is that belly for real?

I've received quite a lot of feedback from friends, clients & acquaintances that my bump looks fake.

I wish to reassure everyone that the bump is very real.

At my weekly OBGYN appointment today, Dr Choo looked slightly surprised at the estimated head circumference and weight of Snowpea. 30cm and 3.74kg respectively.

Her comment that the baby was on the large side plus her surprised expression (which fleetingly, to me, looked like alarm) has made me more sure of having an epidural again, assuming I'll have a natural delivery.

Aiden at 19 months

Happy 19 months, Aiden!

This little milestone deserves a quick recap of his own milestones to date.

1. Busy chatter
He's stringing words together to form phrases and really enjoying saying 3 syllable words like:
- over there
- underneath
- puffer-fy (butterfly)
- in-kin-ter (indicator)
- where-zat (where is that?)
- put it there
- red/yellow/blue + ball/bag/case/cushion
- wah-sheen-sheen (washing machine)

2. Asserting his personality
He's been growing more vocal about his preferences.

It started out with food, and he'd tell us what he'd prefer (doesn't always get his way, clearly).
Then there were music preferences (when he started recognizing which CDs went with his favourite songs) and picking his favourite books.
Recently, he's been expressing his choice of t-shirts. (his lizard & za-za-za T shirts seem to be a constant hit).

3. Potty Training!
Aiden has been using the potty pretty regularly, which we're rather excited about (can't wait till the diapers go!)

We've been quite consistent with putting him on the potty first thing in the morning, just before his bath, and just before he goes to bed.
And anytime in between that, if we think he needs a diaper change, we'll prompt him to use the potty first, before changing him.

It helps too that when he does use the potty, Andy & I give him a cheer and a round of applause, which is followed by big smiles and claps from Aiden too.

1-2-cha cha cha....5,6,7....

There's a group of ladies that practice line dancing / ballroom dancing downstairs of our flat a couple of times a week. Aiden is really facinated by the music & dancing, and has taken to saying "1-2-ta-ta-ta" while stomping on the ground.

Andy & I joke that he'll be the only kid in school that can't count to 3 because he thinks "cha-cha-cha" comes after 2.

Aiden *can* however count from 5 to 16 now, which we find simply delightful. We just need to sort counting from 1 to 5....

nokomai launched

Last night we launched the re-brand of our company - from stereotype to nokomai. Nokomai is an interactive design agency based in Singapore. We have also launched the new Nokomai site.

za za za is so last year

Little Mr Catchphrase has shunned zazaza as a mantra, he now endorses the new phrase: "Bingo! Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!"

You heard it here first.

no more space

Who says Aiden doesn't resemble me? Both of us have muffin tops!

At my weekly OBGYN check up today, Dr Choo told us that the baby is approximately 3.4kg! That's pretty close to what Aiden weighed at birth (3.65kg) so that put my mind at ease that the baby is growing just fine.

When I asked Dr Choo if the baby could be running out of space to roll around (and yes, there have been heaps of somersaults) she reassured me (or so she thought) with the comment that "oh, don't worry, you'll just stretch to accomodate." Gee, thanks. I'm ElasterGirl.

Apart from tumble-dry sessions, the usual suspects for 8 month pregnancies are adding to my growing physical discomfort: back pains, fatigue, difficulty sleeping & breathing.

And yet, I can afford to wait just a tad longer because there's so much work to clear! Plus tax season is coming up...plus we're having our company launch next week...plus we still have to find a nanny to help out...

Technically, I'm already at full term this week, but it would be great if Snowpea waited another 2 weeks. (One can hope!)

mae and aiden

the fantastic appleboy

If Aiden ever decides to become a superhero, perhaps this is what his mask would look like. It might also be handy if he gets hungry waiting for the baddies to show up.