry Christmas to my darling Angels.. Missing you dearly. 

Christmas 2013

Merry Christmas from the Lee's!!

My boys and my angels...

Christmas 2013

Mark and I finally got our acts together on Sunday and took some photos of the boys for our e-Christmas card this year. It was less of a nightmare than I had initially expected.. BOTH boys were extremely cooperative and behaved exceptionally well, so it was all over in less than 10 minutes! (Yeah, very amazing, I know..).

Here are some of the out-takes.

Spider-Buns

Interesting how the 2 boys choose to do the same thing at roughly the same age. It's definitely in the blood, me thinks!

KYRAN - 2012

AYDEN - 2013

Little Bun is 26 Months Old!!

My little boy, who turns 26 months today, will be going to playgroup in less than 3 weeks time!! I am seriously breaking out in hives just thinking about it and I am secretly toying with the idea of withdrawing him and only putting him back in 6 months later. I know my worry and fear is irrational (I think??), but I am really reluctant to push him out into the big world at such a tender age. He is still a baby to me and I worry if he'd be able to cope. 

Below pics show the rare moment when he is quietly sitting down reading (a Christmas book no less).. 

Happy 26th Months, little bun! If I can keep you right under my nose and protect you for ever and ever and ever, I'd do it in a heartbeat. 

Little Bun #2 is 9 Months Old!!

Happy 9th Month to my baby Den-den!! 

My baby is now sporting his very first tooth (bottom right central incisor), which he happily sinks into any unsuspecting person's shoulder when he is being carried. He now knows how to raise his arms when he wants to be picked up, and is able to pull himself up to standing position and cruise with the aid of furniture. My baby is a snorer (gosh!!) just like daddy and he enjoys his solid food (still can recall what a nightmare it was trying to feed little bun!! **shudders**). This makes preparing his food and feeding him such a joy!

Many have commented that he has got a stern and serious expression like me, so I think Den-den will end up being the 'serious one' like mommy whereas little bun is more like daddy, the 'cheeky one'. Now he makes us work hard before he rewards us with one of his deep, hearty chuckles. 

Perhaps it's just me imagining it, but I noticed that my 'Baby Sumo' is beginning to lose some of his chubbiness.. those baby fats seem to be gradually melting away and he is starting to look leaner. At 9 months old, he weighs as much as little bun does at 25 months!!

I wanted to take a photo of little bun and my god-daughter/niece... Little bun decided to squat down and Rynnae promptly followed suit (??!!). Gave up coaxing the 2 of them to stand up. Hmmph!!

It's quite fun to see the 2 of them interact and 'play' together.. currently their 'play' is limited to little bun walking all around the house with Rynnae following closely behind like an over-protective big sister trying to hold his hand and trying to steer him away from puddles, etc. Poor girl gets upset when little bun doesn't allow her to hold his hand or does something she thinks is wrong and she'd run to me sobbing! 

These 2 will be fun to watch!

Den-den's favorite pastime - shoving all his fingers into his mouth. I think what he is really trying to achieve is to shove his entire fist in!! (Sigh.. my baby is already 8 months old but still does not have much hair...)  

Mourning the loss of the man who indirectly played a hugely significant role in my life. 

This is the man who gave life to, molded, showered love, provided good education and created a loving family environment to all his children. He molded my husband into the man he is today - a man whom I love dearly and whom I am proud to call my husband. For this, I am eternally grateful and indebted. 

Above all, he accepted me into his family with open arms and an open heart right from the start, and doted on me in all the numerous little things that he did. The truth is he treated me like one of his own. I will miss how he always made sure I have enough to eat and how he'll ask if I want a coca-cola whenever we eat out together, how he will go out of the way just to get me my favorite food, how he used to clean up my room in their house in Johor Bahru whenever he knew that Mark and I were planning to go back and stay over, how he'd stock up the fridge with coca-cola and iced-water when he knew I'd be going back and so much more. 

My biggest regret is my own children will grow up without having much memories of their paternal grandfather or be able to be doted on by him. My father-in-law was first diagnosed with colorectal cancer when little bun was only 6 months old, and the stress of the disease and the treatment meant he didn't get to spend much time with little bun. Yet every time when Mark spoke with him on the phone, my father-in-law would always ask "how's the little fella?" (he always affectionately refers to the youngest member in the family as 'little fella' until it got a bit confusing when Ayden came along and he started to refer to both of them by name).. He also never fails to ask Mark "how's Hershey?" (he loves dogs and is a 'fan' of Hershey). 

Of his 3 children, Mark is the most like his dad, as attested by my mom-in-law.. Their mannerisms, the way they think, the way they talk/grumble.. I used to tell Mark that if he wants to know how he will be like when he 60 years old, all he needs to do is look at his dad. Both are sticklers for punctuality (tell them to meet at 10 am and they will be waiting at 9.30 am), both are early-risers and 'morning people', both are #1 fans of pork rib soup, if they discover a new restaurant which they like, they will go back again and again and again (probably only stopping when the rest of the family begs for a break), they complain about other drivers not knowing how to 'jalan' when they are behind the wheel, both have a taste for the finer things in life and are very willing to splurge on things for loved ones, both have a mischievous streak and a wicked sense of humor, and above all, when they don't get what they want, they pull the same grumpy expression! 

He may be gone now, but he can be assured that his legacy lives on in his son, and from when I can see, this is now being passed on to the 3rd generation as little bun is beginning to exhibit the very same mischievous look/grin and cheekiness.

In loving memory.. George Lee  (1947-2013)

A loving husband, devoted father and doting grandfather.

So much has happened in the past 2 weeks.. didn't even let me have a chance to sit down and catch my breath to think about all that has happened.

My father-in-law had been battling cancer for the past 18 months and his condition had taken a toll for the worse in the past 2 months. Mark and I made an urgent trip to Kuala Lumpur  (where he's staying with my sis-in-law) on 19 Nov to visit him after we received the call that he'd been hospitalized. I guess deep down, we all knew that his condition is not optimistic and we wanted to see him and be able to spend some time with him. When we left on Thursday, he looked better, had more energy and was able to make short conversations with us. We were all hopeful that he could be discharged in a couple more days. We were planning on sending him back to his family home once he'd been discharged.

Unfortunately, his doctor delayed his discharge because they wanted to monitor him as he wasn't eating and was extremely weak... On 26 Nov, his condition suddenly became critical and his doctor said that it'd be a matter of hours before he left us. Once again, along with the rest of the extended family, Mark and I dashed to Kuala Lumpur, hoping that we'd make it in time to be with him. 

Thankfully we made it to see him and he was surrounded by his wife, all his children and his sisters when he passed on in the early hours of 27 Nov. 

This photo of my father-in-law was taken on my wedding day in 2006 during the luncheon that we hosted at their home in Johor Bahru, and this is how I'd like to remember him... Healthy and well with a twinkle in his eye and the mischievous grin that so reminds me of Mark.  

Den-den playing in the 'ball house' for the first time.. he doesn't quite know what to make of all the colorful balls around him and just sat there blankly for a while (while I took photos) until he toppled over and decided that he does not like to be in there!

Jailbreak!!

I was quietly taking photos of den-den when he broke out of 'jail' (aka his play yard). He happily and confidently made a beeline towards the bedroom where he could hear his daddy and big brother (Mark was bathing little bun).

Hershey was puzzled by this new 'breed' and went to hide under the dining table!

Little Bun is 25 Months Old!!

Today, the 'keeper of my heart' turns 25 months old! 25 months ago, a baby burst into my life and since then, nothing has ever been the same - my daily routine, my sleep, my relationship with Mark, my lack of social life, my patience, my outlook of life.. the list is endless. 

He is my 'teacher' in many ways, and not a single day goes by without me feeling this enormous balloon of gratitude and happiness welling up inside me when I kiss him.

Now that we are officially into the stage of the 'Terrible Twos', Mark and I have to constantly keep a very watchful eye on him. He is becoming cheekier by the day.. I was giving him his lunch and when I turned around I saw what he was doing with the spoon (and he was proudly showing me his new-found 'achievement'). 

Didn't know whether to cry or laugh, so I took a photo instead! 

Brought little bun for his little playgroup on Saturday. As he will be going off to school next year, we have decided to stop his Saturday classes after this term ends. At least he will have 'off days' on the weekends. My poor kid... I didn't start school until I was 5, and my poor boy is starting it at 2 years and 3 months (ok, 3 years old by calendar year). 

The process of trying to enroll him into a childcare of our choice was no easy feat (like I was trying to gain entry to some top-notch university instead of a childcare!!) and I think it was mainly cos I was way too laid back by local standards and didn't start looking around until a year before he was due to start. One whole year should be ample time to get my child into somewhere right? Wrong!! I was told that some parents register their kids and put them on the waiting list immediately after the child is born or once the birth certificate is ready. (WTF??!) Singapore is such a pressure cooker and it is ridiculous what parents do to get their kids into the childcare/kindergartens which are perceived as 'creme de la creme'. (Not to mention that they charge an arm and a leg!!!!)

I was and still very much am against this mentality/ behavior, but one gets sucked into this nonsense regardless of whether you like it or not cos it has become a norm. If you don't jump into the bandwagon, you are royally screwed (as I have since discovered).

Anyway, by some stroke of luck, we managed to get little bun into a childcare that was my first choice due to its proximity to my parent's home (3 min walk), and also because it has a large outdoor play area and an established reputation (read: expensive). I had originally given up all hope of getting him in there since he was like number 28 on the waiting list and they only have 1 class with about 14 kids to cater for his age group. Obviously the class was already full. I was resigned to sending him to another one which was much further away (20 min drive) and only had late morning classes available. Even for this 'back up' option, Mark had to stand in the queue for 4.5 hours (I couldn't join him as I was almost due to give birth to Ayden then) from 7am! He told me the queue was very long and only the first few people in line managed to confirm a spot! My 'issue' with this other option is with transport as my parents don't drive, but the upside is that it costs a third of what my preferred choice charges. 

Then out of the blue, the principal at the school that was my preferred choice called me in early October and told me that they are opening up another new playgroup class in 2014 and invited Mark and I to pop over to check it out.   They are looking at taking in another 10 kids and availability will be on a first come, first served basis. By another stroke of luck, we managed to book one of the first appointments available (the admin lady made a mistake initially and gave me a slot a week later without realizing it fell on a public holiday.. when she realized the mistake, the other slot which I wanted was already taken. Somehow she managed to squeeze out a slot the following day at lunchtime and this is how I was moved up the waiting line!). 

We went, met the principal, toured the school, liked what we saw and paid for it pronto. Whooohooo... We can drop him off on our way to work in the morning and my mom can pick him up after class! At least my logistical nightmare has been solved.. 

While we were waiting for classes to start, father and son ended up playing some silly game on the phone!