3 years of Dayre | Siblings gift exchange

I woke up with a start at 515am this morning, thinking I'd missed the 2am pump.

It took me a minute to recall that I'd pumped with my eyes semi closed at 2am before rinsing the parts and returning to sleep..

.. and another 5 minutes to drag myself off the bed.

I was done by 6am, and when Clarissa came into our room just 20 minutes later, I couldn't peel myself off the bed.

So she simply lay in bed drinking milk and doing nothing until 7am.

Pumping schedule for today-tomorrow morning.

8 pumps a day!

I'm trying to stretch out the intervals gradually.

3 years of Dayre!

I started Dayre to document Clarissa's birth story @weeirdism:141114 and her development, and to jot down my random musings.

All the ups and downs, joy and despair, doubled and shared.

I've been reading some of my posts 3 years ago as a reminder, that, this too shall pass.

Sometimes I can't help but wish we can skip to the part where I hang up the pump and the baby sleeps through the night.

But I guess there is a season for everything and the season now is 3-hourly pumps and confinement and trying to lie down whenever I can because my back and tailbone and hips are still aching quite badly.

Siblings gift exchange!

(Since I have a bit of time now while waiting for the masseur to arrive, I thought I can write about this!)

From Clarissa to Allie.

Well I tried asking Clarissa what she'd like to give Meimei but couldn't get an affirmative answer. 😂

I thought a "臭臭" would be a good idea, like how Clarissa has her duck family.

So I decided to get a Jellycat Bunny and asked Clarissa to choose one for her Meimei. 😄

She took the task very seriously and consistently picked this beige one.

I simply bought what she picked!
In 2 sizes, medium and small, because Jiejie and Meimei. 😅😂

As the delivery date nears, I'd remind Clarissa to bring her gift to Meimei when we are in hospital.

She brought the small one to the hospital and was very eager to hand it over to her little sister. 😍😘

Haha I hope this becomes Allie's favorite chouchou like Clarissa's Mama duck!

From Allie to Clarissa.

I had a harder time thinking about this one.

At one point I was considering customized sisters' t-shirts, but honestly I didn't like the idea of having their names printed on their clothes..
And I didn't think Clarissa would care about having a t-shirt with her name on it. 😅

I thought it'd be good to give her a mix of things she likes and things that'd keep her occupied while we are in the hospital.

So a goodie bag sounds like a nice idea.

I've written before that I'd like something that she can keep for a long time (if she wants to), hence I custom-made a small bag tag to go with the bag.

For practical reasons, I got a small Kipling backpack – something she can carry and isn't too small for us to carry as well since the diaper bag would soon be occupied by Meimei's stuff.

Happened to find this design which I really like! Cute enough for her yet not *too* cute for me to carry. 🤣

The bag tag!

I did this with photobook.

Picture from our DIY maternity shoot.
Minnie and Baby Minnie from the Internet, since it's her favorite.

I kept it simple with just a quote at the back.

"There is no better friend than a sister.
And there is no better sister than you."

Read this to Clarissa after we got home.. And she smiled. 😊

Although I have to add that she cared less about the tag than the goodies inside the bag when she was busy unwrapping everything in the hospital. 😂🤣

I'd asked Clarissa before, what would you like to have if Meimei wanted to give you something?

Her answer was "Surprise eggs" lol.

So the first items I got for the goodie bag were surprise eggs.

And then, I thought about things that'd keep her occupied and delighted.

1) Biscuits
2) Toys – either cars or building blocks like duplo
3) Something for her to scribble on

And hence:
– Pororo biscuits which she loves
– Pororo fire engine truck which she'd love
– Boggie board which would be something nice to bring along for future outings or meals

And I wrote a message on it lol.

Also very popular with the big kids who drew her a Peppa pig. 🤣

She loves everything in the bag!
It's worth the effort, and I had fun putting it together.

I did this while on home/bed rest and it kept my mind occupied – in a positive way.

Everything was bought online! ✌

Playing a fool while Daddy was on the phone with Wai-po. 😅

Training Daddy's legs lol.

It was distracting enough for my mum to finish talking quicker than usual. 😂🤣

So cheeky!