Julian at 2 months

Julian is now 2 months old! He now weighs roughly 5kg. The last 2 weeks saw Julian flashing more obvious and consistent social smiles when talked to or tickled on his cheeks :o). He also seems to be saying "ah-woh" ("hello"??) and "eh-ah" ("yes ah"??) quite often :o).

On Tuesday (24 July 2007), we were all back at Butterworth to celebrate Papa's birthday. We also made a quick visit to St. Anne's church in Bukit Mertajam. So, Julian has now been to 4 different churches (St. Joseph's in Batu Gajah, Holy Spirit Cathedral and Assumption in Penang, and St. Anne's) in just 2 months. That day also marked Julian's first shopping outing when we dropped by Carrefour in Seberang Jaya. Julian had a really busy week :o).


[Julian appreciating a funny story...]


[Hee hee hee...]


[The Three of Us]

Eighteen Wine and Dine

We had lunch at Eighteen Wine and Dine - a restaurant at Krystal Point, Bayan Baru last Saturday (21 July 2007).

We ordered 2 of their set lunches. First we had pumpkin soup, followed by the main dish (I ordered lamb stew and Angie ordered roast chicken). Then we had ice cream for dessert and coffee/tea to wash it all down. Prices were reasonable - under RM20 per set. Julian, as usual, had his milk :o).


[Roast chicken]


[Lamb stew served with rice]

Doughnut Peaches

We came across some doughnut peaches the other day at the supermarket. They were in a pack of about 12 fruits for RM9.99. They tasted okay - moderately sweet.


[Doughnut Peaches: Squished peaches at premium prices...]

Julian at 7 weeks

Julian is 7 weeks old tomorrow. It is not obvious whether he has grown any bigger except that he does seem heavier now when we lift him up :o). However, today we let him put on the same pair of red knitted booties he wore when we first brought him home from the hospital. The booties seemed too big for him then. But now, my my... he (well, at least his feet) has almost outgrown it!


[Julian and his red knitted booties]

This evening we took Julian out to a Tom Yam stall for dinner along Greenlane. Angie ordered nasi goreng ayam merah (fried chicken rice with red sauce), I ordered nasi goreng paprik (paprik fried rice) and teh tarik (tea with milk), while Julian ordered some bottled formula milk. It was a pleasant dinner for three :o).

Here are some photo updates from Julian:


[Julian's hand]


[Julian's feet]


[The Paficier: We let him try a pacifier the other day... must not make this a habit :o)]


[The Singlet: Julian's athletic look... boxing anyone?]

Julian's First Mini Outing

Julian is 6 weeks old this week.

Yesterday evening (12 July 2007), we took Julian out for his first "non-business" outing, i.e. not to see the doctor, full moon formalities, or for mass. We first dropped by his grandaunts' place just down the road. Then, we took him to a playing field just at the bend of Jalan Delima. This was where a group of ladies were doing line dancing, a father and son were throwing a frisbie, a few guys playing soccer, joggers jogged and people in the area sat around for a chat. All these happened... while he slept! Well, at least he had some freash air :o).

After almost 7 weeks, Julian has proven to be a strange suckler. I'm sure he's not alone but all the same we are quite amused (well, sometimes otherwise) by his antics. The popular book - What To Expect: The First Year, categorises Julian as a "rester"... so it is quite challenging for us :o). He regurgitates quite often too. While is is not uncommon, it's not fun either.

Up till now, he waves and kicks a lot while awake. He has also started smiling more frequently (sometimes quite comically), although he has yet to flash his first "social" smile. Looking forward to it.

Julian Full Moon

Julian is one month old as of yesterday (28 June 2007). Yay!

Julian had his full moon celebration on Tuesday (26 June 2007). In Penang, boxes of nasi kunyit (tumeric glutinous rice), chicken curry, ang koo (a kind of sweet red dumpling in the shape of a tortoise filled with bean paste) and red eggs were distributed. For boys, ang yee (similar to the ang koo but in the shape of a ball) were also included.


[Full Moon Set (clockwise from bottom-left): nasi kunyit, chicken curry, red eggs, ang koo and ang yee]

We celebrated Julian's full moon a little earlier in Ipoh last Saturday (23 June 2007) with an eight-course chinese luncheon.


[Julian fretting a little during his full moon luncheon while Mummy and grandaunts look on]

Last Saturday also saw Grandma giving Julian his first haircut in Ipoh.


[Living Room Barber Shop: Julian's first haircut]

Here are more photos of Julian.


[Julian sleeping soundly on Mummy's shoulder]


[Julian: Sleeping... again]


[Julian: Showing some interest... finally]

Baby Photos

Julian is 12 days old today. We are still adjusting to this new way of life. He is already showing signs of wanting more milk since he first came home.


[Aaaw!]


[Waaa!]


[Stretch!: Julian doing some aerobics...]


[Julian when awake]

Julian Comes Home

Julian finally came home yesterday (Friday, 1 June 2007) after staying an extra day due to jaundice. Mummy Angie was discharged on Thursday (31 May 2007).

Julian's first day at home gave us a whole new experience of being first-time parents. The routine of caring for a newborn - feeding and cleaning - is tiring and frustrating but absolutely priceless... nothing to guide you except for your faith and instinct, no one to help you except for your family and friends, and no one to journey with you except your spouse and God.


[Julian and Mummy leaving the nursery]


[Julian and Mummy arriving home]


[Julian and Daddy at home]

Julian's Arrival

We are happy to announce the birth of our first born - Julian, on 28 May 2007 via Ceasarian section. At birth, Julian weighed 3.43kg or 7lb 8oz (not as heavy as expected). He is 53cm in length with a head circumference of 37cm (quite a big head).

Baby Julian is fine and Mummy Angie is recovering well after surgery. Thank you for your prayers and support.

Julian is the first grandchild for Angie's parents, and the second for my parents.

Baby Updates: 39 weeks

We will be 39 weeks pregnant this coming Monday (28 May 2007). We thought we'd blog about this now because at this stage anything can happen :o). Angie has been experiencing more Braxton Hicks contractions lately (which we fondly call 'hicky') but no signs of labour yet.

So, we're down to the last week of our pregnancy. Please keep us in your prayers.


[Mummy and Daddy at 39 weeks]

Unexpected Sighting

We forgot to mention in the previous post that on the way to see our gynae on 21 May 2007 we spotted a zappelin in the sky - not something you get to see every day :-) Most unfortunately we didn't have our camera with us so we've got no photo of it to share with you.

Baby Updates: 38 weeks

We are now 38 weeks pregnant. We saw our gynaecologist this morning. Baby now weighs 3.7kgs and baby's head is already 10cm in diameter. Simply put - baby is big.

So, it's 2 more weeks to the due date but we're hoping baby will be born sooner because of baby's big size.


[Mummy at 38 weeks]

Little Outing

We had a little outing yesterday (20 May 2007) as some friends from the Singapore Engaged Encounter (EE) community were in Penang for a holiday. The Penang EE community took them around.

Angie and I were not able to join them for the whole time but we did manage to meet them at the reception area of the Batu Maung War Museum before heading for a durian party in the afternoon. In the evening, we went up Penang Hill for steamboat dinner at the Bellevue Hotel.


[War Museum: We busybodied at the reception area only]


[The Local Tourist at the Funicular Hill Railway Station]


[Vending Machine from Yesterday: Reminds us of the 1980s... located at the top station of Penang Hill]

Francis Western Food

We had dinner at Francis Western Food last Saturday (19 May 2007). It is located at a coffee shop at the junction of Cantonment Road and Burmah Road in Pulau Tikus. During this visit, we ordered baked Cajun Chicken (RM11.50) and Chicken Chop (RM7.00). During our previous visit, we had Baked Chicken with peanut butter sauce (RM8.50) and Bacon Wrapped Pork Chop with Cheese (RM13.50). The servings are generous and taste delicious, but be prepared to wait a while before your order arrives.


[The Front of Francis']


[Chicken Cajun]


[Chicken Chop]

Steamed Rice

We read the Giddy Tigers' post about the steamed mushroom chicken rice at the Eng Yau coffee shop next to the Penang Snake Temple. So, yesterday (17 May 2007) saw my brother, my sister-in-law, Angie and I there for a quick lunch. Incidentally, it was the first time the four of us got together for lunch.

The steamed rice turned out to be quite tasty and the serving is really generous. The stall also serves steamed spare ribs rice as well as steamed salted fish rice. They only open Mondays to Fridays.


[Steamed Mushroom Chicken Rice: Only RM3.50]


[Steamed Rice Stall at Eng Yau Coffee Shop]

Cheesy Prawns

Last week (11 May 2007) saw Angie trying out a recipe she learned from a colleague - Cheesy Prawns. The prawns are marinaded with salt and pepper and lightly fried. Then, they are covered in cheese slices before being baked for a few minutes.


[Cheesy Prawns]

Cot Matters

We finally got down to giving baby's cot a fresh coat of paint. The cot is on loan from Gabriel (our baby nephew) who doesn't sleep in his cot anymore. We also made a trip to Penang's Kimberly Street to purchase a cot-sized fibre mattress. Then, off we went to buy some fabric for the bedsheets. So, we're almost done with baby's bed stuff. All we need to do next is to assemble the panels together once the paint is fully dry and voila!


[Swipe, swipe: Daddy painting baby's cot]


[Coconut fibres and cartoon sheets: Firm, cool and funny]

Baby Updates: 36 weeks

We are now 36 weeks pregnant. We saw our gynaecologist yesterday and he said that baby now weighs 2.9kgs, bigger than average. Baby's head is about 9.5cm in diameter. So, it's 4 more weeks to go but Dr. Gynae says baby will be matured in 2 more weeks.


[Mummy at 36 weeks: Baby stuff... check! More baby stuff... check!]

Passing by Perlis

Wednesday, 2 May 2007, saw us making a day trip to the nothern most state of the Peninsular - Perlis. On the way, we swung by Bukit Kayu Hitam but there wasn't much on the Malaysian side to warrant a stop. We continued our journey the to the royal town of Arau where we spotted the palace. Again we drove on without stopping.

When we did finally stop, we had arrived in Kangar and it was lunch time. We had roasted and barbecue pork rice at OK Restaurant near the Malaysia Hotel. After lunch, we drove around town before visiting other places.

The places we visited: Padang Besar, Chuping sugar cane plantation, Tasik Melati, Bukit Kubu Recreational Park, and Kuala Perlis.


[Padang Besar Bazaar]


[Our Padang Besar purchase: mangoes, and fruits of unknown origin... enlightenment welcome]


[Sugar Cane Plantation at Chuping: acres and acres of sweetness]


[Tasik Melati]


[Bukit Kubu Recreational Park]


[An incoming ferry at Kuala Perlis]

We had initially planned to stay the night but found it quite unnecessary once we got there. All in all, the trip took about 10 hours including travelling time. The trip was made more 'exciting' and 'dangerous' when we realised halfway that our car tyres were extremely worn out! We got them changed today.


[A very worn out tyre]

Our 3rd Anniversary

We celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary on 1 May 2007. This year we began the day with a lovely dim sum breakfast in Taman Pekaka.


[Dim Sum at Maxim's]

Lunch was a picnic at Batu Ferringhi. The weather was good and we managed to find a shade to enjoy our tuna sandwich.


[Preparing our sandwich lunch at the beach]

For dinner, we checked out TGI Friday's. We sampled their loaded potato skin for the appetizer and our main course was the seafood platter and Jack Daniel's Chicken & Shrimp. We also tried their smoothies (Holiday Isle and Hawaiian Surfer). Food was good - better than expected. Between meals we simply lazed about having a relaxing time enjoying each other's company.


[All set to tuck into our dinner at TGI Friday's]

The highlight of the day, as always, was the lighting of our Unity Candle for our Anniversary Prayer.


[Our Unity Candle burning bright]