17 more days to go

Mamu is getting quite huge these days... She has already gained more than 23 kg since and 2 kg in the last week!  Normal activities such as sleeping and walking are getting more difficult.  Chami kicks quite often now, since he is getting less and less room for him to stretch.  His debut date is set for April 17 (four days before the expected due day) so Mamu is going to be moving less and hope he can stay inside until then.

Chamu on the other hand is behaving better. Last three weeks we witnessed what he is capable of when the terrible twos fully kicks in and we are not looking forward to it.  Last five days, he has been acting better.  He enjoyed the trip down to Tainan and has been sleeping better the last couple of days with the new curtains installed.  He has also become very affectionate with Chami and would come over and kiss Mamu's belly or try to feed him food.  So happy to have our lovely boy back again.

Here are some pictures from the last month:

Reading with Parents

Some rare days when he actually goes potty

Waiting for Dadu to finish his dragon boat practice

Riding in taxi with his bear in Hong Kong

Visiting Baby Tiger

Happy Schoolboy

Although for the first time he complained when I dropped him off, been
throwing fits recently, perhaps still moody due to lingering cough.

33 Weeks and 趴趴走

Just turned 33 weeks yesterday. It's hard to believe that wr will
have another baby in our hands in 7 weeks! I have said that the
second trimester is heaven because in comparison, the first and the
third trimesters are both quite unbearable.

My last pregnancy got me over 185 lbs and I had very serious endema to
the point that my legs resembled those belonged to elephants. This
time around, I'm less swollen given that I'm moving about a lot more
with our travel in the last four months and also chasing after Chamu
all the time (plus riding horses in Jordan). But I still managed to
have already gained 20 kg since my pregnancy which puts me on track to
break my all-time-high weight by the time I deliver.

It's getting rather difficult for me to bend over, squad, stand or
walk for a long time. Last week I made the mistake of thinking that I
could use a squadding toilet. The result? I almost broke the toilet
paper holder before I was able to pull myself up! Not to be repeated.
Stretch marks are starting to cover my pointy belly. Ankles
disappeared. Our nanny can only be in Hong Kong two weeks each month
so it's not easy to have to cook, clean and run after Chamu. Luckily
we found a good school so I can have most of the day running around to
get all the necessary paperwork done in time for Chami's birth (so
that his birth certificate won't have the father being left blank).

We also found a good doctor at NTUH thanks to friends'
recommendation. I got a pregnancy massage that was quite decent
(probably need another one soon).

Chami has been really active the belly lately, echoing my belief that he
will be just as active as his brother. 7 more weeks to go!

Ring Bearer Joaquin

Our good friends, Christine and Richard, got married last week in Taipei.  They were so kind to have invited Joaquin to be their ring bearer.  This is the second time that Joaquin takes the ring bearer role, although his first time was when he was less than 3-months old at Tia Lauri's wedding and had to be carried down the aisle by Dadu (and we were all relieved that he didn't cry before reaching the end).  This time, he is given the task of walking down the aisle by himself.  

There was no rehearsal so we didn't know how Joaquin would perform.  Mamu waited with him for his turn at the procession and Dadu was waiting at the other end as his target.  Mamu told him that his job was to find Dadu and give him the pillow so he practically ran down the aisle and threw the pillow in Dadu's hand.  For an unrehearsed performance, he did pretty well! (Will need to wait for the professional pictures for the shots of him walking down the aisle!)

Checking out the venue before guests arrive

Ready to deliver

Next in line

Bride and Joaquin

Trying to squeeze in the picture

Monkey Ring Bearer

星期六猴子去斗六 (On Saturday the Monkey went to Douliu)

First Day of School

Joaquin starts school this week.  Since I will be delivering in April, we need to make sure Joaquin has something stimulating to do while we are busy with the second one.  We found a school that is about two (long) blocks from our apartment.  It has a good teacher-to-student ratio and is Montessori-based.  We thought this would be a good start for Joaquin.  So this week, he will only be going two hours each day to get him used to the environment.  Starting next week, he will stay in school from 8:30am to 3:30pm.
Joaquin woke up surprisingly on time this morning so we got him dressed and took him to school after breakfast.  He was roaming around the room as usual and didn't seem to have much interaction with other kids other than a couple of times, he decided to ride his classmates like the way he rides the toy horses...  He followed the teacher a little bit during the singing time but most of time he does whatever interests him. He couldn't stop talking about it after school though.  So I guess for now, we'd call it a success...

Getting ready for school

Sitting with other kids for the singing session

Bingxin decided that he needs to sit on a chair rather than on the floor

Following the teacher during the singing session

Still behaving

Bingxin got distracted by this toy

Getting beat up by a kid who is four months his junior!

Chami Chami Feb 4, 2010