...and then there were two!

The Chair Series (1 year 4 months old)

2011-01-15T23:59:00.003+08:00

DS is now 16 months old and her favourite word is...

NO!

Usually, when DS objects to something (like if you want to take away the pen she's been chewing on), this really loud and really shrill scream erupts from her and we all have to take a step back and rethink our move. She's that scary. Brrrrr...

This week however, she has started using "no" to express her, erm, discontent. It's actually quite cute because she takes her time to say "no" and it always comes out like this, "noooooooo..." and the best thing? There's no exclamation mark at the end! So I'll take this over the loud, shrill scream any day.

Although, we do realise that we soon have to stop giggling and hugging her whenever she says "noooooooo...". It's quite counterproductive!

Here are the other words DS can say. Take note though, that we are the only ones who can understand her!

Bye, Elle, Hi, Mama, More, Papa (only when she's really desperate and there's still no response from my lifeless, sleeping body after calling me for half an hour), Sit, Shoes, There, Yes... and a few more but for the life of me, I can't remember them now!

Chef DN

2011-01-01T03:02:00.001+08:00

About three weeks back, I got a text from WP asking if I was keen on signing up for a parent-child baking workshop at So EZ Cooking Studio. We would be learning how to make a log cake. A log cake! I only know how to eat log cakes, so learning how to make one would be pretty darn cool. PLUS, I get to spend time just with DN.

"Ok!" I texted back.

Now that DS has joined the Ong family, she has become the fifth limb I didn't know I had. I need surgery to detach her from me on weekends. She is THAT clingy. It does amazing things for my self-esteem but it also means that poor DN doesn't really have his mommy any more. Sad face. I don't think he feels good about it. And because of this, he is now really attached to PF. Like seriously. It's always, "I want Papa to brush my teeth!" or "I want Papa to pat me to sleep!". He doesn't really ask for me any more. Sigh!

So I thought the baking class would be a great chance to get some solo time with my little man. And it was quite fun! We made a really basic log cake from scratch. It was surprisingly simple - just a swiss roll covered in fresh cream and decorated with a jelly santa and fruits.

DN got a little chef's hat and coat to wear during the class. Pity it wasn't his to keep though. I heard that the kids get to keep theirs at Bakerzin classes. Well, no matter, we had fun!

That's us mixing the eggs and sugar for the swiss roll.

DN and Jovann having a little snack during the break. We were waiting for the swiss rolls to bake and cool down a little before moving on to the next step - decorating!

That's DN decorating his log cake with fresh fruits (raspberries, strawberries, blueberries), chocolate balls and sprinkles. He took the decorating very seriously!

I know this is a bit belated but, here's wishing you a fun Christmas and New Year holiday!

Elle & DN

2010-12-21T09:26:00.002+08:00

My sister has the cutest dog I swear. See?

Okay, I know it looks like Elle has no legs in this pic, but she really does! Look closely and you'll see her little paws. And believe it or not, she IS standing up in this pic. LOL. I love Elle and her short, short legs. DN and DS love Elle too. She's like a walking pillow. So soft, so quiet and so nice to squeeze! In fact, (I'm sad to say) DS can now say Elle's name (air-yeeeee...) but still can't say Mummy (she goes MAAAaaa...) or Papa. Humph!

DN : I love you Elle!
Elle : Er... right back at you dude. Where's my food?

Elle : Hey, what's that on your chin? Rice??
DN : mtfhffphttt...!

DN : *bounce*bounce*bounce away* BLEAH!
Elle : Humph. No more hugs for you!

Jump Hair

2010-12-18T23:24:00.001+08:00

I've been meaning to write about this for the longest time because it's quite, uhm, interesting.

When DS was born, she had normal baby hair. Not too much, not too little, very soft. From the looks of her, I had no idea her hair would soon grow a mind of its own and do its very best to defy gravity. Now that I look back at her old photographs, I should have guessed. The signs were all there!

See?!

DS - 1.5 months old

Initially, she looked kind of okay. It was just the hair on top that was reaching for the sky. And it was kind of pyramid shaped too, so she even looked... cool. And honestly, at that time, I didn't really notice the hair. I was sleep-deprived remember? Not much oxygen in the brain.

Over the next two months, the pyramid had time to grow. And it became... "curly". Okay lah, still quite cute since she looked like Tin Tin and I like Tin Tin. She had already started losing hair but as you can see, it was only on the sides. The top was still going strong!

DS - 4 months old

At six months old, DS was almost bald so I thought, "A chance to start afresh!" (although tufty still reigned supreme).

DS - 6 months old

It kinda went downhill from there. Or maybe UPHILL?!

Yikes. Who let the baby stick her finger into the socket?!

After a while, DS stopped channeling the Tin Tin vibes and went with Krusty the Clown.

Someone's obviously been dipping into the durian stash.

Beware. Porcupine ahead.

When DS was 1 year old, she still looked more durian than baby. In the first few months of her hair-volution (haha), I was quite disturbed. I bought clips to tame the mane but it was useless. One clip did diddly squat. Two clips? Who are we kidding? She needed twenty to look human. When we went out, people would ask, "What happened to her hair?" or say things like, "Wah, her hair is so... cute! (read : Why does she look like a toilet brush?)" and give us advice like, "Put olive oil / Shave her head / Use less shampoo..." Bah... After a while, even DN starting calling his sister's hair "Jump Hair".

LOLOLOLOL!

But now, I love it! I love my durian baby and her crazy hair! I can't get enough of it!

Now that DS is almost 16 months old, her hair has all grown out and she doesn't look like she's from Fraggle Rock anymore. But after naps, she still can look a little, erm, frazzled!

But I'm not tired mummy! ... zzz...

2010-12-11T01:16:00.001+08:00

Now that I have two ~~monkeys~~ children, every time I see parents with twins, I have this urge to run over to them, shake their hand, and ask, "HOW do you do it???" I have two children, THREE years apart, and I struggle to find time to go to the toilet. How do they handle two children of the SAME AGE? Amazing.

DN has definitely become more challenging to handle this past year. It's probably because of DS. I think in general he loves his sister (sometimes he gives her random out of the blue hugs) but sometimes he wishes she were toast. Like today. He woke up complaining that his sister stole his bolsters and pillows and went on and on and on and on about it and even pushed her! DS of course, doesn't take this kind of abuse lying down and promptly threw her milk bottle at his foot. At this point, if PF were awake, he would have started his usual chant - "fight fight fight fight fight!"

By this time, my FIL is flipping out. It's not yet 7.30 in the morning and he has two young ~~spitfires~~ children on his hands, ready to leap at each other's jugulars. I of course, am still wiping crust from my eyes and trying to walk in a straight line. So my poor FIL has to referee the fight. Again.

Sigh!

The cheeky monkey and Barney

DN has also been resisting sleep and refusing naps. Nothing too unusual, he's 4 after all. The thing that gets me is, he's SO not ready to drop naps. Of course he doesn't think so. If he misses his 1pm nap, by 3pm, his eyes are glazed over, his arms are limp and his mood is BAD! And our usual conversation goes something like this...

Me : DN! It's time for a nap! You haven't taken your nap today!
DN : No! I don't want to sleep!
Me : You have to sleep. You're so tired. Look at your eyes!
DN : I'm not tired Mummy. I don't want to sleep. I want to play!
Me : No more playing. Okay, you don't have to sleep. Just close your eyes and lie down. (He hasn't caught me on this one!!)
DN : But I'm not tired Mummy! ... zzzzz...!

And he's out like a light.

And then DS wakes up from her nap. ARGGGGHHH! Just stab me already.

Ilovemychildren. Ilovemychildren. Ilovemychildren. Ilovemychildren.

Hello again!

2010-12-04T04:54:00.004+08:00

I feel really really rotten for ignoring this blog for half a year. When I started it in 2006, I chronicled DN's every major milestone and you can really see him growing up on this blog. So I feel terrible that DS doesn't have the same thing. Sorry Mei Mei! :(

But it's hard trying to juggle work and two kids. Something's got to give right?

But I'm not going to let this blog die just like that! I'm going to keep it simple but I promise to post SOMETHING at least once a week. (God help me!) I hope I can stick to this plan. It's been pretty pretty crazy at work.

First up, a DS update. My little girl is now 1 year and 3 months old. Can you believe it? I blinked and 15 months flew past. She's a spicy one, this one, and had us all deceived the first few months of her life. Compared to DN, she slept better (so WE slept better), sat in the pram better, sat in the car seat better (no possessed baby type of screaming like you-know-who) and basically let you do anything to / with her, no complaints. Biggest plus point? She never needed a pacifier! An amiable and pleasant baby.

Well done June, I told myself (*pat on back*), good thing you kept up with the Community Chest donations!

Fast forward to now and why I say she deceived us all. She's spicy! If she's unhappy with something, she will Make. It. Known. And the neighbours will know it too. She doesn't give her brother face at all and if she's unhappy with him, trust me, he will know about it. Once, it cost him some hair on his head. Which then caused me to lose mine because I had 2 screaming monkeys on my hands for half an hour.

What else? Well last week, she screamed at her doctor when he vaccinated her. First, the screams were screams of shock. Then it was pain. But that didn't last long because they soon morphed into screams of anger. We could tell because she wasn't crying (no tears) and to put it simply, she looked pissed off! Her face was red, she was staring at poor Dr Keoy and shouting at him in her baby language. Dr Keoy kept muttering, "She's tough. She's tough. She's tough."

So he gave her a biscuit and all was peaceful again. Easily bribed, just like her brother!

So yes, Mei Mei is a spicy one. Don't let that smile fool you!

Next up... a DN update. Stay tuned. ;)

The Tanglin Tree

2010-06-28T00:38:00.001+08:00

Yes, I'm alive, and no, my fingers did not rot and fall off. My excuse dear friends, for totally falling out of the blogosphere, starts with "work" and ends with "crap". Whoops, I just meant "work".

Sigh. It's been pretty crazy since April. I've hardly had time to go to the toilet, let alone blog! Mornings are spent leaping out of bed (late, no less), sterilising pump parts and bottles, deciding on an outfit, getting dressed, changing mind about outfit, getting dressed (again), feeding DS, packing bags (mine and DN's), getting DN dressed, sending him to school and then myself to school before class starts. Nights are spent ~~harvesting my pumpkins on Farmville in Facebook~~ preparing for the next day's class.

I hope things will be better in this new school term. :) It probably will - I've moved the Facebook app on my iPhone to the last page and have sworn off Facebook. It's the damn farming that's been a pure waste of time! Wish me luck... and will power.

So many things have happened since my last post about the kiddos - DN outgrowing his milk allergy (woot!), DS sprouting teeth, DN's trip to the theatre where he spent 40 minutes sitting ON THE FLOOR and DS's transformation from baby to toilet brush. Yes, toilet brush. But more about that later this week. (Haven't downloaded the photos yet, haha!)

Today, I want to blog about the fun time we had meeting up with Sophie when she came back from New Zealand for a holiday. Sophie and DN have been hanging out since they were 8 months old and have gone to the zoo, the botanic gardens and even the theatre together. A whole bunch of us decided to meet up for breakfast at The Tanglin Tree one Sunday morning. DN had a swell time that day, playing with Jovann, Clarence and Sophie.

The Tanglin Tree has a pretty nice tree house out front and after about half an hour, we had to admit defeat and release the children into the sun... where they stayed for the next whole hour.

Jovann, Sophie and Clarence were thrilled with the water pit. There were also water and sand toys for the kids to play with. DN steered clear because he didn't want to get wet. He can be quite mak nenek (a grandmother) sometimes!

So while everyone else was splashing around, he entertained himself with the slides.

When we finally managed to drag the kiddos in, they headed for the books. Please don't ask me why I have such a stupid look on my face.

Sophie and DN, May 2010

DN and Sophie, March 2007

Updates soon... promise!

2010-06-27T00:21:00.001+08:00

Meet "Chi Chi" the Mosquito.

Yes, I'm alive! Check back soon for an update. :)

WINNER! Raffle Wednesdays [#4 Little]

2010-05-27T00:51:00.001+08:00

And the two lucky winners of a $50 voucher each are...

Congratulations you two! Please email me at junewee[at]gmail.com and I'll put you in touch with the wonderful mums at Little.

Baby, please email me by this Friday, 4 June, to collect your voucher before it expires!

Raffle Wednesdays [#4 Little]

2010-04-21T22:09:00.011+08:00

Hooray, it's Raffle Wednesday again! I'm really excited about this raffle because the winnersss (yes, there's going to be more than one winner) will walk away with a $50 gift voucher. Each! *cheer and go crazy*

Here we go!

Introducing... Little! When I first saw the write-up on Little in Urban two Fridays ago, I squealed. And when I logged onto their website and saw this...

... I squealed some more (AND ran for my credit card, AND wished they made this in my size)!

I was never like this. Buying clothes for DN has been so boring and uninspiring. I mean, seriously, how far can you go from a jeans + t-shirt combo? The most fashionable thing I've bought for DN is... erm... hmm... ehh... *crickets chirping*

Dressing DN up is also so easy. All he needs is his jeans and a clean t-shirt. Well, actually that's me. According to DN, all he needs is Ben 10 underwear. -___-

Dressing DS up however... *faint*! You have skirts : mini, tiered, bubble; tops : puff, flutter, sleeveless; dresses : a-line, pinafore, overalls; and the accessories... oh my! At the rate I'm going, I'm going to have to talk to someone about refinancing schemes. And maybe a marriage counsellor because PF just doesn't understand why his daughter takes half an hour to get dressed.

Can you understand now, why I squealed after checking out Little's website?

I love this kimono top! Can't decide which colour I like better though. There's even a version for little boys. :)

Little was started by two moms - Rebecca and Rachel - who wanted to make happy clothes for little people, with an oriental twist. And because of my keen investigative nose, I have found out a little more about Rebecca and Rachel and their new business venture.

1. Love love love the Little clothes! Do you have formal training in fashion and dressmaking?

Thank you, we're so pleased! No, neither Rachel nor I have any training in fashion or dressmaking. My formal training is in Architecture, so that coupled with a general interest in art and design definitely helps when creating our collections. Rachel works in an insurance consultancy and her corporate background means she's very well-organised. We work on the collections together and she keeps everything in line!

2. How long does it take for a dress to go from design on paper to being sold in your online store?

From the point that we begin sketching our designs to the moment the clothes are packed and ready for sale, it's about 4 months.

3. It's boring dressing boys up. Is there life beyond the t-shirt and jeans ensemble?

Definitely! In our tropical climate, we think singlets and shorts are seriously underrated. Think surfer-style singlets and funky boardshorts. Throw on some flip flops and cool sunglasses (if you can get them to stay on!) and your little boy can be relaxed and beat the heat at the same time!

4. How do you juggle work, children, couple time and me time?

With a sense of humour and great difficulty, at times! Seriously though, I think sticking to some sort of structure is key. Early bedtimes are strictly enforced (despite howling, bargaining and other monstrous behaviour) to ensure I can get some work done in the evening. Rachel is fortunate to have her husband and in-laws to help care for her 6-month old baby boy when she needs to work on Little, be at the office or travel for work.

5. What's the best thing about motherhood?

Rachel's immediate response was "boobs!". Can't say I disagree! Otherwise, I also feel quite warm and fuzzy when my 4-year old tells me earnestly, "sometimes you wear me out but I love you anyway". How many people are ever going to tell you that??

So, back to the raffle. Up for grabs are two $50 gift vouchers for two lucky lucky mummies. How do you win? Simple.

1. Just go to Little, choose a favourite item and tell me which it is by leaving a comment here.

2. For a second chance to win, check out Little's Facebook page here, "click on 'like it' and leave me another comment.

3. For a third chance to win, blog or tweet about this giveaway and leave me a comment with your twitter account or blog link.

Please leave me a new comment for every task you complete because I'm going to use a random number generator to pick a winner. So if you only leave 1 comment even after completing all 3 tasks, it will still register as only 1 chance. So comment away okay! The raffle closes a month from now, Friday, 21 May 2010. You don't have to complete all tasks to enter this raffle. But the more tasks you complete, the higher your chances of winning!

Good luck everyone!

I love my brother/sister

2010-04-18T23:48:00.040+08:00

I love it when I find random photos like these in my phone. :)

DN's still not very good (okay fine, he's crap!) with the camera as you can see, but occasionally, I find photos like these in my phone. He's still quite enamoured with his sister and loves to take photos of her. Sometimes he ends up taking photos of the floor / ceiling / tree outside the window / his finger, but sometimes the planets are aligned and he actually manages to get his sister in the frame. Yay!

I love watching these two interact with each other. DN loves to makes his sister laugh and frankly, his success rate is way higher than anyone else's. He could just go "boo!" at her and she will laugh. She makes him laugh too. When she farts. Oh, that just sets him off.

The other day, we moved DN's car seat to the back (and that means I've been promoted to the passenger seat, heh). When he got into the seat, he started wailing. I sort of expected that because now he couldn't see the whole road laid out in front of him. But no! That's not why he started wailing.

"Wail! Wail! Wail! I cannot see mei mei! I cannot touch mei mei!"

Hee hee hee!

You see, DS's car seat has got pretty high sides, so unless DN cranes his neck, he won't be able to see her. And of course, he can't touch her because his arms are just too short to reach across! But do you know what? They figured it out. After a while, I turned around and saw two little hands touching. Yup, both of them reached out of their car seats to hold hands.

Now tell me your heart isn't melting!

Baking A Diaper Cake

2010-04-16T02:24:00.002+08:00

When I first heard the term diaper cake, I was like, "diaper wha...???". And my first thought was, "Why would anyone make a cake in the shape of a diaper???" Mention "diaper" and I think "poop", "pee" and (god forbid) "leaking". The last thing I want to do is eat something that looks toxic.

Of course, I soon found out that you don't eat a diaper cake. You give it, yes sir-ree. And they are all the rage in the mothering world right now. I didn't know because they don't have those under the rock where I come from.

So when my good friend got pregnant (we've known each other since we were 6... that's 29 20 years ago!), I knew straight away that I had to welcome her into this crazy world they call parenthood with a diaper cake. Never will her life be sane / normal / the same again. Hopefully the said diaper cake will get her so excited she'll forget that once she gives birth, there are no exchanges, and definitely no refunds.

So I trawled the internet and found the perfect diaper cake. Read : cheap and good. I pitched this idea to Funny Bee (who has also known Good Friend for like, forever) and she promptly said, "~~Since I am crazy and you are crazy and we have nothing else better to do...~~ Let's make it!" And I said, "~~We are mad!~~ Hokay!"

All this took place about 4 months into my friend's pregnancy. And what does that mean? It means, dear friends, that Funny Bee and I had 6 months to learn how to make a diaper cake. And what do we do? Of course, squat.

*sigh*

I soon came to realise that making a diaper cake consisted only of two parts. Part one was buying the ingredients. Part two was making The Darn Thing. Part one was easy and quite fun. Part two? Erm, excuse me... Need. To. Tighten. This. Loose. Screw. In. My. Head.

Fast forward to a week before Good Friend's due date. By this time, Funny Bee and I are shaking in our underpants, totally flummoxed by the gargantuan task ahead of us and preparing ourselves for the worst (i.e. presenting Good Friend with a plastic bag full of baby items that were supposed to be in a diaper cake). Each one of us had done the obligatory google search on diaper cakes, but nothing more than that. Funny Bee even found out that a cousin of hers MADE them to sell. Now, if only she lived in SINGAPORE! Grrr!

Finally, we decided to bite the bullet and just make The Darn Thing. No guts no glory, I say! So I found this video and gave everyone (we roped in another brave friend) strict instructions to literally, watch and learn. My morale was further boosted by another website that said I could make one in only 30 minutes. "Hokay!" I said to myself, "We're educated females. We're Singaporean. We can follow instructions. We can do this! Roar!"

And we did! *smug*

In ~~30 minutes~~ 3 hours! *snort*

Looks simple enough right? Well, it took us about 1.5 hours of squabbling, rolling, unrolling, tying, squabbling, rolling, unrolling and squishing to get to this stage. That's the bottom tier and we've got a receiving blanket tied around it.

Why 1.5 hours? Well, let's just say we had grand plans that had to be scaled down. Our original base had like 20 rolled diapers in it. Too bad it was SQUARE! After much scratching of heads, we finally decided to be realistic and go with a 2-tier cake. And that meant that 35 of the 50 diapers didn't make it into the cake. Sorry fellas.

Presenting... our top tier! Another reason why it took us 3 hours to make The Darn Thing? We were so tickled by this we spent like 15 minutes taking pictures of it, and with it.

We wrapped the top tier in a onesie and a pair of pants to hide the diapers. As you can see, we went with a puppy theme and stuck with blues and browns. Yup, it's a boy. :)

We then filled the space between tiers with argyle babylegs in the same blue-brown combo and a set of travel-size toiletries for baby (diaper cream, shampoo, body wash, powder).

Finally, we added some toppers - a pair of baby socks, a stuffed toy-cum-blankie and a card. Ta-dah! Besides tears and sweat, it cost us about $97 for the entire cake, including leftovers (35 diapers, 1 onesie, 1 bath mitt, 1 babylegs). We probably could have gotten a nicer, professional-looking one for slightly less than that, but we had good quality stuff in ours. Plus, it was a ton of fun. ;)

I'm happy to report that Good Friend was very pleased and quite impressed with our efforts. Or at least, that's the impression she gave us!

Update : Good Friend has since given birth to a happy and healthy baby boy who, so far, is doing a pretty good job of turning her life upside down.

Crawling Adventures

2010-04-09T01:17:00.000+08:00

She's growing up too fast!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T04:03:00.001+08:00

I don't know about you, but when I see these animal ear headbands in the store, goddammit, I just want to put them on and start barking / meowing / hopping / trumpeting around the shop. Sometimes I give in to my desires which causes PF to suddenly look at the ceiling and start inching away from me, but most times I just Bite. My. Lip. And. Walk. Away.

When I saw these bunny ones however, all decorum (and shame!) flew out of the window. I descended upon them hungrily, plonked DS into my Dad's arms, adjusted the headband on her head, started hopping up and down to make her laugh (and when that didn't work, started making crazy, high-pitched noises) and snapped away. PF was nowhere to be found as usual. As I snapped, I thought about the 500 other people who wore the headband before DS and that slowed me down a bit.

A bit.

Looking at these photos, I think DS might have inherited my passion to be half-human-half-furry-animal. She seems happy enough!

Happy Easter!

WINNER! Raffle Wednesdays [#3 Gift Haven]

2010-04-01T23:14:00.000+08:00

I'm so sorry this post is SO late. I wish I could say I've been busy training to ski to the North Pole, or that I'm busy saving the giant pandas, but no. Because of some miscommunication and a big dose of laziness on my part, this post is almost one month late. Someone just smack me already.

Congratulations Angelyn! You're the lucky winner of this raffle! Please email me at junewee[at]gmail.com and I'll put you in touch with Gift Haven. :)

Going, going... gone!

2010-03-30T17:25:00.004+08:00

Help! Baby on the loose!

She looks like she's running away from something. Hmm...

"PF! Stop farting around the baby!"

Look Ma, I'm sitting!

2010-03-29T01:41:00.001+08:00

DS finally ditched the languishing pose and started sitting up about two weeks ago. :D And just last week, after many downward dog attempts, she figured out how to shimmy her butt into a sitting position after lying down.

She fell over in the last pic. Don't worry, ~~my fleshy thigh~~ I padded her fall. -__-"

Om nom nom nom!

2010-03-23T01:58:00.001+08:00

A few days before DS turned 6 months old, ~~I really couldn't wait any more~~ I started her on solids. After thinking about it for a while, I finally realised why I find weaning so fun. It's like masak-masak! But way better because the baby is REAL! *chuckle* This time, the baby will REALLY eat the food. Sadly, the baby will also really poop. *sigh*

And that's the one thing I wasn't looking forward to. Babies on breastmilk have, erm, okay maybe not exactly "pleasant", but "acceptable" smelling poo, which actually adds to their innocence. It's like they can do no wrong. When they start on solids however, they become... sinners just like us. The good thing is though, you can now start blaming them after you've let go some nasty gas. Ha!

Okay, back to weaning. In the beginning, DS was more interested in the spoon than in the baby cereal (we started her on brown rice cereal just like DN). But after a while, she got the hang of it. She's not a natural ~~greedy one~~ gourmet like her brother though. I remember DN just taking to feeding like a fish to water, but not his sister. She doesn't really seem that interested in food. Okay, that she definitely didn't get from me!

DN was a dream to feed. He would open and close his mouth like those little birds in their nests. I also remember him craning his neck forward, waiting for the next spoonful full of pureed pear / apple / carrot etc. DS doesn't do this at all. I've tempted her with papaya, pureed apple and avocado so far, but she's not super keen on them. I mean, she will eat them, but only because it's being shovelled into her mouth. I hope this one doesn't give me problems later on!

She's almost cross-eyed here... kept staring at the spoon!

Mmtftpht... what's this muck you're... mmftphtt... stuffing in my face?

I think she likes it???

Can't really tell huh? This is one of those smirk-smiles. Don't know if she's laughing or growling.

Boys and Superheroes

2010-03-14T01:45:00.001+08:00

PF : See you later alligator!
DN : Nooooo... I'm not alligator. I am... BEN 10!

*slap forehead*

Hmm, I see a few of you out there slapping your foreheads too. What is it with boys and superheroes? I think they all just want an excuse to wear their underwear on the outside.

DN is in love with Ben 10. Now, he is "Der Nen Ben 10!" (don't forget the exclamation mark), PF is "Papa Ben 10!", I am "Mummy Ben 10!" and DS is "Mei Mei Ben 10!"

DN : Mummy Ben 10?
Me : Yes, Der Nen Ben 10?
DN : Mummy Ben 10, can I have a gummy please?
Me : Okay Der Nen Ben 10.
DN : Thank you Mummy Ben 10! Where is Papa Ben 10?
~~Me : Oh, he's in the toilet putting on his cape and pulling underwear up over his lycra tights.~~

Yes, sometimes we really do speak like that.

DN has also started making superhero names for himself. It's really easy. You can do it too. Just add "-man" at the end of a noun, any noun. Think "spider-man", "super-man", "bat-man" and "aqua-man". So, depending on what DN happens to be doing at the time, he could be "water-man", "biscuit-man" and even "cooking-man".

The other day, the Rolling Stones t-shirt I ordered for DN arrived in the mail. PF and I taught him the rock pose and how to stick his tongue out. Hilarious!

We also told him that that's a Rolling Stones t-shirt. When he wore it again few days later, he launched into his rocker pose, complete with his tongue sticking out and proudly told his Uncle Josh, "Look! I am Rolling Pin Man!"

ROFL!

The Chair Series (6 months old)

2010-03-12T03:21:00.003+08:00

Yes, I am alive. Sorry for falling off the face of the planet, but I'm really struggling with "not-crashing-when-lying-down-next-to-DN-at-bedtime". I usually do all my blogging at night, while waiting for my last pump at 12.30am (ish). But for the past two weeks, I've been going to bed at 9.30pm and waking up with a horrible start at 1am because I haven't brushed my teeth / haven't finished that thing for work / missed American Idol / am due for a pump (usually it's all of the above... *big sigh!*) Every night at 9.30pm, I chant to myself, "Iwillnotsleep.Iwillnotsleep.Iwillnotsleep." Of course, come 10pm, the roof could collapse on me and I wouldn't know. Then I wake up at 1am with a mini heart attack, panicking and cursing myself. I then do all the necessary - pump, harvest my potatoes on FB (LOL!) and read the newspaper headlines (I am a sad being) - before catching up with my beauty sleep (lost cause, I know). I'm so sorry. Blogging is not a "necessary"!

But ~~today~~ ~~tonight~~ this morning (yes, it's 2.35am now), I have bumped "blogging" up the "necessary" list and will post this post that's WAY overdue. :( I actually started it two weeks ago, but curses to the zzz-monster! It's his fault that this is so late! Not mine.

At 6 months old, I think we can make pretty good guesses about what kind of little girl DS is. Her character is showing through and she's turning out to be a real sweetheart. She's pretty calm most of the time and quite independent too. By that I mean she doesn't need 24/7 carrying. More like 18/7, haha. If she's had a good feed and a good nap, she's content with lying down in her play pen, kicking her cot piano (thanks Carla!) or chewing on her toy/blanket/romper for a while. Of course, she'll start complaining after 15 minutes, but hey, you would too.

This month, DS stopped sucking her thumbs, fingers and toes (phew!). Okay, maybe "stopped" is a little inaccurate. Once in a while I catch her doing a Cirque du Soleil and she's folded in half with her toe(s) in her mouth. Let's just say it used to be "main attraction" status. Now, it's just "opening act" status. Her thumbs and fingers? Prrtht! Been there, done that!

She can ~~lean back against you unceremoniously~~ sit assisted, but because she looks like this a lot, I'm not sure I want to classify that as "sitting". "Languishing" perhaps? As for sitting unassisted, she definitely can't do that. Not even for a second. Hopefully next month, I'll be able to share some sitting photos like DN's. Hee!

At her 6 month check-up, DS weighed 7.16kg and was 66.5cm tall. According to her PD, she's just slightly below average for weight but above average for height. I can't help but compare here, but DN only hit 67cm at 9 months! PF of course, is happily accepting credit for this while at the same time pointing accusing fingers at me for DN's, erm, petite size. GOOD THINGS COME IN SMALL PACKAGES OKAY! Ooops, was I shouting?

DS can now recognise people and I don't mean to gloat, but I'm going to anyway, haha - I'm her favourite person on earth right now! I will ignore the pertinent fact that I'm her main source of nutrition. When I get home from work, she's really pleased to see ~~dinner~~ me, and always bursts into a big smile and then starts hopping and jumping in the arms of whoever's carrying her. It's really quite funny to watch. After I say "hi" to her, I'll go wash my hands and she will start yelping in protest! And when she's fussy, tired, overstimulated, etc... she will ALWAYS calm down once I carry her. It's nice to be loved. :) Sadly though, DS is afraid of old people. It's really really odd. She cries when her great-grandmothers (she has three, and one great-great-grandmother, I'm serious!) carry her. I hope she outgrows this soon.

See what I mean about languishing?

Mambo Bumbo

2010-02-26T23:27:00.002+08:00

How can you not love the Bumbo? Not only does it change the little one's view of the world (no more staring at ceiling fans and mummy's wobbly chin), it also sounds like it's about to sprout big, grey ears and fly! I also like how it's squishy and sturdy at the same time. This thing will survive natural disasters I tell you.

When DS turned 4 months old in December, I put her in it because it was around that time when I put DN in one too. Guess what? She wasn't ready for it yet. She couldn't really sit up and would flop over. She also looked like she was swimming in it. So I sighed and put the Bumbo back in the box. We then waited one month.

And within that one month, DS grew taller and stronger. And she could fit in the Bumbo. :)

Can you see tufty? Heh heh heh...

I look at my daughter in the Bumbo and I giggle and grin.

Then I look at my son in the same Bumbo and I stop giggling.

HE STILL FITS! o_O

Lowlights of Chinese New Year 2010

2010-02-23T23:59:00.005+08:00

On CNY day 3, after half a day of feasting.

Me : (changing DN out of his t-shirt) Wow DN! Your stomach is so big and round!
DN : Hahahahaha!
Me : (rubbing his belly) Ooooh!
DN : Just like yours Mummy! Hahahahaha!
Me : -___- *collapse*

To add insult to injury (and to really drive me over the edge), we were at West Coast Park on Sunday and a woman came up to me and gave me this.

I was standing in the shade with a sleeping DS and my BFF and I was the only one who got this! Are you trying to tell me something, lady?!?!!

Starting Signing

2010-02-19T05:25:00.004+08:00

DS is almost 6 months old.

I think it's still a little early to start signing with her, but we started today anyway.

Let's see how this one takes to it.

It worked really well with DN. :)

Highlights of Chinese New Year 2010

2010-02-17T18:06:00.004+08:00

1. Playing Dress Up

The best thing about having little girls is the dressing up. Ooooh, all those dresses! Sleeveless... capped sleeves... spaghetti straps... bows... pleats... lace... tulle... and don't forget the matching shoes, socks and hair clips. After 3.5 years of dressing a boy (*yawn*), my inner dress-up beast has finally been released from captivity. RAWRRR!

CNY Day 1

White eyelet socks and brown mary janes. Love!

DN's trying to eat his sister because she looks like a cake.

CNY Day 2

Blue spaghetti strap floral dress with a big bow at the back

2. Proper hydration

Or... maybe not.

CNY Day 3

DN's collection.

He would pick one up at house #1, drink, playplayplay, get into car, reach house #2, PEE.

Pick another one up at house #2, drink, playplayplay, get into car, reach house #3, PEE.

Pick yet another one up at house #3, drink, playplayplay, get into car, reach house #4, PEE.

And so on.

More orange cordial.

3. Trigger Happy

When I saw this going on in my aunt's garden, I was like, "Woah, they must really trust him."

CNY Day 2

DN taking photos of my brother and cousins.

And this is the product!

Not bad!

Take two...

Not bad again!

4. Hijacking expensive cameras

God bless my cousin who trusted DN with her camera. She wouldn't have a picture of smelly little feet otherwise!

5. Funny Shots

You know it's time to buy 4D when both your kids are smiling in the SAME photograph. Never mind that neither one is looking at the camera. Now that would really have been asking for too much!

ps : Have you joined February's raffle yet? ;)

What's wrong with you people?

2010-02-10T23:35:00.010+08:00

I bet that's what DN is thinking whenever strangers ask him if they can take his baby sister home with them. Why do people do that?

"Can I bring your Mei Mei home?"
"Mei Mei go home with me can or not?"
"Let me bring your Mei Mei home today. I'll bring her back tomorrow okay?"

If we strip those requests down to their bare bones, it's kidnapping eh! Read : not legal! And people get really high on hearing DN say, "No, that's MY mei mei!". I guess he passed their "are you a loyal brother?" test. So far, he hasn't failed that test yet because he lurvvves his sister. But if this goes on much longer, I'm not sure he'll pass the "are you polite to strangers?" test.

Are you one of those who like to ask little children for permission to take their sibling away? If you aren't, then ok! If you are then, erm... hmm... hem... haw...

*awkward silence*

*sound of crickets*

Okay then!

The other day, we were in a store and the same thing happened.

Salesgirl : Wah! Can I bring your baby home?
DN : No.
Salesgirl (won't let up) : Please? Please? She's very cute.
DN : No!
Salesgirl (still at it) : But why? Why cannot?
DN : That's my mei mei!
Salesgirl (almost high) : Just one day lah! Let me bring your baby home okay?
DN : No. You go hospital to get one!

LOL!

Water Play

2010-02-06T23:31:00.002+08:00

All the kiddos at DN's school (from pre-nursery to K2) take turns to enjoy water play one day a week. It's nothing really fancy, just two portable pools filled with soap and water, but the kids LOVE it. Everybody looks forward to water play day. So last year, when water play was put on hold indefinitely because of H1N1, it was a bit of a letdown.

But 2010 is here (and it looks like H1N1 is also here to stay) and water play is back. So every Tuesday, I drop DN off in school in his swim tee and board shorts. And last Tuesday, in his goggles too. He put them on at home and insisted on wearing them all the way to school!

The goggles "blinded" him. I honestly don't know how he managed to walk to the car because they were fogging up so bad and puffing his eyes up because they were a little tight. But he still insisted on wearing them until he reached school.

Oh kayyy. Whatever rocks your boat eh?

ps : Have you joined February's raffle yet?

Raffle Wednesdays [#3 Gift Haven]

2010-02-03T01:37:00.007+08:00

Remember DS's Tintin hair? Well, that little tuft had a mind of its own I swear. It was ALWAYS standing up! Two minutes after a shower, DOING! It springs back up again. Not one to let ~~a shopping~~ opportunity pass, I told PF one weekend, "It is absolutely imperative that we embark on a clip-hunting excursion TODAY. Time to tame the tuft!"

So we made our way to Marina Square and went to Mothercare, Kiddy Palace... and all the other little shops that sold party frocks. Sadly, I couldn't find any clips suitable for little baby girls. She can't use snap clips because that would mean pressing down hard on her little head. *shiver* And she can't use french clips either because her hair would get stuck at the sides. So we left Marina Square defeated and tufty reigned.

Then a friend recommended Gift Haven and I was in love! I spent HOURS poring over the website. What should I get? Boutique bows? Tuxedo bows? Classic bows? And indecisive poring doesn't end there. You get to choose all your ribbons too!

101 types of bows + 101 ribbons to choose from + Indecisive person = Decrease in said person's work productivity

After the cows finally came home, I sent in my orders and five days later, PING! The clippies arrived in the mail! Okay technically they didn't arrive with a "ping". More like with a "Miss ah, can you sign here and here?"

Clockwise from top : Set of 4 clippies, Set of 3 russian doll clippies, Pink and brown boutique bow clippie, Russian doll rosette clippie and a matching Russian doll brooch for mummy! So yup yup, I chose all the different ribbons myself and matched them with buttons. For the rosettes, I got to choose my favourite fabrics. And yes, I love polka dots and russian dolls. :)

I requested for all my clippies to be fully lined so it won't tug on DS's hair.

And they all came with a non-slip pad so the clippie stays on the head!

I'm pleased as punch with the clippies I ordered. I think I squealed when I opened the envelope they arrived in. :p They are just too too cute. And when you pair them with a cute baby, lagi can die!

Look Mummy! No more tufty!

Little Miss Ong modelling the red russian doll clippie.

Love the ric-rac on the boutique bow!

I am happy to introduce today's Raffle Wednesday host - Gift Haven. :) A partnership between two mummies, Gift Haven specialises in custom-making hair clips, hair ties and beanies for little girls and their mummies.

Up for grabs this month is a one-time 15% store-wide discount for one lucky winner. How do you win? Simple.

Just go to Gift Haven's blog shop here and check out what's for sale. Next, leave a comment here and share with us why you love Gift Haven. Like so...

"I love your clips because they just 'up' my baby girl's cute factor tenfold! She is now irresistable to any human being! - June"

The best answer wins! Click here to start leaving your comment and don't forget to leave your name! Raffle closes on Sunday, 28 February 2010.

* Gift Haven reserves the right to publish the comments entered for this raffle.

WINNER! Raffle Wednesdays [#2 Pupsik Studio]

2010-02-01T13:30:00.000+08:00

Congratulations April! You've won a Baby Pouch Sling from Pupsik Studio! Please email me at junewee[at]gmail.com for details on how to claim your prize.

There were 51 names in the bag this month. It was really exciting for me and I could feel my heart go "thump-thump-thump" as I shook the little pieces of paper about in my raffle bag, knowing that in seconds I would make one mummy really happy and many others really gutted. I'm sorry! How I wish everyone could win!

But take heart, I'm going to try my darnest to make sure Raffle Wednesdays are here to stay. :) Don't forget to check back here on Wednesday. I've got something really sweet lined up for you.

The Chair Series (5 months old)

2010-01-29T23:16:00.152+08:00

Do you know that towards the end of every month, I'm literally counting down the days to the 29th just so I can take a pic of DS in our rocking chair? I have all these photos stored in my phone so when I have nothing else better to do (actually that's a lie because I ALWAYS have something else I should be doing instead - i.e. WORK), I just scroll through the pictures with this goofy smile on my face. Sometimes I even go, "awww, mei mei!". *proud mother hen*

So what has Little Miss Ong been up to this month? Well, you know how I was so worried about her forming an unhealthy relationship with her thumb? Well, guess what? I don't have to now! Now, I have to worry about that relationship with her big toe. *groan* Every chance she gets, she'll reach for her toe and stuff it into her mouth. The first few times I was in awe because she literally folds herself into half by doing that. Pretty amazing stuff. I mean, if I tried munching on my own big toe, I'd probably get it halfway up my body before my back snaps.

Miss Ong is also laughing a lot more now. And the only person who can make her laugh ALL the time is DN. Sometimes, he doesn't even have to do anything. She's just content with watching him jump up and down. And up and down. And up and down. Why do babies love other little children? It's really very endearing to watch. And me? I love watching toddlers laughing at babies watching them laugh. Haha!

I went back to work full-time this month so that means DS has been on the bottle pretty much full-time too. She has five milk feeds a day and I only get to latch her on twice. Once in the morning and once more before she goes to bed. Thankfully and luckily, transitioning to the bottle and back has not been an issue at all. In fact, I think even transitioning to other bottled drinks will not be a problem too because she's been trying to snatch Yakult bottles away from us!

At the beginning of her 5th month, she wasn't doing full flips yet, just a lot of rocking half-flips. You know, she tries to swing her leg over then ends up rocking back and forth and back and forth until she lands on her back again. By the end of the first week, she finally does her first proper flip (with one hand still stuck underneath though). This caused problems at night. She would shuffle and flip in her sleep until she's on her chest and then wide awake! For a few nights, I had to flip her back because she was stuck on her chest, tired and crying! Right now our little missy has not mastered flipping back onto her back, but this week, she started pulling her other hand out from under her. :)

We brought her to the PD last week for a general check-up and guess what? She's probably allergic to milk too. ARGH! You see, on about five occasions, I've noticed a little streak of blood in DS's poo. It's not much at all, just a little bit, and because she seemed generally well and happy, we just left it at that. When we asked her PD, he said it's possibly an allergic reaction to my breastmilk. There's something in there that's triggering a bursting of blood vessels in her gut, and it's most probably dairy, the most common allergen. So now, I'm not allowed any dairy at all. (PF is secretly very pleased because I become very (ahem) gassy when I have too much milk or yoghurt. Hey, better out than in I say!)

And at the fifth month PD visit, DS weighs 6.6kg and is 64cm ~~tall~~ long. :)

SNGS Fundraiser

2010-01-27T23:46:00.006+08:00

I guess this post is really for SNGS old girls, but read on anyway if you're not because this post contains the phrases "banana milk", "lucky draw" and "white worms". And they're all connected. You got to read on to find out how!

I was in SNGS for 11 years, from pre-primary all the way to sec four. Yes! Pre-primary! In those days, some schools took students in at pre-primary (or kindergarten 2) instead of at primary one and SNGS was one of them. When I think "pre-primary", I always remember the uniform.

Check out those pockets! So retro!

I loved it because it was SO comfy. And because we were virtuous little convent girls, we wore bloomers. Yes, puffy little blue bloomers under our dresses. I hated them things though and would rip them right off the minute I got home. God skipped me when he handed out poise and decorum.

Su Ling from Pupsik actually found the old school uniform tailor! Who still had a bunch of that original checked, blue fabric!! Who agreed to make a whole batch of them for sale!!!

So, if you're an ex-SNGS girl, go get one for your daughter / niece / friend's daughter / fun because there are limited pieces of these for sale and all proceeds go to the school's rebuilding fund. Just click on the button below to order.

When I think "pre-primary", I also remember our old school at Victoria Street, where CHIJMES now is, and that we shared the campus with CHIJ. I was there from pre-primary until primary two. I can still remember the school hall with its wooden floors and two big murals on both sides of the stage. I think one of them was a picture of two convent girls playing badminton. I remember the tiny canteen with wooden benches and twenty cent noodle soup. I remember the string of haunted toilets at the back, with one cubicle that was ALWAYS shut. And I remember giving that toilet a wide berth because it had to be the most haunted right? They locked it for our safety! (Why do I remember all these things and forget that DN has water play every Tuesday and forget to pack his swim gear? Argh!)

I also remember playing in the school field, holding hands and going to the toilet as a class, taking naps during school time on raffia mats and getting a tetrapak of milk every day. We got four flavours - chocolate (woot!), plain (eew), strawberry (double eew) and banana (HURL!). Every day was like a lucky draw - which flavour were we going to get that day? And because it was UHT milk, our milk was always served at room temperature. Now I can deal with chocolate milk at room temperature, but banana??? *shiver shiver*

Even Funny Bee, who now drinks like a litre of milk a day, couldn't deal with the banana milk. In sec four (I think), she admitted to me that she used to hide her tetrapak of banana milk in the bin where the raffia mats were always stored. One day, the teacher found the little stash which had started to smell a little funky. Funny Bee did what any other six year old would have done. Nothing. And I just found out from another friend that she used to leave her banana milk in her bag for days, until there were white worms.

Looks like I wasn't the only one who didn't get the poise and decorum hand-outs!

Well, no points for guessing which school DS will be attending. I know she'll have her own basket of poignant memories like I do. Sigh... if only I could sneak DN in somehow!

Lion-pee-dee

2010-01-24T04:43:00.002+08:00

There's something therapeutic, and calming, about fixing a jigsaw puzzle together as a family. But after about two minutes, I realise that DN is more of a hindrance than a help.

Me : DN... you are a liability!
DN : No! I am not lion-pee-dee. I am Ong Der Nen!
Me : -__-"

Is that Tintin???

2010-01-22T11:46:00.030+08:00

Blistering barnacles! The resemblance is uncanny!

This sure beats DN's balding pattern when he was four months old. My balding pattern however... SIGH! Let's just say I have a hairy floor now. It was like (black) magic. The day (DAY!) DS hit four months, I started to shed big time. So to make myself feel better, I turned to retail therapy and bought a whole bunch of hairclips for my own little Tintin.

And that's a big hint for next month's Raffle Wednesday! ;)

Dances with Wolves

2010-01-19T02:03:00.006+08:00

Do you remember Dances With Wolves ~~and Kevin Costner's butt~~? If you do, then you're probably a 70's baby or older. High five! Do you know, I actually remember watching it with my BFF? It was after our Sec 3 exams and we bought circle (yes! CIRCLE!) seats at Capitol Theatre. I can still see the ticket auntie scribbling our seat numbers down in the ticket booklet with that red peel-away crayon. Remember that?? And I think our ticket cost $4.50 or something crazy like that. Good times, good times.

In the movie, Kevin Costner was christianed "Dances With Wolves" because he, erm, danced with some wolves. There was another dude called "Wind In His Hair" who apparently ran (or rode his horse??) really fast and always looked like he was in some Sunsilk ad. There was a "Smiles A Lot" too. Poor chap sounds like a Care Bear though, haha! And don't get me started on "Kicking Bird". Quite an unfortunate name for the tribe's Holy Man, if you ask me.

Anyway, the whole Sioux indian naming thing got me thinking. Wouldn't it be cool if my kids had red indian names? We'd be the coolest parents when registering their births, they'd be the coolest kids at the playground AND they'll never get called on by their teachers during lessons. They'll thank me for that. The only problematic situations I can think of are:

when I'm pissed off with them (what a mouthful!)
when I'm trying to shout warnings to them (by the time I call their names, it'll be too late!)

PF and I had great fun thinking up names for them and have narrowed it down to three for DN and three for DS. You help me decide which ones to go for.

Ong Der Nen or...

Whines Too Much
Still Fits In Bumbo
Wants Plaster On Every Mosquito Bite (see pic)

Ong Der Shyen or...

Sucks On Toe
Squeaks When Put Down
Flips Over And Cannot Flip Back

Big toe en route to mouth

For PF, I think these are very apt.

Watch TV Ignore World
Writes Complaint Letters
Must Buy Wife More Presents

And these suit me I think.

Shops Online Again
Not Agile Anymore
Too Much Bak Kwa

What's your red indian name? ;)

Chef DN

2010-01-11T23:07:00.003+08:00

I'm sure those of you out there with preschoolers will agree that role-playing is super super fun. And I truly believe that one of the best things to get a toddler is a kitchen set. When I was younger, one of my cousins had a kitchen set and even though I was ten years older than her, and had exceeded the age recommended on the box, that didn't stop me from drooling over (and on!) her play kitchen. I mean, come on, plastic peas and plastic steak! (You will never burn your food!) I don't know what it is about me and miniature food. We like each other very much.

When I saw this set going for 10 pounds on eBay last year, I snapped it up. Yes. 10 pounds! And that's not just for the tap okay? It's 10 pounds for the whole thingamajig PLUS crockery and cooking utensils. That same amount here would buy you a fake egg. Of course, God is fair, so it's now stuck in my friend's parents' attic in the UK because there was no way in hell we could have squeezed it into our luggage. Since PF and I do intend to ship it back here, erm eventually (we just need to get our act together... what's new?), I've resisted buying a new one here. No one will sell you an ELC kitchen set for SG$24. NO ONE. They will however, sell you a second-hand one with stickers and pen marks all over for close to the price of a brand-new one. -__-

So what do we do?

We make one! Haha!

We always have spare boxes lying around because ~~I shop online too much~~ I'm a firm believer in reducing, reusing and recyling. So I found one that's the perfect height for DN and taped the sides up so it's sturdy.

PF then cut two doors in the front. Tadah! An oven!

Next, I measured and cut out white pieces of paper to wrap the thing up in. I know brown is cool, but the box had all sorts of nonsense written on it.

Circular cardboard discs wrapped in foil become cooking hobs! Clever right! It wasn't my idea. -__-

Chef DN and his little cooking stove. It still looks very bare. I need to add some nobs and draw in some doors. The apron is an art smock from Aunty Debra and the hat is courtesy of Mummy and some white paper!

DN loves playing "restaurant". I ordered chicken. Heh.

While waiting for my chicken, he gave me an appetiser (sushi) and even thought about my entertainment. "You can play with this (dog) first, okay?" So thoughtful, LOL!

My chicken with vegetables!

"Stop Mummy! There's a fly in your soup!"

Raffle Wednesdays [#2 Pupsik Studio]

2010-01-06T00:55:00.011+08:00

What's polka-dotted, sleepy and cute enough to be eaten?

Why, DS of course!

Why the lame riddle? Well, because I'm so excited about this next giveaway I just can't control myself! (Or think of better jokes for that matter...) Remember when I blogged about my own little Joey? Well, now you can have your own little Joey too! And I don't mean nicking a baby kangaroo from the zoo or the stuffed one from the little girl next to you on the MRT train.

PUPSIK STUDIO is today's Raffle Wednesday host and the winner of this raffle will win a baby pouch sling (up to a value of $45.90) of his/her choice! Okay everyone, control yourselves! No need to push the old ladies out of the way! Oh sorry, that was a telemarketeer who won't hang up? Go ahead. Need a hand?

Anyway, I'm so excited for the lucky mummy who's going to win this because honestly, my own pouch is indispensable. DS just lurrrves it! And I love it because Mr Cranky is still having issues about sharing things with his sister and sometimes insists on sitting in the stroller just so his sister can't. Argh! He will give me a hernia! Deep breaths, deep breaths. *exhale*

So it's the pouch to the rescue! DN gets ~~on my nerves~~ his stoller, DS gets her pouch, PF gets some peace and quiet and what about me? Well, I get better and better at using the pouch. I'm quite pro now you know? *smug face* Pop in, pop out. Easy peasy!

And I tell you, it was a godsend when we were in Phuket. It was just not possible to bring the stroller everywhere so DS ended up getting slung a lot. Not that she complained. She fell asleep in it whenever I put her in the cradle hold position. No kidding. EVERYTIME. Even now! When we're out and I know she's tired but just can't sleep because of everything that's going on around her, I just pop her into the pouch and in five minutes... zzz!

Want to know another reason why I love the pouch? It hides the wobbly belly VERY well. Haha! Now you don't have to be afraid of saying, "Is anyone having that last bit of cake?".

And do you know what? I hear that Su Ling, the founder of Pupsik Studio, is going to introduce new designs for her pouches in 2010! Can't wait. You should really check out her website. She has tons of cool stuff for mummies and babies. My other fav is the Little Milestones box. I bought one for DS. I'm going to record all her milestones here and when she's 21 (or 16... depends on how patient I am) I'm going to give it to her on her birthday. Now, how cool is that!

As always (and being the kaypoh that I am), I asked Su Ling a few questions about herself, motherhood and Pupsik Studio, so read on to find out more about her and her mummy-run business.

1. Was it easy deciding to quit your job and start Pupsik Studio?

I have always liked the idea of being self employed and having the freedom of doing something that I loved from home. The shift from being a full time architect/urban planner to a work-at-home-mom (of two girls) happened quite naturally and gradually over the course of two years. Of course, there were little hurdles along the way that made me question if I was doing the right thing. Nevertheless, I am thankful to God for the opportunity to pursue what I love from home.

2. What's your favourite product from Pupsik Studio?

This is tough. It's like asking who's my favourite child. =) Being a mom myself, we try and test everything we sell to make sure we love it too before selling it, so I don't have a favourite product. I love them all! Whatever we cannot find that we love, we make ourselves. The baby sling pouch for instance is something that we decided to make as we could not find a good soft carrier in the Singapore market that is stylish, functional and affordable. We went through many rounds just to develop this single product. (Trust me, the pouch is not just a piece of cloth that you sew together.)

3. What did you get your girls for Christmas?

A kiss and our time.

4. What are you planning for them to wear for Chinese New Year?

I am planning to bring in a new gorgeous line of clothing (designed by a homegrown Singaporean designer that just started her children's label) to the store so I will probably be dressing the girls in these new outfits!

So, back to business, how do you win a baby sling pouch? Simple.

1. Just go to Pupsik Studio, choose a pouch design that you like and tell me which it is by leaving me a comment.

2. For a second chance to win, be a fan of Pupsik Studio on Facebook here and leave me a comment with your FB name.

3. For a third chance to win, tweet or blog about this giveaway and leave me a comment with your twitter account, or blog link.

4. For a fourth chance to win, follow my blog by clicking here and yes, leave me another comment.

Click HERE to start leaving your comments! The raffle closes on Sunday, 31 January 2010. You don't have to complete all tasks to enter this raffle. But the more tasks you complete, the higher your chances of winning!

Now who says Christmas is over? ;)

Chinese Birthdays

2010-01-04T23:45:00.017+08:00

If you've been following this blog, you will remember that DS was due on the same day that her brother was due - 4 September. DN eventually popped out on 2 September, so I was willing myself to give birth again on 2 September too. How cool would that be! (And cheap! Because they have no reason to complain when I combine birthday parties!) Alas, when 29 August rolled around, wild horses could not have stopped DS from making her appearance. I was gutted, but you don't mess with labour and a baby that wants to come out NOW. I'm probably still going to pull the "combined birthday party" trick, but I think I have to agree to two cakes. At least I'll get to choose two flavours. Ha!

The kiddos don't have the same "English" birthday, but they have the same "Chinese" birthday. So yes, my parents-in-law are very pleased. I really do try to be the dutiful daughter-in-law. Heh.

Anyway, Christmas Day was also DS's 4th month Chinese birthday. I don't know the significance (so if anybody knows, I'd love to know!), but it's tradition to shave a baby when he or she reaches this all-important month. We didn't shave DS, but PF did cut a lock of her hair (which he later threw on the floor... men!). DN observed the entire process and later tried to give his little sister a hair cut too. Sorry, I meant BUZZ cut.

Poor Mei Mei. She looked absolutely befuddled!

ps : Are you excited about Raffle Wednesday? :)

Can you say "par-teh"?

2010-01-03T23:23:00.002+08:00

The September 2006 "babies" had their annual Christmas party (this is their 3rd) a few days before Christmas and it was a BLAST! In every sense of the word. From the word "go", the tots were literally blasting all over the place at supersonic speed. Seriously. It was like someone shot them out of cannons. Who fed them sugar??!

There was much planning that went into the party - location, food, decorations, goodie bags and entertainment. We were worried the kids would get bored with nothing to do in the function room, so there were games and a storytelling-cum-drama session. Well, we needn't have bothered because all they needed was a long table to run around. And around. And around. And around.

And around!

But we did the storytelling-cum-drama session anyway, and the kids LOVED it! I would post the video here, but I don't think I want to crush PF's macho image. (He was Goldilocks, wahahaha!).

On the menu : Roasted chicken, Angel hair pasta in tomato sauce, Shepherd's pie, Salad (for good bowel movements!)

Sweet treats include : Mini doughnuts, Gingerbread men, Log cake (not in pic), Fruits (again, for good bowel movements)

The goodie bags! Inside was a candy can pen, a snowman cup, a colouring booklet and sweets.

No Christmas is complete without a tree and presents right? Well, that's what I told PF after suggesting we bring our tree to the function room. He gave me a "my wife is bonkers" look. So I gave him my "I gave birth to two of your children... without epidural" look (and tirade!).

The tree went in the car.

Aunty Krist surprised everyone by secretly getting one of those face painters for the party. Arianne's getting a butterfly here.

And Jovann is getting a spiderman one here. I thought DN would be keen on getting a "tattoo" too, but he refused. Does this mean I don't have to worry about him and tattoos in 16 years' time?

Too fast too furious! Couldn't get a proper pic of Reubern on the bike!

But Mr Camwhore obliged, every time!

DN : I detect hints of mature oak and, erm, fennel(!). This red has a racy streak and yet, subtle nutty undertones. Easy on the palate. Hmmm... a 1972?

Arianne : Aiyoh, just bottoms up!!

DN : You mean, like this?

DN, Jovann, Reubern, Clarice, Arianne, Rochelle

Not in pic : Sophie (We miss you!)

The party was great fun. A bit crazy because of all the headless-chicken-running-around the kids were doing, but great fun nonetheless. And you know what they say about having too much fun and nightmares right? DN woke up crying in the middle of the night that night and I caught him saying, "Snowman! Snowman! I don't want the snowman!"

ps : Raffle Wednesday coming up soon! ;) Stay tuned...

The Chair Series (4 months old)

2009-12-29T17:18:00.223+08:00

DS is 4 months old today and that only means ONE thing... my maternity leave is over! I know this sounds really cliche, but gosh, time does fly doesn't it?

Same time last year, DS was just a bunch of cells and DN + PF had just joined me in the UK.

Nine months ago, we'd just returned to SG and were stuffing our faces (okay, MY face) with local food.

Six months ago, DS was still growing in my belly and DN had just started school.

Three months ago, DS was one month old and I was finally liberated from confinement.

And look at us now. 2009 is over and before you know it, DS will be one and DN will be four!

So what is little DS up to now? At four months, she's still not rolling over. Well, not "professionally" anyway, haha. She does make those turns to her side, but it's "not pro" because her entire upper torso is close to flipping over but her (Beyonce) butt is still firmly on the mattress. This is really all my fault because I keep forgetting to give her her daily dose of tummy time. :p She doesn't abhor it as much as her brother did, so I really have no excuse for skiving. It's just that I've recently discovered the joys of virtual farming (on Facebook) so the minute she sleeps, I'm plowing land and harvesting pumpkins!

At four months, she's finally sleeping through the night. And this is not "baby" sleeping through the night either. We're talking "real adult" sleeping through the night. I usually give her her last feed around 830-9pm and she sleeps until about 730-8am the next day. Oh. Em. Gee. YESSSSS! *pump fist* Want to know the other wonderful thing about this baby? She can sleep on her own! By this I mean, I don't have to rock her or pat her before putting her down in her cot. After burping her and holding her upright for a couple of minutes, I then put her down, kiss her cheek and say goodnight. She'll then lie there contemplating life for a while before falling asleep. *pump fist even more* Either my sleep training worked or it's payback time for what DN did to me. But, who cares?!

At four months, she's drooling big time. I took the bibs out about 2 weeks ago because by noon, our little missy always has a wet chest. (In another context, that would sound really skanky!) Could she be teething? I don't really know because prying babies' mouths open is not really my thing. But I don't think so because she's generally in a good mood all the time and she's sleeping well at night. DN however, might be, that whiny cranky tot!

At four months, she has started to bring things to her mouth for a good chomp. Usually, it's her thumb. -__-" I am now seriously thinking if I should introduce the pacifier because you can throw away the pacifier but you can't throw away the thumb. Looks like I am destined to fight battles with thumbs and pacifiers. *sigh* But that said, I think subconsciously I'm hesitating because I think she looks really cute sucking her thumb! But then I remember how my mother tried weaning me off my thumb (there was chilli and lots of threatening involved) and it doesn't look that cute anymore.

At four months, she's still talking a lot. Oooh, this is love. DN was never a chatty baby. In fact, I don't remember him gurgling or babbling AT ALL as a baby. We were always purring and cooing at him but, no dice. This one however, is SO fun to talk to. She usually coos, but when she's excited, she squeals! I actually have tons of videos of her cooing. I just haven't uploaded them here because they are videos that only a mother will love. Just a baby making unintelligible sounds. Horribly boring if it's not your child!

At four months, she's starting to bald. It's not as bad as her brother when he was four months, but she's starting to drop hair at the back of her head. Right now, there is a ring of scalp round the back because of all the rubbing she's doing on her pillow! Honestly, I don't know why I just spent $40 on baby hair clips. -__-

I really love DS the baby. She's such a darling. I love snuggling and sniffing her. I love brushing her soft cheek and squeezing her. I love patting her Tintin hair (more about that soon) and thinking of all the pigtails I can tie in two years' time. I love seeing her do her leg lifts and when she head-bangs because of her slightly wobbly head. I lovelovelove her!

I wish I could have DS the baby forever, but it's okay that I can't because otherwise, I won't have DS the toddler, DS the primary schooler, DS the teenager or DS the working adult who will bring her mother out for high teas in fancy hotels!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T00:30:00.029+08:00

I don't have a helper at home, but my mom does. J came to live with our family a year after my brother was born 17 years ago. I was 18 and J was 22. We are just four years apart, but by then, it was obvious that our worlds were miles apart and our futures were going to be so different. I finished my A Levels, went to University, went on holidays, dated, got married, went on honeymoon, had two kids AND throughout, I had my family around me. J just helped our family for all those years. So basically, I lived the cookie cutter (and privileged) life. Because J and I are so close in age, I often feel guilty (but grateful) for having so many things and such an fortunate life.

When DN was born, J helped me out with my housework. She was a godsend. With her, we slept on clean sheets, walked on clean floors and wore clean clothes. Without her, we would have lived in filth and smelt even worse! We are very lucky to have J. She is so patient, kind and generous. She has been with us for so many years and seen us through so much, she is like family to us.

About two years ago, J decided that she wanted to move back to the Philippines to get married and start a family. Although no one wanted her to go, it would have been very selfish to make her stay. So we made do while she was gone. And sigh, started living in filth.

So J got married and her husband and her had a little boy last year. :)

Sadly, because of the global recession, her husband couldn't find work and five months ago, she returned to Singapore to work. It was good to see her again after all that while, but I couldn't help but feel SO SAD when I thought about how she had to leave her little boy to come back here. And indefinitely too. How painful must that be? I remember what a wreck I was when I had to leave DN last year. And even then, I knew I would be seeing both PF and DN in about two months or so. (What a wuss!) So my heart aches for J and her little boy. And all the other helpers who had to leave their children behind to work here. It's too sad.

On a recent Sunday, I asked J what she was doing that day. She told me she was going to Lucky Plaza to wire money back to her family because they didn't have enough to buy milk for her son. I stopped smiling after that. Life is so unfair right? Just as J and I have such different lives even though we're about the same age, so will our children. My son started receiving Christmas presents left, right and centre about three weeks ago. J's son will spend Christmas without his mother. My son just went on his fourth holiday last week (and he's only three and a half). When will J be able to take her son on a holiday? I mean, I bought DN his own luggage for heaven's sake!

As a "privileged" parent, providing for my children's basic necessities is a done deal. I am lucky to be able to go beyond that and give them even more. I know how lucky I am, but DN and DS don't realise how lucky they are.

So my Christmas wish this year is this - I wish that my children will grow up to be humble and giving individuals. I wish that they will have compassion in their hearts and are able to put others ahead of them. I want them to take nothing for granted and be grateful for everything they have. And lastly, I want them to give generously and wholeheartedly to those who are not as fortunate as they are.

In the midst of all the giving and feasting with family this season, let's stop for a while and think about all those who cannot celebrate the holiday the way we can. Merry Christmas everyone!

DS's 1st Holiday... and DN's 4th!

2009-12-24T10:40:00.002+08:00

Phuket was great. I always love love love going to Thailand because the people are just so genuinely friendly. And the food is so good! Now I have three babies - Der Nen, Der Shyen and Food. -__-"

I'd say we're definitely braver with #2. It took us 1.5 years to gather up enough courage to go on holiday with #1. This time, it only took us 2 months. *pat on the back* I figure there's no better time to travel with DS than now because she's still on 100% breastmilk. Just call me "meals on wheels". It's either now or after she turns 1 because once she starts weaning, I'll have to worry about mashing fruit and veg on the go!

We all enjoyed ourselves on this trip. My mom loved the food, PF loved the excuse to drink more beer, DN loved the swimming pool and 24-hour Disney channel and DS loved hanging out in the pouch all the time. What did I love?

These pictures. :) (Bear with me, there are a lot!)

DAY 1

DN loved watching the planes. One of these days, we'll drive to long Changi Road, park by the side and watch the planes. I used to do that with my parents and LOVED it.

DN tried to put his hand around his sister's shoulders but she refused to budge. He settled for putting it ON her head. Haha!

DS was such a breeze on the plane, both ways. Pity she didn't get to sleep in the bassinet for that long. Turbulence.

Ding dong! Room service!

DAY 2

DN making chocolate chip cookies - one of the Kids' Club activities at the resort.

He loved it!

DAY 3

Just-out-of-bed hair.

DS ended up being carried A LOT because we didn't bring her bouncer.

Er... he's playing with tow gay here.

Sharing beef kway teow soup with DN.

DS waited patiently in the stroller as we ate lunch. Awww!

Father and daughter both trying out their "act cute" poses.

DN impersonating Jar Jar Binks

Free ice lollies by the pool!

You are feeling sleeepyyy...

Zzz...!

JUST LOOK AT THAT!

DAY 4

Checking in.

DS was such a magnet.

DN and his Trunki. (I wish they made one in my size!)

WINNER! Raffle Wednesdays [#1 The Busy Bee Personalised Boutique]

2009-12-21T01:22:00.003+08:00

Congratulations Joyce! Please email me at junewee[at]gmail.com for details on how to claim your personalised Santa book from The Busy Bee Personalised Boutique!

Thanks everyone, for taking part. This whole process was really great fun! Especially picking the winner. I wrote everyone's name on little bits of paper, cupped them in my hands and shook my hands until one piece of paper fell out. Never felt so powerful before! Mwah-hahahaha.

Stay tuned for January's instalment of "Raffle Wednesdays". The next giveaway is really really cool! TRUST ME. So don't forget to check back here regularly... especially on Wednesdays. ;)

And hot damn, I really wish I could take part in this one!

Sawadeeka!

2009-12-20T23:09:00.000+08:00

PF and I have very different holidaying styles. He's really suited for chill-out-and-go-brain-dead type of spa holidays and I'm the duracell-bunny-on-speed-and-a-coffee-drip type of holiday maker. I mean, I'm here for only x number of days, so pass me the baht and call a tuk-tuk, we're going canoeing, rock-climbing, golfing, spa-ing, shopping... and THEN lunch! I'm the ultimate kiam ka na (stingy sour prune) too. When shopping, I almost get into fights over 10 baht. And usually by that time, my husband would have slunk away in embarrassment and would be of absolutely no use if I'd gotten my eyes scratched out. Of course, I then go back to Singapore and realise that I was almost blinded over 40 cents!

So that's me on holidays before kids came along. It's really different when you have kids huh? Goodbye duracell bunny, hello slow loris. No more cheong-ing until 11pm, or making full use of happy hour. You've got to think about naps, insect repellent, tea-time snacks, regular bowel movements and spare toys in the diaper bag. Not glam, not glam.

All this just means taking things really slow on holidays, MAJOR changes in one's holiday expectations and lots of beer on the plane. And in the hotel. And at dinner. And heck, how about one before dinner? You know, to dull the pain!

This was the first time I'd seen PF drink so much beer on a holiday. It all started on the flight to Phuket - a beer with his tray dinner. On Day 2, it was beer from the minimart (Phuket Lager!) and beer at dinner. On Day 3, more beer when the kids were sleeping. No beer on Day 4 because his hands were full carrying all our barang-barang, and he konked out on the plane after lunch. He drank more beer on this holiday than on all our other holidays combined! When you go on holiday with two kids under four, life's more bearable through beer goggles eh?

It was also funny that as the holiday progressed, the list of things that we'd forgotten to bring got longer and longer.

1. DN's anti-allergy medicine (Ack! Had to buy Zyrtec at the airport.)
2. DS's bath net
3. Cable for downloading pics from the camera
4. Plug Adaptor
5. DN's multi-vits

... and so on and so on. The days were peppered with, "Aiyah! We forgot to bring that!"

But all in all, it was good fun. I got to spend quality time with my mom, set my throat on fire with Tom Yum Goong, enjoyed our own private lap pool and basically did nothing constructive or useful. Quite shiok! ;)

Off we go!

2009-12-14T18:15:00.000+08:00

So much has happened the past few days, I haven't had time to blog. Sorry! And this is going to be a short, short post because we're rushing to the airport!

Yes! We're going on a beach holiday! Yay!

With my mum! Yay!

And two children! Argh... shoot me now.

Well, it was an offer too good to pass up (free accomodation + Silkair promo) so the whole motley crew is going. Hopefully we come back relaxed and chilled out. Wait, what am I talking about? We're going with a 3-year old and a 3-month old. Hopefully we come back sane, with all our luggage and the same number of children we left with!

In the weeks and days leading up to this ~~crazy adventure~~ holiday, we've done tons of stuff.

1. Made DS's passport (thank God for online applications)
2. Bought DN his own Trunki (more about that later...)

Enjoy this photo as we enjoy ourselves in Phuket! We brought DS to get her photo taken for her passport and that's how they took her photo. She still can't sit on her own, or hold her head up for long for that matter. Had to crop myself out of this picture though because my chest was too rude for this family-friendly blog!

See you all on Friday! And raffle results on Friday too. :)

My Little Joey

2009-12-08T23:26:00.005+08:00

DN was never a "joey" baby. I really wanted him to be one because I just loved the idea (and look) of slinging your baby around. I know how this must sound to all my no-baby friends. Don't worry! No throwing of infants is involved in this activity!

Back to slinging babies about. (lol!)

You can even get slings in different prints to match your outfits. Fashionista! (except that I'm too cheap to buy different ones so I'll be the fashion disaster in a polka-dot top and striped sling!)

DN hated the sling. Absolutely detested the thing. Everytime I tried to put him in it, he would wail and cry and scream and howl and turn red on purpose to scare me. I'd then whip him out of there and proceed to look longingly at the sling and then at my baby and wonder, "Why???".

I was REALLY sad he didn't like it. The sling just looks so... cool!

So with DS, I didn't get my hopes up. This time round, I wanted to try a pouch. It looks cooler than a sling! Again, I borrowed one from a friend before buying. On my first outing alone with DS (had tea at Bakerzin with Funny Bee), I brought the pouch AND stroller. You know, just in case.

Halfway through creme brulee and herbal tea, DS woke up. I looked at her, at the pouch and then thought, "Heck! Let's give it a shot!" So we trooped off to the baby room and after her diaper change, I slipped her into a pouch and she fell right asleep!

Okay, "slip" is not a good word. There was nothing "slippery" about how I got her into the pouch. In fact, there was much grunting, furrowing of brow and gnashing of teeth. When I finally got her into the pouch, I was panting and sweating like a rugby player. It was my first time with a pouch after all and I was so paranoid that I would put her in wrong and she would get MAJOR pins and needles. I must have put her in and taken her out at least 3 times before she looked comfortable to me. I mean, I don't want to put a baby in and take a pretzel out right?!

Snug as a bug :)

(despite being put in and taken out and put in and taken out and put in and taken out of the pouch!)

That photo was taken when DS was 5 weeks old. Since then, I've had more practice with the pouch and am happy to report that I no longer look a train wreck after putting baby in. (In my defence, the cradle carry is supposed to be the trickiest of the lot.) DS is now 3 months (and a bit) old and I've popped her into the pouch many times because... SHE LOVES THE POUCH! Yes sir-ree! She falls asleep EVERY TIME she's popped into it when we're out. This has been very very helpful because DN sometimes refuses to walk, so we pop him into the stroller and DS pops into the pouch. I finally have my own joey baby!

Just last weekend, I decided to try the kangaroo position. DS's head is pretty steady now so I thought I'd just let her try it out. After all, I'd been watching the video over and over in anticipation of this day!

DS the prairie dog (lol!)

Success! She likes it too! And I'm really happy for her because she can now look at all the exciting things that are happening around her instead of staring at my wobbly chin all day!

It's fun being a kangaroo mama!

ps : Have you joined the raffle yet?

Raffle Wednesdays [#1 The Busy Bee Personalised Boutique]

2009-12-08T01:16:00.001+08:00

Have you joined the raffle yet? If you haven't, wassup?!?

I have just made it easier to join this raffle for a personalised santa book from The Busy Bee Personalised Boutique!

All you need to do now is click here (and scroll all the way down) to leave a comment and answer this question - "What would you like to win in the next raffle?"

For another shot at winning, be a fan of The Busy Bee Personalised Boutique on Facebook. After you've done so, leave another comment.

On 12 December, I'll choose a winner from all those who have left comments. One comment counts as one chance to win.

Easy peasy!

ps : There's something wrong with my blog! I've activated the "comments" function, but they are just not appearing on the main blog page. They only appear on the individual post page. Help!

Raffle Wednesdays [#1 The Busy Bee Personalised Boutique]

2009-12-02T00:48:00.024+08:00

Guess what? I'm giving something away here on this blog!

... for free!

... including postage!

... to anywhere in the world!

A good friend of mine, Debbie, started a lovely little store - THE BUSY BEE PERSONALISED BOUTIQUE - which specialises in goodies for our own busy little bees. There's something for everyone this Christmas - baby bee, toddler bee and even primary school bee! And from what I hear, soon, mommy bee will not be left out. ;)

For baby bee, I'd go for a personalised book ($15-$18). Brilliant!

For toddler bee, I'd get a personalised backpack ($38.90 non-personalised, $44.90 personalised) for playschool. How cool is that! Yee-haw!

And for primary school bee, I like the Money Savvy Pig. Oink!

I just love stay-at-home-mommy-run businesses, don't you? You know that the stuff they sell is always perfect because hey, they're moms too. Can you imagine what a daddy-run business will stock? Probably too many sweets, mismatched socks and uncoordinated outfits. That's what happens when papa bee is in charge right?

Anyway.

For my very first raffle, The Busy Bee Personalised Boutique is giving away a personalised santa book (worth $15) to one lucky reader. All you need to do is...

... leave a comment below (click here and scroll down) and answer this question - "What would you like to win next?". I hope to have at least 1 raffle a month!

For one extra chance to win this santa book, just be a fan of The Busy Bee Personalised Boutique on Facebook. Don't forget to leave another comment below telling me you're now a fan. I won't know otherwise!

This raffle is open for 10 days and I will draw a winner on Saturday, 12 December. Anyone, and everyone can enter!

My very first raffle! I'm so excited! Even though I can't win anything. -__-"

I also thought it would be nice for everyone to learn a little bit more about Debbie and her Busy Bee Personalised Boutique, so I asked her three quick questions and here's what she said.

1. Why did you start The Busy Bee Personalised Boutique?
Well, I saw a gap in the local children's gift and apparel market. I felt there wasn't a store which concentrated on personalised and luxe stuff. And I'm a BIG fan of personalised stuff.

2. What's the funniest thing your baby bee has done?
Hmm.... this is a tough one. Too many! She is in the throwing-everything-stage and recently took off one of her socks and threw it out of the lift as the doors were closing. So we had to go back up to retrieve it. And the people in the lift were giggling! It's an incident that made me giggle to myself too!

3. What do you do to relax when baby bee is finally in bed?
Uhmmm, I don't think relaxation is really possible! When she's napping, I squeeze in my meals, catch up on chores or work on email orders. I try to sneak in a tea-time snack and a cuppa, or just chat with my BFFs online every now and then. After she's gone to bed, uhmm well, I watch TV. I'm a huge TV buff!

The Chair Series (3 months old)

2009-11-29T23:45:00.062+08:00

Making It Lovely is one of the blogs I started following this year. When she started posting monthly pictures of her baby girl sitting in her Eames rocker, I thought, "THAT IS SUCH A BRILLIANT IDEA! I'm SO going to copy that!" You see, PF and I decided to splurge a little and got a gorgeous rocking chair (for me to nurse DS) from Lorgan's and upholstered it in a wonderful retro print. Deee-licious! And just perfect for doing my own chair series for DS!

So ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, the first and second instalment of The Chair Series! :)

DS is now three months old, and that means two things. One, time flies and two, my maternity leave is ending. Ack!

I know I will be an embarrassing wibbling mess on the first day of work because I'm really enjoying this baby. You know how you're not supposed to say good things about babies because you might just jinx it? I won't go to the extent of naming my baby xiao fei zhu (little fat pig), but I will say this...

DS is such a "terrible, terrible" baby. She is "impossible" to placate and cries "non-stop, all the time". I'm always "at my wits' end" on how to handle her because she is just so "difficult". She "hasn't slept through the night once" (nudge nudge!) and still wakes up "five times a night", the little "devil" (wink wink WINK!). Of course, this causes her mother "great great grief". Sigh!

I think I just beat the system. *smug face* I will now have the most intelligent and well-behaved baby in the worrrrrlddddd, woot!

Whoops, think I just jinxed it.

Caught In The Act

2009-11-27T00:20:00.001+08:00

To suck or not to suck the thumb, that is the question.

Hmmm... decisions... decisions... what's a baby to do?

Heck! I'm going for the fist!

If you're going to do it, do it right!

Oh dear.

In 3 years, I envision myself doing this yet again, but this time it's going to be 10x worse, and this time, I'll really go bald. You can throw away the nyeh-nyeh, but you can't throw away the thumb!

My Mei Mei!

2009-11-24T00:39:00.007+08:00

A cousin's of PF shared this story about sibling rivalry that scared the bejesus out of me. It's a really short story and goes something like this - one day, she found her 2 year old standing on his 8-month old baby brother in the playpen. ACK!

That's natural birth control for you!

So it was with much trepidation that we introduced DN to DS for the first time in the hospital. We did our prep work and prepared a present for DN (from his sister). Before DS arrived, we read "A New Baby" to him and every night, we invited him to talk to his little sister via baby telephone (toilet roll). I don't know if it was the present, the book, the baby telephone, or just that DN is real sweetie at heart, but I don't think he's going to use DS as a stepping stone any time soon.

PHEW!

He really does love his little sister. He gets real excited when DS smiles at him and will promptly shout (and scare the living daylights out of his little sister at the same time) out, "Mei Mei smiled at me! Mei Mei smiled at me! She smiled at me you know!"

During DS's first month, the first thing DN wanted to do every day he came home from school was "look at Mei Mei". After kicking off his shoes, he would rush over to her cot and attempt to hug her with his grimy hands and shower her with sweaty kisses. Sweet, but terribly unhygienic!

One day, when confinement nazi left the flat to walk DS along the corridor, DN shouted from the living room, "HEY! That's my Mei Mei!" He was worried his little sister was getting kidnapped, but apparently not worried enough to get off his seat from the couch and stop watching cartoons to chase after confinement nazi and get his sister back. LOL!

He even tries to be the mummy by singing her his favourite lullaby (you MUST click on that link!) when she gets a little fussy.Yes, I've got a little hokkien kia at home. And if DN keeps up with the serenading, I will soon have TWO.

And now that DS is actively cooing and communicating with us, when DN is in a patient mood (not often enough), he will talk to her and give her advice.

DS : *coo coo coo*
DN : Hello Mei Mei! (playing with his cars)
DS : *coo coo coo*
DN : You cannot play with this yet okay? I am big. You are small. When you're big, you can play.
DS : *coo coo COO*
DN : Hush hush.
DS : *coo COO COO*
DN : Don't cry okay? Ti or or... beh lor hor... ah kong ah mah gia gut tor...
DS : *COO COO COO!!!*
DN : Hush hush! Quiet quiet! Otherwise I'll make you stand in the corner!

He tries. He really does.

But don't get me wrong, it's not always hunky-dory in the Ong household. We are so NOT perfect. Just the other day, I lost my temper when DN prodded his sister with one of those handheld back massager sticks (sometimes, I'm just so eloquent) despite being warned not to. And he refuses to share his pillows, bolsters, towels, EVERYTHING with his sister. And the other night, he peed on the bed, and ME, when PF carried his sister out of the room instead of him. Me! He peed on me! My son actually urinated on me! So yeah, it's not all ribbons and rainbows over here too. But overall, I'd still say that he does love his little sister and can be quite a sweetheart.

At times.

Sleep tight, my little bunnies!

Laugh or cry?

2009-11-21T18:40:00.006+08:00

DN : I got two cars!

Me : I have two cars.

DN : No. You don't!

Me : ...
Okay, this one can laugh.

Me : (lifting DS up by her armpits)

DN : Mei mei is superman!

Me : ...

This one also can laugh.

DN : (looking up at me and pointing at my belly) Mummy! Got more babies inside!

Me : ...

CRY! WAIL! SOB! SNIFF! HOWWWL!

Imagine my dismay when DN said that. He used the plural form too! BABIES, not BABY. It's been 12 weeks since I gave birth and I tell you, I'm sick and tired of still looking pregnant! And PF is sick and tired of me constantly asking him, "Do I look like Big Momma?"

My wardrobe is so limited. I can't wear sleeveless tops because my arms look like honey baked hams, I can't wear ANY of my skirts because my muffin top threatens to overflow and I still can't wear my old jeans. If my arms look like honey baked hams, I don't even want to think of a comparison for my thighs! The only pre-pregnancy thing I can fit into comfortably now are my goddam shoes, and that doesn't count!

I know I'm supposed to be patient and give myself six months, and I guess it makes sense. After all, if it took me 10 months to put on all that weight, it should take equally long to get it off right? Technically yes... if you're a mere mortal. If you're Heidi Klum however, when your baby is 5 weeks old, you ~~abandon said baby~~ walk in the Victoria's Secret Show. In your undergarments! For the whole world to see! Goodness, when DS was 5 weeks old, my undergarments were big, white and 100% cotton. Hang on, DS is now 12 weeks old and my undergarments still look like flags on the washing line.

Did you see that picture of her? I mean, seriously! 5 weeks after giving birth?! And this is her 4th kid?! Give me a break. This woman's either of a different species than me, or... of a different species than me, i.e. NOT HUMAN.

But God is fair. I think I see a hint of a water-retention ankle in this picture. And I think my baby is cuter than hers! Humph!

*sniff* Something smells sour in here...

Milo Tins Under The Bed

2009-11-17T14:00:00.002+08:00

You know how the old folks like to keep their money in milo tins under the bed because they believe banks are just out to cheat us? (Looks like they might be right after all...) Well, check out what DN has stashed behind his pillow.

(L to R) His wallet, a Thomas the Tank Engine book, his teddies
(the round one he nicked from a baby basket for his sister) and his Mr Men board books (current fave books)

This is where he keeps his favourite things. He loves to go to bed knowing that they're there. He will even arrange his books neatly in a row. Their spines are all not facing out, but give him a break, he's 3! Last night, he refused to sleep because his phone was not with him.

DN : I want my phone!
Me : But why? It's time to sleep, not play.
DN : I need to call someone! *wail*wail*wail*
Me : ...

I finally let him out of the room and he ran to the living room to retrieve an old, spoilt cordless phone which he now uses as his mobile phone. He fell asleep with it in his hand. :)

Weaning off the Pacifier : Day 7

2009-11-09T14:11:00.003+08:00

Down to a pat.

All in the bag.

It's a wrap.

Done and dusted.

Whoo-pee-tra-la-la-la-fiddle-dee-dee-yay!

Night 7

Took less than 10 minutes to fall asleep.

Didn't ask for his pacifier all day.

Slept through the night.

Woke up happy.

It's REALLY over!

Weaning off the Pacifier : Day 4 + 5 + 6

2009-11-07T16:48:00.001+08:00

No more nyeh-nyeh in the house!

No more nyeh-nyeh in the car!

No more nyeh-nyeh from today!

No more nyeh-nyeh FOREVER!

That was the anthem DN's grandma created when we embarked on this crazy journey. DN was really excited and happy as we chanted that on Day 1. It actually became very festive. He even threw his own nyeh-nyeh (happily too) in the bin when his grandma asked him to. I was so shocked he did it. I mean, it was his right arm! There are 2 possible reasons why he did it.

1. All that chanting really got him into the mood and when we cheered after he did it, he must have loved basking in all that attention and glory.

2. The poor guy didn't know what he was getting himself into.

It's probably #2 eh?

No matter. We're 6 days into this whole thing and I am happy to announce, the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter and brighter. By jove, I think I see the exit! :D

Night 4 : DN wakes up around 12am, wailing again. Starts thrashing on the bed. I quickly pick him up, cuddle him close and rock him. In less than a minute, he stops wailing and starts whining instead. Eureka! The poor chap just needs some tender lovin'! He soon falls asleep and I put him down gently. This continues on and off for the next hour until he finally dozes off into deep sleep.

Night 5 : DN continues to drift out of deep sleep between the hours of 12am and 1am. Tonight he whines in his sleep. I like whining! It sure beats wailing! PF and I leave him alone and he manages to go back to sleep! Woot! When I wake up BY MYSELF (oh, you don't know how good this feels), I check the clock and it's 6.30am. It's 6.30am! OH MY GOD! *hyperventilate*

Night 6 : We have a feeling the worst is over and I'm not afraid to go to sleep anymore. As usual, DN wakes up from deep sleep during the night and starts whining. Today there's thrashing, but we ignore him and he GOES BACK TO SLEEP! There IS a God! (and I think he likes us!)

So yup yup, it looks like DN has gotten used to life without nyeh-nyeh. He still asks for it every now and then, especially when he's cranky and in a bad mood, but it's not a persistent type of asking, you know what I mean? He just asks once or twice and when we ignore the request, he stops asking.

No more nyeh-nyeh... FOREVER!

Weaning off the Pacifier : Day 1 + 2 + 3

2009-11-05T00:44:00.001+08:00

DN's absolute, most favourite thing in the whole world is his nyeh-nyeh. Believe it or not, he never graduated from the Pigeon Step 2 pacifier for 9 month olds because the Step 3 one is of a dramatically different shape compared to the Step 2 one and he refused to have it in his mouth. So yes, up until yesterday, my 3-year old toddler was sucking a pacifier for 9 month old BABIES.

We've thought about weaning DN off the pacifier since he was a year old. Obviously, for 2 years after that, we did squat because we were too chicken. And the task just got more and more difficult as DN got more and more attached to his nyeh-nyeh. We might as well have started compiling a wedding guest list for the happy couple. -__- But I'm happy to announce that there will be NO wedding and NO happy couple! There will instead be a very disgruntled toddler, extremely unhappy with his parents and whose main goal is to turn all their hair white in a week.

He's not doing a very good job with that. Our hair's not turning white. It's falling OUT!

The days are actually alright. We've already weaned him off his nyeh-nyeh during the day. It's weaning him off sucking it in the car and at night that we needed to work on. So far, getting him to go without his nyeh-nyeh in the car has been pretty easy. We just keep him really occupied in the car - talk to him, sing with him, let him watch videos on the iPhone...

The nights are a totally different story. That's when our hair starts falling out in clumps. (Some of it is pulled out.)

Night 1 : DN wakes up at 1am WAILING for his nyeh-nyeh. Totally inconsolable for an hour. Tells PF between sobs and wails, "Papa, I don't want to be like this!" *piang piang piang* (sound of PF's heart breaking) Finally calms down when I bring him downstairs with me to watch me pack the milk I'd just pumped. Continues to wake up every 2 hours after that, wailing every time.

Night 2 : DN wakes up wailing again. Only asks for his nyeh-nyeh a couple of times and then gives up. Then starts asking for things that he knows we cannot give (just so he can kick up a bigger fuss I believe). Asks to eat "rice and fish" and then "rice and meat". Wakes up 2 more times (wailing) after that.

Night 3 : The wailing continues. Wakes up at 12am and his crying wakes DS up. (ARRRRGH!) It's not "rice and fish" today, but "I want to go out and buy bananas! Now!". Wakes up again at 3am. At 6.30am, DS wakes up for a feed. PF and I look at the sleeping DN and breathe a sigh of relief AND start counting our chickens before they're hatched. PF then (foolishly) brushes his head and that sets him off again.

The funny thing is, DN has been able to fall asleep quite easily without his nyeh-nyeh every night since the weaning started. What he can't do is soothe himself back to sleep when he rouses from those periods of deep sleep.

It's Day 4 and I feel the same as DN on Day 1 - "I don't want to be like this!"

Can't believe I'm a mother of TWO

2009-10-30T14:26:00.002+08:00

If you had told me 17 years ago (that's when I first met PF) that I would be married to PF and we'd have 2 children, I would have been terribly upset because then, I really wanted to marry Harrison Ford. Oh well. PF ain't too bad I suppose. Ha! He's going to kill me!

So yup, fast forward 17 years and now we have two kids! Two kids! Two! I am officially a "mother of TWO"! Gosh, it makes me sound so grown-up. And responsible. And... old. I guess I'm still in denial about my age. But honestly, I really don't feel like I'm already 25 years old.

(Haha, got you! Bet you started mentally subtracting 17 from 25! I'm WAY over 25.)

Anyway, life really changes once you have kids huh? Gone are the marathon shopping trips, 2-hour gym sessions, holidays to places that might give you diarrhoea and/or rabies and parking 10 minutes away from the shopping centre just because there's free parking there after 5pm. Our lives now involve lots of rushed shopping trips to kid-friendly malls, holidays where we do research on where the nearest hospitals are and of course, actually parking IN shopping centres in Orchard Road.

Sometimes I miss those child-free days, but most times I'm loving it. Yup yup. Even though my body has surrendered to gravity and my belly gets jiggy with it (against my wishes) when I'm in a moving vehicle, I wouldn't have it any other way. I love these two little munchkins so much! When DN was first plonked into my arms after birth, I felt this HUGE rush of love come flooding in even though he looked like a wet rat. Now, when DS is quietly kicking and cooing away on her playmat, I feel like I'm going to explode with joy. I used to make fun of people who wrote about this kind of mushy crap. I'm now one of them! Ack.

But honestly, I will step in front of a moving bus for these two.

I love this photo.

Caught DN and DS staring at each other on the playmat one morning.

Almost gave myself an aneurism running for the camera.

8 weeks and counting...

2009-10-24T20:29:00.235+08:00

At exactly this time 8 weeks ago, I had just finished pushing my baby out and was presented with a slippery little thing that looked more worm-like than human. Sorry DS, mummy loves you, but it's true. You looked like a puffy worm! Well, that puffy worm is now 8 weeks old and, I'm happy to report, does not look like the hungry caterpillar anymore. (Although she still wriggles like one.)

This time round, I tossed my Gina Ford book aside and just let my baby set the pace, instead of some white English lady I'd never met before. When I was pregnant with DN, someone told me about Gina Ford and how she was a God in the baby-rearing world, so I bought the book and was quickly converted. I mean, this lady promised that your baby would sleep from 7pm to 7am! Yeah sure I'll have some of that!

But I soon found out that Gina Ford = Chairman Mao. I don't know about her dental habits, but her objectives sounded ideal, her practices made sense, she promised heaven... and it didn't work. Smells Marxist to me!

Okay okay, I'm being a bit harsh and unfair here. I'm sure it worked for tons of babies out there, DN just wasn't one of them. Bugger that! He still wasn't sleeping through the night when he was one and a half. But I think I've paid my dues because recently, DS has been waking up around 1-ish and then again at 5-ish to feed. Which, at 8 weeks, is WAY better than DN at 1 year 2 months. But, knowing my rotten luck, I've probably JUST jinxed that and she's going to want to do the macarena all night tonight.

Hmmm, so what else has DS been up to these past 8 weeks?

Jaundice : By her 1st month party, she was still looking rather unattractively orange. Her PD said it would take up to 2 months to clear because she's on total breastmilk so I had to be patient. Even though I knew that, it was still rather unnerving staring at a carrot in the cot. Thankfully, the yellowness disappeared about a week ago and she's looking like a normal baby now!

Baby Acne : With DN, I had never heard of baby acne so when his cheeks started getting pimply, my computer almost exploded with all that googling. This time, I was the epitome of calmness. It was my mother-in-law who flew into a panic and I had to calm her down. Just call me cucumber already!

Cooing : Okay, this is a first for us. DN was always the strong, silent type. This one? She's a pigeon! In week 5-6 she started cooing in response to what we were saying. So I became a pigeon too! Although we have nothing much in common, I still love talking to her. Coo coo gurgle gurgle...

Growing : The picture below says it all!

From L to R:

What she wore home from the hospital, Her sleepsuit from week 2-5, Her sleepsuit now :)

Say cheese!

2009-10-21T12:25:00.006+08:00

Disclaimer : DN did not learn this from us. I repeat, DN did NOT learn this from us.

I thought I'd better put that up there first, lest you think PF and I pose like camwhoring teenage girls named Apple and Prada who shout "Kawai-ne!" at each other in encouragement.

Recently, DN has been brandishing the V-sign whenever we take photographs of him. Very amusing. Sometimes his V-signs look like rabbit ears...

... sometimes it looks like he's pressing a pimple...

... sometimes he gets others in on the act...

... sometimes it looks like he's making a bad sign - in New York...

... and London...

... but almost all of the time, his fingers are pressed right next to his temple and, if I may biasedly say, he looks rather cute!

Everyone, meet Gucci Ong.

Stop moving already!

2009-10-18T10:49:00.004+08:00

Honestly, I don't have that many pictures of DS. It's just so depressing and frustrating taking picture after picture, only to have them all turn out looking like these. In the wise words of LY, "machiam The Ring."

Take one!

Take two!

Take three!

Taking pictures of a constantly vibrating baby was clearly not challenging enough for me, so I decided to up the ante (oh, just a little) and try taking pictures of said vibrating baby AND her 10-poses-a-second brother who by the way also tormented me by vibrating non-stop when he was a baby.

Take one!

Take two!

Take three!

I love challenges.

NOT!

(DS looks lecherous in the last picture. Grrr... I give up!)

It's MY birthday! Not yours!

2009-10-15T09:06:00.001+08:00

DN's actual birthday (2 Sept) was also a school day and because it's his SPECIAL day, I insisted on celebrating with him in school even though I was 4 days into confinement. It wasn't easy getting out of the house, trust me. Thank goodness there was not a cloud in the sky. If it were raining, that would be the end of my escapade (or escape?) because the rain here is absolutely lethal for postpartum mothers.

You didn't know?

Uh-huh. Just a drop on your skin and you will MELT, because, as all of us SHOULD know, our rain is different from the rain in other ang moh countries. That's why we have to serve confinement and they don't. You see, our rain contains cyanide, hydrochloric acid, the Nipah virus, sour milk and a flesh-eating bacteria that favours mothers who have just given birth because they are exceptionally weak, 'windy' and thus, tasty.

Betcha didn't know that.

So it didn't rain, I was safe from the rain-borne Nipah virus and wasn't going to morph into a crazy pig. Yay!

Anyway.

We wished DN a happy birthday that morning and in the car on the way to school, he told PF, "It's not Carina's birthday. It's not Daniel's birthday. It's MY birthday today!" After PF told me that, I was glad I was as stubborn as a mule by insisting on going out during confinement.

We had a really simple celebration in DN's school. We brought a dairy-free chocolate cake and some cookies for his classmates. No goodie bags for anyone because that was the school rule. A pretty good one too, I might add. Goodie bags were banned because the children would ask, "Where's my goodie bag?" when parents did NOT provide them.

We got there just before tea time and the teachers had already hung the birthday bunting in the classroom. All we did was take the cake out of the box and pop the candle on. Then DN had his birthday song moment. :)

Here's DN cutting his cake. (Can you see my greasy confinement hair???)

Happy Birthday DN!

Making Mooncakes

2009-10-12T15:40:00.000+08:00

DN made mooncakes in school last week. He was SO pleased to bring them home and share them with everyone. Except mei mei because, according to DN, "She has no teeth!" His teacher sent me this picture.

He made red bean paste mooncakes. They were really quite nice!

Hope you had a great evening admiring the moon and the lady (or rabbit?) on it. :)

I'm sure we'll get better at this... right?!??

2009-10-09T20:40:00.001+08:00

Our confidence highly bolstered by this successful trip, we brought both kiddos out the next day. Nothing too ambitious. Just two stops. One, to a friend's to pick up some homemade yoghurt muffins. Two, to VivoCity for lunch with my mum. You know how being a 2nd time mum makes you wiser and more experienced in the ways of the child, and more adept at getting them ready and bringing them out?

This WASN'T one of those times.

We started getting ready at 9.30am but finally left at 11.30am. Two hours to get the whole family ready? Goodness, what nonsense is this!?

At 9.30am, I sent a text saying we'll pick the muffins up at 10.15am.

At 10am, DN was all nicely decked out in jeans and a t-shirt. Even his socks were on. He was the only one dressed. I sent another text - 10.45am.

At 10.15am, PF was still in his boxers replying to some work emails. The baby was also dressed but had just pooped. Argh, and now she wants to feed. Never mind, send another text - 11am.

At 10.45am, the diaper bag was finally packed, the adults were all dressed, but the toddler was now only in his underwear because he had taken off his wet jeans. Hold on, wet jeans? Yes, wet jeans. DN was secretly playing with water as I fed the baby and as PF was working at the computer. Okay. Keep calm. Keep calm. Don't lose the plot. Re-dress toddler and let's go! Er, no. WE FORGOT TO SET UP THE CAR SEAT! Send another text - 11.30am.

At 11.15am, you'd think we would have left by now right? No. Let's just say after the whole rigmarole of putting the car seat together (the fabric bits and bobs were just washed and still hanging on the line) and then setting it up in the car, my sweat-drenched, toiling husband had to take a shower.

Sigh.

We left at 11.30am.

The Taste of Freedom

2009-10-06T00:12:00.016+08:00

As you already know, my confinement ended last Tuesday. WOOT! Being cooped up at home for a whole month did wonders for my sanity, looks (my eyebrows now look like this) and body (no exercise + 3 heavy meals daily = this). So the day I received my "get out of jail" card, I got the hell out of there faster than you can say, "And this is what I really think about confinement!" *insert rude sign*

What do you think I did on my first trip out?

Eat?

Shop?

Massage?

Pedicure?

Trim eyebrows?

The answer of course, is EAT! We went to our favourite haunt - Shimbashi Soba and I had my usual "dessert and tea" set. Ah... absence makes the heart go fonder and the dessert tastier! And this, my dear friends, is what freedom looks like. :)

(clockwise from top)
vanilla ice cream, fried soba chips (partially hidden), mochi with peanut powder,
cheesecake crepe with orange sauce, rice mochi with red bean paste

As it was our first trip out with DS, we made it a quick one. Remembering our very first trip out with DN and how we used NOTHING in the diaper bag, we refused to learn our lesson and again left the house with a bag that was heavier than the baby. Well at least we were prepared. For 3 months in a bomb shelter.

Of course, DS was a little dream. Except for a little bit of fussing, PF and I had a pretty relaxing tea. :)

Happy Birthday Little One!

2009-09-29T13:15:00.003+08:00

5 days old

14 days old

23 days old

30 days old

And just like that, a whole month has passed. :) Already I can tell what kind of little girl you're going to be. Well, sort of.

You have a very different cry from your brother's when he was a newborn. It almost seems like a 'gentle' cry, if a cry can be called gentle. Even your little farts sound gentle, like little air pops! Hmm... except for that one time in the middle of the night when you really let it rip because you thought we were all sleeping. Sneaky.

You're a pretty chillin' babe. When your older brother was a wee one, he could never sit still in his bouncer. He always needed a change in scenery. You on the other hand, like to chill. You can sit in your bouncer, for up to 20 minutes sometimes, just looking around, looking at your mobile, and basically just chillin'. Groovy.

You hate a dirty diaper. And in this respect, you're just like your brother. But then again, who likes sitting in poop all day? Especially poop that looks like radioactive tau suan. Your favourite place is the changing table. You hardly ever cry whenever you're there. Odd.

Like a true lady, you don't like burping, and hardly ever. And that means I spend quite a bit of time just thumpthumpthumping you on the back until you let it rip like a bullfrog. Just this week though, you've taken a fancy to spitting LOTS of milk out when you burp. Nasty.

And oh yeah, one last thing... you coo like a pigeon! I love it!

Happy Birthday little Der Shyen! I love you.

Very very much.

(and now I'm going to SHOWER, change and Papa is going to bring both of us OUT for some Japanese dessert!)

Excuse me, I think there's something on your head

2009-09-26T21:23:00.005+08:00

Tissue paper is a wonderful thing. You can use it in a multitude of ways. Blot an oily face, fling a bug out the window, hide some contraband food from the prying eyes of confinement nazi, blow a stuffy nose and... cure hiccups!

Yes sir-ree! Betcha didn't know that.

DS erupted into a fit of hiccups the other morning and confinement nazi sprang off her feet and dashed towards the tissue box. She tore a little corner off, wet it, stuck it on DS's forehead and stepped back happily to admire her handiwork. So forget holding your breath or frightening yourself. Prrttth! That's just an old wife's tale. Really. Tissue paper is the way to go man. Got a cough? Stick a mop up your armpit. Works like a dream. Bad flatulence? Feather duster up the ... never mind.

Okay, this next one I can't explain. I think it's because confinement nazi and I are on different frequencies (in more ways than one, as you can already guess). She only speaks Hokkien and I only speak English. It's chicken and duck talk every time. Our conversations usually involve lots of pidgin Hokkien, tons of frantic hand gestures, many furrowed brows and the occasional rolling eyeball. Painful.

Anyway, today I discovered this hidden in her swaddler!

I have no idea what those sprigs are, where they came from and why they're there. Apparently they can cure a fussy newborn. Aha... I didn't know that either. As you can tell from the picture above, it's working really well. Not.

So what cures a fussy toddler? My money's on cauliflower in the underpants.

Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus and Confinement Aunties are from Hell

2009-09-24T20:46:00.006+08:00

It's officially day 26 of my ~~incarceration~~ confinement and so far, I have resisted counting down the days until now because I can now count the days down on one hand. It's five more days to freeeeedom...! *William Wallace ROAR*

Confinement has not been fun. Wait. Let me rephrase that. It has been a pure, unadulterated, like watching Singapore Idol on repeat, kind of torture.

I mean no disrespect to our confinement auntie who's just doing her job (and who actually cooks a pretty mean ginger cod fish), but honestly, is this woman on crack or something?

1. Thou shalt not bathe

Ah, my biggest beef with this whole confinement nonsense. According to confinement nazi, I can't bathe or wash my hair. Now that's really weird because in one of my pregnancy books, one of the things recommended to postpartum mothers is a nice, long, hot soak in the tub! So technically, shouldn't these women be crawling out of the tub, doubled over in arthritic pain? Tut tut. These editors. They're trying to kill us all!

For DN's birth, I think I managed a week without showering or washing my hair. My hair was so clumpy I felt like Bob Marley. Not cool. Around day 14 I caved in, threw all caution to the wind (and all the bathing herbs into the bin) and enjoyed my regular showers again. For this birth, I didn't bother messing about at all and showered (yes, hair and all!) daily in the hospital. I figured I'd already sealed my arthritic fate when I broke the no-bathing-rule the first time, so I might as well do things properly this time (and be clean at it!) and go out with a bang.

After checking with many friends, it looks like I'm not the only one taking illegal showers. If confinement nazi is right, in about 30 years, there'll be a whole generation of old ladies walking around like Quasimodo, cursing the world with gnarled and shrivelled hands.

Except for PF, nobody here knows I've been sneaking in those showers. I think. Er, I hope!

I've been diligently bathing with herbs on alternate days, and having illegal showers on the others. I think confinement nazi knows about those illegal showers though, because I swear, she tried to kill me. Good thing I tested the pail of herbal water she prepared for me the first time. If I had just poured that on myself, PF would have had to rush me to A&E. I was this close to cooking myself! Geez.

A friend is convinced that all this must-bathe-with-herbs-and-very-hot-water-mumbo-jumbo is just a front. What all confinement aunties really want to do is cook their charges. Herbs for bathing? Nope. They're really herbs for MARINATING you. Jamu massage to release "wind"? Nope, just a cover. They're TENDERISING the meat, i.e. you. And when your confinement auntie suggests that you go sit in the oven? Time to get the hell out of there honey!

2. Thou shalt dress for winter

When we brought DS to the PD for her 1-week check-up, I saw another mom with her little newborn. The poor girl (mother, not baby) went the whole hog - woolly hat, sweat pants, long-sleeved tee, hoodie, socks and trainers. The only things missing were gloves and skis. Strangely enough, she didn't look miserable! I think it's just me. I'm being a real brat and rebel about this confinement thing.

I weighed my two options. One, be comfortable in bare feet and sleeveless tees, or two, be grumpy in a cardigan and socks. Coupled with a bit of the postnatal blues, number two was the more dangerous option because it might involve me and (someone else's) murder. So I chose option one and have been very happy in bare feet.

3. Thou shalt not starve

Okay, this is one part of confinement that I'm actually enjoying, heh. Pan fried threadfin? Yes please! Steamed pomfret? Okay! Vinegared pork? Bring it onnn!

Let's just say I'm definitely not starving over here. In fact, I feel rather like one of those french geese being reared for foie gras. (Hmmm... that confinement-auntie-cooking-her-charge conspiracy theory is becoming more and more plausible...) Confinement nazi gives me rice like it's going out of fashion and my gosh, you should see the amount of protein I eat everyday. It's amazing I don't look like Jojo Sinclair yet.

What I had for a weekday lunch last week - pan fried threadfin, stir fried vege, vinegared pork, sesame oil pork loin and potato, carrot and pork soup.

4. Thou shalt not leave the house

ARGHHHHH...!!! The penultimate confinement torture because it's impossible to cheat on this! Except for two trips to the paediatrician and one trip to the gynae, I've really been stuck in the flat for 26 days. OH. EM. GEE. I'm going bonkers. With DN, I served my confinement at my mom's and so, was allowed out for little jaunts to the shopping centre nearby. I'm not staying with her this time round so, no dice. :(

The only good thing that has come out of this is, from now on, I'm going to be the most law abiding person I know. (Scared already!)

So if you can't go out, bring the "out" to you I say! Over the past 4 weeks, kind friends (and PF) have brought over tidings of joy in the form of donuts...

... cupcakes...
... chocolate, crisps, macaroons, char siew, roasted suckling pig and fruits!

Thrilled to be 3!

2009-09-20T23:21:00.004+08:00

I can't believe it, my little boy is THREE! Remember this photo?

DN was about 9 months old when we took that. And look at him now! Goodness, where did all that time go?

It's that time of year when I put on my proud-mama hat and wax lyrical about DN and his amazing abilities and talents. Come on, indulge in me a little. I will only do this once a year... per child! Heh. ;)

1. Pronunciation

I really should take more videos of DN speaking. I remember stumbling upon an old old old cassette tape recording of myself reading when I was little and it was just precious! DN will never speak this way ever again, so I really should record it.

He says...

"meep" instead of "meat"...
"stot" instead of "spot"...
"shimish" instead of "finish"...
"beebee" instead of "baby"...
"reek" instead of "read"...

I love it!

2. Quirks

He is quite anal retentive. I like! How do we know he's anal about things? Well...

Halfway through dinner yesterday, DN asked for more "meep". On the menu yesterday were chicken and pork. I put more pork on his plate, next to the chicken, because he'd finished all of it. Suddenly, there was an outburst from DN.

DN : Nooooo...! Cannot!
Me : ???
DN : Cannot touch! *point*point*point*WAIL*

And he pointed at the pork that was touching the chicken!

Another thing he's anal about? His socks. He absolutely HATES it when his socks are not pulled all the way up. Like ALL THE WAY UP. There cannot be any slack in the sock AT ALL. And both socks have to be the SAME HEIGHT up his legs. Slack socks drive him absolutely livid and his eyes literally pop out if he spots a height difference in both socks. He'll wail, start pulling crazily at both socks and complain to us about his socks. As this happens on an almost-daily basis, it's gotten to the point where we've started buying ankle socks so he cannot complain. Either that or he'll have to start wearing tights. -_-

3. Dressing

Question: Why do kids only want to wear just ONE outfit? For like FOREVER?

Answer: Because they know exactly how much you've blown on all those trousers, t-shirts, shirts, socks and shoes so when they go out in public, they will look loved and well taken care of, and they just want family and friends to think the exact opposite by wearing only one outfit everywhere. Crap, what am I saying? They just want to make life difficult for you!

DN only ever wants to wear his one and only pair of jeans and his Mickey Mouse t-shirt. Sometimes he'll relent and wear this other pair of trousers he has, but nothing shorter. On days when we manage to get him to wear shorts, there's usually much cajoling, negotiating, deceiving and bribing going on.

4. Likes, Dislikes

DN likes Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, all sorts of vehicles, tofu, sushi, animal biscuits, soya milk, kissing his sister, disturbing his sister, his excavator pajamas, his teddy, riding his tricycle, going to the park, swimming, telling us when he farts, spotting cement mixers on the road and being independent and doing everything himself.

And he dislikes brushing his teeth, bathing, carrying his own school bag, walking when we go shopping, using his fork and spoon when eating, creepy crawlies like ants and spiders, fried rice, gravy on his white rice, skin on his apples or pears, puzzles, sandwiches and when any one of us takes up HIS space on the shoe rack.

One thing that I'm really glad he likes is reading. Or technically, US reading to him. Reading is something we started the day he could sit up comfortably and I'm so glad he has always enjoyed listening to stories. Every night MUST end with at least 3 stories. His current favourite book is a treasury of Bob the Builder, Fireman Sam, Postman Pat and Thomas The Tank Engine stories. I've been trying to get him to tell the story back to us, but no dice. He'll just go, "No! You reek (read)!"

5. 3 years and counting

Overall, this past year has been quite a ride. He spent 2+ months with me in the UK and got to see, and play with snow. He went to Paris Disneyland and met Mickey in person/mouse. He started school when he was 2 years and 8 months old, and also started on music classes and swimming classes (both of which we've pulled him out of because he keeps falling sick). He had his speech explosion (when he was 2 years and 2 months old) and he became a big brother. :D

The terrible two's weren't as terrible as I thought they would be. In fact, they weren't terrible at all! DN has been very agreeable and reasonable this year (mostly). I really think they meant terrible THREE's actually. :p

If looks could kill...

2009-09-14T22:30:00.002+08:00

... I would have been dead twice this week. I promise, honest to goodness, cross my heart and hope to die, it's TRUE. The (innocent!) victim? Me. The (almost) murderer? My confinement auntie.

The first time I received the look of death was on day 3 or 4 I think and I wasn't exactly in the best of moods. I mean, I just gave BIRTH. I'm on some hormonal trip, sweating like a pig, shuffling around because of stitches and struggling with nipples on fire. The only thing I need is a nice, hot shower and the last thing I need is someone telling me I'm not supposed to have one. So, as much as I would like to be the model "confine-d" mother and walk around dressed for winter (hat, long pants, cardigan and thick woolly socks) and not shower for a month, I just C.A.N.N.O.T.

So what do I do?

I shower.

In secret.

And enjoy every single water droplet of it!

But I paid for it when I stepped out of the toilet with a towel slung over my shoulder. I stepped out just as ~~Jack the Ripper~~ my confinement auntie walked into the corridor. ACK! The look she shot me! Now I know what it feels like to stare Medusa in the eye!

Then, confinement auntie barked (if she were a dog (HA!) she'd be a pit bull-rottweiler pariah), "Chong Liang???!!" or "WHAT THE HELLLLL???! DID YOU TAKE A SHOWER???!"

And I (the chihuahua) whimpered, "Mei You!" or "No I didn't! This is not a towel over my shoulder! I'm not wearing clean clothes! And I'm not holding a set of dirty clothes in my hand!" and scampered away, tail between my legs... but clean as a whistle!

The second time I received "the look" was today. Last week, I tried (unsuccessfully) to get out of the house by saying I wanted to visit my mother and grandmother. Of course, this request was met with incredulity and disbelief - "Stupid, ignorant girl. Doesn't she know she's going to die a long and painful death if she leaves the house during her confinement month?". So yeah, my request was shot down. Big time. So when ~~Jeffrey Dahmer~~ confinement auntie saw me dressed in jeans and a t-shirt today, ready to go out, she shot me another one of her special looks that could have curdled milk. Can you spell S.O.U.R.?

This was followed by another bark. "Qu Na Li??!!?" or "ARE YOU GOING OUT FOOL???!"

(I swear, this woman has taken 5 years off my life!)

Again, I let out a chihuahua squeak. "Dai baby Qu Kan Yi Sheng!" or "I'm sorry for offending thee, oh wise and all-knowing one, but my baby is looking rather orange so I'd like to bring her to the doctor to get her jaundice level checked out. I promise to be back here immediately after the doctor's." NOT!

After the doctor's, I forced PF to drive me to this cake shop for some macaroons. Mmmm! They cost a pretty penny, but hey, I'm going to make the most of my clandestine trip out of jail okay!

It all happened on...

2009-09-10T11:16:00.001+08:00

... Saturday, 29 August 2009!

Yeah, so my big, grand, what-are-the-odds dream of DN and his sister sharing the same birthday didn't materialise, but heck, who cares? It was a quick (ISH) labour and DS is finally here. *proud mother beam*

So here's my birth story. Prepare yourselves. It's quite a long post for a short labour! Unless you're also serving imprisonment (ooops, did I say "imprisonment"? I meant "confinement") like me and are ~~imprisoned~~ confined at home ~~against your own will~~ and exhibit one or more of the following:

slowly going bonkers
sweating like a pig
feeling and smelling like crap
producing enough oil on your head to fill a vat
constantly entertaining thoughts of killing your confinement lady

... then go ahead and read the whole thing. You have nothing else better to do anyway. Otherwise, just read the red bits. That's the chop-chop-car-li-pok version!

Friday, B-Day minus 1
When I woke up on Friday morning, I had the "show". That caught me totally off guard because honestly, I was all set up for 2 Sept. PF and I even planned our fancy dinner for Tuesday, 1 Sept. Yes, I know... the audacity! So when I saw the "show", I was like, "My steak dinnerrrrr!" -___-

I started getting panicky because I wasn't ready. AT ALL. And I really wanted that steak dinner. But the day passed without event, no tightening, no surges (or contractions), no nothing, just the "show" throughout the day, so I started to relax. I googled "show" and "mucous plug" and read that 35+% of women give birth within 2 days of arrival of the "show". That night, or early Saturday morning, I started getting more intense surges and I was 90% sure IT was going to happen so I woke PF up too. (For better or for worse buddy.) But they turned out to be Braxton Hicks because they disappeared after 2 hours. Ho hum, twiddle thumbs.

Saturday, B-Day
Of course I had no idea this was going to be Birth-Day. So at 2pm, when PF said, "Come, let's go out!", I said, "AWRIGHT MAN!" DN was napping so we snuck out for a quick romp in town, hee hee. In the car, I started getting surges, just like the ones the night before but a little more intense. Still very manageable though and I practiced my hypnobirthing relaxation exercises. All was good.

We got into town and I bought a custard choux puff from the Food Fair at Isetan Scotts (which I hear is already over, so am I glad I got to try one or what!). Phwoargh. The puff was crispy crunchy and the custard was perfect - creamy and sweet and dense. Not like some so-so custard you get in some alibaba puffs. Bleah.

We then popped over to Wheelock Place and even ventured over to Ion (maybe the shock of seeing the crowd there triggered labour, hot damn!). I bought PF's birthday present and was tempted by a Dunkin Donut. Unfortunately, I had to pass that by unless I wanted to give birth in Ion itself because the queue was just insane. We left town just before 4.30pm and until then, I was having surges every 20 minutes or so. All very manageable and the shopping definitely helped. I mean, with so many things to buy (and eat!) who would be able to concentrate on those surges anyway? They really should add "shopping" to the hypnobirthing plan of things.

When we got back, DN was bouncing off the walls. It was a good nap.

I tried to play with DN, but was finding it difficult because the surges were coming more regularly and were getting more intense. I started timing myself and they were lasting between 1-3 minutes each. I decided to lie down, listen to the relaxation CD and concentrate on relaxing. I managed to fall asleep and that helped to blur the surges. As I was "in the zone", PF was running around like a headless chicken, feeding DN dinner, packing last minute things into the hospital bag (like snacks!) and checking on me every now and then. Poor thing was sweating buckets, BUT! A small price to pay compared to what we have to go through, I say.

My PIL brought DN over to his great-grandma's and PF and I left at 6.30pm. The traffic on the PIE was absolute crap. As I closed my eyes and relaxed, I imagined PF barrelling down the expressway with police cars hot on his tail, and a baby hot on mine. Not a very relaxing image, but so Hollywood!

We reached the hospital at 7pm. On the way to the labour ward, I had 3 surges. One of which was spent in the car park, leaning against a red Honda Jazz with the bemused driver standing patiently to one side as I had my moment. If that happened to my husband, he'd probably have sped off to Singapore Pools after that. Pregnant women are supposed to be bursting with luck right?

In the labour room, I changed into my own clothes while PF set up the music, essential oils and dimmed the lights. (Yes, I was going to have a baby, not make another one!) I got annoyed with the registration essentials - CTG monitoring, blood pressure and temperature check, signing of forms, blah blah blah... HELLO! My uterus is contracting (and not exactly painlessly) and my body is getting ready to push a 3 kilo baby out, do I look like I want to sign some forms now!??!

At 7.10pm, the CTG monitoring started and it was reassuring to see DS's heartbeat on the monitor, and interesting to see my surges on a graph chart, although I didn't like having that strap around my belly. But I still managed to "zone out" and relax with every surge until about 7.50pm or so I think. Then, sadly, I lost the plot. And my nerve. And my resolve. And my sanity.

It'd gotten to the really intense stage and I couldn't relax anymore. When I first went in, the nurse said I was about 5-6 cm dilated. When it got really intense and I started tensing up, she did another check and she said 4cm! So it really is true! If you tense up, it doesn't help with dilation at all! Then the next surge came and despite PF trying to keep me on track, I caved in and asked for epidural. :p

BIG SIGH!

I was so disappointed with myself because I managed to give DN a drug-free birth (just barely!) and wanted to do the same for DS. Oh well. *guilt trip*

Back to the labour room. It was close to 8pm and I was wondering where on earth my epidural was. PF on the other hand, was stalling for time and kept asking me if I was sure about the epidural. This is the part in labour where I hear of many mothers asking to be shot. So yes, I was sure. When the nurse finally came with the form, I scribbled my signature onto it and asked her to hurry up! Suddenly, think it was about 8pm, I felt this HUGE urge to poo! A midwife came and said I was 9cm dilated, no more epidural for you missy! 9cm?! But I was only 4cm about 10 minutes ago! I was relieved (I can give Bessie a drug-free birth, albeit reluctantly!) and disappointed (ouch!) at the same time. Then she said my gynae wouldn't be able to make it on time, so she would deliver the baby. I was relieved to hear that because I've heard of some gynaes who won't let anyone else deliver the baby. Thank you Dr Chang, but are you still going to charge me delivery fees???

The midwife and nurse attending the birth were really good. They knew we were a hypnobirthing couple, so they kept telling me to "breathe (the baby) down" instead of "push". But I just couldn't. I pushed. And pushed for my country at that. At 8.29pm, out popped little Der Shyen!

Immediately, the nurse and midwife starting going "skin to skin, skin to skin, skin to skin" and they plonked the baby on my chest. Honestly, at that moment the ward could have collapsed around me and I wouldn't have bothered. But holding DS for the first time was amazing. I think I cried.

It was a busy day at the hospital so by the time PF sorted out the registration bits (he didn't get to do ANY of that before I gave birth because there was just no time!), we got into our room just after 11pm. It was so nice to settle in, just the 3 of us, in that quiet little room. My spirit was far from quiet though. I was so pumped with adrenaline, mentally I could have hopped up Kota Kinabalu. Physically of course is another story altogether! It took me forever to fall asleep. And even after I finally did, I kept waking up just to look at DS.

And that's THE END!

But really, it's just the beginning.

Welcome To The World, Baby Girl!

2009-09-05T23:50:00.008+08:00

YES! She's here! ANd let's just say, boy am I glad the birth part is OVER. Adios, sayonara, so long, GOODBYE!

I shall blog about the birth another time because it's almost 11pm now and *yawn* the interrupted nights have started. Need. To. Get. Some. Shut. Eye.

But before I go, just a few little golden nuggets of advice we got from friends throughout this pregnancy and after I gave birth.

Pre-Birth

1. Sleep as much as you can now!
2. Eat your placenta!
3. Don't forget your Kegels!

Post-Birth

4. Start saving up for her wedding now!
5. Eat more ginger!

... and my favourite...

6. Buy a gun to ward off all the boys!

Gotta love my friends. :D

DN's 3rd Birthday Party (part 2)

2009-09-03T21:36:00.002+08:00

I think DN's favourite part of the party has got to be the birthday song part. You should have seen his face - it was absolutely gleeful. As everyone sang the birthday song, he was smiling to himself and staring at his cake (which he didn't really eat, humph!) the entire time. It was so funny to watch. Seeing him so happy just made my day. Made all the frantic running around before the party all worth it.

The cake was a dairy-free, wheat-free and gluten-free one. The baker actually asked me if I wanted it sugar-free too. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Of course not! I liked the cake. It was lighter than other usual chocolate cakes so not as tasty, but the fudgey chocolate sauce on top was pretty good. PF hated the cake and thought it was gross. LY thought it tasted like tofu. But it really wasn't that bad!

Of course, we HAD to take pictures with the cake! With Mickey ears! Although they looked more like pimples on PF's head, hohoho.

Here's the little family again, all donning DN's trademark fake smile.

Now, this one, I'm not sure what kind of smile it is. Probably something like a I-can't-believe-these-are-all-my-presents-are-these-all-MINE???-yes-they-ARE!!! kind of smile.

DN's 3rd Birthday Party (part 1)

2009-08-28T12:21:00.006+08:00

The day of DN's party, I was officially in my 38th week of pregnancy and was I glad I hadn't given birth or what?! If I had, I would have missed the party of the year. (Well, that's what it was to me!) Because I'm due on 4 Sept, 2 days after DN's actual birthday, we decided to have DN's party 2 weeks earlier. Just in case. Having it just 1 week before I'm due would REALLY have been pushing it. My initial suggestion was 15 August, when I'm in my 37th week of pregnancy, but PF (he of much confidence) said, "Aiyah, 22nd August is ok! Just don't give birth lah!"

Er yah, okayyy...

MEN! Not only are our bodies subjected to 10 months of expanding (which is not necessarily followed by a proportionate amount of contracting *wail!*wail!*) and 1 month of unbearable ~~imprisonment~~ confinement, we also have to deal with wise cracks like that. The distribution of 'baby' responsibilities seems unbalanced I think, especially since labour is already on our plate. Hands up those of you who think men should lactate!

So my mantra the week leading up to the party was, "don'tgivebirthdon'tgivebirthdon'tgivebirth...". It worked! And I had a blast at the party!

The morning was a bit crazy because there are just some things you can't do the day before, like pick up the cake, collect the food and send your sister-in-law to the airport when her flight's on Saturday morning. So thanksthanksthanks to my granny, Li Yen and Joanne for helping with the fried rice, dry mee siam, balloons, driver duty, hard labour and ice! :D

Bellies were filled with, from top to bottom, sushi, child-friendly fried rice, dry mee siam (both lovingly cooked by my granny, yum yum) and subs. Thumbs up for the sushi but thumbs down for the subs, I thought. We collected the subs at 10am so by the time people ate, they were kinda soft and squished (from being piled on top of each other). The subs, not the guests, hur hur.

A close up of the sushi which was very well-received!

We didn't do much for decorations. Just some Mickey balloons, which some of the kids went at like a punching bag. Poor Mickey! He's looking a bit 'deflated' now, LOL.

When planning for the party, PF and I considered lots of options - a pony party, a baking party, a mega gym party... er, okay, we considered only 3 options! By a stroke of good luck, I bumped into an ex-student of mine who's now working with a mobile kids gym company, and they were looking into tapping into the birthday party market. Perfect! The kids get entertained and the parents can just sit back, eat, drink and relax!

The only problem was, when all the food arrived, everybody, I repeat, EVERYBODY (adults and children alike!) abandoned the obstacle gym course set up in front of them and flocked to the food instead. But there was dry mee siam and prawn sambal, so I don't blame them! Even birthday boy had eyes only for the sushi. When the 'class' started, he REFUSED to budge from the sofa and just wanted to eat sushi. I was like, "What the...?!"

Anyway, he finally did join the class and he had a blast! The obstacle course had a slide...

... some climbing apparatus, some rolling cushions, a walking bridge and a station for forward rolls. (I know, I just made a big mess describing all the stations.)

After the obstacle course, there was some rope play and then the kiddos all received stickers. No idea what they were doing here though. (???)

And after that, it was pinata time, woo-hoo! Did you know that there are pinatas for toddlers? There's no whacking the pinata (and probably other unlucky people at the same time) with a stick. Instead, there's a whole bunch of ribbons hanging from the pinata and the kiddos are supposed to pullpullpull until one lucky child pulls the ribbon that releases all the candy from heaven! Like a lucky draw!

Now of course, PF and I were not going to leave it to luck. So we kelong-ed the pinata game! *blush* We found THE RIBBON. We taped up THE RIBBON. And we only released THE RIBBON (after all the rest had been pulled) just for DN. So shameless! But you know what? It didn't matter in the end who pulled THE RIBBON because when the candy-from-heaven started showering on them (literally), none of the kiddos gave two squats about it! They all just went for the candy on the floor! PF and I stuffed the pinata with raisins (in boxes of course!), konnyaku jellies, gummies, sweets and cookies. All dairy-free! :D

The way the candy fell out of the pinata was a bit of a let-down though. I don't know, I guess I expected a "graceful shower of treats from heaven", so when it looked more like a "sporadic dump of treats from a round cardboard box with a hole", I was quite disappointed. I think it's because we put bigger treats in the pinata and those got stuck at the opening. So PF had to shake the pinata to induce my "candy shower". Humph. But who cares?! I gave everyone a little goodie bag to fill and they had a blast stuffing their bags. So so so cute! Some walked away with bags that hung like bowling bags, and some walked away contented with two gummies. Hee hee! Er... DN's bag looked like a bowling bag... with TWO bowling balls!

Waiting-for-Bessie Update

2009-08-22T23:50:00.003+08:00

We saw the gynae on Thursday and she's engaged! (Bessie, not my gynae) In the words of my gynae, "Any day now." Ack! I can't give birth yet. There's too much hanging on the line. There's DN's birthday party for one, and my last assignment to complete for another. And I want to watch one more movie, and have one last nice dinner, and bring DN for a picnic (and maybe the zoo?), and wash all the baby clothes, and set up the cot, and eat a Dunkin' Donut, and convert the home office into a nursery (yup, it's NOT done yet!), and practice my hypnobirthing relaxation exercises, and eat a Dunkin' Donut... and eat a Dunkin' Donut.

Birth-day is just around the corner though because my belly has "dropped". Bessie has moved down a little and that means 2 things - one, I don't feel so full now after eating and two, instead of pressing against my stomach, she's now pressing against my bladder and making me run to the toilet every hour or so. Not fun. >.<>It was DN's birthday party today and it was FUN! Will promise to blog about it in the next few days. :) Watch this space!

Planning DN's 3rd Birthday Party

2009-08-19T23:42:00.001+08:00

I remember telling friends and relatives at DN's 1st birthday party that his next big parent-sponsored bash would be when he's 21, when we can turn him loose on society and not feel guilty about it. HA! I also remember telling people that the first birthday party was not really for him (he couldn't even eat the cake eh?) but rather, for US (but we could... and it was lychee martini!) - a reward for getting through the first year unscathed, undeterred and most importantly, (mentally and physically) undead.

His 2nd birthday party was a low-key affair compared to the first one. Just a small gathering for his little friends that all of us co-organised. It was a wet BBQ (bleah), but at least we had cupcakes (heh!) and all families were colour-coded. The Ongs were radiant in red. ;)

His 3rd birthday was meant to be a non-event, because hello, I'm giving birth on 2nd September! *hao lian* Unfortunately, both PF and I have severely underestimated the wiles of Master Ong DN. Some time in June, for some strange unknown reason, DN started singing "Happy Birthday". To himself. In a pitiful, self-deprecating tone. Repeatedly. At least he didn't do it sitting in a corner with his head hung down eh? Now THAT would be wily! Besides the birthday song singing, he also started saying things like "Today is my birthday!". To us. In a gleeful, expectant tone. Repeatedly.

I mean, WASSUP??! *narrow eyes*

So yeah, that's how weak we are. We caved in. And moved the 21st birthday party forward by 18 years. :p PF and I are trying to justify this party by telling ourselves that it's DN's last chance to have a party all to himself because from next year onwards, we'll be celebrating the 2 kiddos' birthdays together. Also, I've been feeling awfully guilty about not being able to give DN my 100% when Bessie comes along. I know I don't have to feel guilty, but I can't help but feel a little bad.

Anyhows, back to the party. Why just stop at a cake when you can blow it all (read: child's future trust fund) on entertainment for the kids, helium balloons, themed fillers for goody bags, matching plates and cups and (the piece de resistance) A PINATA FILLED WITH EDIBLE GOODIES! Arriba! Jalapeno! Paco chicano! Ole!

The next thing to do was to decide on a theme. I went with Mickey Mouse because it's gender neutral and I won't have an aneurysm when deciding what to put in girl and boy goody bags. Only over my dead body will I have a Barney party even though that's also gender-neutral. I hate that purple dinosaur (who PF believes is actually a T-Rex with blunt teeth because of its short, useless, flailing arms). And oh yeah, the most important reason why Mickey Mouse? DN lurves Mickey Clubhouse.

The grand plan (and I'm full of these useless things that don't materialise) was to MAKE my own Mickey Mouse pinata with papier-mache. If I could make a papier-mache bowl in primary school, what's stopping a 34-year old from making a Mickey Mouse pinata? Well, how about plain 'ole deludedness? I thought about it for a day and then promptly shelved the thought next to grand plan #2 - baking DN's dairy-free birthday cake, which by the way is sitting next to grand plan #3 - going swimming to work on that tan and get M.Obama arms in time for the party. Like I said, deluded. So after all the grand plans have gone the way of the Dodo, what else is left?

Actually, tons! For 3 days, I pored over the Birthday Direct website, adding things into and deleting things out of my shopping basket. I'm going to keep the contents of the goody bag a secret, but let's just say I bought a few extra just for myself! So exciting, hee. Tomorrow, I'm going to buy the edible pinata fillers and on Friday, DN and I are going to pack the goody bags. Can't wait! :D

It's going to be a mad rush on Saturday though. The cakes need collecting (2 cakes from 2 different places... argh), the food needs picking up (again from 2 different places... argh argh), the ice needs to be bought and the room needs setting up. And all that to be done by 10.30am before guests start arriving. Thankfully, I didn't even entertain the thought of decorations because that might just be the thing that sends me into labour!

The only grand plan that I concocted and actually saw through was scrapbooking my own digital invite. I'm quite proud of this one! Ta-dah!

Invites? Check.
Cake? Check.
Kids' entertainment? Check.
Food? Check.
Drinks? Check.
Goody bags? Check.
Balloons? Check.
DN's birthday present?

OOOOOPS!

About Bessie

2009-08-15T00:02:00.004+08:00

I realise I haven't really been talking much about Bessie on this blog and I think Bessie knows because I had Braxton Hicks all day yesterday! Like ALL DAY. Think she's trying to tell me something, hmm. They were still kind of mild and hardly causing me any discomfort, so I'm not that fussed, but woah nelly, I don't have that much longer to go! Technically, it's 20 days to Bessie's EDD (which happens to be the exact same day as DN's EDD) and I am willing myself to pop on 2 Sept - DN's birthday! So hang in there Bessie, no rush. If Bessie really makes her grand arrival on 2 Sept, we're definitely stopping at 2 because if #3 doesn't come out on 2 Sept as well, I will not be able to live with myself. How can one ever live with that kind of inconsistency??? It's just as bad as NOT having all your Yusof Ishaks in your wallet facing the same direction.

Which person in the back snorted "anal retentive"? COME HERE!

This pregnancy with Bessie is very different from when I was pregnant with DN. With DN, I had morning sickness, but nibbling on dried mangoes always did the trick. With Bessie, I puked on the road. Like, on my car tyre! Eeep.

While pregnant with DN, I was quite fit. With no 3 year old to take care of, I could go to the gym 3 times a week. Yoga, pilates, spinning, body pump? Bring it on! Now? Prttthhhfff! Not only is the flesh unwilling, the spirit has gone on no pay leave too. Bah.

Halfway into my pregnancy with DN, no one knew I was pregnant. I was just DYING for the bump to show because I just looked like I had really enjoyed myself at some buffet, sorry, BUFFETS. This time? Bah. I started getting comments like, "Wah, you're so big ah?" in month THREE. @#$%*!! *piah*piah* (read: slap, slap!)

But overall, I cannot complain because Bessie is doing well and growing well. At 36.5 weeks, she weighs about 2.5kg and doc says she'll probably just hit 3kg by the time I pop. Measurements suggest that she's a little on the petite side, but PF and I both agree that health is definitely wealth so it's okay!

And how's DN dealing with the idea of having a baby sister? Well, he knows there's a baby in mummy's belly, but I'm positive he doesn't know what's really flying his way come September. Actually, us too, because the motley (and hao lian) pair of PF and I are still insisting on sleeping at 12-1am even though we know full well about the sleepless nights ahead of us. Back to DN. He can be quite sweet to his Mei Mei at times. We have an empty kitchen roll that we use as a "baby telephone" and DN uses it to talk to his little sister. He says things like, "Hello! My name is Ong Der Nen. Mei Mei, what are you doing?"

LOL!

And the other day he sang Baa Baa Black Sheep to her. She responded by kicking him back.

LOL!

We haven't decided on Bessie's real name (it's NOT "Bessie"!) so the other day, we asked DN, "What do you think Mei Mei's name should be?" His reply? (and it was instantaneous) "Ong Baby Mei Mei!"

LOL!

I bet, if he had known about the wonderful, multiple uses of the word "DUH", he would have added "Like DUH, people" at the end of that.

DN is an Aquaduck

2009-08-10T09:10:00.003+08:00

After being on the Aquaducks waiting list for a few months, DN finally got a space in their toddler swim class at the Portsdown Road pool. Quack! It's a really early class, :p but we figure it's a good thing because it gets us off our butts early in the morning and forces us to start our Sundays early instead of lolling and fluffing about at home. Anyway, DN is such an early riser (he usually wakes up by 7.30am) that it doens't make any difference to him. It's me that's the problem - sleep is my good friend, my VERY good friend. PF is on pretty friendly terms with sleep too. >.<

I was so excited about DN starting swim class that I bought him a new set of swim gear - board shorts and a raglan tee. DN was very excited too. On the morning of swim class, he had to lie down to contain himself.

Swim class was real fun and DN just LURVED it. They played with toys, blew bubbles, laughed and (DN's fav bit) sang Humpty Dumpty and jumped into the pool when Mr Dumpty fell off the wall. Actually, he jumped off at "Humpty Dumpty sat on the WALL..." and gave PF a big scare, but never mind.

Here, they're retrieving rings from around the pool to string back onto the noodle that the coach is holding (behind). It's so funny how ALL the kids have their favourite colours. DN only wanted to collect the yellow rings, another girl only wanted the green ones and another one only wanted the pink ones.

It was only half an hour, but DN was absolutely famished after swim class. I think it was because PF told him, "If you don't kick your legs DN, we can't move!" (when retrieving the toys). And he just stood there until DN kicked his legs like Flipper. You should have seen him go man, PF was water-blinded by his wake, haha. And gosh, watch how he just inhaled his porridge at breakfast. And his noodles at lunch. Slow down, my good man, slow down!

We headed home after breakfast and DN konked out in the car... at 11.15am! Quite amazing when he usually has his afternoon nap around 12.30-1pm.

Tut tut!

2009-07-28T12:10:00.004+08:00

We usually get emails from DN's school informing us about stuff - what DN should wear on Racial Harmony Day, when is class photo taking, how to be vigilant because of H1N1... ~~boring~~ stuff like that. Then one day, I got this in my mailbox!

HEE HEE HEE! :D

Now for the embarrassing bit. This was the email that accompanied that photo.

"Hi Mummy,
The teachers would like to say 'thank you' for the swiss rolls."

*blush blush* Yesssss... I have been bribing DN's teachers with treats! His first week of school, I dropped off some doughnuts. (I mean, I have to thank them for helping him settle into school right??) Two weeks later, I went over with some steamed paos for tea. (You know, just to check how he was doing in school that day. It's important!!) And last week, I dropped off some Polar Swiss Rolls... for no particular reason really! I was on my way back to the office from a meeting and since I would be passing his school, I thought, "Why not?"

Yeah yeah, so I'm a shameless hussy. But at least I'm honest about it, and now I have a nice picture of my son to boot!

Our First Staycation

2009-07-15T23:21:00.014+08:00

Oh my gosh, it was S.O. F.U.N.!

The last time we did this, we picked the wrong hotel. 'Wrong' because it was along Havelock Road, and since we weren't that keen on introducing DN to the world of Zouk, we just went to the hotel pool. *yawn*

This time round, we checked into Orchard Hotel. Ah, decisions, decisions. Pool? Orchard Road? Pool? Orchard Road?

ORCHARD ROADDD! *deep guttural sound from the bowels of my shopping deprived being*

So shop I did. And suffered I did! (at the end of the day) You see, for this pregnancy, I've been as mobile as Raffles' statue. It's no wonder I'm looking more and more like Barbapapa everyday. Just less pink and with more hair. So imagine me in all my stagnant and stationary glory, ~~traipsing~~ waddling up and down Orchard Road as my feet get progressively redder and more bruised by the minute. Do I stop? Hell no! Bring it onnn...! *another deep guttural sound from the bowels of my shopping deprived being*

So yup, we didn't even make it down to the hotel pool. We saw it from our room window though, and had good intentions to squeeze in a dip in the pool, if that counts for anything. :p

The highlight of the weekend for DN had to be the bus and MRT rides. He had a blast flagging the bus down, hee hee.

$1. That's all it takes to make this little guy happy. He loves bus rides!

Even after we'd arrived at our station, we hung around just to let him see the trains zoom past.

We also made a trip down to the National Museum to check out the Verner Panton exhibition. Very cool. PF and I took turns to play with DN in the Phantasy Landscape so we could wander around the exhibition.

In all, we stayed 2 nights. One of the best things had to be knowing there was a buffet breakfast waiting for us in the morning and it only being an elevator ride away. Sweet. This is what DN had for breakfast - hard boiled egg, sausage, pancakes, dried nuts and fruits - ON HIS PLATE. On MY plate, he ate the noodles and on PF's plate, he ate the cold tofu. Halfway through breakfast, I had to bring him to the toilet to poo. -___-

It was a good weekend. :)

DN's First Haircut

2009-07-12T22:59:00.009+08:00

DN definitely takes after me when it comes to hair - we both don't have enough. When he was about 4 months old, his hair started falling out and even though he looked like this, I still refused to shave him bald. Every hair was so precious! And so, for the past 2+ years, we've managed to get away with not sending him to the barber's. DN's grandmother has been serving double duty as granny and barber.

But last weekend, we decided to try a proper hairdresser. It was one of those $10 places where you pay via a vending machine. Not bad at all! Here's a "before" pic of DN looking really shaggy. Check out the hair around his ears. It really was time for a haircut!

DN had this funny look on for the longest time.

For 10 bucks, you also get your head vacuumed. Hoho.

DN before...

... and after!

Rather spiffy, if you ask me!

Mr Cable

2009-07-07T00:29:00.004+08:00

I can't find my camera cable. ARGH. I have looked everywhere - bags, office, desk (yes, it's a "place" to look because PF's desk looks like this, minus the car), floor, drawers and in assorted nooks and crannies, but I just can't find the elusive, blasted thing! This is very unlike me because I always "put my things back where they belong" (years of a mother's ~~threats~~ ~~nagging~~ ~~conditioning~~ encouragement does that to you). The problem now is, I'm pregnant, so I can't remember where that place of "belonging" is. The bigger problem is, this is not the 1st pregnancy.

And that means a lot of things...

I lost memory cells the first time round.
They didn't come back.
I'm losing more this time round.
And they're not coming back too!

I'm getting stupider and stupider by the minute and those fish oils sure ain't helping. -___-"

I've got a few things to blog about too (DN's first proper haircut, Our family stay-cation, Planning for DN's 3rd birthday party), so me not being able to find the blasted cable is really getting on my nerves.

It's been missing for about 2 weeks, and after some active searching, I decided to just leave it be, hoping that Mr Cable will just walk up to me and tap me on the shoulder one day. Okay, add "delusional" to the dem-pregnancy-books-don't-tell-you-about-these-PERMANENT-side-effects list.

Mr Cable! Where are you!?

A Breakthrough?

2009-06-30T22:38:00.004+08:00

Last week was a bad week in school for DN. He had just gone back to school after a week and a half of staying at home, recuperating from a phlegmy cough. It was BAD. Getting back into the school groove I mean. Even getting him to put his uniform on was a struggle - me ~~running~~ waddling around the house after him as he's moaning and groaning away, "I don't want to go to school!" Drop-offs were worse. Ugh.

So imagine my surprise when there were no theatrics when I dropped him this morning. No crying, no weeping, no complaining. He just let go of my hand and walked through the gate into the playground. He even said "bye"!

By jove, I think we've got it!

Bilingual Bunny and Monolingual Mummy

2009-06-29T22:17:00.006+08:00

I'm so sorry my posts have been so sporadic and unpredictable. I'm just so uninspired, AND uninspiring myself. Ugh. Add the fact that I'm ballooning at such an embarrassing rate (people think I'm going to give birth next month, ack) and have started to waddle like a duck (but it's just SO comfortable!) and you get a very disgruntled, grumpy and pregnant duck-woman. I'm SO not embracing my pregnant body! :p

Anyhows, DN has been saying the darnest things these past few days, I just MUST share them. You know how people always tell you, "Yeah, sure you will enjoy it when they first start to talk, but soon you just want them to shut up!"

Oooh, I don't!

I lurvelurvelurve talking to DN and I lurvelurvelurve hearing all the funny things he says. You'll all be proud to know that he's turning out to be quite the bilingual bunny and is putting his monolingual mommy to utter shame. DN speaks to PF and I in English and to his paternal grandparents and PF's sister exclusively in Mandarin. My baby can code-switch! Hee hee hee! Just the other day, he was conversing with his aunt in the car and I overheard him saying this, "改天我要去爸爸的 office." I almost mounted the kerb. 改天??? Alamak, I only know 今天 and 明天 and I still get my 后天 and 前天 mixed up!

So a few days later, I decided to show him one up and told him, "DN! 小心!" I can't remember what he was doing - climbing up a chair? Drinking from my Bodum glass (ack!)? Anyway, the little bugger laughed at me! He actually said, "小心! 小心! Hahahahaha...!" I don't believe it. The cheek!

So yeah, monolingual mommy is feeling very embarrassed... and yet proud at the same time. It's a funny feeling. *sigh*

So... what kind of mouse are you?

2009-06-15T00:26:00.002+08:00

Is it a bad thing if your son replies "go shopping centre" or "go supermarket" if you ask him what he wants to do? Hmm... I'm not sure. On the one hand, at least I know he'll be able to navigate though the concrete jungle next time (threatening to cancel credit cards to get another free year of subscription, modifying the Wii to play pirated games, cheating when plucking car park coupons...), but on the other hand, to not have the experience of catching fish in drains or climbing a tree must be quite a sad thing don't you think?

So yes, DN is definitely a city mouse, not a country mouse. And it's our fault of course. We just don't expose him to nature enough. And with the weather threatening to fry us silly, it's not like I'm going to start traipsing around Sungei Buloh anytime soon.

Our most recent (and valiant) attempt was 2 weekends ago when we brought DN to West Coast Park for some hotcakes, cycling and sand play with Reubern and Sophie. We brought DN's tricycle along and phwoarh! That really tested his non-existent sharing ability together with my patience. -_- If anyone has any tips on how to get an almost 3 year old to share, I'm all ears.

So except for the "This is mineminemine!" raving and ranting, all of us city mice had a good time in the "pseudo" country. At the sand pit, DN just leapt right in, dug his feet and hands into the sand and was basically just loving it as his mommy tottered after him with tissue to wipe sand off his face (futile, don't know why I bothered... sand and children go together like peanut butter and jam). I really had to bite my tongue from saying, "Argh! Don't touch your hair!" or "Eep! Don't pick that up!" or "Aiyah! Don't kick the sand into your eyes!" and of course, "You stink! Let's go home now!"

Sigh... I'm the real city mouse.

But city mouse or not, I'm glad we brought DN there because he had a swell time, smelly or not. We've been back once since that last trip and we're going again this weekend. :D

Bessie

2009-06-04T22:10:00.014+08:00

Did you have nicknames for your baby during pregnancy?

PF and I called DN "pups" (and we still do sometimes) because he was born in the year of the dog.

When we found out about #2, we toyed with "buttercup" and "bessie" (cow mah!). Personally, I prefer "buttercup". Gives you an image of a peaceful cow chewing cud in the meadow and swishing her tail eh? But saying it is such a mouthful. So "bessie" it was. Anyway, isn't "buttercup" the name of some Malaysian brand of butter?

Anyway, I must say, for Bessie, I've been really really good. I have only bought ONE THING for her so far. I'm quite impressed with myself because oh my, the things you can buy for girls! Hair clips, hair bands, petticoats, tights, dresses (oh, the dresses!)... etc. Shopping for boys is really boring. So boring that I only bought 6 months' worth of onesies when I was 6 months pregnant with DN. Like I said, *yawn* boring. It was more interesting picking the colour of his stroller.

Surprisingly, I've managed to keep myself in check for Bessie and only bought this pair of shoes from Pediped. Gasp! Am I growing up???

Dear Mrs Ong...

2009-06-02T22:33:00.011+08:00

Oooh, it's really strange being called that! But it's time I got used to it because it's been 6 years since we got married after all. LOL.

I'm bringing this up because DN brought home his communication book last week. It's a book for us to communicate with his teachers in school. When he brought it home, DN was so proud of his HANDiwork (hur hur!) he showed it off to everyone and explained to us how he did it. It's the first thing he's brought home from school and I'm so proud of it too! As a mother, if he had brought home a scrap of torn paper with some senseless doodle on it and claimed it to be a bus, I would probably still worship the poop that came out of his butt and thought my son the next Monet.

Ahhh... such is a mother's love (and blind biasedness!).

Anyway, part of the first note from his teacher read:

"Dear Mr and Mrs Ong (ack!),
DN is able to adapt in our centre after a week's experiences. (awright!) He plays with his friends and he is able to express his basic needs. However, (uh-oh...) he didn't approach his teacher when he needed to pass urine during morning outdoor play and in the classroom before naptime."

I replied with a word of thanks to the teachers for helping him settle in and asked a few questions:

Is DN generally happy in/with school?
Is he eating (and drinking) well at meal times?
Does he listen well to instructions?

(part of) Her reply:

"Hi Mrs Ong (ack!),
DN was able to go to the toilet in the classroom this morning, except (uh-oh) during outdoor activity this morning. For meal times, he'll eat more or finish the food when we feed him (that means he won't if he self-feeds!). He is able to follow simple instructions and he is very helpful towards his friends and teachers (awww...!)."

I guess my little bub is settling in. :)

Another thing I have been paranoid about is how he's playing with his other little friends. I am just so worried that he will start shoving and snatching. Survival of the fittest eh? But the teacher's feedback is that he does none of these things. Am I relieved or what!!! I don't mind if DN is not the brightest bulb in the pack, but I do want him to grow up polite, well-mannered, with the right morals and be a person who's sensitive to people and animals above all things. What's the point of being a Harvard scholar when you can't even say "thank you" to the auntie that cleans your table at the hawker centre?

Hmm...

Okay, I'll be really honest. I want him to be that Harvard scholar who ALSO says "thank you" to the auntie at the hawker centre. Haha!

Mornings Are The Worst

2009-05-30T23:45:00.001+08:00

The first thing DN said to me when he woke up this morning was, "I don't want to go to school!" Ahhhhh. :( For the past week, every morning contains pretty much the following:

DN running away from me and his school uniform
DN wailing that he wants to stay at home
DN insisting that I don't go to work
DN refusing to wear his shoes or walk out of the house

Because of him, my list is pretty much the same actually.

Me not wanting to go to work.
Me not wanting to put his uniform on because the bugger runs quite fast!
Me wanting to stay home and watch Bob The Builder with him because it's just easier you know?

Sigh.

In school, it's the koala syndrome I have to deal with, something I know other moms out there can relate to. DN develops this amazing velcro ability to just "stiiiiick" to my neck / leg / arm / other convenient body part, and can be quite difficult to remove. So he's usually peeled off me (wailing of course) by a teacher and I have to harden my resolve, wave bye, say I'll come back later and just chabot!

What else can you do right?

So I've decided to really go ahead with that scrapbook idea. I took some pictures of his school and the fun stuff they do there, and have been looking through them with DN in the mornings. It does help a little bit (and I stress LITTLE) and he does get a little happy (I'm not even using the word "excited" here) pointing out his shoe rack, his cubby hole, his bag, the sand toys, etc... so I'm hoping the scrapbook will help.

The Breakfast Area

The Menu Board

The (erm) Garden

The Garden Patch

The Sand Pit

The Rides (his fav pic)

The Water Play Area

DN's Classroom

The classroom now looks so *bleah* compared to all the outdoor shots!

The Bub Having His Temperature Taken

The Fake Smile (they had hard boiled eggs for breakfast one morning last week)

Day 2, 3 + 4

2009-05-26T17:08:00.014+08:00

Ever been sabo-ed big time by a 3-year old before? Well, it's quite a humbling experience. -_- Halfway through Day 2, I thought I'd take a quick peek into DN's classroom (I was actually reading in the school office) just to see how he was doing. I couldn't see him, so I tip-toed a little higher. Then I saw Ethel, one of his classmates. And she saw me. And I waved at her because I didn't think it was possible to be sabo-ed by a 3-year old.

"DN! Your mummy!"

I think I made this face :O before my dulled reflexes actually worked and I ducked down. As I was "ducking down", I could see DN's head whip towards the window. He must have JUST seen my head disappear because a few seconds later, his little face appeared grinning at the door.

"Mummy! Come in! Sit here! Come in! Come in!"

"Wah," I thought to myself. "Ethel sabo! I'm going to tell her parents later!" (Her mom's my colleague and ex-roommate.)

It went pear shape after that and I had to sit in with DN for the next half an hour before he let me go. Crying of course. Did I learn my lesson? Hell no.

On Day 3, DN was actually on his own for 6 hours at a stretch - 10.30am to 4.30pm. During that time, I managed to finish my book (in the school office) and meet PF for a nice lunch. Things were going so well, (i.e. no calls from the teacher to come in and settle a manic DN) I thought there was no harm in taking a quick peek before zipping out to meet my colleague for a bit. Like I said, I didn't learn my lesson. Just as I slowly peeked into the classroom, DN chose that exact moment to look towards the window. I made this face again :O.

And it went downhill from there. In the end, I had to take him out of school early because my colleague was waiting for me. No way was DN going to let me out of his sight!

On Day 4, I finally came to terms with my separation anxiety and just dropped DN off in the morning and picked him up at 5.30pm. It wasn't all smooth sailing of course and there was some koala-clinging and crying, so I think overall, it has been a little tough on the little guy. But he's managing.

So because I wasn't really around on Day 2, 3 and 4, I have no pictures to show except these - personalised stickers from www.stuckonyou.biz for his uniform and belongings, hee! I'm such a slacker mom right, I only ordered the stickers a week before he was to start school and they arrived a week after he started. :p So much for getting him hyped up about school huh?

I roped DN in when I was placing the order and asked him to choose a picture for his stickers. His first choice was a peace sign *roll eyes* and then he chose a princess *slap forehead*. Of course, I had to make an executive decision and step in and ~~choose for him~~ "advise" him about his choices. So I only showed him the icons of vehicles and made him choose from there. HAHA! He didn't choose my first choice (the rocket ship) but said he wanted a train. Eeek! The train was so ugly! So I ~~tried to manipulate my son's choice~~ made another executive decision and asked him, "What about this DN? It's Scoop!" So he finally chose the excavator ~~all on his own~~! I quickly placed the order before he pointed at (heaven forbid) the Singapore flag icon or (hurl!) a heart icon.

I know. I am so full of crap. But you got to give me some credit for letting him stick the stickers on himself. I was THIS CLOSE to ripping them off after he slept and doing it again. I think you can guess which ones I stuck on and which ones DN stuck on. If you had a crooked label to look at from now on, and a label with a peace sign next to your son's name, which would you choose?

I rest my case.

I wish I had done what Jovann's mummy did for him before his first day because the school scrapbook is a really good idea. Hmm... maybe I'll still do it. It might get him more excited about school. Yeah, I think I will!

First Day of School

2009-05-22T22:34:00.010+08:00

Is it that wrong to feel guilty leaving your child in childcare and wanting to steal him out of there and keep him at home for the rest of his life? Ooops. My mom joked that my separation anxiety was worse than DN's. Haha, mom.

As a parent, I'm allowed to hang around the centre for the child's first 3 days of school. Honestly, I really didn't know what to do. I knew hanging around him like a leach probably wouldn't help him transition into school life, but I also didn't want to throw him into the deep end straight away.

On the morning of Day 1, I sat in a little, but away in a corner of the classroom. He did cry some and was always looking out for me, but it was okayyy... not great, but alright. During free play, I took a quick picture and quietly backed out of the classroom. He likes trains. :)

He had a mini-meltdown when it was shower time. Just REFUSED to let the aunty shower him, so I had to do it. Strike 1 against mommy. :P It was lunch after shower time and they had spaghetti with minced chicken, carrots and broccoli. I know this looks really bad, like DN just threw back up into his bowl, but it's really the combination of pink table, green bowl and horrible lighting!

Er... *sheepish*... yes, I was sitting next to him as I took this picture. Ooops. And I had to step in and feed him some because he just eats so slowwwly. Double oops. Strike 2! But he ate most of it, so I'm quite relieved about that.

It was apples for dessert and DN asked for seconds. I think Miss Elsie panchang him because it was his first day. He got an extra half a slice. I was like, "Hah? DN can eat a whole apple at home!" Of course he wasn't satisfied, haha.

Er yes... we are Hokkiens!!!!! Can't you tell? ;)