long-awaited

this happens when amy is not home yet when they need to go sleep. and i am sure the situation will be vice versa some 10 years later : )

good night

 2130 hours: at their bedroom

0400 hours: at our bedroom

conclusion: we should have ordered a king size bed instead of moving to a new flat with an extra bedroom. after all they are likely to stay on our bed in the end!!

while papa’s away

標題其實係謎底．．．謎面係：小朋友點解咁開心？

原因：小兄妹終於可以同媽媽一齊瞓！

routine

finally this happens every single night...

interest class

我要說的不是靖愷的興趣班。

我最喜歡學習各項「唔等駛」的玩意，插花、做熊仔布偶、甚至裁剪也去上過課。

幾個月前放下孩子給爸爸一小時上了羊毛氈速成班，今個月我又再挑戰爸爸的能耐，上了兩個多小時的咖啡拉花課。

結果哥哥睡了一小時，妹妹睡了兩小時。在都幾乎沒有任何騷擾的情況下，完成了兩杯還算可以的作品。這天，心滿意足了。

i attended a 2-hour latte art class yesterday. how did i spare the time? because kind daddy mac helped me take care of the kids at the corner of the cafe.

thanks children and daddy, you totally made my day!

here are the teddy & hearts i made:



由左起，順時針：咖啡師的示範作；我最愛的rose latte；失敗的第一次拉花；等候中的爸爸、睡夢中的小孩

clockwise from top left: demonstrations from the coffee barister; my favourite rose latte; my first attempt - a disaster turned into a flower by the barister; waiting dad & sleeping kids

king-sized bed

one of the best things about travelling is, we can all cuddle up on the same bed and still feel there's enough room for everyone.

我愛旅行。

我愛酒店的特大號床。

我愛和你們捲在那大床上，一家人也不擠。

like brother, like sister

both of them don't like to tuck in their feet in the quilt and both of them enjoy sleeping on our bed than their own bed : P

well, it seems that we need to buy a king size bed to house all four of us when we move next time...

easy baby

我常想，是哪來的幸運讓我遇著個這麼易帶的可人兒？

日間的愷霖睡得還可，我和哥哥在的時候有時一會就醒來，有時可睡個多小時；我們都出去時，工人姐姐總告訴我，她一直才睡呀！

到了晚上十時許，你只要輕輕放她在床，將燈光較暗，她就會將頭仔左轉右轉，然後自己入睡，從不需抱、或拍、或唱歌、或哄。最近她學懂啜大拇指，你會聽到她嗒嗒聲的好幾下，然後就將手指吐出就睡去。

你猜她可以睡多久？她這一睡就會睡至早上五時多六時！事實證明，原來我真的不用花時間看no cry sleep solution。

愷霖愛笑，還可以自得其樂。有時候我忙著照顧哥哥，將她放在小床上，開個音樂轉轉給她，她就可以看十多分鐘也不哭。我忍不住常在哥哥面前稱讚她，和謝謝她的忍耐。

我在想，是她天生性格如此隨和，還是後天因我們無暇給她所有的關注而煉成的？

i don't know what luck we have to be blessed with an easy baby this time.

at 2.5 months, heather is sleeping 7 hours at night and she falls asleep all by herself, without any holding, patting, singing or whatsoever.

she smiles when you have the time to sit down and talk to her, and when i don't have the time, she can be easily satisfied in her crib with the musical mobile.

i always wonder, is it nature (that she's born with such a pleasant character) or nurture (that we can't give her all the attention) which made her such an easy baby?

welcome home

heather still spends more than 90% of her time in sleeping after coming back home today.

is her desire for sleep anything to do with amy going bed at 1 am or 2 am during the pregnancy? and now that she needs to make it up?? : P

breakthrough

finally rafael starts to treasure the benefits of sleeping on his own : ) glad that he didn't get up in the middle of the night until i woke him up at 8:45 am this morning!

night owl

rafael, an night owl

靖愷最像我的，大概就是不捨得睡的性格。

懂我的朋友都知，我是隻貓頭鷹。爸爸媽媽告訴我，還是手抱嬰兒時，爸爸半夜總是要抱著眼光光的我來回渡步哄我入睡。中學時期，我已開始"半夜三更"才去睡。我喜歡晚上，因為夜闌人靜的時候，我可以不受騷擾地做自己喜歡的事。

靖愷呢？戒奶後不能邊餵奶邊哄他睡，他的入睡時間便越推越遲，最晚試過半夜十二時才進睡。

我倒是可以理解的，那是因為他留在家中的時間實在太少。

早上8:20，靖愷便要出門趕校車。吃完晚飯後，我們跟他最早要晚上8:30才回到家裡。整天沒有留在家中，家裡又有那麼多玩具，你總不能要他立刻就上床去吧？

其實每日一家人就只有這個時候才能有些親子時間，靜靜地談談天，做一點bonding，我也實在捨不得他睡。你知道快樂的時候過得特別快，轉眼又過了一個小時到晚上9:30。趕快催促靖愷嗽口和進睡房，接著便是睡前閱讀的時間。

靖愷每晚總是要選最少四本書來讀。有時真的很晚了，或是自己很睏，趁他不為意偷偷收起一本，他總會記得。明明眼睛都合上了，還是會突然跳起來說：我地都未睇mister seahorse！

昨日終告晚上10:45進睡，算是有點改善。

但時早上8時前又要起床準備上學，睡眠時間還是不足。如果一日有26小時，可有多兩個小時給我們來睡，該有多好！

eat and sleep

what is better than getting a nap after a feast? rafael can't agree with it more...

some tunes over the pillow

大概在兩三個月前習慣在晚上餵奶時哼這歌, 媽媽哼著哼著你吸著吸著我們就一塊兒睡著了。沒料到有天你突然也哼起來．．．

i've been humming this song for weeks while nursing rafael to sleep, and one day we suddenly hear a familiar tune ringing in the air...

rafael, oh yes please do remember "and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true..."

let's go to bed

晚上十時許，你在跟媽媽玩泊車。媽媽告訴你，時候不早了，我們要睡了，車子也要睡了。於是你將巴士、大火車和小火車一輛一輛的由客廳帶到床上．．．嗯，誰說只可以跟啤啤熊睡？

rafael: bus, big train and small train, let's go to bed together tonight.

midnight show

what is rafael doing with these two sticks?


(singing) "tap your sticks in your hand with a 1-2-3..."


oh, he is watching a dvd named "baby songs - abc, 123, colours & shapes".


sing along to baby songs on tv is not a big deal and not worth an entry but it is another matter when it happens at 3 o'clock... in the morning. sadly it did happen tonight.


perhaps rafael was scared by the thunder and lightning, he woke up around 2 am and since then crying like a rainstorm, just like what was happening outside - until amy played the dvd.

gosh, i think we need to revise our plan for tomorrow morning - from library and playground visits to resting in bed till 12 noon : P

dozing off

rafael was so tired after our breakfast+shopping trip yesterday that he dozed off on the bus on the way home, and he managed to avoid falling off by holding onto the rail -- just like us commuting to work in the morning. oh don't tell me he's ready for the cruel world...

昨天靖愷累極在巴士上睡著了－－但他沒忘記要扶穩呢！

baby skincare basics

常說嬰兒的皮膚滑若剝殼雞蛋，怎料到靖愷的皮膚天生敏感，需要的護膚品比爸爸媽媽的還要多？

these are the skincare products the eczema baby rafael regularly uses:

靖愷的常用護膚系列：

from left 由左起:

• cetaphil moisturising lotion - for moisturising 舒特膚潤膚乳 － 潤膚用
• DIY "purple cloud ointment" - for treating eczema 紫雲膏 － 治濕疹
• DIY camomile calamine lotion - for soothing itchy skin 洋甘菊爐金石止痕膏 － 止痕用
• DIY vitamin E ointment - for removing scars 維他命E膏 － 去疤用
• DIY evening primrose oil - for massaging while nursing 月見草油 － 按摩用
• florida water - for bath and as insect-repellent 花露水 － 沐浴（防熱痱）及驅蚊用
  
  (big thanks to enid for all the DIY products!)

bonus track: rafael strikes a pose

是日加映：攝於今日凌晨照片一幀

can you give me a little more time?

靖愷近日都很早睡，從爺爺嫲嫲家晚飯回來，一般不消半小時便要吃奶和入睡。那天回來，你更在五分鐘內睡了。那天，想起和你少得可憐的親子時間，媽媽的鼻子忍不住又酸起來了。

可憐的五分鐘，不夠媽媽和你讀一遍Don't Worry, Spike... about the Dark 呢！

可憐的五分鐘，不夠媽媽和你在掛衣架前玩peek-a-boo呢！

可憐的五分鐘，不夠媽媽著開電腦讓你跟公公婆婆聊天呢！

可憐的五分鐘，不夠媽媽跟你和爸爸在床上瘋狂地傻笑一場呢！

今天，媽媽突然靈機一觸：咿，不如lunch time時從中環去銅鑼灣探你！

怎料，老師說原來你一般都要睡至一點半後才醒來。。。

像這樣精精神神的讀書，還是要留待周末時才可以吧！

終於等到星期五了，還要是難得一個月只此一回爸爸都可以星期六和星期日休息的一個周末，媽媽爸爸都要在這2880分鐘緊緊的黏著你！

Happy weekend everyone!

goodnight

別人都想孩子早睡早起...

今天晚上和靖愷從爺爺嫲嫲家回來，看看鐘還只是九時，本以為趁著爸爸上班去，會有一個半個小時的私人親子時間，就讓我們說說故事，唱唱歌嘛...

靖愷，來，先翻開這本書，我們看圖識字！

媽媽：where's the car?
靖愷：（指著媽媽教他"milk"的地方）
媽媽：where's the car, not where's the milk...
靖愷：（抓媽媽的上衣）

好，先喝一點再來說說故事，唱唱歌吧...

(數分鐘後）

咿，怎麼你邊吃邊睡呀？我們不是說好要說說故事，唱唱歌嗎？

sleepy hollow

rafael was being cranky tonight and i had to hold him up and keep walking. i got bored and then decided to sit him in my arms and walk. click! suddenly my arms became a sleepy hollow and he just fell asleep right there... don't know how he could do this as i can't imagine myself getting to sleep if i'm held up like that... oh maybe that's how he was sleeping in my womb?