22 and almost half months old

The other day i just realised V turned 22 months old (3 days late) but I was so caught up with work I didn't really sit back and count the "milestones".

She's a bit more vocal now, crazy about chocolates still and a lot more "loving".

For Valentine's Day, my hubby got this deal off the web, he paid $10 for a night stay at a 3 star hotel. Wait, don't go "wah" yet ... his colleague got it for $1!!! I am not kidding, 1, ONE, Singapore dollar. Too bad I had a meeting that afternoon, so I couldn't take leave in the afternoon, though my boss was nice to let me off slightly earlier from work.

The hotel is new, and frankly speaking, I thought it was pretty decent, although it reminds me a little of the Japan's corporate hotels (no frills). The bathroom is tiny, but it's still bigger than what you get in Japan! The room was of a decent size, but no way we could put in a cot.

Anyway, we decided to take this opportunity to "test" market - that is take care of V on our own for 2 nights and see how it goes. This is in preparation of our helper's 2 weeks return to her hometown, and we are wondering how she will react. Needless to say, since she beds in with the helper, she was whining for the helper at night. The hubby took care of that, he brought her out for walks and they would returned with her fast asleep on his arms/ shoulder. the same thing happened on both nights, she would wake up suddenly after being put on the bed and wanted to go for the "walk" or "outside" again (based on her finger pointing). The first night i carried her and hum her favourite tune when she was a baby, that soothed her but she took a while to fall asleep. As usual, since I am blind at night, I couldn't tell if she was asleep, I had to inch my way to the light source (the tiolet) and peer at her. Anyway she was kind enough to let me sit on the bed to rock her to sleep after a while, and when she finally fell asleep, I propped myself against the bed, with her sleeping on my chest. Not that she was whining, but I missed it. I missed the times when she would fall asleep propped against my chest, listening to her breathing and smelling her hair. When I was dropping off to sleep, I put her to bed but she refused to sleep in between us for some reasons. So we ended sleeping L-shaped, and her feet near to the edge of the bed. Some sixth sense woke me later and her feet was dangling off the bed! I managed to shift her back into position and she continued sleeping. In the morning, she was quite funny - she woke up and checked "mama!" I answered her and then she went "papa!" then the hubby replied to her. Satisfied, she went back to sleep for 2 good hours, before we woke her up for breakfast.

The second night, after our expensive Valentine's dinner (I spent close to $200), we came home and she was in a good mood, although she kept asking about the dogs and the helper. When she woke up from the first walk, i asked the hubby to carry her and I promptly fell asleep. When she was finally deep enough in her sleep, the hubby put her on the bed, but she again insisted on sleeping in her way. So we ended up in a H-shaped, her head butting my ribs, and her feet landing on the hubby's face. She tossed a bit at night, so she headbutted my tummy, my ribs, my shoulders, my chest ... it was no fun, but I doubt it would be any better if her feet was on my end! I'm glad to say we survived it, and she enjoyed herself. When the helper returned home today, V was stunned for a minute when she saw her. But as usual, soon after, glued to her like a fly on a fly paper. However, I am pleased to note that she wanted me to brush her teeth for her!

She'll be heading off to childcare soon, in preparation for the #2 arrival. Not that I really want her to go so early, but for practical reasons and since I cannot possibly work part-time now, it seemed like the best solution to get her used to childcare first. #2 will arrive sometime in June/ July, and I don't think the helper can cope with 1 toddler, 1 baby and 2 dogs. Hopefully things would have settled down at work enough to allow me to work reduced hours so I can spend more time with V, but I really highly doubt so. Having 16 weeks of maternity leave is already more than what I could ask for (well I did hope for 6 months!) and given the current situation at work, I cannot extend my leave period, so let's see how things work out for these few months.

Oh and ya, #2 is along the way =)