Balls! Balls! Balls!

Our little Keira loves playing with balls!!! Big and small. Clutch them. Roll them. Throw them. Bounce them. Catch them. Kick them. Whatever it is; she can do it all! 

She even knows how to dribble the ball - and the right technique too!!! Although, she could do with a little more practice on her catching.

She has not turned 2 years old, and she yet seriously kicks a ball better than boys her age or older. She has such strong legs and technique. Must be inherited from her daddy and influenced by the football matches she tunes in to with daddy.

From the age of 6 months, when she hears the word "Goal!" or watches a football match on TV, her leg immediately strikes out a kick or two. Cognitive conditioning at it's best! 

Even till today... Don't believe me? Need proof? Watch this video...

Not to mention, at her toddling age, she is already a pro in dribbling!!! And why shouldn't she? She already gets plenty of of practice daily as kicking and dribbling is her favorite playtime activity :)

Looks like my little girl can be a striker!... I foresee after-school "soccer mommy" duties in the near future for me! Yippee!!! :)

Although, I also make sure she learns during playtime and use the balls as bait (since the interest is there).

Here are some of the "learning with balls" activities we enforce on our little toddler during playtime:

• Use different colored balls to reinforce the colors when you throw/kick it.
• The understanding of size and texture. eg. big, medium, small, biggest, smallest or hard, soft, smooth, rough etc.
• Counting with every bounce, throw or kick.
• Understanding the concept of words like in, on, through, up, down, next to, in front, behind, top, bottom while doing different activities with other items including baskets, cups, hoops etc.

What about you? What are some of the fun ways you teach your child to learn with balls?

Bella's 2nd Birthday

Keira was invited to her good friend, Bella's 2nd birthday party held at their home earlier today. 

Yes, at 1 year plus, she already has her little friends and receives party invitations :)

There were many other kids at the party too of course, but she zoomed in on the "white-looking" boy that was much older than her (apparently later on, I found out that the boy is the nephew of our 8th time ladies squash world champion.

 

Not shy at all anak dara Kevin Lee ni. Sebiji taste mak dia! She definitely knows what she wants - and just she wants to play with boys! Haha, Kevin Lee - daddy, oh, daddy, I'm sure you'll be watching her very, very closely now, won'cha?

My Crazy Fascination with Video Recording of Belly Movements

I just love feeling the little munchkin move all around in my belly - stretching all sorts of out to the sides - especially when I'm lying down in bed. It's the best feeling ever!!!

Hence, my latest fascination, or rather obsession, since hitting 3rd trimester is to watch my belly very closely for signs of cool baby movements and video record them with my Samsung Galaxy Note (pink limited edition). Every time I get a chance to lie down and feel the belly movement, my phone will be automatically on my hand on video mode waiting to capture some cool motions. Which explains why my phone memory is getting drained out.

Just the other week, I pulled out a few clips from my video collection, the more obvious ones with belly movements, and passed them along to my husband help put together a nice video montage of my belly moves.

You would figure that since he spends most of his time editing his WWE videos for fun for his forum, that when his wife asks him to put a short vignette together of our baby's movement in the belly, which she recorded, he would at least put together a good one. Hah! Think again *smirks*

From the few clips that I gave him, this is what he could montage together. *fail, fail, fail*

Not impactful as I had hoped... and what's with the "rock-a-bye baby" lullaby? I wanted it more hip and with beat and why is the video still running while the music is over? Just because it's for baby, doesn't mean baby songs need to be used. Even so, it should have beat since it's kicking footages. You watch the clip and see if you feel the same frustration! 

Or perhaps it's just me and my "crazy biatch" pregnancy hormones kicking in at this stage in the pregnancy that has set a much higher expectation of what the end product should look like and thinks it could have been done better and with much more thought, love and ummmph?

I've of course asked him to redo and spunk it up and even provided him with more raw video clips, but so far I have received nothing. I would do it myself if I had the software and skills as I've learned that these days, if you want anything done, you just gotta do it yourself. Hmmm, maybe I will... *gazes into thin air, trying to figure out when I will ever have the time to do it since "labor day" is approaching very, very soon*

For those of you who would like to try to video record your belly movements, trust me, you need to be very, very patient and calm cos when you least expect it, you'll probably see the best moves. Sometimes, you can hold have it on handheld record for for 5 minutes and just get 5 seconds of a good movement. That's considered lucky already! When you miss it, you'll be like "Oh, crap! Such a waste as that was a beautiful shot." - but keep at it, and try and try again... There are times when it can be frustrating as you have no good footage, and if you are like me, you may have the urge to tap, tap, tap your belly to get the baby moving... But make sure to tap with love and not vengeance as it's a fun activity and good playtime bonding with baby :)

The Herbal Chicken Soup Incident

Kevin got home today at about 6.00pm and he looked super tired as he has had a long day at work. Therefore, I let him rest and nap whilst I "rainbow" the house away. *just love my new household "toy!"*

At 9.45pm he suddenly sprung out of bed and exclaimed "Ohmigod! I forgot I bought herbal chicken during lunch, and it's still in my car! It's sure going stink up the car." And he fled out the door, face all scrunched up, to grab it and throw it away,  and worried of the sting smell of the soup will soak up his car... 10 minutes later he was back at our condo, with a OMG-you-won't-believe-it grin on his face.

In his hands, he was carrying the plastic containing the herbal chicken that he had bought earlier that afternoon (about eight hours ago), which had been left in his car all day long. Pranced the plastic in front of my face asking me to see and touch it. Oh, I touched the bag alright!!! It was still warm and the herbal chicken soup looked like he had just bought it.

"Baby magic!" was the first thing both of us exclaimed. Yeap, all the cool incidents that have happened/touched our lives since we found out we were pregnant (and believe me, there have been plenty! and we have friends and family as witnesses too) are can all be attributed to little "charmed one" brewing in my tummy. There's no way else to explain it as we've always never been that good luckwise. Oh, our little munchkin has got some awesome powers to spice up our lives! Now, she has shown us that she has "powers" to preserve food (that she probably wants to eat) for at least 8 hours. I guess 8 hours is the extent of the limit to her powers of food preservation, hence waking up daddy from his sleep to go get it before she can't control it anymore so that she can have it for dinner? 

Bravo my little charmed one, bravo! :) [I'm glad the Charmed series I love watching over and over has rubbed off on her - I wonder if she will have "active" powers once she's out *excited*] I mean, how else would you explain it, right???

We thought no further and just enjoyed our herbal chicken soup for dinner. Didn't even have to microwave it (as it was still nice and warm) and it tasted so goooood! Yummy, yummy, yummy, I got love in my tummy :)

Hide & Seek / Peekaboo with Daddy ~ from inside the womb!

Playtime with daddy has been going on since the early weeks when we could first her light flutters and movement. Yet, we are still amazed as to how playful our little "cupcake" is as she expects plenty of attention from us just for her and her alone ~ from inside the womb!

She finds ways to connect with Kevin practically every night (cos that's the only time she hears his voice and knows they can have some quality time I guess - she plays and hears mommy all the time throughout the day) and adapts to circumstances to make their play time something that daddy would look forward to every night. 

And what does mommy do during this time - one might ask??? Nothing!!! Mommy has no role whatsoever during this father-daughter bonding, aside from lying still in bed while they do their daily thing.

During the first and second trimester, her play date with daddy is just heart-meltingly cute! She would lift her head up from inside my belly so as there is a big bulge on one side of my belly as soon as she hears daddy's voice in the room. If neither my husband or I notices this, she will shake mommy so that mommy alerts daddy that she's waiting to play "hide and seek". To which, Daddy will have to rub the bulge, as if to say "I found you" and as soon as he finds her, she disappears again (making mommy's belly symmetrical again), repositions herself and then re-submerges at another spot. To which daddy has to find and tap her again. This will go on until she, and only she, is tired and stops the game... Believe me, it sometimes lasts more than an hour!
  
Once third trimester kicked in, the dynamics of their nightly "hide and seek" game changed as she's much bigger now and is spread across my belly. Hence, she has limited space to move about freely (as she used to) to appear, disappear and reappear. Yet, she still manages to find a new mode to play "peekaboo" with daddy - yes, via mommy's belly button!!!

She somehow finds a way to push my belly button out to announce "It's play time with daddy" and expects daddy to caress and talk to her every night. She will bring it back down and allow daddy some time to anxiously await her move to push my belly button back up. It's not as dramatic as the "hide and seek" game, but it's still just as cute as mommy watches the two of them do their nightly father-daughter bonding.

 

She is after all, as my husband keeps reminding me, "daddy's little girl"!!!

34 Weeks Pregnant

We're back at the hospital again today, and this time, the little one brewing in my belly went with a full stomach. So, there was no "drama queen" attitude and she faced the camera during the 4D ultrasound.

Before we get to her fetal updates... Every few weeks once, we will meet this Arab couple (the wife is pregnant with their 4th; and they will bring along their three boys.) at the hospital. They go to the same Ob/Gyn as us, so we'll be waiting at the front of the clinic about the same time. 

This works well for our little fetus as she, as we believe it, somehow likes the youngest of the three boys (he's probably 3 years old and the "naughtiest" of the lot ~ yes, of course she would be attracted to "bad boys"). Anyways, like previous occasions, the youngest of the three boys will always come close and sit next to me, even though there are plenty of empty seats elsewhere, including next to my husband. But he always conveniently chooses the one that's next to me, unless that's not available, the it would be the seat directly opposite of me and mumble some "small talk" (to which my little one will kick and respond to - I know, I feel the kicks in response to his small talk). After that, he will just look at my belly, look at me and then smile the biggest, happiest smile. It's so heart-melting and he's so cute! This usually follows with a shy and manja kinda look, as if he is communication (or perhaps "courting") the little one in my belly. Oh, believe me, my hubby notices this too and sometimes gives the innocent little boy hard stares, but he ignores and continues to keep making eyes at me and my belly :) Way to go baby, already fishing from inside the womb and eying a "Persian prince"? :)

As of today (Week 34 - Day 1), the little munchkin's fetal stats are:
- Heartbeat: 129bpm

- CRL: ~32cm 

- Weight: ~2.4kg

 

 

Wakey wakey, sleepy head! Why do you like to keep falling asleep before your usual afternoon nap?

We want to see more action darlin'... The active action that we feel during the nights...

 

At this angle, daddy noticed her nose coming into shape like mommy's *hidung kembang*. Hahaha.

My Ob/Gyn also passed me my letter of admittance to the hospital for labor/delivery today to keep in the event baby decides to come before Week 40 (or as early as Week 36). Kinda early, but better to have the letter in my hand in advance. Another thing to add to my hospital bag... Oh, which reminds me I have to finish packing my hospital bag soon...

Little Miss Territorial

An unbelievable incident happened this weekend...

My hubby, Kevin and I had just gone shopping for some baby stuff and I decided to buy "Philips Avent 2-in-1 combined steamer-blender" at the store since it was at 25% discount. Yeah, I know, I know, I know... It's still way too early since the baby is not even born yet and I'm already months ahead thinking and worrying about her solid food intake.

Anyhoo, we live in a condo (high up on the 17th floor) - therefore, our elevator ride up or down is usually filled with many people. Hence, when we were making our way back to our condo, after we were done with some shopping for baby of course, there was a lady and her daughter (should be no older than 2 years old) who also took the elevator up with us. The lady pressed 16th floor, which meant that we have company in the lift as they lived one floor below us.

Kevin was carrying the combined steamer-blender in a bag. I guess the box was transparent enough for the little girl to see through and recognize the item or a picture of the baby eating pureed food on the box cover. Once she made the association, I guess she was excited and kept pointing to the bag my husband was carrying shouting "Baby, baby, baby" again and again.

I guess at that point, the lady felt it necessary to explain to us that she also has the product at home and her daughter seems to recognize it. Hence, her sudden outburst of excitement.

Throughout the conversation the lady was having with me, I noticed the little girl's excitement suddenly stopped as her eyes stared directly at my bulging belly. No more shouting and pointing. She had a sulked look on her face (the kind where a kid gets when they have just been scolded by someone for doing something wrong) as her eyes stayed glued to my belly for at least another 20 seconds. Then she bowed her head (as if in shame) and looked down at the floor, turned to face her mother (with her back at me) almost in tears.

The little girl's mother was still talking to me and did not notice the sudden change in her daughter's behavior at all, but both Kevin and I did.

And as soon as they both got out of the elevator on the 16th floor, Kevin and I were like "Wow! Did what I think happen just happened? Was that her doing from inside the womb?". 

So, what do you think happened???

My Overprotective Fetus

People keep telling me that back pain is very common during pregnancy as the curve of your spine and center of gravity shifts as your baby and belly grows bigger. These changes will definitely put stress on the back leading to pain and discomfort.

Well, serious bad backache has definitely started since the past two weeks.

Lucky me - I have a loving husband who gives me good back massages every night. But a few days ago, I specifically requested that he massage my back alot more stronger than usual and to just drum his knuckles into my back with great force. 

I was moaning in satisfaction throughout as it just felt sooooo good that I did not take much notice that the baby was pushing and kicking a lot more while all that was happening. I just felt like I was in heaven from the great massage so I didn't really think much of it...

But guess what happened the next morning??? *drumroll please*

Yeap, daddy's knuckles were badly bruised when he woke up in the morning and it hurt like hell for about 4 days. *ooopsy* Kevin refused to massage me after that, in fear that our baby may think he's hurting her mommy again and he gets bruised again.

So, mommy had to explain to her overprotective little munchkin of a fetus that daddy was only trying to help mommy, not hurt her... At the same time, I also had to persuade and convince my hubby to continue the forceful massage on my back as it was just too good to stop now...

Amazingly, it worked! The little munchkin understands now that daddy was not hurting mommy. Perhaps it was my moaning that threw her off, so from now on, I just moan in silence. As long as she does not hear mommy's cry (which she probably thinks to be "cries of pain"), daddy's hands/knuckles are fine! :) 

OMG! She thinks she's Snow White!

I grew up on fairy tales, so it's only natural that this will eventually passed down to my little munchkin... Especially since mommy has been catching her up on Disney fairy tales, animation and flicks from the very early stage of pregnancy (mostly without daddy's knowledge).

It started two weeks back - Thursday (March 14, 2013)... 

No, I'm not referring to the Disney installation for my little growing peanut... The "It" I'm referring to is the Disney-Snow White effect that has rubbed on to my little munchkin... At 5.57 in the morning (yes, I checked my watch as it was an ungodly hour and still seemed quite dark outside), I was awaken by the sound of birds chirping and serenading by our bedroom window, followed by the little munchkin in my belly reacting to the musical affair. She definitely wasn't kicking or punching (by now, I can pretty much differentiate between her kicks, punches, belly-flops, taps, shakes and dance). I believe this new move she has developed is termed "stretching". When it comes to this little bundle of joy, there's always a first time for everything, everyday!


Oh yes, I believe the little munchkin was literally doing her "morning stretch" in my belly, as if the musical beings outside the bedroom window were her exclusive morning alarm and were here to serenade her "good morning and wake up sleepy head". 

I do have my sneaky suspicion that she was the one that summoned them for their services (oh, she has her ways!). And there I was shouting at the birds to shut up, shut up, shut up!!! "6.00am is just too early for this honeybun!", I keep telling my little one whilst rubbing my belly, "Mommy needs her beauty sleep and rest and does not need to get up until at least 7.15am for work." 

And during this time, what was my husband doing? He was still sound asleep...I had to shake and wake him so that he can also witness this "Snow White moment" and his response was simple, "Get over it! They are here for our daughter, not you. Don't "perasan" or jealous and leave them be to serenade her. Yes, I hear them. Expose her to Disney some more... Let me sleep, woman!"

And as if the little one understood what we were talking about... The next day onwards, the birds gathered by our window at about 7.00am, not earlier. I guess she sent out a memo to them secretly on the time change?

Two weeks have passed and they still come serenading outside our bedroom window every freakin' morning. Birds chirping by the window that early in the morning is still annoying, but just too damn cute!!! Puts a smile on my face every morning :) And these days, I don't even need my alarm clock anymore thanks to my darling little Snow White.

On occasions when the songbirds can't make it, guess what comes in their place? The crows!!! Those are the days I wish I had a shotgun or slingshot handy to aim at them. Go kaw-kaw-kaw somewhere else!

I was still curious, and of course secretly very impressed, so on one of the mornings, I drew up the bedroom curtain in one hand whilst holding a camera in the other in hope of capturing the moment and getting proof of them in action. The birds just flew away... unfortunately!

There were at least three birdies outside our window. But by the time I scrambled to my bag to grab my camera and got back to the window, they had all flown away... But they came back and continue their services when I retract back into bed. I could hear! 

I made many photographic attempts over the past week, and finally this morning I managed to snap a photo of one. Woohoo!!! 

Here's one of the many pretty birdies that come every morning to serenade my munchkin.

The one that was too slow to fly away (the others managed to get away).

It has been two weeks now, and they still come... I wonder how long their "morning wake-up call" contract is with my little one. And if she decides to take this Snow White effect further, are we to expect squirrels and other forest animals to drop in too??? It would be a little tricky for them since we live on the 17th floor... and what about them seven dwarfs?!?

I guess only time can tell... *wink*