Photo Shoot - Celebrating V's 2nd Birthday!

OK, please note I paid $$$$ for the shoot, so this is not some paid advertising by the photographer. If you are interested in the photographer, please go to www.tomato.sg. Their rates and works are published on their website.

Updates updates and updates

1) My chocolate cake and muffins turn out GREAT! I'll be making them in near future, and I definitely want to try new variation, since both worked as great base recipes (then again, how wrong can you get with betty crocker's instant cake mix - just don't try other brands!).

2) V had a HFMD scare - had low grade fever, mild diarrhoea and a blister on her tongue. I was stuck with her at home for 2 days, we can't go out and she can't spend her energy. It was the toughest 2 days I ever had spent with her! Anyway, it was a scare and *phew* she could go back to CC and I returned to work. Needless to say, I was buried at work the moment I returned but thankfully my siblings and cousins were around to entertain her even though I returned late.

3) Amidst all that drama of HFMD, V turned 2! Yup, my sweet princess is now officially into her terrible twos. Just trying to get her diaper-ed and dressed up every morning is a chore, I estimate we spend a good 1 hour coaxing her to get dressed! She's been running a mild grade fever for the past few days, not sure if it's flu (running nose) but I have to watch out for any signs of HFMD since the CC gave out a letter on 9th saying that 2 kids from the CC came down
with HFMD.

4) Spend over 1K at our southern island of our island for a 3D 2 N stay. It went surprisingly well, V took to the room immediately, unlike the way she fussed and wanted out from the other 5 star hotel we spent 1 night on our sunny island. Speaking of sunny, yes, it was sunny, but come 3 to 4pm, the dark clouds loomed and yes, lo and behold, our ever faithful thunderstorms never ceases to amaze us. We did managed to go to the Underwater World on the first day, and exited into this terrible thunderstorm. We were all slightly wet, thanks to the massive crowds and not very effective shelters. We went to the Dolphin Lagoon on the second day (apparently 1 ticket gets us admitted to both underwater world and dolphin lagoon) and I got suckered into paying $15 for an "interactive" session - basically pat the dolphin, smile at the camera and we get 1 photo as souvenir. When we get around to getting a new scanner (my beloved CX5900 epson died on me just after I got 1 whole batch of new inks!), I'll post up a pic, or I'll link if my hubby has any on his blog later :P)

5) In the absence of the helper, I'm now the main caregiver at home. Let just say I'm more "maternal" than ever. I spent a good 30 minutes trying to "dig out" the mucus stuck in her nose (green, prob need to see her PD if it gets worse) and cutting her fingernails. I can't tell you how proud I am of my achievement. Perhaps I should consider working part-time once #2 comes out out, but I think I need to settle my work comittments first. We also decided not to renew the contract of our helper after her 2 year contract has expired for various reasons and we are now looking for a new helper. Wish us luck to finding a good helper who loves V and #2!

6) Last but not least, we went for a photo shoot to "celebrate" V's birthday and it was really really good! I'll post up some of my favourite photos in the next post.

Baking!

It's one of those days that I feel the intense itch to bake ... I have bought Nigella Express almost 1 year ago and I still have not baked anything from the recipes, so I decided "Just do it!"

For the inaugural recipe from Nigella express, it's the banana butterscotch muffin, which of course, as usual I'll tweak the recipe somewhat.

I've melted butter in place of vegetable oil, used chocolate chips in place of butterscotch chips and replaced 50g flour with 50g quick cook oats.

The results? no idea, it's still in the oven and I'm not too hopeful. The mixture was thick and clumpy. I always thought muffin batter/ mixture was much more liquidy than this :P anyway we'll know tomorrow.

Meanwhile, my chocolate banana nutella chocolate cake is done, but it's still cooling away. It's made with Betty Crocker Chocolate Fudge cake mix, with some changes as usual. Milk replacing water, and melted butter replacing oil (you can tell I really dislike using oil in my baking) and for my own variation, added 3 mashed up bananas, 1 big dollop of nutella into the mix, 1 big dollop of nutella in the middle of the cake with semi sweet chocolate chips, and then topping up with more batter and more chocolate chips. I sure hope it's good :P

Photo (1)

This was taken at the Singapore Zoo last week!

Yet another milestone ...

V is progressing at an astonishing rate ...

Today she uttered the phrase "I want apple" to me, and I was very happy. Just the other day, I was asking her to help me to look for my bag, she went "find mama bag". Today she saw Mr Bean on TV and she went "ah bean!"

She can say "aeroplane sky" but won't say her own name (after all aeroplane and Vanessa are both 3 syllabus words). I guess it's a matter of time ...

We went for a photo shoot today and she was basically "so thrilled" by the photographers she was busy smiling for them (and she doesn't do it for us!). I sure hope she has some great shots so we can print an album for the grandparents to coo at her pictures (she's turning 2 next week).

Terrible Twos?

V is changing her habits like lightning and often I am caught offguard.

1) She now starts her protest from home, refusing to sit in the carseat and crying on the way to CC. She used to start her protest the moment she steps into CC.

2) This morning my hubby dropped her off at the CC, she started clinging on to him, her mouth all downturned ready to start wailing. She did wail as I could hear her cries from outside. When the hubby returned to the car, I asked him and he complained that V did cry, but not for him. She wanted the teacher to carry outside for a walk! *rofl*

3) She is on a milk strike - she only had her usual feed at 7am and throughout the whole day refused milk. She had her nutella bread i packed for her, 2 portions of morning tea and 2 portions of lunch (she asked for more each time she finished her food), then when she reached home at 4pm, wanted rice (she can say 'rice') so they hurriedly cooked for her, she finished 1 and the half bowl of rice. When I came back at 7pm, she was eating again, from my sister's plate (she wiped out 90% of my sister's portion who is a small eater). Then when my hubby came back, she again ate a few spoons of rice from his plate. All this excluding the fact that she already had helpings from her cousins' dinner plate earlier before we reached home. I sure hope she takes her milk tonight! I mean, yes, she drinks quite a fair bit of milk 240ml (8 oz) 4 to 5 times a day but to suddenly drop a few feeds, I am worried if she is getting enough nutrients etc etc etc.

4) She is starting to "streak" again. Last night after I finished bathing her, she refused to put on her clothes and basically streaked in circles around me. *haiz*

Last Trip to the Zoo ...

Well, that's because our family annual membership to the zoo will expire end of the month, and given our schedules, this was the last week we could make it to the Zoo.

My hubby complains about it, that I spend the $$ on the membership, then never go for it, and then make frequent trips at last minute to utilise it. He is just as guilty as me, since he never did quite want to go for any outings on the weekends (he wants to sleep in late till 9 plus). Anyway, we did chalk up enough visits to make it worthwhile, and today, we managed to catch one of the animal feedings. It cost us $23 - $5 for the plate of 4/ 5 sticks of veggies and $18 for the photo they took of us. I am waiting for the hubby to download the pictures so I can convienently link it - I forgot to bring my camera today, or rather I seem to have misplaced it :P

The reason is obvious enough why I'm not renewing the membership (#2 will be popping out in a few months time) but I wonder if V will miss her visits to the zoo. She does complain about the smell, eg when we visit the primates or the zebras, but she seems happy to see the animals (especially when waving bye bye to them). If she does miss her visits to the zoo, then will she blame #2 for it? *sigh* Perhaps I should reconsider when #2 is out.

Off to school!

In the short span of 2 weeks, so much as happened.

1. Vanessa started child care on 2 March. She was happy as a lark, so much so until I felt so useless as a mummy. Everyone praised her, including the principal, the teachers and my fellow mummies. She stayed for 1/2 day, from 8:00am to 1;30pm. She dutifully finished her all her milk, the tea, the lunch given. So much so even her teacher was "astounded" and asked if they should remove the milk feed before her lunch. I told her "no" because V has a mind of her own, and if she doesn't want to eat/ drink, she won't eat or drink. To see her in her uniform, see my hubby's posting here

2. So the following monday, we tried letting her nap and then I picked her up at 4pm, after they had their afternoon tea when they wake up from their nap. She was still very good, the teachers praised her again, that even though she didn't nap for long, she laid on the mattress and didn't fuss.

3. The childcare had an outing to a farm! So I went with her, it was quite fun, she seems to enjoy herself, even petting the rabbit! The teacher was kind enough to help me carry her when I was out of breadth, or rather, tired from trying to catch fishes from the "longkang"! I only caught 1 (so miserable) when I saw the other parents hauling loads into their kids' pails. Anyway, the place was kind enough to top up extra fishes when we all went home, and they are all now happily settling into my water feature (just nice, since all my guppies died).

4. Then .... the crying started, she would cling on, refuse to go to the teacher as per normal. So much so that even the teacher was shocked (since she was so happy to follow them in the first week). Well, it's not better although I was secretly happy for a while. So it's still half day for her at the child care, until she settles. It got so bad on Friday then I cried along with her too!

5. Next week will be bad because I will be very busy at work and I am not sure if I could even have time for lunch, what's more to go and pick her up. How bad, last week I had no time for water and pee break. My phone has lots of missed calls that I couldn't even finish calling everyone back. I could only complete my emails and email enquiries. I dread the coming Monday, but I rather be done with it then to grind my teeth in stress. If anything, I'm more worried about how V is going to cope with child care next week.

6. She had a small birthday party today, it was fun and I think she had fun too. Although she wasn't feeling too good, but she went on to participate in the activities and she even blew out her own candle without any help! Yes, this is a real proud mummy!!!!!! Then ... *haiz* she came down with fever, 39.2! She's now "labelled" with fever coolpatch - one on her forehead and one on the nape of her neck, and with the medication, it seems better. I will have to check her temperature later again to make sure it's not shooting up again. I guess she will be missing her cousins' birthday celebrations tomorrow and school for the coming monday, but let's see how fast she recovers. She's on a growth spurt now, asking for 240ml every 4 hours, on top of her solid meals.

7. Speaking of meals, Takashimaya is having their baby fair and I walloped her usual Pigeon food - I'm $200 dollars poorer, but well, it's quite a fair bit of savings! 20% plus 10%! And she had $6 worth of porridge earlier :P As long as she's eating (with the fever) I'm not complaining.

8. Oh she went for her MMR jab finally. She's now 13.2kg and 84cm tall (I think). It's getting tougher to carry her but she's easier to manage, as in I'll carry her for a short while, she will walk a little way when I asked her to, and then carry her again. She seldom struggles when I carry her (thankfully) so it's not so bad.

9. She's still kissing my tummy on and off, and addresses herself as "mei mei"/ "baby" (in relation to her cousins) and occasionally as "jie jie". We are trying to break the habit of calling her "baby", but really, it's quite difficult :P But I am sure it would be as bad as in my case of my SIL, who were called "baby" by my FIL well into her adulthood :P

10. My birthday wish for my girl? To be always happy and contented. There's a long list more of what I would wish for, but for now, I guess it would suffice.

Busy busy bee

1. Woke up before 8am this morning, and logon to settle some work email, my bintan trip booking and my maid air ticket booking.

2. Finally settled everything by 8:45 am and hubby was hopping cuz I promised to send him to work. I hustled the maid to change and then we all rushed out of the house.

3. Dropped the hubby off at 9:05am (he was 5 min late) and off to the zoo we go! We dropped by the petrol station to pump gas plus get some light breakfast / water.

4. Reached the zoo at 9:30am (i think) and phew, there were plenty of lots still! So we zoomed right in and since we decided we were going to talk (no tram rides!), we headed straight to the "australia outback" with some stop overs, including the pygmy hippo (breakfast stop too!) and the white tigers.

5. We managed to catch part of a show (not the splash one) and V was quite engrossed. We headed next to the splash show but the strong fishy smell put me off, so I ran away from it!

6. We took a break at the Ah Meng restuarant, and we had chicken rice for lunch (at 11:15am). By 11:40am, we were off to check out the orang utans, the polar bears and some gibbons. By the time we were done with the gibbons, V was already in dreamland, so we decided to head home.

7. The moment V was put on the car seat, she woke up and was so awake (5 min power nap!). So we decided to drop by the mandai orchid garden (no plants to buy!) but the flowers on display were pretty. We headed for orchid ville instead since I was quite determined to get some flowers :P

8. We found orchid ville!!! Bought 2 plants, 1 Vanda Miss Joaqium and 1 er, i forgot. Anyway we bought some cut flowers since I wanted to go to the colombarium nearby to put some flowers for my Dad. V was v good, she even wave and blow kisses at my dad picture when we were leaving.

9. Reached home at 1:45pm. V refuses to sleep after a shower. She's streaking around!

10. 2:45pm! Time to go! Off I zoom with V to her playgroup at Kids Loft. Almost got lost, but I did find the place! She fell asleep in the car (for 5 min) and then when we reached, I had to wake her up since I couldn't handle everything. The teacher, Lavina, came to help and V recognised her! She follow the teacher into the classroom, and within 15 mins, back to her perky, cheeky self. Man, the way she was participating in the class, you can't tell she has a serious lack of sleep! But I credit Lavina for engaging her very well!

11. Home at 5:10pm. V is now in the room, with the maid trying to lull her to sleep, but it's been 30 minutes, and I still hear her talking and making loud noises in her room.

12. Time for my bed. Will post up some pics and videos later if I get to it =)

A pain in the butt

.. literally. With this #2, my butt muscles hurt so badly I had to call in the massage lady to give me pre-natal massage once i hit 16 weeks. I just couldn't bear it anymore. The ache is especially bad in the right side, so much so I can hardly sleep on my right side. It also affects my body so much that I wake up in the middle of the night because my body was feeling so miserable. One of the "solutions" I came up was to lean more towards the front, so the pressure is off the butt, but it means more weight will be on my tummy. I doubt I can carry this method for long, but at least it gives me a more restful sleep.

Probably in a few weeks time, I'll make it a weekly massage session instead of once every fortnight. There's only so much my body can take, especially when baby is so active now (I felt #2 kick as early as week 12) so I need all the rest I can get.

It's probably time for me to stock up on chicken essence too - been feeling really weak and tired, despite going to bed early. It doesn't help when I wake up in the middle of the night, and spending over 1 hour trying to find a comfortable position to sleep on.

Going Potty!

We have started to train V on the potty (well the throne to be exact) ... she's will to poop on the throne but it comes to the pee ... *sigh* ... we can coax and cajole her for 30 minutes, she refuses to pee while on the throne. After we put the diaper on, she turns to me, point at her diaper and say "wet". Yes, she peed on her diaper ... for some strange reasons, she just doesn't want to pee without her diapers ...

HELP!!!

22 and almost half months old

The other day i just realised V turned 22 months old (3 days late) but I was so caught up with work I didn't really sit back and count the "milestones".

She's a bit more vocal now, crazy about chocolates still and a lot more "loving".

For Valentine's Day, my hubby got this deal off the web, he paid $10 for a night stay at a 3 star hotel. Wait, don't go "wah" yet ... his colleague got it for $1!!! I am not kidding, 1, ONE, Singapore dollar. Too bad I had a meeting that afternoon, so I couldn't take leave in the afternoon, though my boss was nice to let me off slightly earlier from work.

The hotel is new, and frankly speaking, I thought it was pretty decent, although it reminds me a little of the Japan's corporate hotels (no frills). The bathroom is tiny, but it's still bigger than what you get in Japan! The room was of a decent size, but no way we could put in a cot.

Anyway, we decided to take this opportunity to "test" market - that is take care of V on our own for 2 nights and see how it goes. This is in preparation of our helper's 2 weeks return to her hometown, and we are wondering how she will react. Needless to say, since she beds in with the helper, she was whining for the helper at night. The hubby took care of that, he brought her out for walks and they would returned with her fast asleep on his arms/ shoulder. the same thing happened on both nights, she would wake up suddenly after being put on the bed and wanted to go for the "walk" or "outside" again (based on her finger pointing). The first night i carried her and hum her favourite tune when she was a baby, that soothed her but she took a while to fall asleep. As usual, since I am blind at night, I couldn't tell if she was asleep, I had to inch my way to the light source (the tiolet) and peer at her. Anyway she was kind enough to let me sit on the bed to rock her to sleep after a while, and when she finally fell asleep, I propped myself against the bed, with her sleeping on my chest. Not that she was whining, but I missed it. I missed the times when she would fall asleep propped against my chest, listening to her breathing and smelling her hair. When I was dropping off to sleep, I put her to bed but she refused to sleep in between us for some reasons. So we ended sleeping L-shaped, and her feet near to the edge of the bed. Some sixth sense woke me later and her feet was dangling off the bed! I managed to shift her back into position and she continued sleeping. In the morning, she was quite funny - she woke up and checked "mama!" I answered her and then she went "papa!" then the hubby replied to her. Satisfied, she went back to sleep for 2 good hours, before we woke her up for breakfast.

The second night, after our expensive Valentine's dinner (I spent close to $200), we came home and she was in a good mood, although she kept asking about the dogs and the helper. When she woke up from the first walk, i asked the hubby to carry her and I promptly fell asleep. When she was finally deep enough in her sleep, the hubby put her on the bed, but she again insisted on sleeping in her way. So we ended up in a H-shaped, her head butting my ribs, and her feet landing on the hubby's face. She tossed a bit at night, so she headbutted my tummy, my ribs, my shoulders, my chest ... it was no fun, but I doubt it would be any better if her feet was on my end! I'm glad to say we survived it, and she enjoyed herself. When the helper returned home today, V was stunned for a minute when she saw her. But as usual, soon after, glued to her like a fly on a fly paper. However, I am pleased to note that she wanted me to brush her teeth for her!

She'll be heading off to childcare soon, in preparation for the #2 arrival. Not that I really want her to go so early, but for practical reasons and since I cannot possibly work part-time now, it seemed like the best solution to get her used to childcare first. #2 will arrive sometime in June/ July, and I don't think the helper can cope with 1 toddler, 1 baby and 2 dogs. Hopefully things would have settled down at work enough to allow me to work reduced hours so I can spend more time with V, but I really highly doubt so. Having 16 weeks of maternity leave is already more than what I could ask for (well I did hope for 6 months!) and given the current situation at work, I cannot extend my leave period, so let's see how things work out for these few months.

Oh and ya, #2 is along the way =)

Evan has arrived!

Everyone says hello to my brand new nephew, Evan, 5 lbs 14 oz, 19 inches),borned on Sunday Jan 18, all natural, no epidural.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/88929566@N00/3210734321/in/set-72157612719551223/

Amazed!

Sometimes I can't help but be amazed by V.

Hence the 'rare' occasion for the post today.

We were playing on my bed today and I was shaking the plastic cup 'macaras' she made in one of her GUG session. She was holding on to my jar of face cream, which obviously didn't make any rattling sounds when she try to shake it together with me.

She suddenly zoomed into my old jewellery box, which used to hold some buttons. I though she lost interest in the sing and rattle thingy I was doing with her and wanted to play with her buttons, so I fetched the other box where all the buttons are contained in now. She took some buttons and put into the empty jewellery box. Then she looked up at me and grinned. She shook her box and made some rattling noises with it.

Yup, this mummy was stunned for a little while when I realised what she did. And yup, this mummy is really, really proud of her little princess.

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.

Road to recovery

Everyone seems to be mending, despite the bout of bad weather again. We are still holding up against the latest assault for flu now, but V is still not eating very much. her weight has been constant at 12.0kg for the past 2 months, and it's a little worrying. She's a little more "cranky/ whiny" lately and I wonder if she has fully recovered.

We still have not gotten info from the PD - my fault. I missed ALL his calls - I did call back to the clinic but he would be busy by then *sigh*

She can sign a few more things, eg "I love you" "open" "carry me" ... the last one is a bit of a hoot really. We (including all the family members) usually would clap our hands and open our arms wide to ask if she wants to be carried by us. Now she would clap her hands a few times, open her arms wide and wait to be carried. She does understand what we are talking about too. If she ask for something, I would ask "what must you say?" and she would sign "please", followed by "thank you".

She's really not into talking, but she can call daddy and mama much clearer now. She can say some words like "wet" but that really depends on her mood if she wants to "entertain" us.

Her latest favourite song is "Ring a round of roses" and she loves the part where we cover our mouths with hands and then falling down. She can also imitate some of the zoo-phonics song actions.

Right now, we are contemplating if we want to send her to playgroups during the weekdays too, but the cost can be quite prohibitive.  3 day weekly sessions (1.5 hours each) at one particular centre can set me back $1100 for 10 weeks, which makes it ... $110 for 1 week and each session at 36 each? It doesn't seem all that bad until you compare with 1/2 day child care. It would cost me $700 per month, for 22 days and 4 hours each day. And I could still claim some subsidies too. I'm a little hesitant but I figure she would learn so much more by playing with the other kids. I don't need her to be super intelligent but rather, to learn some social skills and life skills, which I think are a lot more important. What that animal is in a picture can wait a little more...

Unwelcome visitor to the household

Not relatives or salesmen, but rather the flu bug.

Yes we all are down with the flu bug again. I conked out 2 days last week with the flu bug, and now my gal is running a fever, my hubby is having a nasty sore throat and the helper is sniffing away.

This year is particularly bad, especially for me. I've lost count the number of medical leave I've taken for the past few months because of the flu bug.

I remembered the last time I was so prone to the flu bug was some 10 years ago. Even then, this takes the cake, for I was continuously down with flu for 3 months in a row then.

My gal has also been very healthy, and then this fever comes. I am worried that it may be UTI or the fake measles again. The PD did ask us to look out for rashes or ulcers in case of HFMD, so I am quite strung out. The initial results for the urine test came back with some blood in it, so now it's sent for culture test. I won't know if my gal is down with UTI until a few days later.

The last time she was warded in hospital was about 1 year ago =(

you are my sunshine ....

Sometimes I think my relationship with my girl is a little strange. She doesn't want me at all when we are at my mum's place. Yet when we are home, she will follow me and head straight for my bathroom. She will then wait for me to catch up and then she would sign "bath time" to me.

On most occasions when she signs "bath time" I would oblige. I'll ask her to go to daddy to get help to get the clothes and diaper off, and she would zoom off to look for him, while I lay out the non slip mat and the gel paints in the shower cubicle. I actually enjoy showering with her. I would shampoo my hair, then pass her the foam to use it over the splat of paint she has happily smeared on the wall. Then I would quickly rinse off before she realises that I have the showerhead in my hand. Once she discovers I using the showerhead, she will have this tugging war with me over the it. Most of the times I'll off the water supply and she loses interest almost immediately. Next, I'll give her a little shampoo foam and get her to shampoo her hair. She can only do the front and top portion, she don't seem to be able to maneuver her hands to wash the back of the head. Then comes the fun part of soaping. She gets a little soap on her hands and she tries to copy me where I soap myself. When it's done, it's bubble blowing time. Sometimes I'll let her use the bubble wand to blow some bubbles and she does it. Mostly I'll just rub the index finger and my thumb for it to act like a bubble wand. She loves bubbles, in fact, so much so she can say "bubbles". Ya, I'm the proud mama.

I don't begrudge her that she prefers my family members when we are at my mum's place. In fact, she will decide whose company she will want. She's lucky, she's the youngest, so almost everyone dotes on her. My cousin would come to my mum's house on his off days to play with her - he will call ahead and book her first. When my nephew comes home from school, he immediately heads straight for her and hands over his favourite toy car to her. My aunt would urge my mum to bring her out when they go shopping. As long as she's happy, who am I to deny her such joy, and the joy she brings to them?

I'll just wait for us to reach home, have our special bath time, and a little time to play with the box of buttons and the pooh bear before bedtime. Then, that's our time together.

The Castle

=)

One month later ...

I didn't realise that it has been almost a month since I last blogged, until someone commented to me the other day.

Vanessa is good, I have lots to post about her, but it's not something that it's really on my mind these days.

I'm having little difficulty with "me", the individual, not as a mummy or as a wife. I think we all hit this particular "milestone" once in a while, struggling to know who we know, what we are, and etc ... It was somewhat compounded by some other factors, so I was very stressed out and very frustrated with myself.

Today was a much needed improvement (partly helped by retail therapy), it's a monday, but I actually went to work with a faint smile on my face. Yup, I actually felt a little happy. It's weird, but I think the orange blouse (brand new) helped to cheer me up (I'm saving the pink for a rainy day). I have quite a lot of my plate now, a lot more than I can chew. Some of which I don't really have a control over, some, which my boss kindly has offered help if I needed to offload some of it. I'm happy that my boss knows I'm little under (almost drowning) but I think I can cope with it, just need to manage my time and my tasks a little more effectively and efficiently (hopefully better in time to come once I master the new information).

Part of the stress relieving therapy was working on a cardboard box castle for Vanessa over the weekend. It's not very big, it's a box for a LCD panel TV we picked up from the basement (near to the dump). It's the perfect size for Vanessa since she's the only one playing with it at home. Being a newbie at this, I tackled with gusto, chopping and slicing and cutting with MY KITCHEN KNIFE. Then I went to do research on how to make a cardbox castle. A bit the duh right? Ah well, I manage to cover most of my bases and improved on it. I removed the doors completely since I needed to make it a bit bigger since the edges were rather sharp (note to self - buy masking tape to cover the edge). So I replaced with a felt curtain. So far so good. For the windows, I just painted over with poster paint, not quite sure if the paint will run if my sweetheart decides to smear it with her wet hands (saliva that is). I tried taping it with some black wire tape, but the paint makes it awfully hard to remain stuck on. I decorated with some tinsel (total $4), some fake flowers I had $3, the tape $2, the "brick blocks" which is actually construction paper $5, felt material was probably $4 too, so maybe about $20?

Anyway here's a sneak preview for you =)

Dancing in the moonlight ...

Well, almost .... V was dancing in her car seat on the drive home tonight!

She was very cute, she was kicking happily away to the music when my helper asked, how about your hands? She obliged and then started waving her hands around.

Funny thing though, she didn't do the hands and legs movement together. Maybe it's time to let her start watching the Hi5 videos.

Little things like this makes me feel so happy as a mummy ...

4 months?????

No, not 4 months pregnant, but that Maternity Leave will be extended from the current 12 weeks to 16 weeks. At least that's what I heard on the grapevine.

For all the debate going on about maternity leave, especially when some equate ML to unproductivity, it is very hard to see how the 16 week ML is going to work out. There was this big hoohaa over the 12 weeks then, and now 16?

I'm worried for my rice bowl though ... would that make us, those who want children or more children disadvantaged? unemployable even?

Being a responsible dog owner

Recently quite a lot of movement in terms of the residents staying in our estate. We have suddenly, it seems, an increased numbers of dog owners too.

So ... the problem is, not all of these dog owners are responsible in picking up their dog poos. I see a lot lying around and I feel v angry, because most of the times, they target the maids, thinking the maids are the ones who don't pick up the poo. Unfortunately, it's not so, it's usually the dog owners themselves, the residents, who don't do it! I've seen them before, just walking off without so much as a glance at the poo.

I have 2 dogs, and I'm glad we are responsible dog owners. I know it because V, being at such an impressionable age, is learning to be one too. The other day, when we were walking the dogs, she wanted to rummage in the bag containing the plastic bags. She picked one out, and immediately glove her hand with it (very expertly I must say). Then she went "eh?" like "so where's the poo to pick?" She pretended to pick some stuff from the floor and was happily pretending away when my dog pooed. She immediately remove the plastic bag from her hand and handed it over to the hubby, and then gestured at the poo "eh!!!".

Smart move!

Now, let's bob your head along with me ...

Recently, my girl has taken to bobbing her head to music on the radio, when she's in the car.

The first song I really noticed it this morning was "Let me blow your mind" by Eve and Gwen Stefani. Good choice I must say! She was smiling when she was doing it, and I joined her. She laughed at me, and I laughed at her. It was quite fun.

Then later in the evening, we were driving home, she was bobbing her head again, and I laughed and bobbed my head too. She got offended! She leaned back against her car seat and turned her face away!

*Sigh*

tick tick tick tick ... time passes by me again

I should be ashamed, I forgot that my girl turns 16 months old today.

She's fast asleep now. I didn't make any special food for her today, but I hope she remembers the "fun" time we had yesterday, shopping at borders (or rather i shop and she tries to dive into the piles of books), sharing the quiche from coffeebean, and doing the actions to incy wincy spider together with me on the home.

Sweet 16th monthday, my love. Don't grow up too fast ok?

My sweet sweet princess/ The notti notti girl

My sweet, sweet princess,

how much I love thee.

Thy soft, soft hair,

thy gentle smile

makes my heart warmeth.

My notti, notti girl,

how you make me despair.

Thy cheeky, cheeky grin,

thy mischevious laugh,

makes my heart warmeth.

- your loving mummy who is wringing her hanky in despair

Fist of the Cat Mountain Durian

I've been craving for durians lately, and since it's the peak season for durians, wherever I go, I SMELL it - stale or fresh, my nose can pick up its scent, no matter how faint it is.

For this week alone, I ate durians 3 times.

1) The durian stall at Dempsey Road carpark - FAIL FAIL FAIL. I paid like $10 per KG and i spent in total $32 for 2 durians which were not fully riped (parts of it wee hard). The second replacement durian was the same (we had to pay for the other half since they replace by weight of the durian seeds returned). I was so disappointed.

2) I spent $20 on durians from the Giant supermarket at IMM. FAIL. *haiz*

The quest goes on ...

3) At the recommendation of my hubby's friend, we hunt down this stall at Queen's Street. Apparently it was featured in the local newspaper recently but I didn't really pay attention to it.

The 4 of us had a total of 5 durians, and the cost as follows:

1 X Butter Durian $8

1 X D24 Durian $8

1 X D24 Durian $5

I paid $20 for them. The $8 D24 durian was not spectacular but the $5 D24 and the $8 Butter was GOOODDDDD. I was raring for more and so we got the following:

1 X Butter $8 - 1/2 of the durian was slightly unripe, they exchange 1 whole durian for us without any questions!

1 X Mao Shan $8 per kg, our durian was $13 - this was SO GOOD. It's the best $13 I ever spent on a durian and I know why it's the king of durians. After eating this, I cannot taste the flavours of the other durians!

I ate to my heart's content and I was so pleased ... I am thinking of going another round this saturday!

Dominos effect

My nephew sick -> my niece sick -> my mum sick -> I sick -> my helper sick

*haiz* today took time off in the morning to do some housework and then rushed off to work. Then I time off after lunch to come back to look after my girl as the hubby has to go back to camp.

My girl was pretty restless and only napped for a short while before she woke up again. She didn't take her morning nap so we were hoping she would be knocked out and sleep longer in the afternoon. Fat hope. So in the end, I brought her out, BY MYSELF. To be honest, I was very worried and scared, but she cooperated. Anyway, she was JUST WAITING TO GO OUT. I changed and as soon as she saw me, she went to the corner and dragged out her diaper/ going out bag! Then I was busy packing my stuff, since I was trying to minimise the bags I had to carry, she was complaining! She would walk to the lobby, walk to my room and make some noise. She was going to and fro until I finished packing and went to wear my shoes in the lobby. Then, I remembered my wallet and walked out again, she actually went "NNNNGGGGGG" loudly to show her impatience.

In the end, we arrived safely with all my wits intact and just zoomed her around in her stroller. Met up with a friend for tea and V put on her best behaviour. She also manga-ed my friend by taking a piece of waffle and giving it to her. She wanted my friend to feed her!

We went shopping by ourselves after that - It was relatively smooth, and she didn't do a poop job on me.

I guess I could start venturing out on my own with her =) The cab fares cost me a bit though ...

Jab + Jab

Thankfully my girl didn't catch the flu bug from me - she seems quite immune to the bug that's been passing among some family members.

She's due for her jab today but I forgot what jab anyway :P Turns out she's due for her pneumococcal (whatever!), chickenpox plus MMR.

I asked if I could postpone the MMR, and the PD (Dr Lee - Dr Tan is again unavail due to his scheduling and we wanted to move the appointment forward to the morning) did some basic checks. She is choosing to ignore when spoken to, and she is willing only to acknowledge her daddy. Then oops, realise she's supposed to know the basic shapes by now (never really got around to "teaching" her) so she's not really responding very well. The PD advised to push MMR to 2 years old and to continue monitoring her progress. No more TV for her!

Vanessa's not too happy with the jabs this morning - she cried when she got the first jab. The second jab, her mouth was open, but no sound, until like 5 seconds later with the tears rolling down. Thankfully I'm the mummy to the rescue and her bad daddy was the one who tricked her to get jabbed :P

A distraction of her favourite cheerios was all it took to quieten her down.

Oh. her weight today? 11.6kg @ 15 months and 12 days old.

My first ever ...

Rambutan picking at 婆婆's house ...

Hey! My bucket's empty!

What's Vanessa doing?

She's choosing her rambutans!

Zoom buggy zoom!

Vanessa: Bye Daddy and Mummy! I'm zooming off in my Cookie Monster buggy!

Vanessa: Hey! There's something wrong with my steering wheel!

Keira: I'm the Motoring Babe, I can help you!

Keira: Ok, it's fixed! You're good to go!

Vanessa: WOW!!! You are really one Motoring Babe! Thank you!

Vanessa: OK Cookie Mon, are we ready to rock'n zoom? Here we goooooooooo!

Vanessa: Oops, I think we got wheel clamped for parking illegally!

Kawaii Vanessa

Today I brought Vanessa to the airport and decided to dress her up (she picked the yellow dress herself!)

This is her, all ready to go!

At the airport restuarant, waiting for her fried rice to be served.

A quick change of the hairdo (sounds like a bride at her wedding banquet), my favourite picture of her today. Pity's it blurred =(

4 new clips and 1 burnt thumb

I decided to do my gal's headband finally, with an orange daisy that I had actually bought like ... 6 MONTHS AGO!

Yah, I was procrastinating for a really long time, but since it is literally gathering dust, I decided to "JUST DO IT!"

It took me over 30 minutes to complete it though, because what I tried to do initially didn't quite worked out and I ripped it out. The second attempt was better but it was so hard to push the needle through the material so I had to sew with the help of the floor. I would position the needle and then place the eye of the needle against the floor and push it through. Not the best way, but it works for me.

Since I had to use the hot glue gun to fix the "diamond" onto the daisy, I decided to make some hair clips as well. It wasn't really quite my day, I forgot how to fix the ribbons unto the alligator clip, and this attempt was so messy. As I was fixing a seemingly easy clip, a white silk rose, I burnt my finger. I squeeze more glue than I had intended and I was pressing some beads against it and it got stuck unto my thumb - I yelled out so loud that my hubby got a scare. I ran cold water over the thumb and peeled off the glue. It was sore for a little while, but it's better now. Thankfully the remaining 3 went without much problem.

No pic of the hairband or my burnt thumb though ...

The 2 at the bottom was made when I first got hold of the ribbons, clips and the hot glue gun.

What fun to have a girl!

Gladys and Vanessa @ IMM

 

One of the mummies took the photo yesterday - and I love it!

 

She's wearing her new sailormoon dress from Jshoppers and *ahem* do you notice something about her hair?

 

Hehe, she looks so cute, like a little japanese girl (no doubt she has an advantage by inheriting her dad's eyes).

 

Baby Hair Clips

I've never made the teeny ones before, but after meeting one of the mummies and since I had gotten some of the baby clips by mistake (I didn't know they were this small!), I decided to experiment with my goods.

It took me about 1 hour to do this 2 - I decided I wasn't going to glue it and to sew every bit of it.

I'm quite pleased with it - hope C will like it, even though it's not a girly colour!

Certified

Well, not certified to do anything, but rather, Vanessa received her first certificate today for completing her KinderMusik class. She will be continuing for the next class, and for 2 weeks, she would be having 2 classes per weekend, since her Growing Up Gifted class will start end August. Kiasu? Not really, just that I'm not sure how she would take to GUG, so best is to gauge her responses to both classes and see which one she enjoys more. As much as the norma should say "which one would teach her more", I think at this age, it is important that she enjoys her class, since it is meant to be more of a social and fun time, rather then drilling her how to learn. As long as she's having fun, it's good enough for me. She will have enough pressure to cope with once she goes into Kindergarten!

She's 15 months already, time really passes too quickly. She understands more than she lets on, and although she cannot verbalise, she can carry out a simple request, or just shake/ nod her head (though sometimes i wonder if she knows what she is agreeing to). Yesterday also mark the first time that she walked, instead of sitting in the stroller, which is the usual habit when we bring the dogs down for their walks. Not very stable, but good enough. I do think her crocs are very useful, light and well ventilated, not to mention, slip-proof. I'll get her another pair when she outgrows this one (she already outgrew 3 other pair of shoes!) and perhaps I could get a matching pair too!

My hairclips and ribbons arrived from USA (thanks to the hubby lugging the ribbons back) and I've begun to make a few (bought a new hot glue gun too!) - churned out about 10 yesterday and raring to make more. Only problem is my back is giving me pangs of acute pain, so i have to rest on the bed or sit up straight. Tried taking calcium to reduce the pain, but no to avail. I'll probably need to dig out my painkillers if not I'll pay the doctor a visit. I even had difficulty turning in bed, it's that bad.

Remember the mummy that I said made lots of hairclips for her gal? I visited her on saturday and I marvel at ALL her creations. SHE'S GOOD!!!! VERY VERY GOOD!!!! Now it's my goal to be as good as her! She's also very creative, so I am very very very envious! Will display my new wares in a while - thinking if this should be a sideline I can tap on to grow my gal's education fund!

Some names not to name your child if ...

Anne Chang (Mandarin) - Dirty

Anne Chin (Mandarin) - Keep quiet

Faye Chen (Mandarin) - Dusty

Faye Choo (Mandarin) - Fat Pig

Carl Cheng (Hokkien) - Buttocks

Monica Cheng (Hokkien) - Touching your buttocks

Lucy Leow (Hokkien) - You are dead

Jane Tan (Mandarin) - Frying eggs

Suzie Leow (Hokkien) - Lost till death

Henry Mah (Mandarin) - Hate your mum

Corrine Tai (Hokkien) - Poor fellow

Paul Chan (Mandarin) - Bankrupt

Nelson Tan (Mandarin) - Bird laying eggs

Leslie Tong (Mandarin) - Rubbish bin

Carmen Tng (Hokkien) - Leg hair long

Connie Mah (Cantonese) - Call your mother

Danny See (Hokkien) - Squeeze you to death

Rosie Teng (Hokkien) - Screws and nails

Pete Tsai (Hokkien) - Nose droppings

Macy Koh (Cantonese) - Never die before

Lim Yew Lin (Hokkien) - Drink urine

Lim Teh Peng (Hokkien) - Drink iced tea

When I read the list, I burst out laughing. I can understand most of it since I understand Cantonese and Mandarin, but some of the Hokkien ones, I cannot understand. I have this to add though, because one guy had this name and I was "stunned"

Ho Chee Sin (Cantonese) - Very crazy

My favourite of the lot? Monica Cheng

Signing

If you recalled some time ago, I wrote about my girl being able to sign for her milk. I haven't taught her any other signs after that, but recently on and off, I did sign "bom bom" to her which means bath time.

One evening, as the helper was preparing her bath water and I was playing with her in the bedroom, she was in a hurry to get out from the room. Then I asking her if she wanted to play with the bear (she knows it's called sweetheart!) and she signed "bom bom". I was quite surprised since I didn't consistently signed it to her. So she does know a lot more things than I had expected, so time to watch what I say.

About the signing, I'm not following any standards, I'm vaguely remember watching some online clips about signing and I adopted some of the signs (I'm not sure what they stood for) as I felt it was probably easier for her to sign. You could try with your kids, just make sure it's the same sign each time (do differentiate between water and milk though), and see if they will do it to you!

How I know the bear is called sweetheart? I sat her on the bed and said, "Let's say hello to Sweetheart!" She turned and crawled towards Sweetheart and plucked her from her corner, before passing me the bear.

It's nice to know she's a lot more smarter than I thought, BUT it also means she's growing up really, really fast. And how much am I actually missing out?