The two faces of our little one.. actually the one on the right would have made a great passport pic!

Our baby boy is 3 months old!

I'm not sure how heavy he is now (he was 6.5kg before we left for V2) but he's definitely big! Everywhere we went in Vanuatu, they went "fat fat, fat fat". They didn't mean it in a mean way but it's their way of saying teasing a big cute baby in their culture. Even in NZ, the people say he's big so I guess even compared to a kiwi baby, he's big! One thing for sure, there's no hiding him discreetly when I'm breastfeeding him or carrying him in a sling (which we don't use anymore coz he's just too heavy).

He's a talker. Seriously. If you think Sophie can talk at 4 yrs old, you shd see Levi at 3 months! He'll keep talking non-stop if you keep talking to him. Super cute! He makes all these sounds that makes me go "awwww….". If he's crying, we just have to engage his eye contact and try to talk to him, he'll eventually stop! It's like he just needs to be listened to. He's usually quite easy to be calmed down, unless he's way past his bedtime. Ok I will never understand how 2 parents who don't talk a lot ended up with 2 children that are so talkative!

He's sleeping a bit better in the night now but it varies from night to night. Once in V2, he did a 7 hr sleep stretch… but only once. Most nights he still wakes every 3-4 hrs to feed. I'm hoping he'll do a 5 hr stretch soon coz it's really testing my ability to keep sane during the day with a super inquisitive and active 4 yr old and 3 month old that needs to be patted to sleep.

I still can't believe 3 months have just flown by. It's really such a blessing to have Levi. Having a boy is such a different experience. Very cool. I'm really thankful.

Levi is exactly a month old today.

He's doing really well. He's now 4.7 kg, a whooping 10 lbs! He's outgrown his New Born (NB) sized onesies and is almost bursting out of the Huggies NB sized diapers! I went to buy Infant sized diapers yesterday and by instinct got a pink pack instead of blue. I didn't even realise it until I came home. Even the midwife here commented that he was big. I guess he's big even for babies here.

Some days he's still feeding every 2 – 2 1/2 hours but mostly he's doing 3 hrly feeds. He's sleeping better in the nights but also still waking every 3 hours on good nights to feed.

He's much more alert now and is constantly looking to engage eye contact. I think he likes communicating as much as Sophie.

We're still trying to get used to eating at the dinner hall. If he's sleeping, he tends to cry and wake because of the noise level. But good thing is that everyone is more than happy to take over and carry him.

Here's what I can do at 4:

1. I can read!

Mummy's comments: YES! After teaching her phonics for the past few months, she's beginning to read. We use Reading Made Easy and Explode the Code and of course, lotsa lotsa reading everyday. She can read simple words and know most of the sight words. Mostly she reads by context and part memorization but sometimes she surprises us by reading signs that she'd never seen before. We've got a couple of Strawberry Shortcake readers and she loves to read to Levi (ok that's my trick of getting her to read aloud coz she still prefers us to read to her. If I say to read to Levi, sometimes she'll oblige.)

2. I can write!

Mummy's comments: We're still working on this. When we first started homeschooling this term, she wasn't keen on writing and it was too stressful to get her writing consistently and properly so I gave it a rest. But recently she's starting to want to write again so we've picked it up again and she's doing well!

3. I can talk to anyone about anything. Ok, anyone who would listen.

Mummy's comments: Sophie can REALLY talk. And talk. And talk! One of the best thing about being here is that everyone listens to a kid! Kids are not ignored, told off or brushed off when they speak. Or the worst, patronised. I love the way adults communicate with children here. They really listen to what Sophie have to say and she has lots to say. This has really helped Sophie to develop and form her identity. She is very confident amongst adults and older children and has no problem holding her own ground. Now I just need to teach her not to butt into people's conversations.

4. I can carry my didi!

Mummy's comments: She's doing really well as an older sister. I think it's been great to have a 4 yr gap between the two kids. Sophie has been rather patient during the times I need to look after Levi. She'll play or read in her room and wait for me. Sometimes I will just read to her while I'm feeding Levi. In the beginning it was a bit harder but 4 wks in, she's doing very well. She's been having a cough and cold this week and she's been very considerate not to go kiss Levi and remembering to close her mouth when she sneezes or coughs. But James has been really good and been very deliberate in spending more time with her and I think that really helped in the transition. I just wished I have more time to spend with her.

Things I like
1. Anything pink and sparkly
2. Princessy things, dolls, Strawberry Shortcake, ballerinas
3. Bling blings – rings, bracelets, etc
4. Cheese – I share Mummy's love for soft cheeses too!
5. Green leafy veggies and fruits
6. Fairy Tales – I still like reading a lot

Things I dislike
1. Main meals – Mum says it's SO hard to get me to eat!
2. Villains – I hate bad people or characters in movies.
3. Putting on too many layers. I don't feel cold! I'm really a summer kinda girl, give me a t-shirt, shorts and flip flops, I'm happy.

First of all, Sophie turned 4 last Saturday. We had a huge celebration party for her on Friday afternoon. My in laws have been planning this for her even before they arrived. They brought all the party decorations, invites and goody bag things from Singapore! On the day itself, they cooked fried noodles, chicken wings and sausages.

The kids had a blast with all the goodies! We played pass the parcel, Sophie's special request. Even the adults broke fast to enjoy the food (check out the food spread in the photo above) and played with the toy cars in the goody bag. Sophie had lotsa fun hanging out with her friends and just enjoying the attention.

The Birthday Cake
Last year I made a jelly cake for Sophie – a no-bake idiot proof thing to do.

This year, I attempted to bake a cake coz I didn't even know how to go about ordering a cake here! No one really order birthday cakes around here. I guess I could have bought one at the supermarket but it was just strange to do that. Everyone makes their own so I attempted to do so. What a disaster! It took me three attempts before I got it close to a birthday cake taste and feel! Anyways here's how it turned out. I ran out of time to do the icing coz Levi had to feed so James took over and I'm glad he did coz he's the artistic one. It turned out beautiful in a homemade kinda way.

One guy had three pieces of it so I guess it must have tasted alright. But the funny thing was that he told my mother in law that the bread tasted really nice. Erm… he was referring to the cake but maybe he's danish so his englands not vely goods. Anyway, I discovered the hard way that baking is NOT one of my giftings. Ha! But I had fun trying tho.