The first 3 weeks

Almost 3 weeks since the birth of Charlotte. Time for a quick update.

We always knew the arrival of a newborn would take up a lot of time, and bring a bit of stress as well. I think, given the circumstances, we have dealt with these first 3 weeks fairly alright. We focused on the big things, did not fuss too much about the little things, and everyone's still alive at the end of the day. Which is always a good thing.

The biggest obstacle this time round, I feel, is the presence of a two-year-old, who has suddenly lost his status as the youngest - and therefore, by default, the most pampered - member of the family. Seeing everyone giving all the attention to the baby must not have been easy for Gideon. He can't even be with his beloved mummy whom he had been previously given unrestricted access to all this time. Instead, mummy is always with this little bundle of noisy cries and smelly diapers, and does not let him near them most of the time. Who does this little baby think she is??

Add to that, the fact that he's at this phase of his life where he's challenging everything, demanding everything, testing his boundaries, saying "No!" to all requests. Yes folks, the urban legend called "The Terrible Twos" is not a myth, it's real, and "terrible" is probably an understatement. Well, I guess it's not the same for all kids. When Gareth was 2, the display of impetuousness and rebellion wasn't as bad(or maybe I just have a bad memory). But Gideon is truly a handful, and easily the biggest headache for us during this period.

But we do manage the best we can, we try to give him whatever time we can have for him, especially myself. He still is closer to his mummy though, and cries inconsolably at night sometimes when he wakes up demanding for my wife to comfort him. When I try to be the one to do so, he cries even harder, the little brat. It's all good, it's all good, I'm not upset, I'm not jealous. I know it's just a phase, he can't quite control his feelings(wait till he finds out who gives him pocket money, the little....)

I'm on leave during this period, to help out my wife, be that extra pair of hands, and I am also hoping to catch up on my assignments for my fellowship exam retake later this year. It's chugging along slowly, too slow if I'm honest, but I try to look on the bright side of things. I've got other things in my life that are more important. My family has got to come first, and even if I don't make it again this year in my exam, so be it. It's not exactly the best of times for me to be dealing with the exam at this stage in my life. I guess it's no excuse in the eyes of others, but hey, it's my family's opinions that matter, and I just want to be there for them as much as I can.

That's why one entire afternoon was spent taking them out to see Kung Fu Panda 3 during the holiday week last week, and also almost one whole day spent bringing Chloe and Gareth to the Hasbro toy warehouse sale(Clarissa had pre-school, and we were also going to get her birthday presents, so we didn't want her to see what we bought first). My goodness, we spent almost 3 hours queuing to get inside, and almost 2 hours queuing to pay for the toys. But they had great fun running through the toys, and this was one time in which I allowed them to buy almost whatever they picked out. Gareth could hardly believe his luck.

Anyway, apologies for no pictures of our exploits, and also of Charlotte. I'm writing this outside of home(I'm supposed to be doing my assignments), and my pictures are still locked in my phone, have not put them in the computer yet. May do so at the next post.

So that's that for now.