Daiso, daiso, i love you ...

Daiso, I love you! (probably much to the dismay of my hubby - not in terms of love, but in terms of $$$ i spend there)

I went there earlier, intending to get some gift boxes to house the cookies I baked for my girl's teacher but I ended up with gift bags instead - they look so girly and sweet!!!! I picked up something else too for my girl - they have these sticker books for $2 - peel the stickers and stick on the scenes, great to keep her occupied when she is fidgety in the car :P

Previously I went and grab some $80 worth of stuff (that's 40 items since each item is $2) and among them, i got 2 acrylic rectangular container which is now my cookie bar mould! I used it for my butter cookies and they were just the right size. They have graters, whisks and what nots that is perfect to add on to my ever expanding (but gaining dust) collection of kitchen gadgets. I buy my pets' toys and plants pots too, plus all the cute and wide ranging of stationery they have. I have been eyeing the bowls and plates they have too, but much to my hubby's relief, I have been RESTRAINING myself with much reluctance. Too bad my Ikea's dining set is still very much intact and they show no signs of being retired anytime soon.

They also have lots of Hello Kitty, Sanrio and toys for kids too. I bought this shape sorter from there some time back, and it came with 10 or more different shapes ... my girl is still playing with it now was it's a good investment - hopefully it's still intact for boy boy when he comes of age too :P

They even carry cosmetics and hardware - i got my concealer and pilers from there too ...

The stuff is so wide ranging and cool, it's a no brainer why i would spend at least an hour in there! BTW, i am the type who hates window shopping :P

help has arrived!

The second helper arrived yesterday and so far so good. My boy knows my cousin has left and that someone new is here so he is putting the second helper through a series of tests ... mainly she has to talk to him so he can coo back. He can smile when he wants to, and sometimes when I chit chat with him or he see his sister, he will smile. Occasionally he will giggle too, and I find it so highly amusing, especially when he does it after he has left his half digested milk on someone's shoulder.

#1 is still sick, and slightly feverish plus her cough doesn't seem to go away. So I off-ed her bedtime milk which may be why she takes such a long time to sleep (hungry) but milk (FM or BM) worsens the cough, so my poor gal just have to be hungry a little. #2 has a slight temperature too, so we are still observing.

With the additional help and that the hubby is at home too, I managed to churn out 3 batches of cookies. 2 batches of butter cookies, one original flavour (which my hubby prefer), the other is irish cream coffee flavoured (which I prefer) and 1 batch of oat shortbread. Personally I think my first recipe is good enough to be called a shortbread. The oat shortbread recipe which I took from a recipebook was somewhat oily. I am sure if I tweak on the original butter cookie recipe I have, the oat butter cookie would have been better - less oily and just the "melt in the mouth". I couldn't find my small kenwood mixer (think I left it at my mum's place) so I took out my brand new Braun food processor (I bought it as an excuse - on behalf of my hubby', a present for our wedding anniversary in a month's time) and worked with it. It wasn't too bad, but it's definitely not cut out for cookie dough work. It would have been great for something in a batter form, but nonetheless, the texture of my cookies turned out great too. I would say on par with my kenwood mixer.

#2 has turned 2 months old and I did take some pictures. Just that I've just gotten my new PC and the only time I get to logon is 1) bedtime - when I'm on my bed 2) pumping milk - I've set up a temporary station at my pump armchair with the old powerbook - so I haven't been able to download the pictures from my HP or my camera. He's now 6kg - I'm happy with his progress so far. The only thing that upsets me is that he tends to be colicky, and his tummy has lots of wind ... We can only try to massage his tummy as often as we can or cuddle him to sleep (with his tummy on my tummy) to soothe his discomfort. Otherwise, he is a happy baby. V is also very loving towards her brother, and often we have to stop her enthusiastic acts of love towards #2, especially now she is coughing quite badly. More often than not, she gets so upset when we tell her not to go so close to her didi that she bursts out crying. So we let her pat him a little and then bring her away to play her toys or do some colouring. V is of course upset when she sees me carrying him at times, but she would only display acts of unhappiness when she is sleepy or hungry. I'm not complaining about their relationship and how V is handling it. I think she is coping a lot better than I am, and I am very proud of her. Now, if I could only get serious about her potty training - I lost steam after she peed in the cardbox house I made for her and I had to throw it away.

Sleeping angels ... not

Remember I blogged earlier about how my girl will sleep in funny positions and how sometimes she snuggle up to the hubby? I couldn't resist taking some pictures, in fact, I'll probably want to take one picture a night!

Enjoy! *hehehe*

"Papa, my armpit pang or not?"

"Yes, very pang, until I fainted liao!"

"Papa, make space for me!!!"

"But ... I'm falling off the bed already!"

"He's my Papa. don't you dare to lay a finger on him! Mine mine!!!"

"...(happy)..."

The search continues and T2 starts!

We're been looking for helper #2 for sometime now, and so far no success. What I have encountered is pushy agents who insist that their girls are great and I need to give them a chance other than a cursory nod.

Well, would you employ someone who scratches her nose before answering you? Think Bill Clinton. Not only that, they all claim to be competent in infant care, and then when you see them carrying my boy, it's just simply not right. How do I compare? I had a chance to interview a indonesian transfer maid, and she had no issue in carrying my boy or changing the diapers, even though her last assignment was to care for the elderly for over 1 year. Compared that to few filipino transfer maids I had gone through, who were married with kids, she was 10 times better! The only problem is, I have 2 dogs, and she's uncomfortable with dogs. *sigh* So ... the search goes on and I know which agents to avoid.

V is sort of starting her T2 ... she is starting to throw tantrums at her cousins and starting to hit or kick out at us. Everything is "I want it now, I need it now". Unfortunately for her, I will say "no" and stick to it. If she continues her "need it now" tantrum, I just turn away and ignore her. Earlier, she hit the hubby, and I made her stand by the crib until she says sorry. Unfortunately for us, she's just as stubborn as me, and she refused to do so, even being made to stand at the spot for over 10 minutes. She was also sleepy (didn't sleep the entire day) so in the end, I told her she cannot hit us and she should say sorry (she still refused). I gave her a hug after the talking to and gave her milk. She was OK enough to smile after that and gave her daddy good night kisses and hugs (still no apology). She's also at a very sensitive stage, where when people say she is a naughty girl (especially her cousins or us), she would be hurt and come to us to say "Baby good girl" (referring to herself). So, we have to find out why, and then explain to her that she has to be gentle or that she has to share her toys with her cousins or that she cannot insist on grabbing the toys/ food. Just that, at this stage, sharing to them is a one way traffic as one mummy accurately puts it. We just have to work on it and be consistent with our messages.

V is very very sweet to her little brother though. The other day we were leaving the bedroom to have our dinner, when she suddenly stopped by her brother (he was sleeping in the rocker) and then lifted up one of his hands. Before I could stopped her, she kissed his hand and said "sayang didi". Other times, she would go to the person carrying Valentino and then kissed his head/ pat his head gently. I can't ask for more, really. I'll just have to pick my battles and remember that she's still a toddler - she cannot be expected to behave or listen to my instructions all the time.

I'm also trying plan my return to work - hopefully I'll be successful in getting helper #2 soon so that I won't need to worry about the 2 Vs and homefront when I need to get back to stressing over work.

Oh yeah, and I need to start taking picture of the 2 Vs soon and get my replacement PC soon.