Week 33

I'm already into week 33 of my pregnancy, how time flies. H is getting more excited and has been asking if we can get the baby out NOW! L is more cool about it. I think she's still too young to really comprehend how a new baby will affect her life. At least she's nice about it but I can really see the difference in H between this baby and when I was pregnant with L. He seems to really care and love the baby. Every single moment with H, he will be touching, kissing and talking to the baby (my belly).

It's now time to 'train' L to sleep on her own. I've told her nanny she'll be sleeping in the spare room starting tonight. L will have to sleep on her own. Hopefully she won't resist. I told her last night that she's now a big girl and she has to sleep all by herself and she said ok. Let's see how it goes tonight (keeping my fingers crossed)!

I'm also starting to feel the strain of this pregnancy now that my belly is getting bigger. Apparently the baby is starting to gain ~1 kg a month. A month ago during the check up it was 1.3kg, last week when I went for a check up it was 2.2kg, so in another 3 weeks when I go for my next check up it should be around 3kg already. My obgyn is trying to get us to schedule a c-section date - anytime between 18-22 Feb she said. I'm gonna try to schedule it as close to my EDD as possible cos I still think it's best the baby decides when he's ready to pop.

teaching kids values (part 2)

One of the biggest arguments against sending kids to an international school is this whole thing about cultivating strong values. No doubt the school environment plays a part but I think the home environment plays a much bigger part. It is unfortunate that we don't spend enough time with the kids on weekdays. Hubs normally only comes home when the kids are already asleep. As for me, I try to get home as soon as I can. It helps now that my travelling time is shorter since we've moved closer to where we work, but still, by the time I finish dinner, it's almost time for the kids to get ready for bed. So at most, I only get to spend 1-1.5 hours with them before the lights go off.

H will always want to chit chat and I always feel bad that I have to cut our chit chat time cos he needs to get enough sleep.

H: Can we chit chat some more?
Me: Nope we can chit chat tomorrow, you need to sleep now!

As I close his room door I always feel guilty. What if he stops wanting to chit chat with his mommy? What if he thinks I don't care enough?

The saving grace is that we can chit chat in the car on the way to school. Hubs feels that we should get a transporter since the traffic getting out of H's school to work can be horrendous in the morning. On average, the travelling time from home to school to office is about 1.5 hours. But that will mean losing our precious chit chat time. I really don't mind the travelling time, at least it gives me time to talk to H. By understanding what went on during his day in school or at home (e.g. something someone said, or something someone did, or simply something he encountered, etc.), I'll be able to provide him with the right perspectives or help him set things right.

This morning while driving to school, we drove past a construction site. Then he saw a few foreign workers walking towards the site and asked "Are they going to work? Why aren't they driving?"

Kids are so simple minded. Just because they get driven everywhere and they see mommy and daddy and the people they know drive to work, they automatically assume everyone has a car.

"Not everyone has a car, dear. Some people walk to work, some people take the bus, some people take the train"
"Why?"
"Because buying and maintaining a car is not cheap. You have to pay for the car and pay for petrol"

Then came my lessons about having to work hard, to be prudent, cannot waste, blah blah blah... Hopefully having these daily short chit chats is good enough to reinforce the right traits and values in H. Now I have to think about L. How do I find time to do the same with her?

teaching kids values

If I could, I would like to be the one spending most time with my kids. It baffles me sometimes what my kids say. I think it must be from the people they interact most with. In the case of L, that will be her nanny. Don't get me wrong, we love L's nanny to bits. She's extremely patient with the kids, and very soft spoken. The only thing I find with old aunties are they like to pass judgmental comments (e.g. saying someone is fat or something is ugly, etc.) and being superficial and judgmental is not what you want your kids to pick up.

Yesterday while having dinner with L, I asked her about school and her new friends. She was telling me about her new class and other random stuff and then she made this comment that made me sit up.

"Some girls are pretty and some girls are ugly"

Not knowing how to react, my first response was "all girls are pretty in their own way darling, there's no such thing as being ugly."

Then I added, "having a pretty face is not enough, you need to have a good heart. That will make you beautiful so everyone can be beautiful!"

I wasn't sure if she was paying attention to what I said because she started rattling on about other things. But I must find other opportunities to reinforce my message to her. Now how do I tell L's nanny to not pass judgmental comments about others in front of the kids? I don't want her to think that I'm accusing her of any wrongdoing. I just want to remind her that we should all be careful of what we say in front of the kids. So how?!!!

H's first day in Year 1

Today marks H's first day in Year 1. I think I'm just excited as he is. He seems to like his brand new school, being all smiley in the morning despite having to wake up at 6:30am. The school set up is definitely way better than his previous school. I especially like the classroom - very spacious and cheery, with full height windows overlooking the garden outside.

Let's hope everything works out well and that he enjoys going to school :-)

View from the canteen. H's classroom is the one on the right (ground floor)

Busy busy year end

I realised I've not been updating my blog. Here's a quick update on what we've been up to:

1. Managing renovations at 2 houses
Finally managed to nail down the contractors for the renovation of our 2 new houses - one for own stay and one for renting out. After weeks of going around hunting for supplies (tiles, paint, light fittings, etc.) we've finally settled everything (or at least I hope we have). Contractors have finally also started work this week, so fingers crossed, we'll be able to get our houses ready by mid-December.

2. Getting organised for our move
Still lots of packing to do. We're doing bit by bit every weekend. Last weekend I cleared up and given away all of L's old baby clothes so the doctor better be right that we're having a baby boy else we'll end up having to go shopping for new baby gal clothes!

Also realised that there may be a rat lurking around my packed boxes in the porch... yikes!!! We found rat droppings in the porch in the last 2 days, and scratch marks on the boxes. How to get rid of the darn rat the natural way? I mean I don't want to kill it, I just want it to leave. I read peppermint is a natural rat repellent but have yet to try it out. So now all new packed boxes are kept in the house, no more putting them outside.   

3. Keeping the kids busy
Feeling extremely guilty for not spending more time with the kids during the school hols. H is going camping with his grandparents and cousin this weekend. He's extremely excited. L wants to go too but I told her she can't since she's actually afraid of getting dirty. She wouldn't step on grass or mud, so how to go camping?!!! When I told her that while taking her for a walk by the poolside, she immediately walked on the grass and said "See, I'm stepping on the grass. Now can I go camping?". "No, you have to walk on the grass barefooted!". I think she's given up hope. Now she's excited that we're taking them to Legoland. She's been talking about it everyday since we told her we'll be going next weekend. So Hubs better make it happen otherwise she will be extremely disappointed!

They've also gone for a couple of field trips with my sis' school which I missed. I will also be missing the Jim West puppet show next week but at least the kids will have fun. The good news is I just got a call from Dumex to inform me that I won 2 tickets to the Hi-5 concert in December. Yippeee... I've never won any contest before so my luck must have changed. L will be thrilled since she loves Hi-5. And since she doesn't get to go camping, I'll be taking her to the concert :-)