Chronicling The First 6 Months Of Joel's Tiny Life

The video above is of our little baby Joel a few weeks ago.......laughing his head off at the sounds of his new rubber ducky!! Haahahaha! Serene and I were laughing our heads off too! It's always such a joy to hear his guffaws.....sorta like affirmations that says, "Hey, we are not doing a bad job raising this baby afterall!" We can't even remember the hellish time we had before the 5th month because he was crying almost nightly due to colic!!!

It's sometimes hard to imagine that this little angel with a devilish glint in his eyes is barely 6 months old! I guess sometimes we are both guilty of treating him like a big boy too soon......but it's really not our fault! He does seem so.......for want of a better word.....AWARE.....for a wee babe just past his 6th month outside Mommy's tummy!

I've compiled a set of pics below chronicling his 1st 6 months as a person............

3rd Jan 2009.....this is Joel's very 1st photo at Gleneagles Hospital's Maternity Ward......so tiny then.......

Our very 1st family portrait.......3 REALLY tired persons...........

Ahh....finally back at home.....in his own bed.........taking baby peeks through his slitty half-opened eyes...........

We still vividly remember manning the midnight shifts........feeding a very cranky, hungry and REALLY impatient baby!!!

This is us with my parents who were here to visit their grandson.........

Tiny feet.........

The making of a BOTAK (bald) baby!!! We were told babies should have their 1st hair shaved before they reach 1 month old so that his hair will grow thick and evenly...........Joel was bewildered with all the fuss but he didn't show any objection!

Here's the quintessential nekkid bathing shot! See how tiny he looked then.........

We ordered cupcakes, red eggs and ang ku kueh for Joel's Full-month Party!!! Unfortunately we were so excited and happy to see so many of our old friends, we totally forgot to take photos! Sigh.......inexperience totally shows.........ah, well.....maybe the next one............

The cupcakes looked really cute and surprisingly, they tasted really great too! I wasn't expecting that, I must say! If you need cupcakes like these, go here

Joel's fingernails were getting really long and sharp! We had to cut them to prevent him from scratching himself all over his face..............

Here's us with Serene's parents............try not to focus too much on my spare tyres.........

Feb 2009.....Hahaha....this always reminds me of Stephen Chow's movies.......frothing from the mouth like a rabid dog!!!

Doing the joget in my sarong...........

Comparing noses with Mommy.........

March 2009..........Daddy duties...........Joel doesn't really do much at this stage. He basically just eat........

.........sleep..............

.........cry...........

...........and...........SHIT!!!!!!!!!! Bwahahahaha.......look at him "gek sai"!!! I'm sorry you have to see this!!!!

Family portrait time...........

Solo pic.........sort of........I love seeing his crooked smile..........

Training hard for the Olympics with his colourful dumbells!!!

Joel loved taking walks in his kangaroo sling bag........actually, technically, I was the one doing the walking.............

April 2009..........inquisitive about his surroundings and people around him........

May 2009..........leaving his colic behind, Joel suddenly turned into the HAPPIEST baby ever!!!

June 2009.........is my baby HANDSOME or what?!!!

........showing some 'tude!! Get a load of Joel's Hulk Hogan biceps!!!

Cheeky Monkey!!!

Joel's learnt how to hold and manipulate his own bottle..........he's also learnt how to manipulate his Daddy & Mommy too!

We had loads of FUN taking Joel's passport photos!! This must have been our 278th attempt!!! To all the other Daddies & Mommies who are also attempting to take passport photos of their babies too, I have 2 words of advice.........CONTINUOUS SHOTS!!!! Explore your digital cam and find this function that allows you to take continuous shots when you hold down the shutter button!

We went to the Botanic Gardens for a stroll..........and were met with an hour long downpour!!!!

But that didn't dampen our spirit!!!

Joel driving his Red Hot Ferrari!!!

Fun in the pool!!!

My very 1st Father's Day!!!

Joel's 1st trip back to Daddy's hometown in Batu Pahat to meet his Great-Grandmother!!!

His 1st meeting with Wenyi, his cousin who was celebrating her 1st birthday!!!

Joel with my Dad.........he's impersonating The Rock Dwayne Johnson with his half arched brow!!!

Fun times with Yeye!!!

July 2009..........Vampire Baby ALERT!!!

Vampire Baby on the phone with GongGong..........hello?

Man........this is possibly the longest blog I've EVER posted!!! Tired!

Industrial Loft Design

One of my readers approached me a couple of months ago to design her new old apartment! New because it'll be her new abode and old because it's a really old apartment! We are both equally excited about it.........we are hoping it'll be another drastic transformation (ala the AMK Horror House done by me a while back......which, by the way, is the one project that brought my services to her attention! Another big THANK YOU to Freshome is in order!!)

We are going fashion this apartment after one of my favourite styles......the New York industrial loft! Man, just saying it sends a nice tingle down my toes!

We'll be knocking down ALL the walls leaving it an empty shell...........when we are done, it's gonna have bare polished concrete flooring throughout the apartment, pristine white walls, unconventional light sources, minimal furniture and hopefully, some nice pop art pieces on the walls to bring it all alive! But we are bearing in mind that the client's a lady and we are gonna have to be really careful that the completed work is not too masculine and harsh.........It's a very small apartment but after we are done with it, it's gonna be able to hold plenty of wild parties!

Let's see some pictures for inspirations..............

This is the look we hope to achieve - nothing too sophisticated, industrial yet still comfortable & homely.......

scanned from Modern Interiors Designsource

Love the spartan feel but with occasional pops of colour......

scanned from Interiors By Color

An example of how industrial lofts can be feminine as well........

scanned from LOFTS Living & Working

this could be the feel for the sleeping quarters (love the curtain & the pendant light) ........

scanned from Metropolitan Home June 2009

Again, love the pops of colour here (the hanging light bulbs are interesting too) .......

picture from Desire To Inspire

I personally adore the Fortuny floor lamp by Mariano Fortuny and I think it would absolutely work in this apartment.........only thing is, how do I convince the client to invest in one?!!

picture from Desire To Inspire

An idea of how we could give the apartment an art gallery feel........

picture from Desire To Inspire

Now this apartment by Yun-Yi Interior Design Studio from Taiwan (read it here) really captured what I think the apartment can look like............

Watch this space for future updates!

Sorry.....I've Been Lazy............

Very very very sorry for kinda neglecting this blog ever since the birth of my son in January (it's been THAT long?!!) No excuses......I've been lazy.................

Actually, I have not been all that lazy because I've set up a Facebook business page and have been religiously updating that page with links and pictures and short updates........You may have noticed the big FACEBOOK badge on the upper left corner of this blog page.......well, click on it and it'll bring you to my Facebook page.......come join up as a fan and leave me a note!

But I realise I should not give up this blog because surprisingly, there are people who read it afterall! Yeah, I find that hard to believe too, seeing as how they are not very vocal about it! But every now and then, I've been getting emails from interested readers who need my services........

So I've decided today to start again..........begining with this entry to apologize for my tardiness......Please forgive me. Thank you for being patient and loyal.

I'll get right to it straight away and start with a brand new entry NOW!!!

A Prickly Seat!

The Sea-Urchin made by Oooms Studio with Dutch designer Rachel van Outvorst is truly a remarkable piece of work! Hand-made with 8000 pieces of cable-ties, this unique piece is sure to be a conversation starter in every home! 

Check out some other equally outstanding designs by this Design Studio at their website here!

INTRODUCIIIIIING......JOEL TAY!!!!!

Baby Joel's expected delivery date was on 8th January 2009 so my wife and I had decided that 2nd January 2009 (Friday) would be the last day of work for her if Joel's not out by then. She would start using her 4 months maternity leave from 5th January 2009.

On Friday morning, we talked to Joel, asking him to be a good boy & let Mommy finish her last day of work.

That night, she worked late to finish up most of the work, leaving work only at about 9.30pm. While having dinner, she commented on how especially tired she was that particular day.

After a shower later, my wife confided that she suspected that the waterbag has burst! She kept wanting to pee and the liquid that flows out seemed colourless and odourless. Not wanting to take any chances, we decided to head for the hospital immediately. Thank God we had packed our bag for the hospital a week ago!

Upon reaching the hospital a little past midnite, we were promptly ushered into the delivery ward where a nurse proceeded to inspect my wife. 

"Nope, the waterbag's still intact!" the nurse annouced. "But she's 1cm dilated!"

This is it! The process has begun!

The contraction started soon after. "Not particularly painful but quite uncomfortable!" she said. We bravely decided to forgo any pain relief for the moment.

For the entire night, neither of us caught any sleep! She because the contractions were keeping her awake and I because she was keeping me awake! 

The nurse came in every other 2 hours to check on her dilation but each time, we were told there hadn't been much change! By the morning, Dr Lee ordered an induction drip to hurry it along as there didn't seemed to be any progress after a full 8 hours! The contraction became more frequent after the induction and a little later, Dr Lee came by to burst the waterbag to hasten the process. By noon, she managed to dilate another 2cm. At this point, we decided to go for an epidural to manage the pain as Dr Lee predicted that it was gonna be a loooooong wait! We were very anxious about how painful the epidural procedure would be! All our fears proved unfounded as my wife declared that it was no more painful than a mosquitoe bite!

All this time, the contraction and the baby's heartbeat was being monitored via a couple of instrument strapped to my wife's tummy. Through the graphs that these two monitors showed, we were able to track the contraction frequency and the baby's heartbeat. 

By 3.30pm, we were all getting really worried and my wife was really tired of the constant contractions! Dr Lee said that the baby was beginning to show signs of stress as the heartbeat had dropped a couple of times. Not wanting to take any chances, we decided to proceed with an emergency c-section. Kinda disapointed because we had been trying so hard to have a natural delivery! The worst part was that in an emergency c-section, the father's presence was not allowed in the operation theatre! Bummers!!!

As my anxious wife was being wheeled into the operation theatre, I could only pace up and down the waiting area nervously. Kinda like what you often see in the TV! To take my mind off, I called my sister and parents on the phone. 

After roughly 35 minutes, a nurse pushed a clear bucket out and called out my wife's name! Joel is here! I hurried over for my first peek at my son. He had the most expressive and alert eyes! At less than 10 minutes old Joel was already turning his head about and surveying his surronding! I touched my son lightly on his tiny shouldered and whispered to him, "Hi Joel! Daddy's here! Welcome to your new world!" It was really hard to fight back my tears!

I followed the nurse as she pushed the baby to the nursery room to warm up the baby (kinda like leftover food! Ha!) before proceeding back to the operation theatre as my wife was still in there! It was the strangest feeling! You want to celebrate the birth of your son but until you can be assured that your wife is safe, you still have to remain sombre!

Before long, my lovely wife was being wheeled out too! She was shivering quite badly. I was told that it was an after-effect from the epidural and that she would be okay soon.

Finally, I could start rejoicing the BIRTH OF OUR SON!!!

So everyone, put your hands together to welcome my firstborn, Joel Tay Ee Yang born on 3rd January 2009! He's still a RAT BABY!!!

Proud Mommy with her preciousssssss......

Our 1st Family Portrait!

Joel in his own cot.............

Drifting off to dreamland.......

Our PRECIOUS SON, JOEL!!

The Waiting Game...........

We are anxiously standing at the threshold of Baby Joel's full term. Come tomorrow, it'll be the 39th week. I'm already having dreams of his birth! A few times I awoke from the dreams at 5am and had not been able to go back to sleep thinking about how our lives will be forever altered soon.....

I had asked our Gynae Dr Lee to take a guess on the delivery date and his calculated prediction is that it'll be about a week prior to the Expected Delivery Date (8th Jan 2009) which means right about New Year day! Which means it could be today! PANIC!!!!!! 

JUSTIN IMBERLAKE - DICK IN THE BOX

BWAHAHAA!!

Chanced upon this side-splitting Justin Timberlake music video by the GENIUSES at Saturday Night Live.....Man! I havn't had such a good laugh for ages! Everyone's gotta take a look! Caution: Not so appropriate for the innocent and pure-hearted though.......

And the most hilarious verses has gotta be the bridge......"One : Cut a hole in the box; Two : put your junk in the box; Three : make her open the box!" PRICELESS!!!

Tell me what you think!