Last day of 2011

I have been trying to find time to think through the year but with the on-going busyness the past week, I haven't had time to do so. I didn't want to not pen something down on this last day of the year though, so I'm just going to go with my brain-flow.

The first quarter of the year was spent celebrating the birthdays of the husband and I. Kate joined us in our celebrations and it's made so much better with her around. Morton's for the husband's and Sentosa for mine. Sentosa was Kate's first time at the beach and it was so funny seeing her awkward response to stepping on grainy sand. Birthdays in the family is truly that much more special and fun with a child around and it's heartwarming to see all of us obliging Kate and allowing her to sing the birthday song over and over while sharing the candle-blowing with her. Her very own birthday bash was a blast - special thanks to the sister who helped pull it altogether; we gave her a fun-filled themed party with her very own Barney making an appearance. The memory lasted with her saying "Barney come to my party, I'm so happy" everytime she sees pictures and that more than makes all the preparations worthwhile!

Our lives have revolved around Kate since her birth and the year has obviously been tracked much by her developments. It's truly amazing how much she has grown! Her movements are more stable, she's had a haircut, she's been to Desaru on a short holiday. The most amazing and impressive growth, however, has got to be her speech. This girl is today able to speak bilingually in English and Mandarin with bits of Hokkien. She strings sentences together and expresses herself very well. She composes lyrics to songs that actually makee sense and doesn't fail to make me laugh. Kate's health has been on a roller-coaster this year with flus and fevers; but it is the recent episode of bacteria infection that really takes the cake. It was a most stressful time for the husband and I, and it also made me treasure my princess more (if that's possible?!) Having Kate in my life is truly the best blessing and I cannot give enough thanks to be blessed with her.

Speaking of blessings, it is of course a highlight in our lives this year to be blessed with news of our second pregnancy. The initial ride was not easy (to say the least!) but that's over and today, I'm already 31 weeks into the pregnancy with 9 more to go! Jake has been a beautiful baby and we were fortunate to have some lovely ultrascan pics of him and his side profile. He is more active than Kate and the husband and I are truly looking forward to his arrival, where he will join our little family and make our 3+1 = 4! Kate has been very good in the news of her little brother and it will be very exciting when Jake arrives and changes our lives.

On the job front, the year has been generally smooth-sailing. I've settled into my new job and having been there for more than a year, it's really not that new anymore. I have been pretty lucky and I'm thankful for the opportunities. Hope the new year brings more challenges and growth for me.

The husband - my pillar of strength and support, my lover, my friend and the man whom I love with all my heart. Our year has been mostly good and it's not possible without mutual respect. He embarked on his studies this year and I saw him soldiering with everything nearly spilling out of his plate with little complaints. The year ahead will bring more challenges, and I hope there will be more ups than downs. We will also be moving into our own home - a very exciting and big step which I'm looking forward to.

Generally, I'm thankful for the year and I know that 2012 will be very fun, exciting and awesome!

Happy new year to one and all, may you have a great new year ahead.

Staycation is still a holiday and time well-spent together

Ever since we did the heartbreaking thing called cancelling our holiday, the husband and I have been exploring options of things we can do with our time off. Drive to M'sia? No more rooms at Genting. Short trip to anywhere else? Too troublesome to research and the husband wasn't too keen. With 2 days off, our back-up plan was to hit the zoo with Kate one of the days.

"I've always wanted to try staying there", says the husband & with that, he went ahead to book a night's stay at Shangri-La. I think we spent a good time at the hotel, maxing out the facilities and staying in. And Kate is much bigger now (compared to our last staycation, about a year ago) and able to enjoy the pool ("I don't want bath-tub!") as well as the luxe food offerings.

Here's our staycation, pictorially:

Kate explores the room upon checking-in. "I can see the swimming pool!"

We stepped out of the hotel premise (one & only time) & strolled to some food court along Orchard Road for a cheapo lunch.

Post-lunch, we stocked up on some snacks. Kate insisted on carrying a bag.

A late afternoon nap - exhausted after a swim (more like play) at the pool.

Mucking around while the husband went for a run. From this pic, I reckon that Kate and I do look rather alike.

Dinner!"I want to eat pijja!" Actually, the whole night was a non-stop of her "I want tos"

Happy with full tumtums

Still happy (I think she was on a sugar high) with the snowman

A family shot with the giant Christmas tree (that's my effort of including Jake)

The next morning - breakfast with Kate. (She doesn't like scrambled eggs)

We were so full, I made us take a short walk around. Kate poses with the pool.

Dressed and ready to go! "I want to go swimming pool!" This is the last time she'll be wearing this suit. It's gotten too tight already.

While the husband was checking-out, Kate poses by the tree in the lobby. "You take a picture of me and Christmas tree, ok?"

Jia (in-progress)

"It's beginning to look more like our home now." - said the husband in a text message to me 2 weeks back. Building a home - in all senses - is not easy. There are so many details that we need to take care of and because I'm pregnant (old wives' tale of preggies to avoid renovations/home-moving of any sorts), the husband has undertaken the whole task of doing up our home. I guess it helps that I trust and allow him to do everything anyway - it's too much hassle for both to be as involved.

Much more has been been done since my last update, and I'm happy to present some pictures!

Our living room - our general theme is east-meets-west, though most people who's seen the home says "it's very oriental". You see our main sofa (gui fei bed), our beautiful pink feature wall, and our curtains.

Our beautiful living room lights! (There are two and one has blown - yup, already! Gee.)

Our very space-economical dining table. DIY-ed by the husband.

Our utility room - ala our walk-in wardrobe. Nothing much has been done except for this lay-in window bed. It's also Kate's indoor playground. "Shooooo!"

Children's room - I chose the curtains! ALL ON MY OWN! (heh)

Doorway to master bedroom - you can see our carpet!

Our timber blinds and you can also see our floral ball of light

Our master bedroom balcony - you can kinda make out our fake garden (yup, that's artificial grass) and our colour-matched curtains (note: I did not agree to the curtain material. We did initially, then the husband changed the material without consulting me. =_=)

More progress soon, hopefully!

Long Christmas Weekend

Finally, have the opportunity to pepper our weekend with pictures.

23rd December 2011 - Annual Christmas Party with the husband's gang of pirates. This year, we did it at MBS. We had our usual fanfare of food, followed by the traditional gift exchange. As always, the children are the ones who take the limelight, enjoying themselves the most!

Our first pic of the night - Christmas isn't Christmas without our family complete (+1!)

Happy Kate with her presents!

Opening presents is serious work

The kids crowding around a present

My princess & I

WAGs (with +2!)

The princesses

The complete group of us

The husband and I - we managed to sneak in a shot of us

Check out the past years' parties here.

24 December 2011 - Christmas Eve party at the bestie's

My happy reindeer with the Christmas tree

25 December 2011 - Christmas Day. It was very lazy and this picture encapsulated what it was about - errands and snipping toenails, with plenty of love!


26 December 2011 - Boxing Day - the husband and I made an effort to head out (just us 3+1) and it was a nice day of our little family only.

Brunch @ Dempsey (it was 2pm). "I want this one, this one, this one..."

Enjoying her apple juice

Sharing fries with Papa.
She spots Papa's dirty mouth and goes "EEEEEE!" She then picks up her serviette on the table and offers it to him, "Clean your mouth" - haha! Cracked me up!

Us

Mussels, fries, BLT sandwich & steak burger. 2 healthy juices.

A series of candid, happy shots of my loves. I love how happy they look; melts my heart.

After our makan, we explored the furniture shops at Dempsey, scouting for suitable pieces for our home. Then we headed to town to spend some Christmas gift-money to top up items, again, for our new home. It was tiring and bustling with people (post-Christmas sales!), and I reckon it was a fruitful trip. Kate took a nap (she was soo cranky & desperately needed one) - the husband had gone ahead to soldier on with the shopping and I sat in a quiet spot with Kate asleep in my arms. It's been a long time since I did this (compared to when she was a mere little one and I always held her in my arms) and I loved it. I miss the quiet peace on her face as she sleeps, I love watching her & feeling her rhythmic breathing against my body. I observe her little nose, her eyelashes and I hold her tightly and I want to remember this feeling of love and snuggling forever. It's made even more special when Jake moves about. It's the most amazing feeling in the world with both my babies tucked close to me - gosh, so much love!

We headed out of town when the errands were done and treated Kate to her much-loved pizza. The husband also bought her a pair of training chopsticks which she used with much expertise - my clever little princess! Here's a (not great) shot of her popping tomato into her mouth.


And that ended our long Christmas weekend. I cannot emphasize how lovely it was, because it's spent with loved ones, doing simple and not-so-simple things.

Love.

Christmas day

It's been a pretty quiet and peaceful one so far.

Last night, the husband, Kate and I headed to the bestie's for their party. We ate, watched the kids run amok opening their presents, played with balloons and toys, drank and made merry. It was quite nice to be immersed in such cacophonic mess with the bestie's family and all the children (8 in all).

It was just before midnight when the husband kissed me and wished me "Merry Christmas". Kate was already asleep and I was dozing off, still feeling the effects from staying up late the eve of Christmas eve. I woke up about 2.30am and had to change to longer pyjamas bottoms and popped some meds - didn't feel that great. I gulped down water and tried to go back to sleep. Kate didn't sleep soundly either - she whimpered and sleep-talked at random moments through the night and I made sure to hug her, pat her, or simply held her hand. Not too sure what she was dreaming about, but what was interesting was that she spoke bilingually in her sleep!

The husband took care of Kate when she woke up which allowed me to sleep in - utter bliss! He even prepared carbonara for us to eat! I felt very loved.

We then spent the next two hours doing nothing at all - watching tv (him), watching YouTube (Kate), doing the laundry (him & I), packing (me).... It was very lazy. After the laundry was cleared, we headed out for a simple lunch and right now, I'm lying on the sofa of our new home. We had come for the husband to fix up the dining table. Kate's been dropped off at my mom's.

I'm enjoying the breeze and must say it's very very cool (fringing on cold). There's some getting used to being in this new place and I cannot wait for it all to be done and for us to move in.

This Christmas, it's the little things and acts of love that make life so great. I'm savouring Jake's active movements in my belly, thankful that we are blessed with another child and looking forward to his arrival. I'm loving my family to bits. I'm also very thankful that Kate is recovered and no longer the sick, inactive and unhappy child she became when struck with the bad bug.

Hope you are loving your day, whatever it is you are doing.

Christmas Eve

It's now late evening and I'm waiting for the husband to be back from an errand. After being irritable for the past 2 hours, my daughter is taking a much-needed nap. I'd just taken a hot shower and popped some grapes, my hair is washed and I feel clean. I had a really, really late night yesterday (4am!) & I'm suffering from it already - my nose is stuffed & leaky all at once and I think I've passed it to Kate already. We are late for the bestie's home Christmas party but we will head there once the husband is back.

I just want to remember, amidst these random thoughts, that what matters at Christmas is love. Love among friends, family and important people who truly matter to you.

Happy Christmas.

Holiday mood

Christmas is really coming! How very exciting.

Though our family holiday is not materialising (boo) we still have plenty to be thankful and happy about. Kate may be slightly unwell, but she is getting better! (No vomit last night yay) - and her antibodies are strengthened anyway right? Work is in cruise mode (controlled by me)... and we're definitely ready for play!

The princess and I - striped out (check out my fatty bombom arms!)

In the midst of Kate's sick-saga, I didn't have the time to update on baby Jake. I went for my 29th week visit last week and today, I'm officially in my third trimester. Explains the sudden ache in my calves (it's as if I did plenty of exercise - as if. I haven't. They're just very sore!) and of course, my back is a constant pain (literally). I'm also feeling like a fatty bombom (refer to above pic of my arms! & fishball face!). The husband (barely) tried to massage my achey calves (upon my request. With his feet!) and I hope he feels abashed reading that his (lousy) attempt is on record and graded F. (F = futile, fail.) (Ok, so I shouldn't have made the request only upon lights out but still...)

On another funny note, I was complaining to him (while laying down - on my side, as I should be) that I couldn't breathe (!!) & I was b*tching about how heavy I felt...

Husband: how much weight have you gained?
Me: Eight
Husband: Only?!
Me: grins happily in the dark, heart does a happy skip
Husband: People put on like TWENTY kgs right?!
Me: heh heh heh

I gotta love the silly husband sometimes. He so does not get how sensitive I get about weight (men!) but his honest thoughts assure me and well, make me happy. Heh.

I'm also getting more tired and tired. I cannot believe I have another (approx) 11 weeks to go. O.M.G. How very exciting!

My blooming belly. It's GROWN - compare it to before!

Being an adult is not that fun

Kate first vomitted last Thursday. It's been a whole week since and the husband will be bringing her for a follow-up check-up later today.

Kate vomitted again (she's been at it consistently at least once every single day) last night. For the second night in the row (was it only the 2nd night? Consecutively makes it seem far worse), the husband and I got right into action. He had to give her a thorough shower (puke in hair - yucks) while I cleaned up the mess in the room & floor & bed. (For people who don't really change their bedsheets very regularly, the husband and I have totally more than made up for it this past week.)

It's so exhausting and emotionally draining to see her vomit and be unwell. Sigh.

SO. Anyway. After putting K to sleep (not tough at all since she was already weak with exhaustion *sad) the husband and I had a heart-to-heart and we made the (very) painful decision to cancel our holiday to Hanoi.

Boo. Hoo. Hoo.

Logically, I know it's better for us, especially Kate because she is obviously still not 100%. But the husband and I had been so very very looking forward to a holiday (!) that it really broke our hearts to make this very responsible decision.

Sigh.

So. No. More. Holiday. What I'm feeling is a HUGE contrast to how I was feeling then.

I feel rather selfish feeling this down, considering I really ought to be more concerned that Kate is well. But, I cannot help myself. This is the 2nd time in 2 months that I'd met with travel setbacks. Sigh.

But I know it's the right thing to do.

And on a rather seemingly but not really random note, to the sister: lotsa love ok? Whatever your decision is, I always love and support you.

My sick princess

Managed to coax her to make some faces for me, in the midst of her feeling very unwell, still. Really such a comfort and relief that she is still able to smile that sweet smile of hers.



The last one is my favourite of the lot!

VOMIT

Moments after I digested my thoughts off my last entry yesterday, I laid in bed with Kate. For all of 2 minutes. After which she did this ginormous vomit of all the porridge, bread & milk she had consumed.

Sad.

Stay-home Mom

That's pretty much what I've been the past 5 days. Ever since Kate was hospitalised, I'd not stepped into the office and instead, spent my time thinking about her, worrying about her, being with her and/or doing things for her. There's been little reprieve and I've been so stressed and tired. Of course, I know I'm not alone - the lucky girl has so many people praying for her, loving her and offering their help; but as with most important matters, what truly matters is what the husband or I do.

Since last Thursday, the husband and I played tag. He'd do the night shift and I'd do the day. I'm luckier in the sense that when it's night, I simply come home from the hospital and go to sleep. What I feel - the emotional distress & loneliness & fear lying alone in the bed - is pretty much self-conjured. He, on the other hand, sleeps poorly at the hospital with Kate and in the daytime, still finds time to run certain errands that has to be done. Needless to say, we were elated to hear that she can be discharged.

I'm happy to say that Kate's made progress since her discharge yesterday. True, she is uber whiney and "Mummy" never sounded so lovely yet grating all at once (try hearing it 25x repeat in a span of 3minutes, then repeat again after another 5-10), cos as I shared with the bestie, I'll rather she be whiney than revert to that lifeless form she was in laying in hospital. She refuses milo, her once-upon-a-time favorite drink - it's probably due to the fact that she associates it with vomiting now. She's also smart enough to know that she cannot eat much and while she does ask for bread, she doesn't badger us for more when we offer her some (what amount we ascertain her stomach can take).

Today, her entire day's intake works out to be:

• About one & half slice of red-bean bread - where she pretty much picked out the beans to eat, leaving the bread untouched
• About half a pack of H20 - sipped sparingly through the day
• Some meds - 2 doses of the anti-vomitting medicine before food
• 2 feeds of plain white porridge - probably about 5 mouthfuls each time
• 2 pieces of Koko Krunch cereal (a reward for taking her vomit medicine)
• 1 fruit pastille - which she sneakily helped herself to (!) and yes, I've since moved that pack away so that she cannot access it anymore
• Sips of warm water
• Night feed of soy-milk

It's really not much, nor very nutritional; but she's still retching occasionally (but no more throwing up since yesterday) and I really do not dare to let her consume more. Keeping some down is better than none. Her diarrhea is also getting better, but she's still going on average 2x a day.

What really rocks though, is that she is talking and whining and she's even laughed a little and able to smile for me. It really breaks my heart to see her unhappy and unwell, yet not being able to do anything at all but hold her and will the bad, bad bug to go away.

Spending these days with her really tires me, because like I said, there is no reprieve. I'm constantly working - this is on top of the work I've had to attend to; random calls, checking of emails - and it doesn't help that I'm physically not so nimble - my breaking back due to pregnancy. And the stress of not being too close in contact with her (I don't even want to imagine the complications) resulting in my washing of hands a million times a day; me not being able to hug or kiss her properly... o yes, and the dumb rain that doesn't go away resulting in laundry pilling up (no ordinary laundry, it's plenty of hospital-contaminated clothes!) - ugh. My brain doesn't stop moving!

Makes me wonder whether I can make it as a stay-home Mom? I'd harbored dreams of being so, the first was when I had to leave Kate when she was 3months+ old and I had to go back to work. And every time I hear someone in that role, I'll sigh with envy. I know it's not all a bed of roses - and it's easy to go mental what with the fixed routine of things. But I'm also aware of every little thing that the girl does, without hearing snippets from people. I witness for myself her antics and movements through the day. I get to see her grumpy/sleepy/happy face. And in turn, she sees mine too. Will she remember how much time we spent together in years to come? Does she know how much we love her?

I'm going to hit the sack now and not think too much of the baton I'm passing on to the MIL & the husband's cousin who will be holding the Kate-fort tomorrow. I do know that I'll be on tenterhooks (my half-glass-empty side will imagine the worst and expect that phone call) and I will be missing Kate very, very much.

The husband says

She is the best thing that's happened to us

Home sweet home

Kate is still listless and tired and quiet and not that normal. But hey, she is off the drip, with no offensive needle poked into her little hand, and she is breathing the natural air that we all do outside the walls of the hospital. Yay. Now we pray hard and keep nursing her so that the little one will start bouncing again.

He goes down but stays afloat

The husband, that's who.

After weeping myself to sleep last night (it's the fatigue, stress and hormones at work!), my sleep was interrupted at 3am by the phone. I'd 2 missed calls and it was the message tone beeping through that cracked through me and I read, through blurry vision that the husband had texted me "I just took an injection. Am vomiting and having diarrhea" - I rang him immediately and the exchange was very brief: he asked if I was feeling unwell (no) and said he gotta go rest and told me to do the same. He was very worried that I might have caught something too since he did.

I had pretty sucky sleep after that and was up by 8 and outta the house by 9. Our exchange, by the car, was professional (what Kate had eaten/how she had pooped/vomitted), I asked how he was (tired) and the husband zoomed off home for necessary rest while I trudged up the familiar steps into the hospital.

I spent the day by her side. The husband got some needed rest (6 uninterrupted hours - the first in the week) and by 730pm, he was back. I love this strong man.

Hopefully, tomorrow we can give Kate a positive response when she says "I don't want to sleep here, I want to go home" - keeping my fingers crossed.

Working as a team

That's what people become (a team) and do (work together) when they get together. And nothing seals the deal more each time there is something happy/sad. When you get hitched at the altar; when you welcome a new life you two created; when you fight real bad; or when you are stressed and having to deal with reality together. The last is what the husband and I are going through right now.

Kate is in hospital for the third night and it is very heart-wrenching to hear her say "I don't want to eat", "I don't want to stay here", "I want to go home". Besides being physically tired (the poor husband has come home for only 4 hours over the past three days), what guts me is how the blardy bacteria is draining my girl of her usual self. She doesn't want to run around, she refuses food, she asks for water, she sleeps and when she isn't sleeping, she lays still drained of life.

I lean on the husband for love, for hope and strength. We have to keep going, we are a team.

Bacteria infection

Thinking back, it could have been anytime this week that Kate got sicker. It started with a fever last weekend, that subsided within a day and moved on to the usual flu symptoms of leaky nose and cough. I didn't think much of it cos it seemed as if she was going through the course of a regular flu. I'm guessing that it didn't help that her immune system was already lower.

I remember telling the husband that Kate did a mini vomit of phlegm on Tuesday (as he was away that night) & he pondered aloud, "why will she vomit?" - perhaps it had started then. The husband then had a very long day at work which started at 1.30am on Thursday morning & when I dropped Kate off at the aunt's on Thursday morning, she was rather quiet. She pouted as I said goodbye and as I relayed this to the husband, I felt it rather uncharacteristic of her - again, another sign that she was unwell.

The husband picked Kate up in the afternoon on Thursday and yet another odd sign of Kate being unwell was her whining "Mommy, I want to go home" when I rang the aunt's. This has never happened before as she enjoys the company of the kids at the aunt's. Kate was also uncharacteristically quiet the whole of yesterday. Very odd.

By the time we reached home in the evening (after dropping by the hospital to visit the MIL who did a minor procedure), Kate was typically whiney (as is, when unwell) and at 6pm, the husband fed her a piece of bread with spread. I was eating my dinner and she refused that, preferring (demanding) for bread instead. I then kept feeding her mouthfuls of water to hydrate her.

The first time it happened was probably about, after 8pm? I had just taken my shower and stepped to the room. I remember that clearly because I still had my towel around my shoulders (fortunate thing). One moment Kate was walking towards me, the next she was coughing, then BLEAAGHHH - her first vomit. I quickly took the towel I had on me to clean her face & hands. She was crying from fear & confusion and I kept comforting her while carrying her to the toilet and enroute, she did another one, this time in the kitchen. I reached the bathroom by then and washed her up, all the time speaking to her and assuring her that she was very clever to be vomiting out the bad things, & that she will feel better soon.

After changing her into a new set of pyjamas, I settled Kate in the room to read and she understood that she was unwell. She kept repeating things like "I'm not feeling well... I want to sleep..." And she also told me "I want to vomit some more" - each time she said that, I led her to the bathroom where the husband held her and encouraged her to vomit. She didn't do anymore big vomits, though she kept saying that she had to vomit more and each time she said that we'd lead her to the bathroom. It broke my heart when she said "I'm scared, protect me" and the husband and I will stand by her and whoever was nearer to her will hold her tightly and say "yes, we love you and will protect you". Amidst the chaos, I remember thinking how smart she was to be able to identify her feeling of unwell and tell us when she wanted to vomit.

She did another 2 rounds of vomit & through the entire night, we did a total of 3 changes where the vomit had stained her clothes. The final one was after lights out, when she vomited on the bed the entire content of her milk feed (only little!) - the husband and I then made a decision (it was 10pm) to bring her to the hospital. Within half an hour, the husband had left with her and I was left behind to change the bedsheets.

I tried to rest & nap, expecting more to be done when they returned, only to have the husband ring me at 11pm to say 'she has bacteria infection, they are admitting her to monitor the situation." The husband stayed by her side all night long, while I slept poorly - while making arrangements with the office to be excused from work/ making mental lists on what to pack for the husband and Kate the next day...

The girl is now asleep in the ward and I'm whiling time away on this entry. It's so sad to see her hands being bundled up - one on the drip, the other to prevent her from picking at the drip - and her lying in this foreign bed. I know the husband is uber tired and I guess this is just a small part of being a parent.

I'm relieved that she was diagnosed quickly enough (great decision to bring her to the doc's last night) and she's at least undergoing treatment already. We don't know when she'll be discharged, but she's a strong girl and will be fine, I know!

Tired

That's what we are.

I think the husband slept a total of 6 hours in the past 48 hours. And while I'm lucky to have had more hours of sleep, mine was disrupted and the amount of driving & shuttling to/fro to ensure that Kate is taken care of, work is not neglected - I'm truly exhausted.

I'm also heavier - my back is more achey and my legs are beginning to feel abit sore and with the lack of sleep + Kate's flu bug that I've had to contend with is really making me feel like I want to sleep for a thousand years. Except that Jake will move it move it so much that I'll wake up abruptly and wonder what disturbed my sleep.

But. We're ploughing on and there are many things to be happy about - the fact that Kate is a (whiney) darling, there is plenty of love around (random sms-es of concern from the sister), happy memories & pictures of Kate which never fails to bring a smile, little pockets of moments with the husband where I get to blabber on about anything & everything, a new home to look forward to, a holiday and more Christmas festivities & celebrations to look forward to...

It is December, afterall and tis' the season to be jolly! Ho ho ho! (self-cheerleading attempt)

Time with Kate

I took the afternoon off yesterday to look after Kate as the MIL had a doctor's appointment, so we spent the afternoon together as I brought her out to do some Christmas shopping.

430pm: Kate enjoys her afternoon snack (pandan cake) while we make our way to town.

We arrive at 111. She delights in going up and down the stairs on her own. "Don't hold my hand!" She also chose to wear this T-shirt "monkey one!"

111 was unexciting, so we headed to Centrepoint. She entertains herself with a toy Elmo. And the rest of the toys on display.

We head up to the children's department where she was wowed by a whole box of Lego. She tells me "I'm fixing the animals" as she plays with them.

I manage to settle 2 kiddo presents & we head back to 111 where we had dinner with my girlfriends. Kate received presents and had fun playing with her new toy & she was so tired she fell asleep on the drive home, and stayed asleep even after I carried her from the car to the house and wiped her face & changed her into her pyjamas. The husband was away last night so I had Kate all to myself, and we had a rather rough night with her coughing.

She woke up at 4.30am coughing (very) violently and even threw up a ball of phlegm. I switched off the aircon in a bid to help ease her breathing, fed her a dose of cold meds & after wiping the small mess up very quickly, I told Kate "it's ok, Mommy cleaned you up already, close your eyes and go to sleep" ... & thankfully she did.

I heard the clock chime 5 before I went back to sleep. Yawn.