July 2005

Hi all,
Wow, just looking at the photos to the left, how out of date are those! 2 kids later and I don't look like that anymore :( But then again neither does Frosty and he doesn't have the excuse of being pregnant twice. Will have to get round to changing them sometime soon.

Well the big news as you no doubt know is that Sean was born and Frosty repented about calling him Axel. After going to my regular doctors appointment at lunch time and being told I was already in labour, I drove home, looked after Joe, tried to update the frosty website, bathed Joe and at 7.50pm finally gave in and told Frosty we really needed to go to the hospital. Orchard Road was blocked off for the Chingay parade which is our normal route to KK hospital, so Frosty then lost it as he didn't know another route (ask Mawf about Frosty's sense of direction) and I had to direct all the way there in-between contractions which is no fun I can tell you, neither are speed bumps. We reached the hospital at about 8.30pm, it took me about 10 minutes to shuffle my way in agony from the car park to the maternity unit where the nurse took one look at me and said straight to delivery, no messing! Unlike last time when I was really composed and had my mind focused on doing the whole thing without pain relief, this time I was begging anyone who looked like a nurse to give me drugs. Unfortunately I was too late and I had to do it all again naturally! Thank goodness it was fast. My doctor arrived at 9.12pm and Sean was born about 10 minutes later, talk about cutting it fine! I spent two days in hospital before coming home to the mad house.

It was nice and peaceful in hospital. As I was only there 2 nights we didn't get any visitors except for Joe coming to meet his new brother. He said hello and then was more interested in the new fire engine, ambulance and doctors kit that was waiting for him. As usual he caught the eye of some nurses as he went around with his stethoscope round his neck. After we got home our friends from Kindermusik, Shiang and Lin came round with Ryan, Kayla and Kai to see Sean which was lovely as Lin and Shiang really helped me out with Joe in the class when I was pregnant. Sean also had visits from Andrea, Ginny and Rachel and was spoilt rotten with presents from everyone.

Frosty took the week off work to basically look after Joe. It's the first time I have seen him look so eager to be returning to work after a holiday, though it's the same look on his face most Monday mornings after a weekend with both demanding boys now. One of Sean's first outings during that week was to have his passport photo taken and to get that all sorted. Just like Joe his first passport photo strikes no resemblance to what he looks like now. Sean has been a far from easy baby unlike Joe. Sean had an umbilical hernia, he has fingernails that curve inwards so if you cut them too short they grow in and become infected, as a consequence you have to leave them long so he scratches his face and legs to death. He had terrible colic and in a nutshell is a really demanding baby. I have not had a full nights sleep for over 5 months now and i don't see it happening pretty much in the near future either!

Clock came to visit when Sean was about 6 weeks old. It had been about 2 years since we had seen him and he hadn't changed one bit. Having been told about the chocolate tax to stay at our place and being instructed he had to come with one cherry ripe, on arriving he produced a carrier bag with 30 king-sized bars! Was I in heaven or what? Frosty has been eating them though, even though he hates dark chocolate and things like cherry pie (yeah go figure that one out, its like how he won't eat mushrooms because he says they are slimy but will eat a plate of oysters.) Clock arrived when Joe had just started talking and was soon known as Doc. Joe's not too great at first letters yet. Clock is a natural with the kids and I would recommend him come and stay at your homes anytime if you have kids! Van Diesel has nothing on this pacifier! Joe loved him. We had the usual trip to the botanical gardens to feed the fish, turtles and run around but this time the pair of them thought it would be funny to hide behind trees from me. We also showed Clock a good time by taking him to an Easter Egg hunt party for the kids and an afternoon at the British Club to take Joe swimming. Its all in a weekends work if you come and stay at our house these days!

Uncle Mawf came to visit on various occasions. We had a very nice lunch down One Fullerton which Joe was pleased about as he loves looking at the boats. Joe can now recognise Uncle Mawf in photos and gets very excited when he is told he is coming to town. Not able to say Uncle Mawf quite right yet it comes out as umple morpy but that's near enough for now. When Mawf came for the weekend once I was really ill so left Joe in the care of his dad and godfather. Was that such a good idea? They took him to a bar, fed him chips and got him to chat up the waitresses.

A couple of months after Sean was born Ranjit dropped by which was also the night we met Dawn and Martin who were in from Hong Kong. I spent the first half of the night walking Sean round the Esplanade complex where we were having dinner as he would not stop crying, nothing unusual there, and the last part of the night all of us spent huddled under a big umbrella outside Harry's so we could have a few beers. Sean was the only one who did not get wet or even notice the rain as he finally snuggled down for the night under his rain shield. Congratulations to Dawn and Martin who are now the proud parents of a little girl called Kenzie.

As I am mentioning babies, congratulations also to Ant and Tracy who had a little boy called James a few months ago now. James has already been seen taking jaunts around Thailand on the back of elephants. Also congratulations to Joe's old mate Billy. He is now a big brother to a bonny little girl called Ivy, she's gorgeous Laura and Fred.

There have been plenty of other happenings such as Sean's Christening and family and friends visiting but that will have to wait till next time for now....... Oh yeah and we also have bought an apartment here and will be moving hopefully in October when the renovations are finished, more about that next time!

Birdie x x x