Waiting for helicopters

Putting our booster seat to good use

Waiting for the fireworks...

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...that are going off right over the playground. Thanks aunty E. for bringing the blankets to lie on!

Play hard. Sleep hard.

He wants to play!

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The pittsburgh zoo is extremely hilly and is a great place to get a workout! Most of the exhibits and environments are small and do not look too stimulating, and many of the animals, especially the primates looked pretty sad and bored with their tiny enclosures. I felt sad for them. I heard a couple of kids commenting excitedly when they FINALLY saw an animal awake and not looking too miserable.
We did however meet one pretty lively mammal, a sea lion!
I'm curious to return to the Singapore zoo and see how that has changed since I was last there- maybe 15 years ago?!

Pittsburgh aviary

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It's clean and compact. We will be back!

It's cold water but who cares!

At the Aviary

Month 3

The days seem so short when caring for a little one... and yet it feels like so long ago when I was still carrying Ian on the inside. One of the challenges of being a mum is the time and energy you devote to the wellbeing of another tiny person, the other is the understanding of your role and purpose as a caregiver-- to find that balance between being responsible, but also yielding control and trust to the Creator. It's easy to fall into the mindset of fretting about every small detail- from feeding to sleeping to cutting them micronails.. robbing yourself of the joy of each day. Also I've found that with recommended routines, schedules, methods, techniques of child-rearing at the back of your head, it's hard to remember that each child is different, and to be thankful for general health and the opportunity to be a parent. So the point of this post and the point I'm trying to make to myself is...well, I'm still figuring it out :)

Thanks for the Midnight feed

Labor

It's been a week since Ian was born!
It really doesnt feel that long (the labour part did)
Tuesday 2pm - heading out to the airport to get my mum when realize my water broke.. No not the gushing waterfall type but just enough to know it broke n not make a mess!
So we manage to contact my mum before she leaves Chicago ( the last flight out before last weeks storm!) and had a kind friend pick her up.. And host her for 2 nights while k n I stayed at hospital.
At 3pm I was 1 cm dilated so was labor was induced ( oh no, gives stronger contractions)
After a bunch of contractions and my labor coach and I trying to make it thru, the doc checked again and At 2 am I was 5 cm ... I.e probably quite some hours to go to get to 10cm
It was a good time to opt for an epidural!
So we did and both k n I promptly fell asleep from mental exhaustion n all the excitement. 7am Wednesday- we made it to a grand total of 6cm! 1cm after 4 hours?? Anti climax ...
More induction drugs.. If we don't get to 10 cm in 4 hours chances are we need a c section.
Baby heart rate drops so the drug is reduced.. And good news by 11am or so .. We are at 8cm. It took another 4 hours to get to 10cm, and by the time doc said we were ready to push-- we were ready! it wasn't just the waiting.. I was having contraction pain n tired if lying down n not having food or water for the last 24 hrs!
The pushing took 20 or so mins-- baby, you are coming out NOW!