My exploration in life… (diary for baby!)

What news on Boxing Day - YEN is 6 weeks pregnant with our second child.  So our princess will be an elder sister next year.  =)  Gosh, I’m trying to imagine that.  Ha…

You can say that it’s planned as YEN and I have spoken about it - she will be busy for a while come 2009 as she will be doing her studies for her master in her nursing profession.  Having a baby before she embarks on her studies would be ideal due to concern for her age too (yes, she’s had number one, but better to have the second one earlier than after her masters in 2010 / 2011, right? - RACHEL will be 5-years-old by that time!).

My friends joked that I’m efficient, considering that RACHEL was only born this year.  Ha; I sure am.  Thoughts of whether I prefer a boy or girl surfaced again, but I think the reply will be the same - I don’t mind either, long as the baby is born healthy without ails.  Seriously, the child will be ours and ours alone, so I’ll be happy as long as mother and child are safe.  Will RACHEL lose attention from us over the birth of her sibling?  I want to reassure her that it won’t happen, but that remains to be seen, isn’t that right?

We had our first guests to our new home last Friday, on 22 Dec.  DORA, STEVEN, WEILING and AIHUI, my ex-colleagues from my last unit in the SAF, and probably the most attached I was to, visited us over lunch.  Such a kind thought from STEVEN, as he had only just returned a little earlier from his studies in AUSTRALIA, taking a little break before returning to hit the books again (I hope he does that!).

My course-mates and close friends of twenty years (plus JASON and mum-in-law) visited the next day.  Most complimented our home - the size, how nicely it is furnished, the bright colours, etc., and of course, how adorable RACHEL is.  This little girl really doesn’t have to worry - she’s the apple of others’ eyes as she’s so adorable!  I was looking at doing housewarming and RACHEL’s first birthday together, but am not so sure now as I don’t want YEN to tire herself out, second baby and all.  We’ll see then…  But aren’t we glad?!  =)

RACHEL is teething - can feel the little teeth growing from her lower gums.  =)  Once she grows a near complete set of teeth, we will let her take more solid food.  Boy, how we would like that to come sooner.

Unpacking has come has hard as packing.  There just seems too much stuff to unpack in this new place of ours, that makes it seem smaller than it really is.  I have been trying to throw away as many things, and come to realise how much money we have, sometimes foolishly, wasted away buying things we don’t need.  Need to curb the spending habit, really.

I’ll be hosting some of my course-mates from my trainee teacher course this Saturday afternoon, and YEN and my close friends that evening for a before-Christmas gathering.  Really wish I could invite more people, but my flat isn’t really that big.  I feel bad not being able to invite some course-mates already.  =(  In the meantime, we have been feverishly trying to unpack and make the place neat.  Well, there’s a couple of days left to do that - really hope RACHEL can chip in our efforts!  =P

I am now seated and typing merrily away in the comfort of my new place.  =)  Yes, there is still quite a bit of unpacking to be done, and there are still some things that we’ve yet to bring over from our old flat, but we’ll sort things out, I’m sure.

Was stealing some time to myself this morning and had breakfast at PIONEER MALL alone.  I saw YEOW CHOY (or STEVEN, or Warrant LUM / RQ / Log Warrant; whatever!) and had quite a long chat with him.  He is clearing his leave and just took a couple of days to repaint his house (first time he is doing it in six or seven years since moving in, he said).

He updated me on quite a bit on our (or rather, my) old unit in the Army.  Things have changed so much - people, organisation of the unit, etc.  And I heard complaints from quite a few others, it seems, about some appointment holders there now.  It was rather interesting to know how things are now.  He told me of an unfortunate incident too - that someone that we know in the unit, a rather senior person, committed suicide by leaping to his death.  It came as quite a surprise as I knew that person as someone who was "happy go lucky".  YEOW CHOY told me that it was depression, among other ailments, that took him in about a month back.  =(

We must learn to be able to take setbacks in life - to handle them better.  It is rather depressing to know that an acquaintance or friend taking his / her own life…  =(

Looks like my earlier estimate of 60 per cent of renovation works done was not very accurate - ADRIAN’s dad, who is heading the renovation works, told us that he’ll be trying to rush up as much work before 12 Dec 06, Tuesday, so that we can move in soon.  Wow!  Though it was hoped that this deadline could be reached, I did not envisage this to happen so soon!  So I plan to do some cleaning of the place on Mon / Tue before we unpack and start staying in our new place on Wednesday.  =)

I have moved most of the eighty-over boxes of things to our new home.  This does not include the twenty-odd un-numbered boxes and bags!  I don’t know how our little 4-room flat could have managed keeping all these things, ha!  Thanks to EDDIE for helping out for two of the five two-hour blocks I used to move things over.  YEN helped out with some shifting yesterday too.  =)

I don’t think we will be having any elaborate house-warming celebration / party this time round.  I hope to hold it near mid-next year, to coincide it with RACHEL’s first birthday celebration.  Yes, we’ll have moved in about six-months then, and bought most of the things we need for our new place…

I think RACHEL tried a few times to address me the past couple of days.  The word "daddy" doesn’t come complete; I heard "dada" several times and thought my ears were playing tricks on me.  Or is she really addressing me already??  =P

Today (6 December 2006), when our little princess is a little younger than seven-months-old, marked the day where she uttered her first words "ma-ma" (not calling her mother, but addressing my mum "grandmother" in cantonese).  We are happy that she seem to be able to recognise us a lot better now, but I continue to be lost as to how I can pacify her during certain times where there seem no reason why she cries badly.

Went with EDDIE to meet the boss of this company which I bought wines from for YEN and my wedding dinner in July 05.  EDDIE asked me to go along as he is not someone who drinks wines, and can’t tell between one or another.  Though no expert, I could at least offer him some opinions on the wines we would taste.  The boss opened up a bottle for our tasting, and was in quite a good mood as he chatted with us for quite some time.  And as I could hold my liquor a little (EDDIE was driving and couldn’t afford to drink too much), we (the boss and I) enjoyed almost the whole bottle with me as the three of us chatted.  Hee; I welcome anyone who wishes to ask me along for wine tasting so that I can drink to my heart’s content!  =P

I have been moving boxes of our stuff over to our new place.  EDDIE helped me move twenty-over boxes yesterday, and I moved another twenty-over earlier today.  There is another ten-odd boxes we packed, and probably another ten-odd that we have not packed.  The renovations of the new house is, I gauge, about sixty per cent completed, and some electrical stuff like the refrigerator, television, washing machine, etc. have found their ways in our house already.  Think there should be no problem moving in when we hand over our current flat to the new owners (I really hope!).

Wow; time does fly - my mum-in-law told us that she checked with her Buddhist reverend and he calculated the date / time of our moving to the new place to be best on 4 Dec 06 @ 1200 hrs.  YEN and I was only just lamenting that it didn’t seem possible to ADRIAN’s dad (who handled the renovation).  To our surprise, he said he will try his best to rush the lose ends to make it possible.  And before we know it, tomorrow will be the day that we "officially" move over.

With the sudden decision to move on the 4th, we needed to start packing our stuff that we didn’t need during this time into boxes to bring over to our new place.  I have yet to finish packing totally (there is still time as we hand over keys to our old flat on 18th), but have already totaled more than fifty boxes to bring over - now that’s quite a lot!  Don’t think I will engage the services of professional movers as the distance is very short, I can just make many trips to and fro on foot or by our little MARCH.

EDDIE will be able to help us too.  He has handed in his letter of resignation as he is joining UOB in January.  He wants to have a job that offers a more secure kind of remuneration.  The market for car sales, as reported on the papers, would probably decline, having reached a record high for the past year and this one.  He has seen months with great rewards, and suffered many without commission, too.  With his customary dinner approaching and having moved into his new flat that he co-owns with HUIJUN, he probably thinks it is a time in life where he needs a more stable source of income.

Though we are currently busy, we still managed to steal some time for ourselves today - we went to catch the animation "HAPPY FEET".  We enjoyed the movie and the time we took amid the rush of things.  Look forward to more!  =)