Sabrina is 31 month old today

Nowadays as my aunt showered her every morning, she will scream her lungs out. But in the midst of her screaming she will take her clothes off, take her diaper off and help my aunt if she did not close the shampoo cap. We find it so hilarious but somehow we know that she is aware of the all these little details.

Sabrina into her 31 month on Planet Earth. Some snapshots of her after her shower.

After her shower

Posing for the camera as usual

Hugging her Elmo

Performing her stunts

19 days old Baby Sebastian

Sebastian is now 19 days old. He has really grown. Everyone is commenting that they are tired after carrying him. His weight had definitely gone up thus this comment. He is really a cutie. He can even talk to my aunt especially after his bath. He's gonna be a heartbreaker next time as quoted by my aunt. So funny. As long as he is healthy and happy everyday, nothing really matters that much.

Updated Aust Time 4.10pm

Home alone with Sebastian

Currently I am home alone with our little boy. Adrian had decided to bring my aunt and my mum to Sunshine Coast where they will visit the Strawberry Farm, Big Pineapple and Ginger Farm if they have the time. It is the strawberry season now thus it's a good time to visit the farm where they can pick strawberries. My aunt is pretty excited about visiting the farm and of course taking more photos to show her family. I am sure Sabrina will have a great time picking strawberries or pulling up the small plant..I don't dare to think that far. Just let her enjoy while she can. Let's hope they have a great time.

Some shots before they left

Meanwhile, Sebastian has been a good boy. He is so different from Sabrina in terms of temper as far as we can see now. Sometimes you cannot even hear him cry. He is growing chubbier by the day and longer and not forgetting heavier as well. We were just commenting that he has grown alot since his return from the hospital. At times when we carry him, he feels kind of long in our arms. My aunt said that he is by far the longest baby while in confinement that she had carried. Maybe he follows Adrian being tall and all. To me as long as he is healthy, that's the most important thing to me.

We managed to take a couple of family shots today. Will have to wait till they are back home with the digital camera before I can upload them. Hopefully it's nice as there is definitely one of us not focusing ..either my daughter or my son. Hahaha.

Updated Aust Time 12.01pm

Dad's return to Singapore today

Proud grandparents

My dad returned to Singapore today. He could not stay long as he has limited number of leave left for the year. He is planning to go to Genting with my uncle in November and he is also setting aside some leave in case of emergency.

Anyway Adrian managed to bring them around for the few days he was here. First they went off to Farmers' Market at New Farm Park on the day of their arrival. On Sunday, Adrian drove them to Gold Coast and Surfers Paradise where they had a great time shopping and relaxing at the beach. At least my dad gets to see all these during his short stay here. He planning to come and visit us again next year where we will bring them to the 2 main theme parks in Gold Coast.

We had pizza for lunch today as we wanted my dad to have a taste of the local food. They were very surprised when they saw the pizza as they could not believe that is the regular size pizza here. Hahaha. Anyway he had a great time savouring the food before leaving for the airport to catch his flight.

He managed to reach Singapore earlier than the scheduled time of 8.45pm. Instead he reached Singapore at 8.20pm and was already home and resting before 9pm as there was not queue at the taxi stand.

I am glad that he managed to see our newborn son and our girl before CNY where we plan to visit for about 2 weeks if possible. Till then .....

Updated Aust Time 10.49pm

My Parents' Arrival at Brisbane

Our cutie little boy sound asleep

Baby Sebastian sleeping soundly on our bed

My parents arrived safely in Brisbane this morning. Luckily for them it was a smooth one for them at the immigration as compared to my aunt's.

Soon after landing, Adrian bought them to New Farm Park where they had a great time buying lots of strawberries and fruits and of course not forgetting to take more pictures. Shortly after they went off for lunch at Fishs, near Adrian's working place. They ordered the Seafood Platter for 2 and ended up not being able to finish it as it was really huge with lots of other additional stuff. Apart from that, Adrian also ordered a burger and a slice of fish for Sabrina. In the end, they bought the leftover back which consists of crabs, prawns, calamari and lots of french fries. Hahaha. With that they went off with a full stomach to Market Square where they bought food supply for the week. By the time they came back home, all of them were dead tired and took a short nap while we tend to our 2 kids. Adrian was very tired as well as he had been up since morning 6plus. Poor dear. Been tough on him but he's been great. Thanks, dear.

After dinner, my aunt took picture of the gourmet strawberries as she wanted to show her kids. According to her, strawberries are very expensive back in Malaysia. Then she disturbed her kids that she is such a porr thing here as she only get to get strawberries for all 3 meals and chocolates for supper. Hahaha. Naughty mummy. But her kids are just so sweet and independent. Sabrina is very much like that too.

Updated Aust Time 11.30pm

Fun day at the backyard for Sabrina

Sabrina spent the morning playing at the backyard while my aunt hung out the clothes. She just enjoyed digging up the dried leaves and putting them into a pail that my aunt passed to her. The funny part was that she will pick out the green leaves that she had scooped up and throw it away. Thus in her pail, it is all filled with only solely dried leaves. My aunt felt that it could be that she only scooped up the dried leaves when she showed her how to go about digging thus she must have thought that she should also only scoop up the dried leaves. I think she spent more than an hour at the yard as my aunt was able to mop the floor and cook lunch before she came in to have her lunch. I must say she is really enjoying herself while playing. She even enlisted my help to scoop up some of the dried leaves that she had accidentally spill onto the ground. Ended up, I had to sit beside her to help her scoop.

Hubby turns 35 today

My dear hubby is 35 today. Happy Birthday to my dear. I did not get him anything. I told him that his birthday present this year will be our newborn son, Sebastian since he arrived in the same month as him. Hahaha. Anyway he is just happy that we are all safe and healthy and around him always. He is just glad that he has a family to call his own and kids to play with although it would mean that he will be tired at times. As for me, I am just glad that he is around us always. May all his wishes come true.

Slideshow of Sabrina playing in the backyard after her shower

Anyway my parents will be taking the flight tomorrow midnight and will arrive in Brisbane on Saturday morning. Hopefully everything will turn out well for their flight. I am sure they will be very happy to see their 2nd grandchild and not forgetting our little big sister, Sabrina.

Adrian came back from work just now and brought my aunt and Sabrina for dinner at Westfield as it's Thursday - late night shopping day. It's good that finally he is taking my aunt out for a shopping trip. Not that my aunt want to go but I think she should go since she is already here. She has really been a great help. She not only cooks for us all, she also does all the household chores and looking after Sebastian. She even looks after him at night so that we can sleep. Luckily Sebastian has been a good little sweetie. He only wakes up twice a night for feed. Thus at least my aunt can still get her rest.

Thank you 3rd Aunt for all your help. We really appreciate your help for everything.

Updated Aust Time 6.56pm

Adrian's back to work and Baby Sebastian is one week old today

Adrian is back to work today after staying at home for a week to help out. He took a one week unpaid paternal leave to help with looking after both Sabrina and Sebastian together with my aunt. He has really been a great help as he can tend to Sabrina while my aunt tend to Sebastian. As for me, I can get to rest more and lie on bed. I am recovering well and my spirits are high knowing that everything at home is well taken care of by my aunt and hubby. Thank you both of you.

We are managing rather well without him so far. Our main headache would be our little gal who is always on the go. She is so fast at times. Our worry would be that she would hurt the little baby. Adrian and I were very worried that she would be jealous of having a little brother around but it turns out that she really dotes on her brother. Apart from always coming over to touch his head and saying "Baby", she tried to kiss him today. It was so sweet and touching. After she tried to kiss him, she would laugh and run away. Naughty little rascal. But at least we know that she is happy to have him around.

Here are some pictures of her eating strawberries before her shower.

Baby Sebastian is one week old today too. I can't believe it is so fast. He is a cute little baby, very different from his sister. As long as both my kids grow up healthy, I am just contented.

His company sent this to congratulate us on the safe arrival of our son.



My brother had his POP today. Time really flies. In a twinkle of time, he had already been enlisted for 3 months. He had definitely lost weight. Meanwhile he will have to wait for his posting to know which camp he will be in. Hopefully he will not be in those real tough one. Managable one for him will do just nice. Good luck to him.

Updated Aust Time 7.14pm

Strawberry Plant and Parrots at our place

Adrian bought a small pot of strawberry plant today. He saw it yesterday at Woolsworth and had been telling me that it would be fun to try growing strawberry as it's in season now. So finally he went to Aspley to get it. It looks very cute. I have to find where he had saved the picture of it together with the promengrate plant that he had bought the week before.

Since he is free today, he went to take pictures of the parrots that would always be at our letterbox every evening while our kids were asleep. The parrots were really beautiful. The colours are so vibrant and they are not afraid of people at all. Adrian managed to walk right in front of them and took some really nice pictures. Wait till I post it on the blog when I find them.

Updated Aust Time 9.24pm

Cute act by Sabrina

The midwives from RBWH came over for a house visit as part of assessing the well being of baby and mummy. Sebastian was weighed and his weight went up by around 450grams or so and he is around 2.8kg now. He lost a few grams before discharge but it was apparently normal as he was breastfed.

The midwives then assessed my health and gave me a few tips on breastfeeding as Sebastian is currently bottled fed with EBM and formula.

Sebastian's umblical cord fell off today. It's considered pretty fast as he is only 5 days old today. It fell off before his bath and my aunt kept it aside as I was still downstairs talking to the midwives.

Sabrina did a very funny thing today. She was asking for her usual bread so Adrian gave her and she broke a small piece and tried to feed Sebastian. It was so cute that we were all laughing. Luckily she really dote on her brother. She will come forward to rub his head gently. We were actually very worried that she will be rough with him but apparently she is not. Thank god she is a real good big sister, knowing that he is her younger brother, sort of.

Updated Aust Time 9.32pm

Back Home

Today is the 2nd day Sebastian is back from the hospital. My aunt offered to look after him at night so that I can rest. I have not been sleeping well at all for the past few days while in the hospital as I was left to look after him on my own. He basically do not really sleep at night while in the hospital as I think he is hungry and also wants to be carried all the time. Anyway, I managed to finally sleep through last night, thanks to my aunt.

Some entries after the birth to update and here they are:

6/9/08 - Saturday - Discharge from Hospital
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We were finally allowed to be discharged from the hospital after all the necessary checkup had been done. Sebastian was given the go ahead to be discharged after the doctor assessed him.

As Adrian and my aunt went off to Sunnybank to get food supply, I started packing up all the stuff that we brought to the hospital. It took Adrian quite a while to reach the hospital as he had not installed the car seat for Sebastian before he left for Sunnybank. The first car ride for Sebastian was non eventful as he slet through the whole trip. He just look so tiny in that car seat which was passed down from Sabrina to him.

My aunt came along with Sabrina and she related what happened at the airport the night before. She was questioned and questioned as she brought very little luggage for her 1.5month stay in Australia. The immigration officer even called Adrian to check with him if the information given by my aunt is true. They even came out to meet Adrian to further ensure that he is there to pick her up. But my aunt took everything in her stride and she just stood there answering whatever questions that was posted to her. Brave lady.

As my milk supply had not come in yet, Adrian being the doting daddy went off to buy a tin of formula at the chemist while on our way back home. My aunt make fun of him saying that he is worried that our son will go hungry.

Sleeping in his bed

Another take by Daddy who thinks he looks like Ninja with his face almost covered up

5/9/08 - Friday - Aunt's Arrival from Malaysia
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Today my aunt arrived from Malaysia. She offered to help me out during my confinement as she is worried that I will be all alone with my newborn. We bought the air ticket from MAS and she arrived around 9plus at night. But she was asked to stay behind for questioning and she only managed to clear the custom at around 11plus. At least she reached safely.

Sebastian faced difficulties latching and we gave him some formula as he was crying very loudly at night. Hopefully I can nurse him when I am back home. I guess partially I am also very tired as I have not been sleeping well for the past few nights.

4/9/08 - Thursday - Still in the Hospital
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Had a minor surgery in the middle of the night because of the tear. An injection at the spine area caused me to feel nothing but numbness from waist down. Thus Sebastian was left in the care of the midwives while I rest. By the time I returned to my bed, it was close to 4am. Managed to sleep for a while before Sebastian was wheeled to me at around 7am. He looks so tiny although his birth weight is heavier than Sabrina.

Baby Sebastian Sim Swee Seng

Proud Daddy

Proud Mummy again

Adrian came with Sabrina in the late morning. He managed to make the longan drink for me. He went off to Coles to get me some biscuits and apples as well. Sabrina was very well behaved and sat in her pram eating an apple that Adrian passed to her. She spent the afternoon watching her shows and eating bread, biscuits and all. They went off before 8pm as visiting hours end at 8pm.

In the night as Sebastian was crying non stop, the midwives who were on duty advised me to give him some formula as he looked very hungry. No choice. I thought I can try to breastfeed him exclusively as Australia is so pro breastfeeding. Haiz...guess will have to try harder.

3/9/08 - Wednesday - Arrival of Baby Sebastian
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Sebastian arrived safely at 8.15pm (Aust Time) weighing 2.9kg. Now we the proud parents of one girl and one boy.

7.45am - Arrived at Royal Brisbane Women Hospital

11 am - Admitted to hospital after some checkup on contractions intervals

6 pm - Wheeled into Birthing Suite

8 pm - Burst of waterbag

8.15pm -Sebastian is born.

Adrian and Sabrina came into the birthing suite shortly after I delivered. The first thing that Sabrina did was to come forward and point to Sebastian and said "Baby" before running off again. She is now a big sister. She behaved herself very well today as I lie in bed in the afternoon waiting to be wheeled into the birthing suite. I am so glad to see this.

First glimpse of Baby Sebastian

Baby Sebastian and Mummy

Phew, finally we decided on the name for our son

Finally we decided on our son's name. Hahaha. It has really been a long long time since we last try to decide on which shortlisted names for him. He will be called Sim Swee Seng Sebastian.

Actually the difficult part was getting him a Christian name. His dialect name had all along been there since before Sabrina was born. My in laws worked out the dialect names while Adrian and I decide on the Christian name. I think partly I am also very particular how names sound when placed together with the surname "Sim". I am also particular as to the number of syllabus in a name. For Sabrina, it is a 3 syllabus name so I want our son to also have a 3 syllabus name. We were down to either "Sullivan" or "Sebastian". We realised that in Australia, "Sullivan" is more of a last name rather than a first name. So finally, Sebastian will be his name.

My hospital bag is all packed. It's just a matter of when I will pop. The only thing left undone now is to set up the pen for our little boy to sleep. That's Adrian's job but he is still working on his assignments that are due in Sept and Oct (our busy period with a newborn, thus he is working on it now). Think he will most probably set it up tmr.

He finally had his car number plate fixed on his car today after visiting the Queensland transport to surrender his old number plate. Have yet to take a picture of the number plate on the car. Will try to snap a shot soon.

Updated Aust Time 10.35pm