Shopping for Baby Stuffs 1

Though this wasn't the first time that we went around looking for baby stuffs, it was only on Friday that we finally bought quite a number of the big ticket items, like a baby cot, a stroller and a high chair.

Previously, we had been to Kaki Bukit (Baby's Hyperstore & Baby's Kingdom) to view their strollers and cots as a reference as we still did not know what brand or type of items that we wanted. We also went to Giant and NTUC Xtra to look at their baby products. At the same time, we surfed online for more details, mainly focusing on the strollers. Thus, prior to purchase, other than being educated on the numerous brands of baby products that we never knew existed, we sort of confirmed that we wanted a Capella stroller, though we were divided over the model.

In the morning, the baby fair at expo was disappointing as it was on a very much smaller scale than the previous baby fair two weeks ago. It was, however, quite whimsical to have us constantly looking at strollers pushed by other parents and identifying their brands, a habit that we developed since we started shopping for Xiao Xiao's stuffs. The warehouse sale at Chai Chee (Taime Pte Ltd) later on, all thanks to my dear's colleague, was where we committed to our purchases as most of the items were at 20% off. After all, we had been to enough places to know that the prices, without the discount, were more or less the same.

Clockwise from top left: play gym, changing mat,
musical mobile, neck support, nursing pillow, teething toy

Though the big ticket items will only be delivered in December but at least the major items were settled. Next item on our list: baby carrier and breast pump.

Progress of Xiao Xiao 6

This time, Wendy managed to estimate Ruo Ran's weight from the scan and it was the second time my dear heard her use the phrase "smallish but not to worry". Other that that, there was not much new stuffs to be added. The nurse also asked us to consider the preference of rooms at Thomson Medical Centre during my dear's delivery.

Another round of Ruo Ran's pictures:

Left: I have no idea
Right: the cross-section showing the spine and ribcage

新手父母的第一堂课

在很用功的爹地的“逼迫”下，很懒惰的妈咪只好勉为其难地上来这里写写博客。嘿嘿！我真的是太懒了，最近一直都把记录我们生活的重责交给我亲爱的老公。如果不上来写点儿什么，还真的是说不过去啊！

今天，就让我来聊聊我们于10月19日上的第一堂课吧。坦白说，在上课之前，我还真的不知道导师会教些什么内容。我们的导师的名字是Lilian Pong。她是一位经验非常丰富的助产员。在等待其他孕妇到来的当儿，她先是播放了一段如何替双胞胎哺乳的短片。在这之前，我有点儿紧张。这是因为其他的参与者的“球”都比我的大。其实，我到现在还是很介意自己的肚子很小，真的好担心我的小孩发育得很慢。唉......看了短片过后，我才开始觉得放松，也没那么紧张了。

这之后，导师教我们如何从床上起身和如何以蹲着的姿势站起来。据她说，这样才不会伤到背部。回家之后，我也依样画葫芦照做。她教得真的很有用耶！照她说的方法起身真的完全不会伤到背部耶！好厉害哦！不过，站久了我的背部还是很疼。希望接下来等肚子再大一点儿时，背痛不会加剧到太厉害。

接着，我们就开始做些简单的伸展运动，主要是针对脖子、腰部、胸部和盆骨等重点部位。可爱的老公因为担心他会忘记导师所教的动作，所以就很勤快地做笔记。 这样傻傻的他真的让我觉得十分感动。这个老公真的是没白嫁！

坐了一会儿运动，导师让我们休息十五分钟。在休息的时候，老公穿上了模拟孕妇的装备。我还给他拍了一张照呢！嘿嘿！待会儿再“逼”他上载照片。独乐乐不如众乐乐嘛！

可爱的老公！

休息过后，导师就给我们讲解怀孕时在饮食上和工作时得注意些什么。原来孕妇不应该吃人参耶！吃了会导致血流不止，好恐怖哦！

最后，导师教在场的老公们如何替他们的太太做腿部按摩，以防止小腿抽筋。哈哈！这大概是我最喜欢的环节了！我要每晚缠着老公让他给我按摩腿部！要知道，怀孕真的好辛苦哦！老公不多疼疼我怎么行呢？

总结地来说，上课时挺好玩的。不过，上完课后真的好晚哦！想到要搭那么久的车回家就让人觉得很吃不消。尤其是现在我的背老是觉得疼，久坐不动真的让我觉得很辛苦。老公，今晚就看你怎么表现了哦！要懂得做人哦！

Looper

We decided to see this movie after reading the above average review on it on 8 days. Guess we had been going through this process quite frequently for our movie watching these days. The movie's theme about travel travelling also resonated well with my dear.

The story started off with time travelling invented but outlawed and technology so advanced that every living thing can be tracked, which made murder extremely difficult (don't ask me why but somehow people need to die for the story to proceed). Thus, evil organisations started to send people back into time to eliminate them via assassins in the earlier time called loopers. These assassins will eventually be sent back to be killed, sometimes by other loopers, sometimes by their younger self.

The protagonist was one such high achieving assassin but one day he did not manage to kill his target, which happened to be himself. Prior to that, his best friend went through something similar and met with a tragic end, after being sold out by the protagonist. The older him had enjoyed a great life with love towards the end but was eventually captured by the organisation. In the midst of his capture, his wife was murdered. The older him later managed to defeat his captors but decided to go back in time to kill the ultimate bad guy in the future by killing him/her when in his/her youth. However, with the limited clues, he only managed to narrow the search to three young children to which he decided to kill all.

The younger him learned of all these and decided to stop him, while evading capture from the organisation. He stayed with one of the marked children, which happened to be the right one by the law of plot no jutsu, and convinced the mum that he was there to protect the child. In the end, the younger him realised that the only way to stop the older him was to kill himself and that was how the show ended.

To me, I felt that the story did not really make sense in quite a number of places or explain clearly with regards to the development of the story. As a result, we both need to search online for the spoilers in order to fully understand the entire movie. Even so, I still felt that the movie need more refinement to the development of the plot. Guess the review was overrated? Nonetheless, we enjoyed the movie and I figured that that's the most important. =)

Progress of Xiao Xiao 5

It was another visit to Wendy to see Ruo Ran's (aka Xiao Xiao's) progress. Though armed with more questions with regards to my dear's aching lower back, intake of calcium and changes in discharge, those were quickly dismissed as normal signs of pregnancy as a result of hormonal changes. It sure sounds easy being a obstetrician / gynaecologist.

However, she did mention that Xiao Xiao is a bit smallish based on the report from the Fetal Anomaly Scan done previously. That sure got my dear worried, but I assured her that, looking on the bright side, the birth will be lesser painful. Nevertheless, my dear will be endulging in a heavier diet to increase Xiao Xiao's growth.

Below are her photos:

Top: cross-section of Xiao Xiao
Bottom: spine and ribcage of Xiao Xiao

Ted

It was a normal school day but apparently the mood of the exams seemed to have influenced everyone to go back early. Thus, we decided to watch this movie, and yes once again, after reading some good reviews about it.

The show was about a teddy bear, hence the name Ted, who was brought to life by a lonely boy's birthday wish. And no prizes for getting it right that both of them became best friends and grew up being best friends. There was also a small part about the teddy bear getting famous for being alive, but as the hype died down, his popularity went as well.

The movie then carried on with the man (the boy had grown up) having a girlfriend, who would want him to settle down, but somehow felt that man was still too immature, probably because of the existence of the Ted. So, arguments flew and the man promised to be a better person, which he didn't. As a result, the girlfriend decided to break up with him. Ted persuaded the girlfriend to return to the protagonist by agreeing to get out of their lives.

Meanwhile, a sinister character lurked around and wanted Ted for his son. He tried at first to buy Ted, but the protagonist declared that Ted was not for sale. The sinister character then proceeded to kidnap Ted. The protagonist and his girlfriend then tried to rescue Ted from his kidnapper but in the tussle, Ted got ripped into half and his stuffing came out. The protagonist and his girlfriend tried to revive by sewing him back but it was no avail until the girlfriend made a wish on a falling star. With a happy ending, the protagonist and his girlfriend got married and Ted was alive.

It was a no-brainer show, which was peppered with coarse languages, but it was funny. Good way to spend an afternoon with my dear.