Siblings - love 'em, hate 'em

It has been such a long time since I last posted and the kids have grown so much that it's tough trying to keep up with their developments.

People have told me that we're "brave" to have our kids so close in age -and I can see the rationale for having a few years gap between kids - but when I see them together, especially when they're playing with each other, pointing things out to one another and (my favourite) holding hands as they explore together, it makes me glad that they have each other for life.

That's not to say there aren't moments when it seems like neither will make it past their pre-school years. They fight daily and it seems like I morph into "crazy mom" every afternoon - shouting at Asher to stop pushing Charlotte/snatching her toys and keeping Charlotte from hitting (yes, she does know how to defend herself) him. But when one's taking a nap, the other does feel kinda lost, and they don't really like going out without the other so I know they love each other despite all the fighting.

And soon, they'll have another sibling joining the happy throng ... goodness knows what this crazy mom will be like then!

Best Buds - Asher & Ethan

For the longest time, Hubby and I were concerned that Asher wouldn't have anyone to play with. Everyone we knew was having girls (Charlotte has a ready playmate in Liana, who's just a month older), and as he got older, it seemed more and more necessary that he should have another boy to do boy-stuff with.

Honestly, for what all those feminists say, boys and girls are fundamentally different. These gender traits are apparent so very early on - at 1, Charlotte is alerady in love with babies, wanting to touch them, play with them, and anywhere and everywhere we go, she's on the lookout for them - and you just can't ignore them.

So imagine our delight when we got reacquainted with Ethan (Kelly & Ailin's darling) - a cheeky little fella who's 2 months older than Asher. Ethan is incredibly mature for his age, full of boisterous fun and a great actor to boot (always making funny faces and being really dramatic)! It's great for Asher since he now has someone to run, throw, jump and just about do anything with! And Hubby is loving that he can spend time with Asher while still continuing an adult conversation with Kelly.

And they've taken to each other like ducks to water, mainly 'cos they have very similar personalities. But they are also completely different in that Ethan loves action things like superheros, while Asher's has a more academic side and sometimes just wants to do the alphabet or count. And it's really funny when they start quarelling - they are both so stubborn and refuse to give way to the other, it's just hilarious to see them!

Charlotte's first birthday

Charlotte's first birthday party was a surprisingly stress-free event as I got my act together rather early. I'd already seen lovely pink decorations when I was shopping for Asher's party earlier in the year, and had my mind set on having an extremely pink and feminine do for my little girl.

Of course, the hubby nearly had a heart attack when he found out how much it cost us, but then again, Charlotte's got him wrapped around her perfect little finger, so he wasn't quite as upset as if I'd gone out and bought an entry-level designer handbag (which I could've done if I hadn't spent the money on her party).

I absolutely love these photos (taken by mike) - the only pity was that we didn't have more photos of the kids as both of them were very tired and went upstairs for their nap soon after we cut the cake.

Here's the cake by perfectfairycakes - isn't it gorgeous?

Cheeky boy

I just had to note this down:

Asher was being rather difficult last night, refusing to wash up after dinner and just running around and not paying me much heed. So when he threw one of his books across the room, I stared at him sternly and told him to pick it up in no uncertain terms.

He looked at me for a few seconds, as if contemplating whether to disobey me, and then picked up a cushion, walked over to the book and said, "My hands are full, I can't pick up the book!"

I half wanted to throttle him - this is what you get when your husband's irritating genes get passed on to the next generation!

Asher's Birthday Party - Part One

My perfect baby

As Tin said to me recently, you really don't know that you have a difficult baby until an easy baby comes along. Asher, I can now say with absolute conviction, was a difficult baby. He could not be easily soothed, had to be carried lots, and is still, at almost 2 years of age, waking up at night.


Charlotte, on the other hand, is just the sweetest baby ever. She's quite content to look around on her own, can be put down for naps fairly easily, and started sleeping for longer stretches at night (anywhere from 5 to 7 hours) rather early on at about 8 weeks.


She is also not much of a crier and often looks at Asher in wonderment when he starts acting up (as is frequently the case these days) or just being his usual loud self, almost like she's thinking, "Who is this boy and why does he always make so much noise?"

And because she's such a good baby, we've dubbed her our reward from God for the trials that our firstborn put us through!

More of the two

Now a mother-of-two

Busy, busy, busy ... no time to update my blog but thought I'd post this pix of the 2 babes as a quick update on just what I've been doing these past 2 months!

As an update, Charlotte was born on 13 October 2006 (coincidentally, Asher was also born on the 13th - of March 2005). The Singaporean in me is still wondering if I should go buy 4D ...