Mokka is making a move

Since Oskar has been in the house, the kitty cats have kept their distance. They've been hiding upstairs when Oskar was up only showing up when they were hungry (really hungry).

But today, something changed. Mokka came while Oskar was in his bouncer. She sat nearby and quietly watch him sleeping. 

So sweet. Only missing the Muffin to complete the picture. 

There is one good thing about the cold

I've been complaining about the cold weather since we are in France, even more as I caught a cold within 24hours. Yet, there is one good thing about it. My fingers are finally not swollen anymore. This means I can wear my wedding ring again. It's good to feel it on my finger after too many months.

Winter style

With the cold weather in Europe, Oskar has to wear more layers of clothes than a body. While it's a full workout to get his moving arms in the sleeves, not to mention the moving legs in the trousers, he does look very cute in winter outfits. 

Here is one of them.

More to come as we dig into all the outfits offered by my parents and Daad. They have been incredibly generous.

L'union fait la force

When facing the invasion of their territory by a creature that captures the attention of everyone, Mokka and Muffin reunited. 

They are hiding together upstairs on the treadmill. Ready to run maybe?

I had nearly forgotten how cute the kitty cats can be :)

I had forgotten

How cold it can be in winter. 

It seems I prefer to sweat over being frozen to the bones.

And yes, after a year of keeping my hair wet after the shower to help cooling down, I will dry then here so they don't freeze on my head. 

Bigger plane is always better

The connection in Paris was quite easy. Most likely because the luggage were taken care of and Joy and Yann sacrificed their sleep for an early breakfast at the airport with us. Obviously time is flying in good company and made me forgot about the big poop from Oskar which spread everywhere on his back as he was in the baby carrier. Isn't it fun to completely change a baby in the airport toilet? Especially at 6am when it's cold?

After they dropped us in the terminal, I went to the lounge to wait. Terminal 2G is at the far end of the airport and feels more like a warehouse. Anyhow they had a small lounge where I was welcome by two very attentive ladies from Air France. Once again, they helped me find a seat in the crowded lounge, they brought me a drink, they watched over my bags as I went to change Oskar and they even helped carrying my bags to the gate. I really have to say the way the Air France team took care of us made the whole trip better. I know why I like to fly with them, not only because they are French :)

The flight to Brest was short, only one hour, but tough on both of us. We were tired and in a smaller aircraft, the pressure on the ears at take off and landing was felt stronger. Oskar cried a lot and wouldn't drink the water to help with the ears. I was quite happy to land and be greeted by my parents. 

They came with two cars so we could easily bring home all the luggage, car seat, stroller and baby.

Now it's time to settle down and get ready for Oskar's next meal.

Forget the car, let's buy an aircraft

Today Oskar and I left Singapore for Brest. We embarked into a 25 hour journey door to door. I know it because I had to estimate how much milk and how many diapers we would need for the trip.

Luckily for us, Oskar was due for food just before we left to the airport. Smoothly, his Papa gave him a bath, fed him and we rushed out to the taxi. The three if us, and two suitcases, one trolley, one car seat, one stroller and one diaper bag. I think last time I was so loaded when traveling was when I went to China.

At the airport we checked in everything all the way to Brest so I don't need to worry about it in Paris. I was happy that I could keep the stroller all the way to the plane. This clearly made my life easier as I had quits some things to carry still. For example what must be the biggest diaper bag loaded with everything I could think of to face any situation with Oskar.

We waited into the lounge until it was time. It turned out quite stressful as Oskar was wide awake and very cranky. I could see the people looking at us hoping the baby was not on their flight. We had missed his bed time and consequently was asking for an extra meal. I obliged 10min before they called us for boarding. In 30min, he was fed, diaper was changed, and we cleared security. I was given priority, not only because of my frequent flyer status but also because I had a baby in a stroller. And that's a separate security check.

Although I called yesterday and confirmed the bassinet and an aisle seat, at check in my seat had changed to a window. Traveling alone I would not take a window seat as I need to get up frequently. With Oskar that's an absolute no go. They said they would ask the passenger next to me to swap. Of course when I arrived at the gate, no one knew about it. As it was getting quite late already, someone walked with me to the plane to get this sorted out. He also carried some if my bags once I dropped the stroller. That was really nice and a life savior. I would have needed another pair if hands.

Once on board there was some confusion as to where I should sit. Eventually they moved us. Not to business class (I wish) but to an aisle seat with the bassinet. The crew moved all my bags and even took the bottles to the kitchen to ensure they stat vertical during take off.

After take off, they installed the bassinet, brought down everything I needed and I could peacefully install Oskar for the night.

To note, the bassinet is not that big. It felt like Oskar was filling it almost and by looking at the other bassinets I could see some kids had their feet out. Not complaining. Having a bed for Oskar is fantastic.

I don't know if it's because it was his night time, or if it was the vibrations, or because the cabine was dark most of the time, or the fact that I put him bigger diapers that can contain more, or if the gods heard our prayers but Oskar slept nearly the whole flight. Unbelievable. I had prepared myself for crying and angry look of other people, but nothing. He slept after take off. I fed him right when he woke up not leaving him the time to realize what was happening. Twice he went back to sleep after feeding. Yes, I was happy and relieved.

It did help as well that the flight was one hour shorter. Thanks to good winds we were early. Who knows what might have happened during that hour. 

From my side, this was a very unusual trip. Normally I would watch 3-4 movies to kill the time as I can't sleep. This time, not one movie. I watched my son sleeping to ensure I would be ready any time he cries and limit the disturbance for the other passenger. I also got some sleep. Not much but as I've been sleeping in 2-3 hour blocks in the past two months, doing the same on a plane worked quite well. This should have killed me but instead I found myself quite rested. Let's see tomorrow once the jet lag kicks in. 

I already mentioned that the Air France crew was very helpful. During the whole flight they checked on me and whether I needed anything. I have to say that it was great to have such an attentive crew.

I'm curious to see how it goes on the short flight to Brest. 

Has it always been that noisy?

Now that I am home with Oskar the whole day, I started to notice that the neighborhood is very noisy.  Even more when I can compare with the silence around 3-4am.

There is a background noise of the water fountains in the condo from 7am to 10pm. 

There is the construction site across the street from 9am until 9pm.

There is the traffic roughly from 6am until 10pm.

There are the birds singing from sunrise to sunset. The Asian koel can be very noisy.

There is the fumigation of the condo against bugs every other Tuesday afternoon.

There are the dogs of the newly arrived residents that bark regularly at each other... For all of us to enjoy.

And more...

I cannot help wondering. Was the area always that noisy? Or has it changed?

Or is it me who's now super sensitive to any big noise that could wake up Oskar, especial if he's finally asleep?

Forced to shop for winter clothes

I haven't been shopping since forever. At least for me. All I've been buying in the past 6 months was baby related.

Friday Oskar and I are flying to France. And with the trip to Europe and the cold weather approaching it was time for me to face an unpleasant reality.

I don't fit in my winter clothes. I gained weight during the pregnancy and as my doctor nicely said: it took 9 months to gain it, it will take another 9 months to lose it.

So 2 months after birth? what do I wear when I'm in Europe where the weather is significantly colder than in Singapore?

I managed to find a few sweaters and tshirts that are large enough in my closet.

I will borrow a few things from my mother and sister.

Inevitably I will have to go shopping for some winter clothes. It's a pity because I will wear those clothes for only 6 weeks. But I cannot go around in my summer maternity clothes.

I'm curious to see the winter 2013 collections :)

Foot reflexology

With Alice visuting, the two of us decided to go for our favourite activity when in vacation in Asia: massage.

Normally we would do one a day or every other day. But this year with Oskar ruling the agenda, we could only do one together. We decided for foot reflexology for 40min and shoulders for 20min. The hope was that Alice would be completely relaxed for her flight later and that for me, I would give a treat to the few muscles I have left. Yep, pregnancy got rid of many of them.

Within a few minutes of massage I was in pain. The masseur was kindly mentioning which area of my body was aching. I felt pain on the feet for the areas connected to: lung, eyes, shoulders, neck, stomach, liver, lower back, kidney, and many more.

You could argue that basically he meant that I have to get a full body scan to find what's wrong or give my body proper rest. Alive decided however it was simpler than that. I just had pain in the feet from all the walking with Oskar.

Whatever the cause, after 40min my lungs may not have been cured, but I felt I had lighter feet and legs. That's already a lot.

The shoulders, on the other hand, were very "stiff" as per the masseur. Consequently it was 20 min of torture. I should feel the benefit of it tomorrow. That one, no doubt on what's causing the sore muscles: the little guy I have to carry around every so often is responsible. 

Un pas en avant, deux pas en arrière

Oskar is ruling the agenda of each day. His schedule is basically deciding for us when we are busy (with him) and when we are (could be) free.

Each time he seems to have a steady rhythm, it changes all of a sudden.

He had one, then 10 days ago he went nuts for two days and changed rhythm. We thought it was most likely the 6-week growth spurt. 

For a week, he was pretty consistent with his new rhythm. We liked that one very much as Oskar was sleeping 7-9 hours at night. Meaning we were getting 5-6 hours of sleep in one go. That's super precious for new parents.

Until two days ago. Suddenly he woke up at 11pm starving. We fed him.

He woke up again at 3am starving. We fed him.

He woke up again at 6am starving. We fed him again. 

Somehow, Oskar seems to be hungry every 3-4 hours including at night. Obviously this means we have to get up in the middle of the night, sometimes twice. In other words, we are back to sleeping by shift of 2-4 hours. And that sucks :(

Why is Oskar changing rhythm? It's a mystery.

It could be another growth spurt. Let's see how long this hungry period last.

It could be that he now needs more food. He is certainly getting bigger. 

It could be that the Pampers bought in Asia are not as good as the ones from Europe causing him to wake up for a diaper change instead of sleeping through.

It could be the phase of the moon or bad karma.

Whatever it is, I hope it won't last too long so we can resume with longer sleep periods. We are both exhausted and it feels we are stepping backwards compare to the beginning of the week.

Keep your fingers crossed. We need all the positive thinking possible.

Well, until we fly to France and he will be jetlagged... 

People with no kids don't know

We were laughing already when we were hearing those stories about parents with kids, but now that we have one on our own, we laugh even more.
Have a good laugh on this Sunday!

Oskar, 7 weeks already

Time is flying for both baby and parents. 

Exploring new possibilities

For a few days now, Oskar has been trying to turn to his side from lying on his back. Everyday he is making progress. It's impressive to watch all the energy he puts into lifting and turning his body. It's funny to see how quickly he returns to his starting position as soon as he lets go.

Something tells me, we will soon be running behind him.

Nail art of the month

It's never too early to express creativity...

Delivery from Belgium

Alice and Ante arrived yesterday. They stayed one night with us before leaving for Vietnam this morning. It was a short night, partially because they had to leave at 6am to catch their flight, partially because our cute buddle of joy decided to stay awake until past midnight. (Yes our patience has been put to test)

They brought with them one extra bag. Its content is highly valuable to us: a whole bunch of products from the company shop (which we miss very much here in Singapore), gifts for Oskar - our superbaby - and chocolate !!!!! 

Thanks Auntie Alice!