Our Amanda

It's been a while since I take time to update my blog. Actually there are a lot to update, but I guess I'll keep it short and simple.

Firstly, the expected due date is still 23rd August 2009 and it's around 1 month away from delivery. But we should expect a 1 or 2 weeks early delivery, that's what we feel, because our baby kept on kicking and turning vigorously lately, as if she's flexing her muscle preparing for the world.

Then, it's the gender, we've already know the gender for few months. We're expecting a baby girl... Hooray... I have one boy and one girl... But we're not prepare to stop there... I wanna aim for a twin for next pregnancy... hohoho.... Then I have a whole 'collections' in my family... hahahaha... Pity SyinNi though...

We'll name our baby girl, Amanda Tan Tzi Tshing 陈芷欣

The name "Amanda" actually means "worthy of love". But the chinese name has some special meaning in it. First of all, I wanted my daughter as love able, as beautiful, as clever as my wife, that is why I've use the middle chinese name from my wife, 欣倪 as part of my daughter name. Besides that, there's another meaning, 我的心"芷"有欣倪



To be frank, I may not have time to update blog that frequently, that is because my Joel is taking most of my free time away. But we're very thrill, I do not have sister, so this is the first baby girl in my family. Even our son Joel knows how to 'sayang' baby now... Whenever we ask him to 'sayang' baby, he'll gently stroke SyinNi's tummy... Although it can be quite rough if he's on hyperactive mode. But the idea is to get him to recognize that he is having a younger sister whom he should cherish.

March 14 Ultra sound picture.

It's been almost half a month ago when we took another ultra sound scan pictures. Actually, this time, we expect to see what's the gender of our baby, but seems like our baby is facing downward, furthermore, she cross her legs.

I've tried to 'draw' an outline to the figure in the picture to show our baby's position. But as you can see, my 'drawing' actually looks a bit ugly.

I hope we are expecting a baby girl, although we are perfectly fine with baby boy, I even starts thinking of names for girl and boy.

If we are expecting baby girl, then we'll name her Amanda Tan.

If we are expecting baby boy, then we'll either name him Noel or Jonathan.

Joel standing

When Joel was around 9 months old, I was a bit worried that he hasn't being able to crawl on 4 legs, only managed to craw like an army... But recently, he has started to stand on his own when he grab hold of something.

He's a very energetic boy, and he likes climbing up and down, likes to walk up the stairs, like to be held high...

There's once when he refused to sleep, we just let him play on our bed, and he keeps on standing up, then sit down repeatedly until he is too tired and just fall asleep...

Even at night, if he suddenly wakes up, he'll touch your face, climb over your body, or just looking at you and starts laughing...

We always wonder when SyinNi was pregnant with Joel, that how I baby will look like. Then when he was born, we will start to imagine Joel smiling and laughing. Then when he was 6 month old, we will start to imagine Joel crawling and standing. Now that he has stand, we start to imagine him walking and running...

It seems to us that there's no special moment, every moment we spend together is special.

4th month of pregnancy

It's been a while since I update the blog on Little Tan no. 2... And I have to admit, this time around I've done less than what I've did when SyinNi was pregnant with Joel...

But still we manage to take pictures of pregnancy and the baby bump is showing.

Here's a photo of SyinNi during Chinese New Year at Alor Setar, although it's just 2 months, the baby bump is showing, and I remembered that SyinNi had more severe nausea compare to last time.

Just before the 3 months prenatal check-up, we've snap another picture. Baby bump is obvious, and everyone that we came across will ask if SyinNi's pregnant. Hahaha, ever wonder how they'll feel if we say, she wasn't?

4 months into pregnancy, we're expecting to be able to identify our baby's gender, but the position wasn't right to be able to see our baby's gender.

Joel wants SyinNi to hug and play with him more than ever recently. Wonder if it's because of the "Good mum, bad dad" we played recently. With me trying to suck his mucus out from his nostril, and when he's angry, SyinNi coax him...

But I can feel the tiredness of SyinNi, being 4 months pregnant, and have to take care of an almost 1 year old baby Joel (Some says baby tends to get sick more often around 1 year old time)... Not sure if it's true for all case, but it's true for our case.

1st picture taken.

Hello daddy, mummy... This is the 1st picture that you take from me... I'm so happy, you can see me smiling in this picture... But hey, how come dad wasn't there???

Well, I was sick that day when Syinni went for 2nd monthly prenatal monthly checkup, that's the 1st time I miss the checkup. Moreover it was 14th February, which is Valentine's Day... Dr. Ramesh goes to the extend of telling me not to fake sick during Valentine's Day...

The Ultrasound scan was amazing, it was very clear. Can clearly see the eye socket, nose, and even the mouth, (looks like Lil Tan 2 was smiling when the picture was taken)...

And now we can confirm that the due date is 23rd August 2009...

SyinNi and I are teaching Joel that he is going to have a younger brother/sister... We tried to show him SyinNi's belly and let him touch it... And now when he's on the bed, he would crawl near SyinNi's belly and hug her... Touching scene...

Lil tan 2 will have all the love from daddy, mummy and his/her big bro... We will shower you with love, kiss you, hug you and give everything we would to you... Be good...

1st check-up

We did our 1st check-up for our 2nd baby. Didn't manage to see a figure, just a small 'dot'... Dr said we can't see a figure that soon...

But we managed to hear the heart-beat. The same chemistry happened to us again... We are very thrill, and excited, even just to hear the hear beat. And to know the pregnancy is safe.

There's a sense of relief. Because SyinNi had slight stain before this, and that's the main reason why Joel's in the nursery now. Upon hearing Dr said that the pregnancy is safe.

Well, we didn't managed to grab a picture from the scan, as it's still too early to see a figure. We'll definately post some ultra sound scan picture next visit.

At some point, we thought that this pregnancy would be a twin, cause Syinni already has a baby bump, even at 7 weeks time.

To baby, daddy, mommy and your big brother is waiting for you... When you're ready, come out and play with us la... hahaha....

1st day to day-care

Haiz... Our baby Joel 1st day to day care, lucky got SyinNi teman him... Not so bad... Dunno how well he can adapt to this new environment... He is so used to all the attention... And he cries when he sees other baby...

The main reason we wanna send him to a day care is for him to get familiar with other faces... Moreover, with Little Tan the second coming, I really think that SyinNi should get more rest.

Anyway, I think Joel will be fine...

More nausea...

SyinNi's feeling more nausea during this pregnancy. I think SyinNi's friends in Agilent know that she tends to get hungry every 1 or 2 hours, and she'll eat biscuits when she feels hungry.

But this time is different, sometimes she doesn't feel like eating, especially to vegetable. I read about nausea and morning sickness, but most of them don't feel like eating meat... SyinNi doesn't feel like eating vege... Must push her to eat more vege....

Mum starts to make chicken essent and bought Bird Nest... Although most people would say bird nest doesn't really have any nutrition value. But look at Joel, his face is so pinkiss red, and his skin is so fair... Wonder if Bird Nest really had it's benefits... Don't care, as long as it's not harmfull then it's safe to consume.

I starts to wonder if this baby is a boy or girl... Or even twin??? I even have some ideas on name... If a boy, what about Noel??? Joel and Noel, rhymes right??? Or Jonathan??? Joel and Jonathan, the J & J... If it's a twin, what about Rafael and Rachel, or Gabriel and Gabriella.... Geng...

Joel wants more attention

Joel seems to know that his mom is going to have a baby. Recently, he always stick to his mother, he wants his mother to feed him, rock him to sleep, play with him, hug him... He wants his mom in everything.

Last Monday morning at around 3am, Joel suddently woke up, and he wants to play, he wanted to play with his mom... Since I promised SyinNi to let her have more sleep at night, I tried to play with him alone, but he wanted his mom.... So, SyinNi ended up awake, and we play with him until 5am.

The funniest thing is that, when SyinNi wanted to go to washroom, he cried cause he thought mummy is leaving him... May sounds warming, but it's actually a bit tiring...

Joel's 1st X'mas

There's a mini X'mas gathering for some of our relatives yesterday... Almost everyone came, we had games, good chat, more games, presents, hamper... And Joel seems to be the centre of attraction there...

Everyone wants to hug him, and he lets everyone to, just that the only comment ppl made was, he is so cool... For the whole day, my youngest uncle tried to make him smile, and he only manage to do it twice...

Well, what I figure out about Joel is that he loved to be the centre of attraction, but he is very cool to 'new people' that he meets.... But once he's comfortable with that person, he'll laugh and laugh, play and play, until you feel tired... He is so energetic...

There's a saying from one of SyinNi's family friend, Mrs Chong... If you put an old man in a crowd, no one will entertain him... But if you put a baby there, everyone seems to focus on him...

Our Joel is going to be a brother.

Well, we look at Joel, all we can say is "Ang Gu Gu", although he responded, but we don't know what he's talking about.

Then we think, "He must be very lonely." And we decided to have another baby.

Strange enough, Joel has been acting quite differently recently, when he wanna sleep, he would make a lot of noise, even with his eyes close. We suspect because he knows mummy is going to have a baby, and he scared we ignore him.

I'm very happy, very enthusiast, very thrill, because I am going to be a father "again". And now, I know I have to work harder.

And with what we've been through, we know that with a newborn baby next year, and a 1.5 year old Joel. It will be more difficult than it is now. Well, again... We are very happy, very thrill, very enthusiast.

Joel was trying to talk...

I'm sorry that I didn't update this blog for quite some times. Too busy with my new job, didn't even stop for a while to enjoy the process of becoming a father.

Until I saw this video that SyinNi took, Joel will pass motion once a day, and we have to 'help' him by doing the 'um-um' sound for him. But this time, Joel thought mummy is playing and talking with him... And he responded...

I wonder when will he call me papa... What will be his 1st word. Papa or mama.

4 days of fatherhood

Being a father really isn't an easy task. When we got home on 30th March morning, we were so busy, Joel was so tired, he slept, cried when his diaper goes dirty-dirty or when he is hungry.

Joel was active during night, 12am to 7am... I need to learn to change diapers, wipe his diaper area, make his milk, feed him, then help him to 'buang angin', to sing, and to rock him to bed.

It's not as easy as it sounds as you need to be quick, because normally, when he cried, he wants milk, after his feed, he'll do his business, then he wants people to sayang only go to sleep. He'll cry and cry until he's attended to, so, to make sure he don't get sick because of crying too much, you have to be quick, real quick because he'll get louder and louder.


We normally wrap him with towels, from shoulder to toe. On 30th night, he cried because he wet his diaper, I needed to get up and clean it as fast as I can, and in the process, his right glove slipped off, with his right hand free, he scratched his cheek...
I was so worried, I wake every mom is the house (SyinNi, SyinNi's mom, my mom) to look at it... They said it's ok, sometimes baby can scratch themselves... But I felt so bad because that was my 1st night as father... Luckily the pediatrician also said it's ok... I was so afraid that he'll look like a pirate...

Joel's appetite is getting bigger and he is getting more naughty. The 1st day, he drank 1 ounce of milk, 2nd day he drank 2 ounces, and at this moment, he is drink 2.5 ounces... I'm not sure who he looks like, but surely, he eats like me... And looks more like me now, because he becomes fatter.Last night was terrible, I didn't mange to sleep at all. He woke up to drink every 2 and half hours. To prepare his milk, I need 5mins, to feed him I need an average of 30mins, to make him burp, I need another average of 15mins. Then to change his diaper, I need at least 15mins. Put him to sleep, wash the milk bottle. It took me around 1 and half hours to be able to lie down.

But that's not it, because just after his milk, he'll urine, that's why need to change diaper, but around 15 to 30 mins after his milk, he'll pass motion. So, I can only lie down for around 15 to 30 mins. Then have to wake up to change his diaper again. And it took me around 15 mins to do that again. Another hour is gone. And it's time for his next feed.....

29th March is....

Some events happened today in the past.
29th March 1886 - Dr. John Pemberton brews the first batch of Coca-Cola in a backyard in Atlanta, Georgia.
29th March 1999 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes at 10006.78 – above the 10,000 mark for the first time ever.

Some important men borned today in the past.
29th March 1790 - John Tyler, 10th President of the United States.
29th March 1799 - Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
29th March 1900 - John McEwen, 18th Prime Minister of Australia.
29th March 1973 - Marc Overmars, Dutch footballer, ex- arsenal player, ex-barcelona player.

And on 29th March 2008 - Joel Tan Chee Wen was born. Although he is not a president of a country nor a famous footballer, yet. He is my son, my 1st son.

Joel was born on 29th March 2008, 4.46am, at Rafflesia Medical Center, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. So, in lunar year, he is a 'Earth Rat'. In western horoscope, he is 'Aries'. Don't bother to read the personalities of him either as an Earth Rat or Aries, because his personalities is shaped by how SyinNi and I raise him, and not by when he is born.

I went to the labor room with SyinNi, I saw how hard it is for a woman to deliver a child. SyinNi deliver Joel with natural delivery. If you know SyinNi, you'll know that she's very gentle and soft kind of person, but she managed to 'squeeze' all her strength to deliver Joel.

I once complained to my father, that why there's only songs about mother, with the most famous one, "The world only got mother is the best", (Direct translation from chinese). But now, I know why, it should be that way, if only I knew how hard it is to deliver a child, I wouldn't complain.

We went to hospital to check at 9.30pm, 28th March 2008. Because we found out that the contraction was quite consistant. I stayed there with SyinNi, I moved my bed side to side with SyinNi, I offer my hand for her to squeeze when contraction came, my sleep was never deep, ever interupted, but that is the less that I can do.

At 2am, 29th March 2008, the contraction pain was so immense. That is when we enter the labor room, and the real pain started. There are a lot of times when SyinNi kept on saying she can't make it, but I'm glad I was there to encourage her.

Joel was delivered at 4.46am, 29th March 2008. The first look on him really touch me, he shook my heart, he shook my world, I was so touched, I had tears at the corner of my eyes. I'm glad I was there to participate Joel's birth.

We stayed in that hospital until 30th March, 9.30am. I didn't leave SyinNi's side, I stayed there in that room all along. We slept there, we ate there, we chit-chat there. But I always go to the nursery to peek on little Joel, just to see that he is sleeping soundly.

I've uploaded so photos in my flickr account(click to enter) and dear friends, if you are done reading this, I have a small request, if you will. Leave a comment or I would say, a wish for Joel.

I'm coming....

This morning, SyinNi shows symptoms of labour. We went to Dr. Ramesh, after he did some checking, he said not yet, but soon... How soon??? "Maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow, or day after tomorrow, no one knows." He said.

And now, it's 8.53pm, SyinNi said she experience some contractions late afternoon just now. And so, we timed the interval between each contraction, and the duration of each contraction for an hour. We timed it since 7.40pm, and it's so consistent, time interval between each contraction is 6 mins, every contractions last about 45-50s, for an hour.

We've decided to go to the Rafflesia Specialies Center at 9pm, and now, I'm here waiting for the time, while SyinNi's resting for a long 'fight'... I'm so excited. I'm so thrill, the result of 9 months pregnancy is just around the corner... I don't know what to say now, so excited and so scared.

I'll upload Baby Joel's photo as soon as possible.

Grandfather's 80th birthday

We celebrated my grandfather's 80th birthday on Sunday. I was the MC for that night.

I remember doing the introduction for my grandfather, saying, "Today is my grandfather's 80th birthday, he has 6 daughters, 4 sons. 17 'outer' grandchildren, 4 'inner' grandchildren. And another great grandson coming soon."

And as soon as I finish the last sentence, I hear applause everwhere. I guess to see your great grandson in your lifetime is a big achievement, that also means you have 4 generations in your lifetime.

Then I remember telling my dad, in another 26 years time, if Joel is also going to marry young and have a child young, like me. He'll have 4 generations in his lifetime too. Saying that, I was also thinking about seeing my grandchild in probably another 30 years more. Hahaha, am I thinking too much or what?

Well, we are waiting for the time to come. Can't blame me to think that much though. But I'm thinking too far ahead. Can't wait for Joel to be born. Hopefully Joel will be born soon, before I start thinking about my 80th birthday...

A new bed for Joel

We bought a bed and mattress for Joel today. We shop for quite some time for a suitable bed for Joel. We saw a nice bed in Anakku last month, but when we went back to buy that bed, it's sold, and the new stock is not what we want. Once we bought the bed, I brought it straight to our room to fix it. And I clean it with wet clothes. We haven't take picture of Joel's bed. But I'll post it once we've take picture of it.

Anyway, we received some present for Joel, even before he's born. Thanks for the presents. Joel will be the youngest child in my family, and also in SyinNi's family, even among cousins. So, I'm sure he'll get all the attentions.

I'm so proud that SyinNi and I have Joel. If people ask me what's my biggest achievement, I would say my wife and my child, that's how proud am I to be a father and a husband of this beautiful woman. And I'm sure Joel will be a loving father and husband 20, 30 years from now.

9 months of pregnancy

I've always wanted to gather the photos taken each month during the pregnancy, I've posted some pictures on other post, but I'm gathering all pictures taken during 9 months of pregnancy, month by month.

Well, this is taken during August, we were visiting Ipoh with SyinNi's colleague, and during August it's 1 months into pregnancy and can hardly see the baby bump.

This is taken in St.Anne in Butterworth during September. My parents went to Penang to visit us, and SyinNi's parents were also there. We took a visit to the famous St.Anne Cathedral. There's a saying about St.Anne, Butterworth that the holy water there can bring children. We didn't took that anyway.

I've posted this picture before, as mentioned this picture is taken in Melbourne, Australia during October. We were visiting the Eureka Skydeck. And this is the exhausted SyinNi, you can start to see the baby bump if you observe carefully.

I still remember how SyinNi felt the baby kicks and punches during this month. But when SyinNi tried to show me, I can't differenciate which is a baby kick/punch, which is SyinNi's breathing.




This picture may look like we are in a photo studio, well... We are in a photo studio, we attended SyinNi's big bro's marriage registration during November in Subang Jaya. I don't have the full stand up picture, but you still can see the baby bump.

Yeah, I started to feel the kicks and punches this month. It's so thrill to be able to feel it.

Yeah, this picture again. We took this picture during a friend's wedding reception in Shah Alam on 25th December 2007. What a special date to held a wedding reception. Anyway, if you compare this picture with any picture before, you can really see the baby bump. But for me, it's more than a baby bump.

I used to 'play' with Joel. I used to tap on SyinNi's stomach, and Joel will response with a kick or a punch. It's so fun to be able to 'play' with Joel in such a way, can't wait for Joel to be able to really play with me.

The baby bump during this month, January is actually quite big, but because of the jacket, I don't think you can notice it. This is the day we took a flight from KLIA back to KK, Sabah.

After staying in Penang, visit to Ipoh, visit to Australia, stay in Alor Star and stay in KL. We are now not going to travel that much from this point onward.

Well, this is a new picture taken in 9th February 2008. We went out for a diner in Tanjung Aru Beach to celebrate SyinNi's birthday.

We had a not-so-tasty meal, anyway, the main purpose is for us to be together celebrating this day. It's not the food anyway.

This is the latest picture, not only it's taken in March, but it's taken today. Just because we missed the March photo to upload, I requested SyinNi to take this picture before we go for lunch. Where??? Outside of my house of course.

I know you much be going 'Wow'... Yeah, the baby bump is quite big now. It's labour month, of course it's big. But SyinNi and I are having cough now, hopefully we can get well before the delivery comes.

I'm so thrill lately, did a lot of thinking. I recall what I felt when we first know about SyinNi's pregnancy. We were happy, we know we are going to have our baby, but just happy. Before we went to a gynae to do a ultrasound scan, sometimes we are not so sure, we don't feel anything different. SyinNi's not having a very strong morning sickness. Somemore very good appetite.

But now, it's different. We alreay have a name for our baby. Joel Tan Chee Wen. Joel kicks and punches, and he is coming out soon. The feeling we had 9 months back compare to now is very much different. 9 months ago, if you ask me how I feel, I'll tell you I'm happy. If you ask me now, I'll still say I'm happy. But the degree is different.

Now I know why a baby takes 10 months to deliver. It's for parents to get prepared, to build the bond between parents and child. I can really see how SyinNi bonds with Joel. I'm very glad that we are coming to an end to this pregnancy, although we enjoyed it a lot, we still want to see and touch Joel.

37th week

It's about 37th week now, and doctor said there's 10% chance that delivery comes during this week. And after 38th week, there's 90% chance, it's so close now. Can't wait to see how our baby looks like.

During our last visit to Dr.Ramesh, he said that our baby now weights around 3kg. And a newborn baby can weight anywhere from 2.5kg to 3.5kg, which means our baby is now weight like a newborn. Dr.Ramesh also told us that the tradisional due date calculation starts from the 1st day of the missed period, and Doctors calculate based on the 1st day of the last period. Which make sense because based on Doctors calculation, we are in 9th month, but for tradisional calculation, 9th month is due already.

Joel is Leo Junior

Few days ago, I called up a friend to congratulate him for his new-born baby girl. She was born on 29th February, what a birthday. From the phone he really seems happy, he said that you will have tears when you see your baby for the 1st time. I actually believe in him, it will be 1 of the most important moments in my life.

Now talk about Leo Junior, why do I say Joel is Leo Junior? JOEL, write it backward, it becomes LEOJ, (Leo. J.), Leo Junior. Hahaha, I must be thinking too much.