Love Letters to Natalie

Thursday, June 30, 2005
6th Month Health Assessment & Development Screening

Dearest Nat,

Guess what you are doing now?

I left you with porpor in the office's bedroom so that I can work on the computer. Halfway through I decided to write you a letter again.

We just called Jiujiu a while ago and porpor said that he'll be coming back some time next week which is GREAT! Let's hope he'll bring you something nice from Melbourne. That reminds me to remember to subscribe for wireless internet service so that your Daddy can work freely at home when your jiu jiu is back. Right now we are using the computer in his room to work. Jiujiu will be bringing his LCD monitor back and that will go to our room! You are going to have fun with Jiujiu when he is back. One more person to dote and play with you.

On Tuesday, I brought you for your last vaccination for this year. You have grown a little in height and quite alot in weight. You are 68.5 cm and 8.1 kg now. I thought I saw 8.3 kg on the scale but nevermind 200 gm doesn't make alot of difference. I thought you are taller than 68.5 too coz you were fidgeting alot when we were taking your height so the measurement is not very accurate. I guess you should be between 69 - 69.5 cm. Anyway the measurement taken yesterday put you in the 90 percentile in both height and weight for your age. Pretty impressive huh?

Dr Tan is pleased with the first 6 months development of your life and that makes me really happy and relieved. She also taught me how to encourage you to crawl. She is impressed with how well you can sit now and also witnessed how "manja" you are when you bawled your heart out the moment I left you lying on her table. Ha Ha.. you are my "super manja baby". You know how to manipulate me with your eyes and how can I ignore you when you look at me with tears in your eyes? The time for disciplining you will come but it is not now.

Your last jab went fine. Like the previous 2 times, I was nursing you when the doctor performed the jab. You didn't cry as usual and this time round it was a 6 in 1 jab. You were fine after the jab too! Your next development screening will be at 1 year old but I think I'll do it earlier at 9 months.

Here's a picture of you playing by yourself while I am working on the computer beside you.

Love,
Mommy

natnat's mom at 4:00 PM 5 comments

Sunday, June 26, 2005
Yet another weekend

Dearest baby,

What did we do this weekend?

We brought you with us to have desserts with Auntie Angel at Coffee Club Takashimaya. We love the wedges there. You were very happy just watching us eat. You kept moving your mouth as if you were eating something too. I was so tempted to feed you coz you were so cute and funny! You're a glutton, just like your Daddy. Okie, to be fair, just like me too!

On Saturday night, we went out to Aburiya at Robertson Quay for that Japanese BBQ dinner. Auntie Angel gave us a treat. The food there was really GREAT! We all had a great time. You were having fun playing with the people sitting at the next table.

After dinner, we went to the late night shoppping to grab a toaster for Auntie Huiling's housewarming party. You were kept awake while we were browsing through the stuffs on sale. There were so many people and we left after picking a nice toaster.

On Sunday, we went to church and then we bought a nice half kg chocolate banana cake from Awfully Chocolate to celebrate you turning 6 months. Well, we were a few days too late but that gave us an excuse to eat the delicious cake.

Part of our evening ritual these days is to take a walk to the nature park nearby. Por Por and I will put you in the stroller as we walk to the park. It's a good 45 mins walk with everyone sweating like a pig except you. Sometimes you will fall asleep in the stroller but most of the times you are busy looking around at the cars, the trees and the people. You will laugh out loud when we push the stroller really fast or when I pretend to run ahead of you. Sometimes you will look very serious and refuse to laugh no matter how hard we tried to make you laugh. You'll just look ahead with a very stern expression, as if you are inspecting the road. It's really funny. Your daddy will join us for the walk (he runs, we walk) on days that he can work from home or leave office on the dot. This is something I really enjoy doing these days.

Swimming with you is another activity which I really like! It's very fun to see you kicking excitedly in the water. We brought you to the pool on Friday and Saturday. I'm thinking of inviting Ryan and Shimin to come swim with you coming weekend. It'll be so fun!

Por Por pushing your stroller as we embark on our 45 mins walk
Playing with mommy before bedtime
Love, Mommy

natnat's mom at 7:56 PM 1 comments

Friday, June 24, 2005
To a wedding dinner

Dearest Nat,

It was the wedding of my good friend, Ivy yesterday and we brought you with us to attend the very first wedding dinner in your life.

The dinner was held at M hotel which is along Anson road, very near your daddy's office. As you will be meeting some of mommy's friends for the first time, I was feeling rather excited. I picked out your new pink romper, got Auntie Sandra to wash and iron it 2 days before the wedding.

On the day itself, I bathed and changed you after our daily evening stroll with your porpor. It was quite a mad rush. I had only 45 mins to bathe and change you, feed you, let you nap a little while I get ready. It has been ages since the last time I dressed up for a function after your birth. I was feeling rather happy to play with my cosmetics and put on clothes other than my normal t-shirts and jeans. Ha Ha! Yes darling, you have a very vain mommy! I'm looking forward for you to grow up so that we can go shopping for nice clothes and cosmetics together. It'd be such fun, wouldn't it?

Your gong gong and your por por sent us to pick up your Daddy at his office and then to M hotel for the wedding. It was nice to meet friends whom I have not met for a long time. Shufang, Ygierne, Oscar, Alvin, Chun guang and Vincent were there. This is your first time meeting some of mommy's friends and it was fun. I think you like uncle Oscar coz you always smile/laugh when he plays with you.

One funny incident during the wedding was the "yum seng" session. You were startled by the loud "yum seng" and turned to look around. I quickly held you tight so you were alright. However during the 2nd yum seng, your daddy was carrying you instead and you were so frightened that you cried out loud. I thought it was rather funny. A happy cheering crowd on stage vs a crying baby - such a big contrast. I tried to pacify you by holding you tight and you were alright after a short while.

I didn't take many photos during the wedding because I was very busy chatting with my friends, eating and taking care of you. Oscar sent us home at the end of the dinner and we said goodbye with promises to meet up again soon, hopefully not have to wait until another wedding. It was a nice night for mommy and I hope you had fun too. Your Daddy also get to meet and mingle with my good friends which is good! :-) He is a quiet person who needs more friends in my opinion.

Next month, I'll be bringing you to the birthday party of Uncle Alvin's son, Kiefer. I'm looking forward to it.

Love,
Mommy

natnat's mom at 4:14 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Happy 6 months old!

Dearest Baby,

Mommy hasn't been writing to you much lately. It's because I've been rather busy these 2 weeks, having to go back to the factory almost daily.

Last Sunday is Father's Day. Your doting Daddy celebrated his 1st father's day by splurging on you. We brought you for your first swim on a Tuesday around 2 weeks ago. Despite being a little scared initially, you overcome your fear after a little while and begin to enjoy yourself. And when Ryan came to swim on Saturday, we decided to join in the fun and this time round, we brought you to the adult's pool and you weren't scared at all. Seeing that you're having fun, your Daddy dearest decided to buy your very 1st swimsuit for you which comes with a matching "cap". It's really cute and you look really cute in it. We also bought an airpump to pump up the float we got your last Sunday. So on Father's Day, we took you swimming in your new swim wear and float and I also got you a little toy to play with while in the pool. You were laughing and smiling and enjoying yourself very much in your new float. All was well until your playful daddy decided to pull a trick on you by hiding in the waters and then reappearing again suddenly. You were so frightened that you let out a loud cry. After that he tried to amuse you by blowing bubbles and it was all wrong coz again, you had a fright and began to cry. We were very amsued by your reaction. Anyway, we still had a great time together in the pool.

Another thing that you really like is EATING. We have been feeding you a semi-solid meal a day. So far we have introduced you to pumpkin, sweet potato, watermelon, starfruit and apple. You like all that you have tried. You're not a fussy eater, I guess! You really really like watermelon, you sucked on it hard and demanded for more when we took it away from you. Your porpor has bought some really good sweetcorn from Malaysia on Sunday and we are going to make corn puree for you. :-)

On another note, you had your first fever on last Monday. Thankfully it was not serious. I passed the flu bug to you, according to the doctor. Your temperature went up to 38.6 at around 2 am Tuesday morning. I was really worried and brought you to see Dr. Tan. When she learnt that I have just recovered from a flu attack, she promptly checked your ears and lungs to make sure they are not infected. She said that because I had it first and I'm breastfeeding you, the antibodies will be given to you through the breastmilk and you'll be fine. You weren't given any medicine except for anti-histamine (just in case your nose are blocked). True enough, your fever went down after I sponge you constantly and you are well by Tuesday evening. You didn't even have runny nose or cough (which I had). I'm glad everything is fine and there's no complications. Next time I'll be more careful and wear a mask when I'm sick.

Oh, before it slips out of my mind, HAPPY 6th MONTH old to you! That's 1/2 a year more to your first birthday! Time really really flies! I still remember how tiny you were at birth and now you're a hefty 7.8kg who loves to play and laugh alot. I can't tell you how happy I am to see you healthy and happy. :-) You're our sweet little blessing!

Some photos here

Striking a pose with Mommy in your new swim wear

Your Daddy- Your Super Hero

Our Little Blessing

Swimming with Ryan korkor

You can sit really well!

Your first 端午節

Love,
Mommy

natnat's mom at 8:26 AM 2 comments

Monday, June 06, 2005
A beautiful weekend

Dearest Nat,

Despite of the recent happenings home front, we have a most wonderful weekend. Praise the Lord! When God is for us, nothing can be against us!

I decided to end the long week with a nice dessert supper on Friday night. Your Auntie May suggested "Tamede" at Robertson Quay. We went there only to discover that the place has closed down 2 months ago. So we went to Bakers Inn at Milennia Walk instead. You were very happy to be out with Daddy and Mommy after spending a boring week at home. You were very busy looking everywhere and at everyone. I think people interest you more than toys. Will you grow up to be a very sociable person?

On Saturday, after a very good afternoon of caregroup session, your Daddy and I brought you to the PC show and Motherhood exhibit at the Expo. We were ordered by your porpor to get a new printer since the old one at the factory is not working properly. There were so many people. We started with your Daddy carrying you and finally decided to put you into the sling and you fell asleep in the sling shortly after, waking up only when we were having some snacks at the Macau Tea Restaurant.

On Sunday, you woke up a happy baby! When I brought you out to the balcony, your gonggong and porpor greeted you with hugs and kisses and you were very pleased that you got all the attention you wanted! Ha Ha! After playing with your grandparents for a while, porpor and I decided to bathe you and prepare for church. I dressed you up in a new blouse that Auntie May bought you paired with a pair of new pants your mama bought you. You look very lovely and grown-up in them!

After we came back from church and lunch, you slept for a while and porpor brought you to the pool for a walk and you were very excited looking at the kids swimming. You are beginning to want to join other kids in playing. When we were at the church, you were watching the kids playing quietly and suddenly you got excited and shouted when they were playing tug-of-war. I was so amused by your behaviour.

We ended our beautiful Sunday and weekend with a nice Japanese BBQ dinner at a restaurant your Daddy and I discovered at Robertson Quay when we were there on Friday night. Porpor seeing that you were salivating watching us eat, gave you some strawberry icecream. Despite that it was only a dab on your lip, you were savouring the taste really happily. I wish I could give you more but for your own good, I have to refrain myself.

At the Expo

Just woke up from a car nap

At the Macau Tea Restaurant

Happily playing with Mommy

Porpor rocking you to sleep after a long day

Beautiful Sunday

Enjoying a morning moment with Porpor

Time for a bath before we go to church

A family photo before dinner time - Taken at Robertson Quay

Pretty Auntie May & you in your sexy new dress

Porpor indulging you with strawberry icecream.

I hope you enjoyed your weekend with us, my precious one! I treasure every bit of my time with you. Like your name, you are really the sunshine in our lives.

Love,
Mommy

natnat's mom at 3:46 PM 1 comments