Exciting days afoot!


I'm back at the lab for one - stepped back in for the first time the day Baby turned a month old. I'd have loved to stay home longer, but grad students don't have the privilege of maternity leave! Anyway I'm keen to finish my PhD as soon as I possibly can, so I can get back to the Real World.


It helps heaps that I have the Best of Bosses - and I'm not just saying it! She's a little Frenchwoman, very motherly, and she's allowing me a period (she didn't say how long) of working on a part-time basis. So I go in just to do experiments, and don't have to hang around until 6pm or whatever it is. It helps tremendously, because I work with live cells, and a lot of the time I'm just waiting around for the cells to grow or respond to our treatment or die or whatever. I sometimes do actual experiments for only a couple of hours a day. Though of course the other bits of reading up or writing reports I have to do myself at home.


Here's Baby now...have a banana?




And here she (a little belatedly!) with a box of Gobi chocs that we got for her first month celebration. Mini me! Mini me!




I was also so excited to find out that one of my necklaces had been featured on Cuteable. Yay!




And I've just signed my first local consignment contract - I have a little space at a dinky little shop by the name of Charis Asher, for a year. They sell cool laptop bags, and pouces and accessories on the side. They are at Suntec City Tower 5 #02-010 and look like this:




I just sent over a small batch of stuff, let's see how it does :)

Another little snatch of blogging, before I'm swallowed up again in the Ocean of Daily Chores.

I was awfully surprised to receive a little box in the mail on Friday - I'd been a good girl lately and hadn't bought anything online in ages. Turns out it was from Alexandra+Poni from Poni's Parlour! She's the lovely lady who was carrying my Fang Pins in her shoppe for Halloween. She sent back the few pins that didn't sell, and along with them, a lovely little collection of stuff for baby! A bib, some sponges, and some emery boards for me. And everything was so lovingly wrapped up in pink, with a dainty little card. Isn't she sweet? I'm such a lucky girl :)

We celebrated Chinese New Year last week. Considering we were away in Turkey on our honeymoon at this same time last year, this year's celebration was really quiet! It was Baby's first New Year, so we brought her on the obligatory rounds of visiting relatives. She behaved magnificently - slept throughout the proceedings! Everyone thought she was angelic - wait til they see her at night!

Here she is with a mandarin orange (the traditional symbol of Good Fortune), and a jolly striped dress that Mr AMD bought when he was in the US last year. He had a lot of fun buying baby clothes there - came home with a great stack!

We brought her for her routine checkup yesterday at the hospital - she's now 4kg, which means she's put on 60% of her birthweight over 6 weeks! Phwoar.....phenomenal! Even at the peak of my pregnancy (and I started out as quite a skinny girl) I'd only put on 33% of my original weight.

And Baby hasn't got those stick-like arms and legs anymore...now she's neatly rounded and plump, and she has those little baby creases in her forearms and thighs. Mr AMD was just saying she's quite a substantial baby now...no wonder it's getting tiring carrying her around!

Catch-up post

ack! I can't seem to keep up with the blogging thing!

Would've thought that being stuck at home meant nothing would be happening in my boring life, but I'm being proven wrong.

Thanks to the combined powers of my fantastic Mum and Helper, I actually found myself with the desire...and time and energy (!!!)... to do a little crafting. I've seen these little felt or cloth bootees all over Etsy, and I'm completely enamoured of the flap-over design. Not to mention the elastic bands from the regular store-bought bootees have been rubbing the skin off Baby's ankles. Grrr.

So here is my first attempt. Mr AMD chose the colours, and when he saw that I was making whales, laughed and proposed that I put a whale on one foot, and Jonah on the other. So cute! I would've tried that, except I know my people-drawing skills are abysmal.


I did put them on baby's feet, though she didn't look like she noticed. I expect her feet are still too far away from her eyes at this stage.

Was also pleasantly surprised to open up the inbox at my much-neglected Etsy shop to find a sweet note from MillionMinds, saying that she had featured my earrings on her blog. I like the way she photoshopped the feature - so professional-looking!

Our new house is doing well too - Mr AMD and I peeped in over the weekend, and noted amongst the mad demolition rubble that the mock-croc tiles are up in our bathroom! :D As are the bright happy yellow tiles and striped floor in Baby's bathroom...yay!

Here's the most recent pic of Baby - the Brother noticed last night that the Korean pear we were about to eat was just about the same size as Baby's head. So it was a rather large pear. Though that also is a rather large face - she's growing considerably moon-faced! Ah well at least all that milk is going somewhere other than out.


Do you see that faint glimmer of amusement on Baby's face, or am I imagining it?

Random mugshots

Am so sorry for the sketchy text, but there's just so much to do around here these days! I'll be back with more presently.

Thank you, all you lovely webfolk, for the multiple notes of congratulations - cyberfriends are neato! Mr AMD and I are managing ok for now, with many many willing hands to help. Even our nights ain't too bad when you're talking about a sweetie-pie thrown into the bargain.

Random shots (you wouldn't believe how MANY rabid lensmen there are in the family!):

1.

Goodbye to Papa's Jag *pout*

I only get to ride in a Camry now...

2.

First friends...

3.

Someone to watch over me

Let me introduce you...

...to Irina Zi-en Tan. We first met her on 19 Dec, my new toy!

She does all the things newborns are supposed to do of course, like cry, wriggle, excrete, and wake up in the middle of the night.

She also squeaks a lot, and bites me to bits.

Ouch.

But she's such a sweetie :) she's completely captivated everyone! Her Papa loves feeding her, and talking rubbish at her. She listens to him and occasionally smiles. More often than not she rolls her eyes, yawns, or goes to sleep. Talk about starting young.

I love how she smells after a bath.

And I love how soft her cheek feels against mine.

Final coherent thoughts?

Barring unforseen circumstances, I’m now D-Day minus 3!

*hysterical laughter*

I’m winding down at work now, tying up the last loose ends, writing reports, analyzing my last bits of data…..and killing all my cells. I’ll only be gone a month, then I’ll try to come in a couple hours a day just to get things started again. But that’s too long a time for my cells – they’ll grow too old in my absence! So we decided that I should kill them, and start with a new batch when I come back. Only thing is, it takes at least a couple of weeks before new cells settle in – sigh…

Our Helper lady has arrived. She seems pretty nice – very motherly and diligent. Hope Baby takes to her :) My mum’s looking after her for a bit, before we move in with Baby – aren’t mums great?

The Bro and Sis have all come home for Christmas, so we’re all together again – yay! They’re pretty excited…more so than me, actually. I’m really trying very hard to be, but I don’t see how a few months of not sleeping can be very exciting :( :( even with Mum’s and the Helper’s best intentions.


A couple of Random Strange Thoughts:

1.
It occurred to me the other day, as Mr AMD and I sat around the dinner table with Mum, Dad and the Bro, that I started out being the lightest person at the table, and am now the heaviest! Bah…weh!

2.
My supervisor told me yesterday, very innocently, that I’m finally starting to waddle. Bleh. Ah well, at least I have only a week of that, and not a month….

3.
I’m finally getting some stretch marks. That makes them sound like an eagerly-anticipated gift, doesn't it? So not. What I thought strange was that they're all around my left bottom. They’re progressing rather fast too, I think :(. But there aren’t many on the right one, and none on my tummy. Isn’t that weird?

4.
I have been FORBIDDEN from doing new experiments this week. I mentioned to my supervisor (a French lady) that I was setting up some cells for one last run before I leave, and she stared at me and exclaimed, "Already your week is very exciting, and you are still doing experiments? No you must not! And I will not help you!" So I guess that's that. It's a funny feeling, though.


I’ll be closing up my shop for the last week leading up to Christmas (since the mail definitely won’t arrive in time for Christmas by then, anyway), and the week after. My last custom order for a while, that I completed over the weekend:



A bracelet for one of my cell-group friends, who wanted a modern take on the Armour of God, detailed in Ephesians 6:10-18 (Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil... having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God).

He chose the images, and I had a grand time playing with the colours and placements on PhotoShop. I like the way it turned out, rather :) cheery and colourful!

Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to all my dear readers, in case I don’t get to meet you in BlogLand again before Christmas. You folks have a fun one on my behalf, won’t you? ;)

Checklist...important!

So I’m just about a week away from BabyLand, and there are still so many more things to be done!

Not the baby stuff I mean, that’s just about done.

We’ve laid in some baby supplies – hopefully enough for the first few weeks.
We’ve got the living arrangements planned out – we’re moving in with my mum.
We’ve got the sleeping arrangements planned out.
The cupboard’s sitting eagerly, fat with nappies, little clothes, mittens.
We’re hiring a lady to stay with us, and help out. She’s coming tomorrow.

We’ve only got to set up the cot, wash the linen, and then we’ll be as done. As far as we can think of!

I meant our Checklist of Last Things To Do.

Well yes, maybe that’s a bit of an overkill – definitely we’ll have much less time to ourselves, and much less freedom to move around - but I don’t know for sure how many degrees my life will be overturned by, or how much semblance my old life will have to the new. So we thought we’d better be pessimistic, and prepare for the worst. At least for the first few bleary weeks/months :)

So,
1. Last dinner/date – Mr AMD and I will be doing that next Monday (maybe a visit to Lawry’s Prime Rib?)
2. Last dinner with friends – today and next Tuesday, for Mr AMD. I’d done mine a while ago.
3. Last pedicure – next Tuesday
4. Last family dinner out – next Wednesday with my parents
5. Last lab experiments – whole of next week!
6. Last meeting and shopping trip for our renovation – this weekend
7. Last swim – next Thursday
8. Last quiet evening at home together – next Thursday

Boy I sound busy even to myself.

That’s not even including the tons of crafting I’d still like to do, and the tons of photos to take!

I meant to post this ages ago, but never got round to it. I wanted to design some new packaging to ring in the festive season, and I figured that since I was at it, why not do a whole new makeover?

New namecards:




New pastel boxes, with my festive blank tags:



Just a little customer service :)

My Etsy shop’s been just a little bit busy for Christmas, half the volume I got last year. Last year was crazy busy – I was sleepwalking through the late-Nov/early-Dec weeks, trying to cope with orders. This year I worked through the weekends and only stayed up a couple of nights. Nothing to shout about, but enough to keep me happy and busy. Ordinarily I’d be moping about how the sucky economy’s affecting me, even with the vast improvements I’ve made in product branding, marketing, packaging, photo-taking etc over the last year. But with all my current busy-ness, it’s actually with a little sigh of relief that I cross the international shipping deadline relatively unscathed.

It surprises me how my priorities have gradually changed.