Turning 21 soon ...

21 months old that is ...

V has crossed some milestones of sort ... she will actually dance to Barney when they are dancing, and once the song "I love you, you love me ..." comes on, she will dash around hugging us.

She can imitate some words when we are trying to teach her.

In addition to her previous list of words, she can say
1. walk walk (sounds like wok wok :P)
2. egg egg
3. blue
4. yellow

She can doodle pretty well, she draws quite a fair bit of circles and wavy lines. I've just bought some paint brushes, and probably will go to diaso to get some of the canvas (they sell pretty decent ones for $2) so she can doodle her art and then we can frame it up.

I'm trying to teach her to sign "please open for me" so that she can start linking up words. I'm not sure if it's the right thing to do, since there's this debate that kids who sign will start to talk much later. But really, is that a bad thing? I admit I am worried about her not talking yet (compared to the long list of words my gf listed for her gal) but each child starts on their own pace, and even if she doesn't really want to talk, it doesn't mean I should stop teaching her things. That reminds me to print out the cards that I did some months back :P The Zoophonics pack still haven't arrived after a few months so i made my own version. Time to start putting some effort at the homefront!

hand in hand, just not yours!

V has this funny thing about holding hands.

She can walk hand in hand with mummy, but Daddy cannot hold hands with mummy at the same time! Mostly she will complain and forcefully remove his hand from mine. Sometimes we try to trick her, as in daddy wants to walk hand in hand with her too, so he will make a grab for my hand which is holding hers. She will remove his hand and occasionally allow him to hold her other hand. Sometimes she will try to to chase him away or rather flap him away, sometimes she will hasten her pace and pull me along.

This morning we tried the trick again, but it didn't work. She was happy as long as he was holding my other hand. She even gave him a cheeky smile and wave!

Is she possessive? I think so!

Happy New Year - in advance!

In case I forget again (I just remembered I forgot to give my hubby the christmas card I got last year - again), here's Vanessa wishing everyone a very happy new year.

May the new year bring good news and joy to you!

Have yourself a blessed Christmas!

Tra-lah-lah-lah, lah-lah-lah!

Merry Christmas to all, and may we all have a better 2009, despite all the gloomy forecast.

Take joy in what we have, and faith is what keeps our hopes alive.

Sorry no pics of V doing her reindeer stunt again =)

on the mend

Vanessa seems to be better this morning before I went to work. However, closer to noon, her fever went up to mid 38s to 39. So I applied for urgent half day leave to go home to help look after her, since we couldn't send her to my mum's house today. Her cousins are over at my mum's house and they will be leaving in a few hours for their holidays.

Thankfully she's better now, in the low 37s, but .... then I started nursing a headache. Took my temperature and it's in the low 37s too. Hopefully it will go away by itself, and it won't develop into a full blown flu germs infested Christmas for me.

I am just very exhausted and am looking forward to a nice little break for the Christmas. Hopefully this wish will be granted :P

Fever, cough and cold

Vanessa's running a fever and cough for 4 days, plus a running/ blocked nose for 2 days.

She started on Augmentin (antibiotics) yesterday, and she had a bad case of diarrhoea this morning, her diapers leaked and it stained her clothes and her bedsheet. Her fever was hovering about 38.5 so we started ibuprofen in place of panadol. Her forehead is plastered with koolfever and her bed now has a water cushion to help bring down her body temperature. She's still quite active, but her appetite is gone. She mostly only wants milk, eating only little solids. I've bought some yakult for her to help with her tummy troubles.

She missed my ma jie's 81st birthday celebration lunch today, but I didn't want to risk her passing the virus to the other kids since 2 of them were flying off for a holiday in a day's time, or worse puking her milk/ lunch over the birthday "girl". 

If her fever is still in the mid-38 to 39 range, I'll probably have to "harass" the PD again. I'll probably need to ask if I could give her some expectorant to help get rid of the phelgm. It sounds really, really bad when she coughs.

Seems like a really woefully germs infested Christmas =(

Step 2 USA - 50's Diner

One great thing about staying in USA, you can get great stuff for kids from Step 2 at a price that we will never ever get in Singapore. Sometimes I wonder why is the price discrepancy so great, but then again, we win some, we lose some.

Anyway, for Christmas, I wanted to get a kitchen set for my niece in USA, but the one I wanted was out of stock. So after considering some items, I decided on the 50's Diner. It looks quite fun, with a serving area too. The clincher was ... free shipping :P

This is the link for the 50's Diner: http://www.step2.com/product.cfm?product_id=1561

I thought it would be a great gift, just by the sheer number of awards it has won:

Awards:

• Toy of the Year Award, Family Fun, 2008
• Platinum Award, Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, 2008
• Top Pick, Today's Parent Magazine, 2008
• Three-Star (Highest) Rating, Canadian Toy Testing Council, 2008
• All-Star Holiday Toy, Toy Wishes, 2008
• 'Best Toys' winner, Parents Magazine, 2008
• Best Products of 2008, iParenting Media Awards

Look at the stuff that comes with the toy:

• Kitchen includes oven, grill, fryer, icebox for storage and sink for cooking and cleaning
• Patron side features attached booth-style seating for dining and can also watch the cook
• Electronic service bell lets the server know when kitchen orders are ready for serving
• Silver-metallic divider window gives the diner a classic retro feel
• Retro style tabletop features a jukebox that plays three 50s-style tunes
• Special griddle pan and coffee pot activate electronic sizzling and bubbling sounds on the stove's front burner
• Accessories include: coffee pot, griddle pan, dishes, silverware, cups, spatula, ice cream scoop, sundae dishes, deep fryer, and ketchup & mustard bottles
• Play food includes: burgers, fries, hot dogs, ice cream, cones, sundae fixings and pie

And it comes with a jukebox!

Maybe it just reminded me of "Happy Days" ... *sigh* who can forget Fonzie?

I just hope the recipient enjoys the gift!

Christmas Madness

It's a mad rush to buy the presents, so I didn't really put much thought into the gift selection this year. It's more of generic gifts, so just ran into the stores, grab some items and ran home again.

Just finished wrapping all the presents and were doing a count, and I realised to my horror *sigh* I forgot to get a present for Vanessa. What kind of mummy am I? Think tomorrow will be a mad dash to the shops to get something for her, but at this point of time, my brains are not functioning very well!

*help*

*stressed*

Halloween pictures

The place where we stayed had a Halloween party, so I thought we could be creative and save some $$ and make our own costumes for the kids.

1. Asher's costume were bought, it's probably the best thing we did.

2. Anjanette and Vanessa had similar costume, which were made by a FEW people. My sister, my brother, my mum and my aunt all chipped in. I just bought the materials :P Next time, I'm just buying the costumes. not going to make it - just not within my abilities. I'll just stick to hairclips :P

Miss Pumpkin Fairy sitting pretty next to a handsome magenta bear

The 2 sword fanatics (including one baby pumpkin fairy which isn't technically supposed to like swords?)

The 3 muskeeters


The handsome pirate and 2 pretty pumpkin fairies

D-I-Y facial accessory

All you need to do ...

1. dip it

2. eat it

3. easy right?

4. now you can have a chocolate moustache too!

Updated specifications

I took V to see the PD since she's not feeling too well (she's now down with fever, cough and a slight running nose).

She's only gained 5 cm in height since the last record at 7 months ago - the PD said he would expect 1 cm per month, so she's 2 cm short of his expectations, but it's OK.

I think she inherited her mummy's shortie genes =(

Anyway, her current specs at 20 months and 2 weeks:

Weight: 12.2kg (27 lbs)

Height: 82.5cm (32.5 inch/ 2.7feet)

My Cardbox House

Allo! Do you want to join me for some yummy baby rusks?

Sitting pretty in my cardbox house that mummy made for me! But I spoilt the table twice already =( mummy hasn't fixed it back for me. I think she's too busy with her work.

This is how the interior looks like without the accessories. Mummy used masking tape to tape all the cut edges so that I won't accidentally cut myself. She says paper cuts can be lethal too (you can guess which line she works in).

Costs:
Box: $10
Foam flowers/ bugs: $2
Masking Tape: $2

Pics Pics Pics

1. Taken at the Botanica Gardens - went for a walk after a yummy breakfast!

O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?

Why is Romeo taking so long?

2. Taken at Tanglin Mall - for the "show"

They are my favourite cousins!

Bunny ears for you?



Papa! Papa! Can we get a tree like this for our home?




*brrrrrrr* It's freezing ... FOAM!!

When there's no snow, make do with foam

In a way, I think Singapore's famous (or infamous) for the foam parties (I still remember the scene at Sentosa many year ago!) and now ... I think they starting younger.

We rushed back to my mum's place to pick up Vanessa, hustled my nephew Asher and niece Anjanette through a change of clothes, and then we rushed down to Tanglin Mall. We wanted to be early so we could get some dinner (my favourite Kimchi cabbage soup) before the "show". Just as we were finishing, my sister reached on time with her hubby (I doubt I could handle all 3 without shouting myself hoarse) so we proceed to the outdoor area for the show.

Well, first, there would be a gush of snow (yes, foam). We saw kids dressed in bathing suits, ponchos, wellington boots, etc, and we realised a little late that we were very unprepared. Once the foam starting gushing out of the machines, kids and parents alike rushed for it and well, it looked like a 'bubble bath' party. Vanessa was scared, and didn't even want to touch the foam. Only Asher went to played with it at the edge, but he didn't dare to immerse himself in the foam like the rest. I guess he knew we didn't have towels or spare change of clothes for him. If they want to go again, the parents will have to be armed more than a camera! It will have to include towel, extra clothes plus shoes. Perhaps, like other kids, ponchos and wellington boots too!

Then after some 15 to 20 minutes, it started to snow foam. They had blowers to blow it up into the air, it was really very nice, but I think Vanessa's skin is very sensitive, and she had red patches on her face soon after.

Photos? Well, to my dismay, I realise I do not have the data transfer cable for my handphone, so I'll have to wait for the hubby to help download all the pictures. We do have some very nice ones, or maybe soon, I will just get the mobile blogging thingy he has too, so it's easier to just shoot and post.

Maybe new pics over the weekend, but I suggest to check out his blog for pics first. I'm very _sure_ he would do that first before downloading my pics for me :P

a "new" song

I think I used to sing this song to Vanessa when she was younger, but it was somehow "erased" from my memory.

Anyway my repertoire of kiddie songs is super limited. You can't beat me. It's consist mainly of  1) twinkle twinkle little star 2) itsy wincy spider and 3) ring-a-round of roses (which was added only very recently).

Recently, during the GUG class, I saw this lyrics stuck on the wall, to be sung to I have no idea what tune. The lyrics reminded me though, of the song that I used to sing. It is that song I used to sing, but I can only remember 50% of the lyrics, so I made up some of it plus the actions :P

Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn around (hand drawing circles)

Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch the ground (pat the seat or the floor)

Teddy bear, teddy bear, say 'hello' (I made this up) (wave hello)

Teddy bear, teddy bear, love you so (I made this up too!) (place hand on heart)

Teddy bear, teddy bear, run upstairs (make running motions)

Teddy bear, teddy bear, say your prayers (clasp hands together)

Teddy bear, teddy bear, switch off the lights (flick the air)

Teddy bear, teddy bear, say 'good night' (head lean on hands to sleep)

I'm quite sure the 2nd half of the song is correct, but erm, you know what, my hearing is so bad I am not surprised if I heard it wrongly ... It doesn't really matter because she enjoys the song and the actions (she seems to like songs with actions) so I guess this should be the new favourite until I can learn some new songs :P

Teething problems

Yup, her second molars are causing us pain!

She has been really, really cranky for the past few days, and in one
of her slight better mood period when she was having her diaper
changed, I asked her if she's teething. She NODDED! I asked her if she
knew what teething meant, she nodded yet again. I asked again, "So....
you are really teething?" She nodded once again.

I'm still not sure if she knew what I was asking, but she sure was in
a nodding mood, compare to her "shake head first then decide later"
policy.

She let us checked her mouth for a mere 3 seconds before she clamped
it shut again. We spotted the telltale signs of the swollen red patch
behind her bottom first molar. In fact, I thought I saw a whitish
round thing under the gums.

Needless to say, her appetite and naps are all over the place, plus
the fact she's ultra cranky and whiny. I think we are in a rough ride
for a month or so :P

yes we are still here!

Work has been really really busy and I don't really have the energy to sit down and post after work. Even the weekends are spent catching up on sleep.

V is good. I was looking at some old pics and videos on my HP and tears came to my eyes. She has changed so much, from that chubby little baby to this slightly not too chubby girl. She is of course as adorable as ever, but hmmm, I think we need to work on  her temper/ stubbornness a little. She looks more like a little japanese girl these days, I guess, partly because of her eyes. Plus that wonderful wig we got her, and that sailormoon dress, i think we got the cute jap babe look down pat!

If you want some latest pictures of her and cannot wait for me to post, you can check it out on my hubby's bloggy at www.zitseng.com. He has this bloggy thing on his mobile ... sorry I'm kinda technologically challenged these days.