Keira reading a book to little bro:

And I made pau! Following this recipe.

Our maid has been with us one week now, and I can feel the difference already.

We have been able to sit down together for dinner every night and eat peacefully, while Sean gets what he wants: someone to carry him around.

I am beginning to realise I don’t have to cook one pot meals anymore, and can basically make anything I want, as there will be someone there to either help me with the chopping and cleaning or carrying the baby.

As a result we have been eating in alot more, and eating nicer food

And the most significant difference is that we are spending more quality time with the kids.

Where one week ago, we might have been trying to wash dishes and clean up after dinner, and have to tell Keira: “Wait, wait, we can’t play with you yet.” Now, we can all sit down together and enjoy some family time. It’s wonderful!

Of course it’s not all perfect. The problem is mainly to do with me. I am too nice, and don’t like to tell people to do things. I am automatically friendly to everybody.

So now am having trouble telling the maid what to do and what not to do. Eg. Don’t carry Sean the moment he makes noise because he needs to learn some independence, and I don’t want him to get too attached to her.

Is this something I should control or it can’t be helped because she will be a big presence in Sean’s life for a couple of years? Any Mums with maid experience out there have any advice?

I suppose I feel possessive of my kids and don’t want her to be another “mother”… is that possible?

Had time to make cupcakes with Keira today (while the maid carried Sean and let him watch us). We had a good time together, no stress, no rush. So overall, having the maid is still is a good thing. I think.

Keira’s birthday is coming up this Sunday, and I was thinking of using these cupcakes as the start of her birthday celebration. But they turned out quite ugly, as you can see in the pic above, so have scrapped that idea.

We’re not doing a party for her this year, as Keira has developed a bad case of stranger anxiety (gets very scared when people come to our house). All she wants for her birthday is familiar faces. So it’s just us, ah gong, ah ma and granduncle.

We’re going to a Japanese buffet to celebrate tho. That’s to satisfy my craving for sashimi. hehe. And also Keira loves to choose from the colourful array of cakes, jellies, ice creams and fruits on the dessert table. yumm.

Our girl is three years old now! Wow!

Our Cambodian maid arrived today. For her first day on the job, she performed better than I expected.

She came in, unpacked and immediately started tidying and cleaning up the house without me asking! Her English is pretty good too. She understands everything we say and can answer our questions.

She knows what to do around the house and I’ve also let her carry Sean, and she seemed quite confident with him as well.

So far so good. Now if she can continue like this for the rest of the contract, then we’re in luck!

On to Keira @ Kindy. This is her third week there. Last week was quite bad cos she woke up crying everyday, she was so scared.

This week, she still cries, but it is getting less and less. Today she managed to hold the waterworks in all morning, all the way in the car and only burst into tears when we stepped into the kindergarten door.

The teacher says she stops after I leave tho, and is quite OK after that. Altho she is still timid about joining in with the other children.

And when I come to pick her up, she is happy and cheerful. So when she says “Mummy, I don’t want to go to kindergarten… pwease mummy, I don’t want to go to kindergarten…” Do I believe that she really doesn’t like it?

The happy thing about kindy is that after observing her, the senior teacher told us that Keira is a very capable girl, and speaks very well (but speaks so fast they can’t catch what she says!) And she is mature enough to follow the older kids’ classes.

It’s nice to get validation of what we already knew about this special little girl of ours

Here’s Sean boy laughing his head off as he bounces on my knee. He loves it, and I just love to hear him!

Besides the sound of gentle waves lapping against the sand of an island resort, this is the second best sound to wake up to every morning:)

Check out our little chubby bubby There’s nothing like sleeping naked in just your nappy on a hot, sunny afternoon eh? I love the way his legs are still scrunched up plumply against his body… aah, I can’t believe there was a time when I totally disliked babies. How could I? They’re so cute!

Sean had his second set of immunisation shots today and also general check up with doctor. At almost 4 months, He is now 63cm long and weighs 6.7kg. Both coming in at the 50th percentile on the growth chart, right in the middle.

He seems to be settling into some kind of sleep routine, but it’s not really set in stone yet. He takes about four naps in the day. A one hour morning nap around 10.30am. A 40 minute lunch time nap around 1pm. A one/two hour afternoon nap around 2.30pm, and a 40 minute evening nap around 6pm.

He then sleeps from about 9.30pm to 8.30am, waking up every three hours or so for milk… Seems like alot of sleeping?

Sean is quite an angel in the mornings. He is in such a good mood, and is happy just lying in his bouncer, kicking his feet and looking at things. That’s when we get dimpled smiles, chuckles and laugh out louds. Baby smiles are so addictive, I can’t get enough of them!

He transforms into a monster in the afternoons. Screams his head off if he is not being carried. My arms and back are damn sore man. And my throat is quite hoarse, as have been singing songs to him so I don’t have to carry him.

In the evenings and night, he is OK. Sometimes good and sometimes cranky. Depends on how tired he is I think. He loves having his bath just before bedtime. Must be such a wonderful feeling to float around in the warm water because the moment he comes out, he bursts into tears!

What else can I say about Sean? He is a cutie pie lah! I know I’m biased, but if this is my last baby, I gotta enjoy every cuddly moment:)