latest ultrasound

Leo and I visited the doctor last Friday and got the 32nd week ultrasound. The baby is reassuringly average and has gotten into the proper head-down position. She's also looking much more like a chubby baby. At the last one she looked kind of like a wizened gnome.

30 weeks

I'm definately getting bigger now. I almost always get a seat on the bus or train. Actually I'm getting so big that it took several photos before I got one that I liked well enough to put up on the web. Leo has been my long-suffering photographer.

Feeling Singaporean

Last weekend Leo and I went on a mini holiday to Kuala Lumpur where we spent most of the time in shopping malls buying baby stuff. I felt very Singaporean going on holiday and spending almost all my time shopping or eating. When we came back, I did another Singaporean thing -- telling all my friends about the good deals I got and describing in detail the food I ate!

Maybe this behavior is a sign because Leo and I decided to apply for permanent resident status. We both like it here and feel it is a good place to raise children. That's more than enough commitment to fill out a form and collect all the documents needed. Applying for permanent residency is not as troublesome as getting a green card in the US but we still assembled a sheaf of documents an inch thick to support the application. Unfortunately, a lot of people must want to apply for PR status now because the earliest appointment we could get to submit the documents is early September. At least by then the baby will be born so we can include her in the application too.

Third trimester

This week baby and I entered the third trimester. I was going to put a picture of myself up as I entered the third trimester. I deleted the pictures though -- they just don't look like me. Instead you get a picture of Sleepy Pudding making a nuisance of himself as I'm trying to pack for our trip to Malaysia. Leo and I are starting to get serious about preparing for her arrival. Today we attended our first pre-natal class on giving birth. I think I'm going to be thankful that Leo has been learning massage techniques in his physiotherapy work. Tomorrow we are heading to Kuala Lumpur for a baby-buying spree. When we come back on Wednesday, we hope to visit a nearby daycare center that offers emergency infant care.

We've also got a short list of names. We're not going to pick one until our girl arrives, but you can see where we are headed. Any comments?

English given names: Liana, Miri, Leona, Catrina
Chinese given names: Shumin, Shanyi

Her complete name would be in this order: Liana Siaw Shanyi

New laptop

Leo and I finally got around to buying a new laptop after talking about it for ages. We were actually forced into it because the old one ran out of memory and then stopped functioning when the internet was on.

Our new computer is an Acer Aspire 4935G. We got a good deal on it and some nice bundled software from the university. Part of the bundle was Adobe Creative Suite. I have always wanted it but never bought it because of the price (almost $1000 in Singapore dollars). I also love that the keyboard on my new computer is so large. It bettered my typing enormously. The third thing I love is the speed and memory. The old computer took three minutes to boot up and was constantly giving messages that virtual memory is low.

The last thing I love is that Leo is here to go shopping with me. He is really good at keeping track of all the stats when comparison shopping. It was 10 times easier buying this computer than my previous one.

Baby registry

Some people asked whether I was going to set up a baby registry. I said no but it was mostly because I didn't think there was one in Singapore. Most Asians tend to give cash in red envelopes, not physical gifts.

However, last night I found one that is great for people in the US. You can pay by credit card (note prices are in Singapore dollars -- they will be lower in US$) and the items will be delivered to me. The only drawback is that there is a limited selection of things to choose from.

Check out our choices at www.babywishes.com.sg. Search using "Dara" or "Leo Siaw".

Dara and baby at 25 weeks

Leo snapped this picture of me on the Vivocity outdoor deck. Not a bad setting, especially since Vivocity is a shopping mall!

I look much more pregnant if viewed from a side angle, but my eyes were closed in that photo.