Gerad has turned 1

Gerard has turned 1! How time flies. I vividly remember myself sitting by the window humming nursery tunes, cradling Gerard in my arms and waiting for Edmund to come home from work. At night, I had to rock him to sleep in my arms and walked around the apartment singing a "self-composed" lullaby. But now, my little baby gives me a hug when he knows I'm sad, watches nursery rhymes on You-Tube, waves goodbye to his daddy in the morning when he leaves for work and at night, snuggles beside me waiting for me to sing our "goodnight song" before falling asleep.

Being a mum for the past one year has transformed me. Whenever I took a plane, I used to pray that that there would not be any baby near where I was sitting. If I saw one, I would curse my luck (or the ground staff who allocated my seat). I thought crying babies or toddlers are a noise pollution and their parents should just stick a tape on their mouths and bring them home. I used to think why my friends wanted to go home to spend time with their children instead of getting a drink to unwind after a hard day's work. I also could not understand why women instead of their husbands take leave from work when their kids are sick. Well, I do now. I pity parents who are desperately trying to pacify their crying babies. What noise pollution? I can't hear anything. I have a whole new load of patience towards babies and children which I thought it never existed. It is a total paradigm shift.

In the year of 2009, I see more changes coming. We are moving back to Singapore at the end of January. Need to get used to a new environment, although I'm confident that it won't be too much of a problem. One thing for sure, I will miss Copenhagen because it is where Gerard and I "grew up" together. I will not trade what I have experienced here for any other things if I were given another chance to choose again.

Publish Post

If only I could turn back time

After a stressful evening of listening to Gerard's incessant crying last night, I wished there was a machine that could turn back time, and it could take me back to HongKong, where Ed and I would take a minibus after dinner and roam the streets. Back then, I did not have to wake up at night because I heard my son coughing and worried if he was cold. I did not have to care about the cleanliness of my apartment because there was no baby crawling on the floor. I could leave my candles and magazines everywhere because no one would think those things are edible. I enjoyed cooking because Ed would eat everything and told me they were delicious. I hate the way life has planned out for me now; stay at home to look after a baby. Then I told myself I did not like my baby anymore and hoped this was all a dream.

This morning when I woke up, the baby whom I "disliked" yesterday gave me a wide smile. When I reciprocated, he crawled towards me and put his head on my chest. I said "kiss mummy" and he leaned his face towards mine, not kissing me but waiting for me to kiss him. Instantly, I regretted having those negative feelings. Gerard is again, "the cutest baby in the world!", well in my world at least.

As Gerard becomes more mobile and eats "proper" food of three meals a day, I have certainly become busier. Suddenly, I found myself having new roles - Gerard's bodyguard, doctor/first-aider, nutritionist, chef, etc. The whole day practically revolves around the little guy and by the time he goes to bed, there leaves me only about 2 hours of personal time (provided he is in bed by 9) to catch up with emails, reading and surfing the internet.

Recently I started to reminisce about my life before I came to Copenhagen. Although the past 9 months of being with Gerard has been great and is also something that money cannot buy, I can't help but feel that I miss my past lifestyle - whether it's having a drink or two with colleagues after work, or going for spa and facial every month, or catching the latest blockbuster during the weekends, they all feel more exciting than now, where everyday is rather predictable. Well, the pasture is always greener on the other side, and humans always like things that they cannot obtain. Perhaps in a few months' time when we pack our bags to go back to Singapore and I start working again, I will miss my current rather blithe life.

As temperature in Denmark dipped, we have said "goodbye" to the nice summer, but fortunately, we managed to visit one of the nicest castles in Denmark. The picturesque countryside and also seeing Gerard enjoyed himself so much made all the driving worth it. Our next expedition, farmstay and horse-riding. I'm looking forward to it already.

"Ma Ma"

It finally happened! Although it was not the first time I heard Gerard said those words, today was the first time both Ed and I heard it simultaneously and we understood his intention, that he wanted me to carry him out of the stroller. Hence, he was not just burbling like he used to, but he knew what they meant.

Gosh, I love Gerard so much!

Post Home Trip

After 5 long weeks of drinking, eating and spending binge in Singapore, we are finally back in Denmark. With only 3 luggages from CPH to SIN, we came back with..... 8, and the total weight of our check-in baggages was 80kg! If not for the blur but "kind" counter staff, who did not notice that Ed's Krisflyer Gold has expired, I could not imagine how much we had to pay for the extra baggage weight.

Anyway, I feel a warp sense of familiarity and security when I am back in Denmark. Firstly, I have many friends here who are like me; staying home with a baby. Secondly, many places in Copenhagen are baby friendly, which find my "big" stroller and breastfeeding in public less obnoxious. Thirdly, my apartment although small, but makes me feel at ease because I don't have to worry about clearing the laundry basket and the kitchen sink all the time. Lastly, I am able to bring up my son the way I want without being judged by others.


So, as much as I like to whine about living in Denmark, I actually kinda enjoy my current lifestyle. What do I do nowadays? A stroll in the park when the weather is nice, or window shopping with my precious, or having a bbq with friends, or meeting up with my mothergroup friends and sit for hours talking (or bitching depending on the topics ;-)) or simply play some relaxing music at home and do some mother and son bonding.

Feel quite lethargic suddenly. Maybe I should just snuggle beside Gerard and get some rest while he is napping.....

Movie Marathon

I was surfing the Golden Village website when I saw the latest movies that they have now. I have not stepped into the cinema ever since Gerard was born and I must admit that I am getting a bit deprived. However, going to the cinema is an expensive entertainment in Copenhagen as a ticket costs about S$20. Downloading is another option but since we are law-abiding citizens, we decided that we should have our entertainment in the proper manner. This means we are going for a movie marathon and watch as many movies as we can during the 5 weeks when we are in Singapore.

Meanwhile, weather has continued to be great in Copenhagen. In contrast to the rainy summer last year, this summer is full of sunshine. Never in my life in Singapore did I have a picnic in a park, but in the month of May 2008, I had 5. So don't be surprised if you see a tanner me this time.





These were not taken during a pinic but we were having dinner in the world's oldest intact still-surviving amusement park, called "Bakken".

I Did Not Know I Could

My precious turned 5 months old today. As I lay in bed with him a while ago to pat him to sleep, it just occurred to me that 5 months ago, I did not know I could :

• clean someone else's backside (with poo) and still keep smiling;
• eat a fruit that has been licked and chewed by someone, who has left a lot of saliva on it;
• play silly games over and over again just to hear some chuckles;
• get heartache when someone is getting an injection;
• cry when I saw the video about a maid abusing a two month old baby;
• have the strength and energy to stay awake in the day, even when I have to wake up every 3 hours the night before;
• sacrifice sleep at night to express my milk so as to maintain a constant supply;
• insist on not taking painkiller when my head almost going to explode from a headache;
• be so calm and not get irritated when a baby cries for not apparent reason;
• look at someone and then from the bottom of my heart, thank God for creating him;
• love someone more than I love myself;
• feel so contented lying in bed and watching someone plays with his toes;
• look forward to the day someone calls me "mum" and feel really ecxited;
• feel so special to be a mother!

Life is Good!

Great weather, nice company, cute babies and good looking topless guys walking in the streets.... how can life get any better?

This post has long been overdue and I can provide some (decent) explanations:

1) Weather in Copenhagen has been really fantastic lately. Hence I always try to find an an excuse to get out of the apartment to enjoy some fresh air;

2) My MIL is in town. And as my relationship with her has always been "complicated", lesser writing means lesser bitching;

3) Gerard is becoming more active these days. So keeping my eyes on him has become my top priority;

4) I figure out that reading other people's blogs is easier than writing my own.

Anyway except that I am currently having a sinus infection, we are all well and happy. I am looking forward to our home trip in June when we can meet all our friends and eat the delicious local food.

A New Career

Every night while Edmund sleeps on half of the bed, Gerard and I share the other half as we can't bear to let him sleep by himself in his own cot. However for the past few nights, it became a challenge as I struggled to sleep in a very tight space because Gerard kept coming closer and closer to me, while I had to go further and further from him, so that I would not roll over on him accidentally. In the end, I found myself practically balancing on the edge of the bed.

As I lay in bed this morning trying hard to fall asleep in a rather awkward posture, I thought to myself; well, perhaps in a few months' time, my "training" could get me a job in the circus performing sleeping on rope!

To My Precious

Every morning I wake up and see your face
You have no idea how I am so amazed
By the fact that God has granted me my wish
And He gave you to me as a gift

Close your eyes and sleep
For I am yours to keep
Open your mouth to eat
For I will give you the food you need

We shall live together in harmony
Because we are a family
You are the love of my life
As you light up the fire in my eyes

Gerard, I gave you your life

But you give me a life.

Auspicious Time?

Even the ang mos believe in selecting an aupicious time to open their shop.

Gerard and Friends

I've never thought that Gerard would like to have a girlfriend so fast. Kids nowadays really mature early.

She's french, by the way. ;-)

I Want To Take Annual Leave

When Gerard didn't want to drink his milk for nearly 10 hours and was wailing so much this morning, frustration and fatigue from all the attempts to feed him finally made me broke down. Funny thing was, when he saw me sobbing, he stopped crying to stare at me. He frowned and looked bewildered since we always showed him our smiling faces. However this lasted for about 10 secs before he resumed howling. As for me, I stopped crying because it's my turn now to be amused by his reaction.

Hiaz, I really want to take my "annual leave" to lie in till lunch time, go shopping for MY OWN clothes, go for spa, go for facial or generally to relax. Unfortunately, this is a privilege which new mothers don't have and I really miss it. But then again, we gain some and we lose some and that's life, isn't it.

Our First Reunion Dinner

While many of our friends in Singapore and HongKong were either sleeping, playing mahjong or watching late night tv programs, we were having our first reunion dinner together.

For the year of Rat, I wish my Gerard to be happy and healthy and will love us as much as we love him.

Happy New Year

I would like to wish everyone a very happy new year and may the year of Rat bring you lots of good luck and fortune!

PS: If you would like to send me your Ang Bao, please contact either my mummy or daddy for our address. :-)

Time flies and Gerard is almost 7 weeks old, which means I have not had a nice long and deep sleep for the same period of time. My eye bags are as big as the shopping bags we get at Ikea and my dark eye circles are as dark as the espresso we drink.

But when I saw these looks on Gerard's face, all frustrations and fatigues have somehow disappeared and I felt energized all over again.


When I was writing my earlier diary, Gerard was sleeping on his "milk pillow" on my lap. He seemed to be sleeping very soundly, so my balancing must be pretty good.





Playing time with mummy's friend, whom I have managed to charm with my smile.

I am so tired

Boy, I am really tired today. Have been waking up 2 to 3 threes a night to feed my baby for the past 6 weeks but for some reasons, today seemed the worst. Just feel that my eyelids weigh a ton and my body is finally going to surrender to the fatigue that have accumulated.

Gerard is not being cooperative today as well and he doesn't want to sleep on anywhere else except in my arms. Fortunately, I finally succeeded in putting him on a pillow on my lap so I can at least free my arms. Am writing this blog so that I can keep my mind occupied and not fall into a deep sleep (with Gerard still on my laps), which I am absolutely capable of.

But my eyelids are just so heavy. I hope tomorrow will be a better day.......

zzzzzzzzzzz

This is my boy

Name - Sim Gerard
Birthday - 17 Dec 2007
Weight - 2.9kg
Height - 48cm
Likes - Drinking milk, sleeping, being cradled by mummy and daddy and listening to music

Dislikes - Being left alone, dirty after a poo or pee and naked.

Favourite person - Mummy

Favourite time of the day - Morning

Favourite song - None because no one in the family can sing properly.