Aaron - 7 months old

Aaron turned 7 months old yesterday.

His first little teeth is sprouting out and he seems extremely uncomfortable. Besides his heavy drooling, he is constantly biting and chewing on something - his stuffed toys, towel, blanket .... whatever he can get his hands on. He loves teething rusks. But is always dropping them. Very wasteful. His feeding has also been quite inconsistent. For eg, today he refused his cereal, only wanted milk. And he's been cranky and unsettled. Hope he gets over this painful phase sooner!

Aaron's motor skills are developing really well. He can now hold his own milk bottle, and grab things towards himself. Last Saturday, he started standing up, with assistance.

Stomach flu

Nadine had her first ever stomach flu last week.

In the wee hours of Thursday morning, she threw up non-stop, so Daddy took her to KKH A&E. Mummy was away in Delhi, and Daddy was worried that Nadine would throw up in the car again, so had to ask Bibi to go along (with a pail). Which meant they had to bring poor little Aaron along too. Apparently Aaron was most cooperative. Did not cry a single bit in the hospital, even though they were there for more than 3 hours, and he was hungry and tired.

The stomach flu also caused Nadine to have diarrhoea - again, her first ever. But she recovered quite quickly, and was her usual chirpy self during the day on Thursday.

On Friday evening, Aaron started throwing up. He threw up 5 times within 1 1/2 hour. But because he's still so young, the doctor only gave him probiotics. Poor boy couldn't keep anything down, and was so hungry the whole night.

The 2nd child really doesn't get a good deal at all. Nadine was never sick in her first year. Not even the slightest flu, nor any mild diarrhoea. Aaron, at 7 months, had gone to the doctor numerous times, had to be nebulized, had been hospitalized, had his first stomach flu, with non-stop vomitting and diarrhoea. Poor baby!

Prayer drive

Every morning, during the drive to school, Daddy & Mummy would pray with Nadine. Mummy would always start by saying, "shall we pray?"

Sometimes, Nadine would say "yes, and sometimes "no", but Mummy would go ahead and pray anyway. And Nadine would then tell Mummy to pray for Di-Di, Daddy, Ma-Ma, Bibi, and a few times, for various other people.

This morning, Nadine initiated the prayer by saying "shall we pray?"

Daddy and Mummy are so pleased!

Hong Kong

We went to Hong Kong last week for Auntie Betsy's wedding. The itinerary included Hong Kong Disneyland of course.

Nadine was one happy bird the moment we reached the Park. The path leading to the entrance were lined with flags of different Disney characters. Nadine ran from one pole to another, pointing out the characters excitedly. Her joy was really infectious.

And the first thing we saw when we entered the park - a queue of people waiting to take photo with Mickey and Minnie. It was a long queue, but Nadine insisted that she wanted a photo with the 2 mice.

On Daddy's shoulders, waiting to take a photo with Mickey and Minnie.

After almost half an hour, we finally got to take a family photo with Mickey and Minnie.

And one with just Nadine.

Mummy and Aaron, in front of the Sleeping Beauty Castle.

Nadine went on the Dumbo ride with Daddy, and loved it! Here's a photo of them after the ride. It was impossible to take one during the ride.

She was keen to go on the merry-go-round, but the moment Daddy put her on a horse, she freaked out. Probably because it was too high. They went on the "sofa" instead. After that, Nadine kept saying, "I don't like the horse. I like the sofa."

We spent a night at Disneyland Hotel. It was a grand fairy tale hotel. Highlight of the stay was breakfast at the Enchanted Garden, where various Disney characters come round to take photos with diners.

Nadine was scared of Pluto and Goofy ...

But loved Daisy, and of course, kept asking for Mickey and Minnie.

The other interesting thing about Disneyland is all the Mickey-shaped prints, food and sculptures everywhere.

2nd day at the Park, it was Mummy's turn to go on rides with Nadine, while Daddy took care of Aaron.

Slinky Dog ride

It's a small world - with costumed dolls from around the world

Nadine's favouritest ride - the Mad Hatter's Teacups. She went on it the night before with Daddy, and wanted to ride again the next day.

We stayed for the parade, which was really spectacular. Nadine was so excited to see the many characters, and danced along to the music.

On Saturday, we went for Auntie Betsy and Uncle Adam's wedding. They were really happy and it was a joy to be able to witness this special occasion.

The wedding dinner started with cocktail, during which the newly-wed took photos with guests.

While waiting for the dinner to start, Nadine amused herself by taking photos.

Uncle Joe and Auntie Irene entertained Nadine by posing for a photo ...

So did Uncle Quan ....

So did Uncle Gary and Auntie Alice.

Nadine also took a photo of Daddy and Aaron ...

and the wedding favour. Actually, Nadine's quite a good photographer, for a 3-year-old!

But she could only take that many photos. Got bored after a while, and started running around. Which was fine, although a little dangerous, with the waiters walking around with food, cold and hot drinks. Then she started rolling around. And Aaron was cranky. Mummy was constantly chasing Nadine and Daddy was starting at a corner, carrying Aaron. By the 5th dish, we decided that it was enough, and headed back to the hotel.

It was a good thing that Auntie Betsy and Uncle Adam hosted a lunch for their overseas friends the next day. We had a chance to catch up with them properly.

Nadine with the "Princess Bride" ....

and the "Prince"

This was the first time that the family travelled "alone", without any friends on the same flight or staying at the same hotel. It was super tiring. We also made the mistake of packing in the program, and tiring everybody out. By the time we got on the flight back, both kids were tired and cranky, and both wailed non-stop. Nadine even threw up on herself and Mummy. Thank God the SQ crew were super nice and helpful.

But overall, it was still a good trip. And it sure was a great joy to see Nadine so happy at Disneyland. Too bad Aaron is too young to enjoy the park.

Aaron the Slider

Aaron can't quite crawl yet, but he's super good at sliding and slithering around. And he's very fast too!

Settling down in school

Week 3, Day 11

Nadine's finally stopped saying "I don't want to go to school". We reached school at 8.30am, worship had already started. She ran in to join her friends in the singing and dancing, didn't even turn back to say good-bye!

Week 4, Day 12

Nadine cried in the car while we were in the car park, wanted to sit on Mummy's lap. But Mummy had to drive, so offered to let her hold Mummy's hand and drove with the other hand. Reached school, wanted to be carried to the door. But no more tears, and guai-guai followed teacher in.

Week 4, Day 13

Happily said bye to Bibi and couldn't wait to get into the lift to go down to the car park. Reached school, walked into hall without turning back. Mummy had to call out to her to get her to say good-bye!

Week 4, Day 14

Ran out of the house, and shouted to Mummy, "Mummy let's go!" In school, remembered to turn around and say good-bye to Mummy.

Hopefully, this means Nadine has settled down into the school routine!