We finally had some family time this weekend, after almost a month of "out-of-order-ness" due to a weekend trip back to Ipoh, Malaysia, a 4D3N church camp to KL and two weeks of flu and its aftermath. With the last one being the killer, because it was the first time our small family of three were all down. The trips were exciting but the degree of anxiety was nothing less. I am an extremely steady person especially after becoming a wife and mother, I crave routine, predictability and orderliness. Sounds super boring I know, but with a baby in tow, trust me, sometimes life is much better that way.
Anyway, we decided to bring Kah Yen out since she has been extremely clingy and cranky at home these days. We have to carry her all the time. Sometimes we managed to sit her in front of her toys, but five minutes later we will see her trip-trot, trip-trot to ever corner of the house looking for us. Once Daddy managed to sneak in the bathroom to take a bath while she was playing with her kitchen set, one minute later I found her sitting outside the bathroom floor chanting "Daddy carry, Daddy carry" till Daddy finally came out.
Both husband and I do not like too crowded places. Although the place we stay is considered quite central, we are like from the outskirts. We hardly go to City Hall or Suntec or Orchard unless we absolutely need to - the crowd, the jam and the queue in the taxi stand are really not something we look forward to. We also made a point not to bring Kah Yen to shopping halls too often, afraid that she will become too materialistic when she grows up. For this Saturday, we decided to go to the new heartland mall NEX to have a simple dinner and get Kah Yen some new toys. The moment we landed at Kiddy Palace, we felt so relax because Kah Yen decided walking is much more fun than being carried. She was happily running around the entire toy section, taking things off the shelves, pushing all the buttons and putting them back before doing the same to the next one. She was amazed at the number and size of soft toys too. She took one of the mini mouse and held on it for quite some time. I was almost going to buy it for her because firstly I personally like mini mouse, secondly out of mummy guilty because so far the only soft toys I bought for her are two small Pooh and Piglet, and each costed me $6 only. But after about five minutes she put mini mouse back to the shelf and came to me for Baby Pooh. Thanks for her loyalty which saved my pocket.
After we bought her some toys, we had early dinner at Ajisen and then went to the department store to see if we can get anything out of the Great Singapore Sales. We came back before 8pm, Kah Yen was in bed by 830pm, and both of us enjoyed a good movie at home, something we had not done for a long time.
Sunday morning she finally went back to Sunday school after a three-week break. I can see that she had overcomed the initial anxiety she had for the first two times. She was not too overwhelmed when we entered the room, and she quickly sat down next to me when I asked her to. She was still quiet and mostly obversing during the singing session, but story-telling and craft activity sessions were still her favorite. Considering she was not feeling well for the past two weeks or so, her behavior at Sunday school was excellent.
Sunday afternoon is always the most relax time of all for our family. Kah Yen will usually nap within half an hour after coming back from church. Some days the whole family will take a nap together. Yesterday the husband and Kah Yen both slept for about two hours while I enjoyed the quietness in the study room. Later when they woke up, they decided to open the new toys we bought on Saturday, I lied on the bed to watch the both of them playing and fell asleep without knowing it. I woke up almost an hour later to find both of them still playing but the entire room was a mess - with kitchen sets on my bed, soft balls on my body, books on the floor and wet wipes flying around! and the word "Boredom" was clearly written on the husband's face. I was almost going to shout "Why did you allow her to mess up the room like this?" but considering at least he never woke me up from my nap, I swallowed my word and decided everyone should go out of the house to get some sun and fresh air.
So we took Kah Yen for a long walk in the stroller till we reached the nearest Macdonald - yes once in a while Daddy and Mummy will indulge in junk food. Kah Yen is the indirect beneficiary because she can receive her special treat - French fries. However, since it is a treat it has to come after her dinner. To do that, the husband had to cover the french fries with tissue paper when he brought his order to the table while I fed her porridge. When porridge was done she was more than happy to chew on the french fries and enjoying the view outside the window. Husband and I enjoyed our meal slowly and even had some small charts without being disturbed at all, which brought us the revelation that whenever we need to talk or meet a friend in the future, we should just bring her to Macdonald!
We took a long walk back, Kah Yen was in bed again by 830pm. She still needs to be patted to sleep (side effect of the flu) but she never woke up for the entire night, which is a big improvement.
That's how our weekend went. Nothing out of the ordinary I know, but family time, big or small, is always good.
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