What a weekend is like when you become parents

For all intents and purposes, the previous weekend is our first one flying solo (is there another phrase that conveys the same meaning?) as parents. Previously, we had our confinement lady with us and we did not really have to assume parental responsibilities full time.

And so on Saturday, we decided to take F on her orientation programme at my aunt's house and also to begin to set up xp's second home. After the usual routine of bathing, feeding and burping him (all of which was done by F), we spent about 45min packing the things we need to take to my aunt's place and the baby bag that was to last xp's excursion for the afternoon. This was also doppy's first time experiencing taking xp out without our confinement lady's help and capable stewardship and he was surprised at how long it took us to get out of the house.

We arrived at my aunt's place at around 1.30pm and immediately got to work in setting up xp's second home. Doppy unpacked the playpen and went about converting it into a bed for xp. I took care of the other baby paraphernalia such as setting up the milk-making station and bottles sterilisation corner. By the time we were done placing everything and xp was exploring his new environment from his new bed, it was 3.30pm. We then decided to let F fly solo on her own at with my grandma and we scooted off to Expo for the Robinson and Motherhood (or so I thought) sale.

When we got to Expo, we went for a quick bite at the foodcourt where the food prices astounded me once again. I paid $9 for two bowls of noodles and $5 for three drinks. Doppy was once again bemused at my reaction and took the opportunity to rib me about how I had lost touch with the outside world. After our expensive and not exactly satisfying meal, we went in search of the Motherhood sale thinking we could pick up some stuff that we would need a second set of for xp's stay at my aunt's place. Alas, I had apparently remembered the date wrongly and the event was to be held on the following weekend! We ended up at the Popular sale instead where doppy and I picked up 2 books at unbelievable bargain prices.

An interesting resource file that I picked up for $9.90!

Can you believe that doppy got this for $4.90 with an additional 20% discount no less?

We then proceeded to Robinson's sale where we finally got a new bedding set (yes, yes, we have survived on one set of bed-linen since our marriage. It's called the wonders of a dryer which allows you to wash and dry your entire bed-linen in 3 hours flat!), some porcelain soup spoons to replace the broken or missing ones in our drawers and baby sunblock for xp (even in shopping, he's constantly on my mind) amongst other things. When we were done at Robinson, doppy tried to tempt me with an evening out in town but the call of our son was stronger as I was afraid that we did not pack enough milk powder for him to last him for his feeds. And so it was back to my aunt's place we went to pick xp and F up before heading back home to take our dinner and turn in for the night. And this was only at 7.30pm on a Saturday night! In our not-so-distant days of couplehood, we would have only been meeting up with friends for dinner and movie in town. Now that we are parents and I have to do the graveyard shift (and the word 'graveyard' has taken on an entire new meaning for me. I literally feel like I want to drop dead and die on some nights!), we had to settle for a takeout dinner at home and hit the sack earlier as we had planned on taking xp to the park early Sunday morning.

Park, you ask, did you say park? Doppy? Go to the park? Where there is sun and other parents with their annoying children and prams? Yep, that's right. Doppy is a changed man now. If you recall, the last time doppy voluntarily proposed walking in a park, it resulted in a marriage proposal. Ever since then, he has never mooted the idea again. But now that he is a father, I think he's thinking of more wholesome activities for xp that would allow him to explore of the world that we live in.

And so it was on a Sunday morning that milord actually roused from his sleep at 9am! Sundays are typically sleep-in days for doppy and even when I was pregnant, I had to resort to beg for half an hour or so and promise favours of certain kind to make him wake up to take brunch (not breakfast, mind you!) with me. Now, he gamely jumps out of bed at the prospect of taking our son to the park. We thought of taking xp to West Coast Park where we could enjoy our cuppa while he takes in the natural air.

However, it occurred to me that 1. our son is an air-con baby and as excited as his father might be about the park, our dear son might not take to the heat so well and 2. West Coast Park MacDonald's is sheer madness on a Sunday morning and we are going to have trouble negotiating a pram around. We did not intend to take F with us partly because we want some family time alone and partly because I think she also needs some time away from xp to do her chores and regain her sanity. Hence, it was of vital importance that we venture out with xp to a place where he would be sufficiently comfortable so that he would not make a fuss and where we would be able to handle him.

Thus I counter proposed that we take xp to Vivocity where the aisles are wide enough for strollers and the place family-oriented enough for shoppers not to give us dirty looks should xp decides to howl. We spent close to 2 hours at Coffeebean and Tea Leaves taking our breakfast and reading the papers with xp in tow and we managed to change his diapers, feed him successfully (i.e. he did not vomit!) and prevented him from becoming too big a public nuisance. At the end though, doppy still did not manage to finish his coffee and I did not manage to finish reading the papers too. Though Xp was far from being the perfect baby as he did fuss a little when he wanted to sleep (there were many I saw, the ones who were contended in just lie in their prams and take everything in!), he was sufficiently good for us to survived our trip. We even went to Toys'rus for his dad to get a rattle to 'zhng' his pram. It is really so easy to just keep buying toys for the little tyke. I had to consciously tell myself that at this stage, he would outgrow 0 mths+ toys very quickly and we should not be buying too expensive or too many toys for him.

After taking him home and handing him over to F, we headed out again for our very late tunch at IMM where I promised doppy that we would pick up a couple of dvds to make up for missing Narnia with him (we had to give away the free tics he got for donating blood! :( as I did not want to make it a habit to keep leaving xp with F as and when we wanna go out). After our brief shopping trip, we came home and doppy decided that he wanted to watch Appleseed Ex Machina. Surprisingly, it was an anime that I enjoyed very much too. Perhaps it was because it was a Hollywood production and produced by John Woo and we had a hoot of a time identifying the scenes that were Woo's signature style. After anime, we broke for dinner which was dumplings that I bought from IMM and then we popped in another dvd, Mission Impossible, into the player. By the time the show ended, it was 11pm. Time for bed again.

And that was how our weekend flew us by. We went from folks who used to hang out in town and catch all the latest shows to stay-at-home uncle and auntie who watch reruns on TVs and old movies on DVDs. Can't say that we have gotten used to it yet as there were still times when we catch ourselves thinking if we could afford to go and 'modern' in town. Doppy said that it was me who could not bear to be apart from xp. Truth be told, I just did not want to give him over entirely to F for I would be extremely upset if he grows to be more attached to her than to me. Strangely though, the fathers (not just doppy, but most fathers) do not seem to have this fear or concern. They seem to take it for granted that the moment the little tyke is able walk and talk, they would naturally gain the tyke's affection as they would be playing with him/her. Perhaps it is the fact that he came from my body and I was the one who had carried him for 9 months. The thought that he would prefer another woman to me is unbearable. And bonds could only be built if we were to spend time together. And that is why no matter how difficult it is to care for him at night and how much I wish at times to just ask F to take care of him at night too, I remain stubbornly insistent that I would care for him at night. For that would be the only time come the time I go back to work when I would be able to hold him and cuddle him for a while and rain kisses on him.

I think I have rambled on enough. Come Saturday, xp would be going for his immunisation jabs. Stay tuned to read about our experience. :)