Amanda’s Blog!

Hi dearie!

Mummy is writing this blog on a much cherrier and happier mood now, as I get to spend every day with you, taking care of you, bringing you out to play.. etc.. you are getting better and better at ‘talking back’ now.. for eg: you will retort whenever I say I will turn off the tv.. you will retort in an icy tone: “That is not a tv, it is a computer” You will correct me whenever I say something wrongly.. goodness, I have so much to say, so much to update on your blog, but I really do not know how to go about writing it all down…

You are very conversant in English now.. can hold a proper conversation with people, but you tend to talk more when mummy is ard, probably cos I understand most of everything that you are saying…

Brought you tot he zoo last weel, the children’s zoo has really changed alot for the better… here are some fotos of you, taken by the zoo’s cameraman at the children’s zoo

A picture of you riding the carousel rabbit..

You are a very brave girl.. even the uncle in charge of the pony ride said so… for he said most children your age will be afraid to ride on the pony.. and yet you went on three rounds of pony ride and still wanted more!

Another picture of you riding your beloved pony

Been back in the working life for the past 10 months simply tells me the message that I can no longer be the super mum I always thought I was.. My hands are so tied up now, playing the roles of a doting mother, good wife (I hope!) , daughter, manging expectations of my ILs (even managing my IL’s expectations of my hubby.. student cum worker.. I just feel that I am manging a juggling act every minute of the day.. I multi task like I have never done so b4 (guess it is true.. as I hardly ever do housework b4 I got married). I jsut want to do so much for my daughter, play with her, teach ehr new thigns everyday.. hey she is absorbing like a sponge now and why the hell am I sitting in front of the computer day in day out rushing silly assignments? At least for now I know, my hubby is better at playing dog house & rose house with my girl… he is her preferred play partner, while I am the preferred reading companion for her.. but I just cant help but feel that I am missing out on her growing up years that are so so very precious to me… cos I know she is only young ocne and once I miss it, I will NEVER get to experience it again.. silly decision of mine to go back to work so early.. for that miserable pay… if I were to divide it by the hour.. hey I might be better off doing temp work outside.. considering te fact that I virtually go without sleep or at the most 3 to 4 hr of sleep each night.. to be continued.. got to rush assignments again

I know this may be really far fetched but I cant help but tear whenever I listen to this song by Meryl Streep from the soundtrack of Mama Mia:

Cant imagine how I will feel when the time comes for my little girl to grow up…

Schoolbag in hand
She leaves home in the early morning
Waving goodbye
With an absent-minded smile
I watch her go
With a surge of that well-known sadness
And I have to sit down for a while
The feeling that I’m loosing her forever
And without really entering her world
I’m glad whenever I can share her laughter
That funny little girl

Slipping through my fingers all the time
I try to capture every minute
The feeling in it
Slipping through my fingers all the time
Do I really see what’s in her mind
Each time I think I’m close to knowing
She keeps on growing
Slipping through my fingers all the time

Sleep in our eyes
Her and me at the breakfast table
Barely awake
I let precious time go by
Then when she’s gone
There’s that odd melancholy feeling
And a sense of guilt
I can’t deny
What happened to the wonderful adventures
The places I had planned for us to go
Well some of that we did
But most we didn’t
And why I just don’t know

Slipping through my fingers all the time
I try to capture every minute
The feeling in it
Slipping through my fingers all the time
Do I really see what’s in her mind
Each time I think I’m close to knowing
She keeps on growing
Slipping through my fingers all the time

Sometimes I wish that I could freeze the picture
And save it from the funny tricks of time
Slipping through my fingers -

Schoolbag in hand
She leaves home in the early morning
Waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile

Hi dear,

Sorry that Mummy have not been updating your blog regularly.. I have been really bogged down by the tremendous amt of work I had to do these days..

Just some updates:

There was this once Mummy raised my voice at Wai Po and you turned to me with an angry face and said”Don’t want mummy to shout at Wai Po, It’s NOT NICE!” I was astonished when I heard this.. and quickly made a mental note not to raise my voice at Wai Po again…

Daddy mentioned that you told Nicole Jie Jie off when she kicked Daddy at Po Po’s house earlier today. You said”Don’t want Jie Jie to kick daddy!!” You are truly our darling little girl

You are now busy humming and singing songs all day long.. your favourite being (your bedtime song: Strawberry Yogurt Drink - modified of the classic lullaby song) It goes like this:

Strawberry Yogurt Drink

It’s so nice to drink

Strawberry Yogurt Drink

Do you like to drink…

Strawberry Yogurt Drink… etc…

You will try to get your toys to sleep, by pulling the blankie over them and patting their backside and singing this song.. hmm.. I think I must really make a recording of you singing this song and post it up here Both daddy and mummy always cant resist a smile whenever we catch you singing that song…

You seem to be getting better at letting mummy go to work now.. at least you havent been crying everytime Ah Gong drops mummy off to work.. but you will keep saying this: “Don’t want Mummy to work!” And whenever I am working from home, you will tell daddy to go to work and you dont want mummy to work (that is not very nice, cos daddy was so upset till he teared…..)

Give mummy 2 more months and I will be able to spend more time with you.. this is a really tough period for me.. never had to go through such tremendous stress before.. it is far worse than I had ever imagined.

Anyway enough of complaining.. here are some pictures of you:

You, wearing your fav cat hat and holding your catty!

Mummy’s birthday dinner!

Daddy wearing your pumpkin cat mask and holding your incy spider bag!

Your fav cookie monster cake! Ok, it might seem to be your birthday cake. But ti is actually mummy’s birthday cake! You attended Brendan DiDi’s birthday party that day and he had en elmo cake.. and after that you have been talking about wanting a cookie monster cake. so mummy took the chance to order a cookie monster cake for mummy’s birthday just for you (I wonder if it is really for myself haha) and anyway it made my day! You were so happy to see the cake and you have been talking about the cake non stop

Hi dear,

You started your 1st week at Mind Champs. You seem to be adapting pretty well, with your new teachers and new classmates. It is a good thing that mummy had elearning week this week so I was able to bring you there for the first 3 days and to sit through the sessions with you.

Here are some pictures of you:

All geared up to go to school for the first time.

Hi dear, Here is the write up of our conversation in the car over the weekend:

Mummy: Time to sit in the car seat

Manting: Dowan!!!

Mummy: Mummy give you bena (ribena) sweet sweet if you sit in your car seat (ok, I know it is not good to bribe)

Manting: I DOWAN TO SIT IN THE CAR SEAT!

Mummy: Do you want bena sweet sweet?

Manting: (hesitant) nooo… yess… dowan to sit in the car seat!!

Mummy: Ok then, mummy will let daddy eat all your bena sweet sweets

Manting: DADDY sit in the car seat!!! (I couldnt believe my ears when I heard this, haha..)

(mummy forced Manting into the car seat)

Manting: Manting TOO BIG for the car seat (complain)

(Manting demanded for sweets)

Manting: sweet sweet PLEASE! (sounded more like a command than anything else)

Mummy: mummy gave you alot of sweet sweets.. how many did mummy give you?

Manting: (pause to think for a while): ONE

Mummy: Are you sure?

Manting: Yes!

Mummy: How many more do you want?

Manting: 1 more…. two more…

Hi darling,

Mummy has started school officially for the past 1 month.. and gosh.. I still miss you like crazy everytime Im away from you. IMondays and Tuesdays are the worst! 12 hours or more of not being able to spend time with you.. there are so many times when I hallucinate that you will run into my lecture hall / tutorial room and look for me..

Im sorry I am not able to spend as much time as I wish with you.. it really hurts that I am unable to spend my time at home with you, to read to you, to play dog house with you…

Love you my little darling

Hi dear,

Here is a video of you singing along to the phonics song

Click here

Some of mummy’s friends might think that I might have over stressed you out, but I dont think of it that way, cos you really enjoy learning new things.. and see the way you swayed to the song in this video

You can also recite the entire ABC song and can count from 1 to 30.

Click here to view the video of you reading one of your fav Blue’s Clues Book

You can read books on your own now, and you are always so ever ready to learn new things. Another milestone is that you can piece a 20 piece jigsaw puzzle all by yourself! You can also work on 25, 30 and 35 piece puzzles on your own, but with minimal help from mummy.

Mummy signed you up for classes at zoophonics and julia gabriel bilingual classes. It is a good thing as you are more receptive towards going to school now. You particularly like Teacher Esther from zoophonics school, and you always like to dance when you are in her class Did I mention to you that you will be going to Mind Champs preschool this coming Sept? It is to help you learn to socialise more, watch less tv at home and also to help Waipo alleviate her workload of reaching our place everyday b4 8 am. All the way from Jurong! I hope you will enjoy yourself there darling… love you lots and lots…

Your first experience with sand, you dont seem to like it very much. This was taken at Sentosa, Palawan Beach, part of the Julia Gabriel hol programme during the june holidays.

You love to pretend to be a doctor!

You happily eating fruit ice on your own!

You, at the Barbey Show..see how happy you were!

Another video of you reading book: Click here to view

Hi darling,

It has been a fantastic 2 weeks spent with you! After that 1 week spent at JG, mummy signed you up at Zoo-phonics for another 1 week of holiday programme. It would have been better if you were not down with fever then… thus you missed 2 lessons out of the 5, but needless to say, the 3 days was really well spent.. the theme was summer safari, where you learnt MORE about the different safari animals like lion, leopard, cheetah, porcupine, giraffe, zebras etc. I was really happy to see you enjoying yourself tremendously.. when you first reached there, your eyes were so tihgtly shut, but you slowly opened up and then you kept going forward in front of teacher Esther, to have the first peek at what she is showing to the class, you were happily dancing away to the music times too! Thus, this tells me that you are ready for pre-school.. you are almost fully potty trained (accidents do happen of course), your eating habits are getting better *crossed figners* you can communicate with us now and listen to intructions, thus we have decided to enrol you in Mind Champs pre-school.. signing you up for the full day programme, but you will only be going for the half day programme as Ah Gong and Wai Po will be fetching you back then.. one of the main reasons for sending you there is that daddy and mummy do not want you to waste your time at home watching too much tv… ok I do admit, those educational VCDs are really educational, but think you are toally addicted! You will ask for Blue’s Clues or baby signing times the min you wake up, you will constantly ransack the vcd cupboard, snatch the remote control from us and turn to your fav "2" channel (video channel), dont know whether it is a good or bad thing that Ah Gong taught you how to switch the tv to video mode and how to change vcds… you even attack the computer now! You also know that you need to use the mouse to click on the screen in order to load the vcd… you always say *loading loading loading* whenever you sucessfully load the vcd and you will be so delighted… enough is enough, I dont want you to end up wearing glasses b4 you even start going for formal school… and you have been blinking your eyes really hard nowadays… *too much tv*

Brought you to Mind Champs today and was decided when you could read ALL the words on the Father’s Day Banner: You are my hero, daddy" It was your first time seeing the banner and hey you can read all the words! Mummy was beaming with pride when I heard what you said.. you can even read "The coffee bean tea leaf" and spell the individual letters too… you know all the sounds of each 26 letters and is able to match the soudns to each letter.. this really made my staying at home with you worth it and I really really wish that I can continue to stay on to look after you at home for as long as possible… why didnt I do so, you can go ask Wai Po and Daddy the reason why *hmpf*

Hi darling,

I can say that the past 4 days have been the happiest days to me for this year. I can finally spend all my time on you!

Firstly mummy signed you up for the julia gabriel holiday programme for "Fun in the sun" I bring you to JG centre at Evans Rd everyday for this week for 2 hours each time, with the exception of today, where we went to Sentosa. It is really different from Shichida class, it is more interactive for sure, and it has a mix of drama, art n craft (your fav!), free play, outdoor play and music. And personally I like the teachewrs, they do have the x factor… mummy is considering signign you up for the bilingual class, well you got to start learning mandarin…

As for Monday, mummy brought you tot he class for the first time, from 9 am to 11 am.. thereafter, mummy brought you home where you had a good nap and then you had your lunch. Mummy went to the zoo with my colleagues to check out the place.. and of course I brought you along and Wai Po came along too as she didnt want mummy to walk all over the entire zoo, carrying you and the big bags of stuffs.. you sat in your wagon which I rented from the zoo, and you simply adored it! Yoiu sat in it without complaints… here is a pic of you in it

Mummy’s friend, Auntie Su Chiew bought an ice popsicle for you and you had such an enjoyable time eating it until you cant even be bothered with the animals, check out the next picture which you didnt even bother about the rhino

Here is a sticky picture of you, you are always asking mummy to hug you" "mummy hug, mummy hug"

As for Tuesday, mummy brought you to the class again, then brought you to Orchard Road

Hi dear dear,

Mummy is at home right now, supposed to be at work but am down with flu, caught it from you! You are recovering now, but you are still down with running nose and wheezing cough.. really dread feeding you those medicine.. you will be screaming your head off, struggling out of our grip… and at the end of the session, all 3 of us will be drenched in perspiration cos it really takes so such effort to get the potion down your throat..

You woke up at 5 am this morning and complained that you were hungry, me and daddy tried to ignore you but you were getting more insistent so we have no choice but to give in to your demands.. you had your mango chiffon cake and ribena and it seemed like you didnt want to go back to sleep, and indeed you only slept at about 6 am! Luckily I need not go back to work today, so I could afford to sleep in a little later…

Hi darling,

Your fav activity right now is putting puzzles together.. you esp like the wooden yellow dog, the shapes sorter, and you will clap whenever you get it right.. and you will have this super satisfied look on your face, you love the spell and learn puzzles, you can piece the different alphabets of a word together (eg: dog, house, mango, house, car, horse etc) then you will read out the different alphabets and then say out the word, for eg: D,O,G DOG! WOOF! or C,A,T CAT! MEOW! You will respond correctly whenever mummy asks you the following: ‘What does d,a,d,d,y say?’, ‘What does m,u,m,m,y say?’ , "What does D,O,G say?", "What does C,A,T say?", "What does B,O,Y, say?"

You can now talk in complete sentences, like "Manting eat cookies" "Sit down" "Jiejie go home" "Mummy blow" … you wanted Nicole jiejie to play with you yesterday and you ordered her to sit down next to you on the floor, you were so fierce haha and everyone was laughing away at the scene as it was so adorable!

Hi Dear,

Mummy has been home for the past 2 days… enjoyed myself tremendously just looking after and playing with you.. really dread going back to work tomorrow!!! Whenever I am at work, I am just too tired to even play with you when I reach home from work.. and that made me really guilty… and what the hell! I am missing out on the development of my daughter.. she is only young once and yet I cant enjoy her development fully? And this workplace Im in, I just feel that I am drowning beneath all those workload.. and those people.. guess I am not suitable for this line.. too much red tape.. help! Can anyone tell me what I should do???

Hi darling,

You have no idea how much I love and adore you… you are everything to me *ok, I know some pple might think that this is really unhealthy, but this is how it is, stop telling me how I should change my priorities etc etc*

Really really miss those times that I spent with you 24/7 from the day you were born till the day I started work about 4 months ago. My heart still aches very much every morning b4 I leave for work… I esp hate Sundays.. *yes I know I mentioned this umpteen times* but I cant change the feelings I am feeling now.. helped my colleague, Agnes, search for some parenting quotes online and found this really inspirational one:

You have a lifetime to work, but children are only young once.  ~Polish Proverb

This is something that I really have to ponder upon over the next few months… well, another inspirational quote that struck me below:

If I had my child to raise all over again,
I’d build self-esteem first, and the house later.
I’d finger-paint more, and point the finger less.
I would do less correcting and more connecting.
I’d take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes.
I’d take more hikes and fly more kites.
I’d stop playing serious, and seriously play.
I would run through more fields and gaze at more stars.
I’d do more hugging and less tugging.
~Diane Loomans, from "If I Had My Child To Raise Over Again"

http://www.quotegarden.com/parents.html

I hate sunday nights!!! This spells the end of my 1 week break.. and it isnt really a hol for me, so much work to do and had to lug myself back for meetings on Mon and Tues anyway… missed my darling like crazy now.. had so much time to spend with her these 5 days, 5 very very precious days.. and now it is back to work again.. *sigh* really regretted wanting to go back into the workforce so quickly.. Anyway, enough of complaining and back to my darling’s blog… Mummy brought you down for your Hep A and Flu vaccination on Thursday.. Dr Yip adminstered the jab and you cried really hard for a few seconds, you even said sorry to Dr Yip after he said sorry to you.. hehe so cute.. Dr Yip then said you shouldnt be the one saying sorry as he should be the person doing it… anyway was asking Dr Yip about your development, mentioned that you can read and recognise many words already.. and that you know all the letter sounds of the 26 alphabets.. he was surprised to hear that as he said you are fast for your age as most kids your age recognise the alphabets and some do not know their alphabets yet.. mummy was extremely pleased to hear this, for at least I know you have benefitted from me not working for 2 yrs… Brought you to Orchard on Wed to meet your Brendan Di Di,. and for the first time in your lifes.. both of you enjoyed each other’s company! In the past, the 2 of you just ignored each other and do your own things, you were asking me for Di Di whenever Di Di is out of sight.. now it is time to organise mroe playgroups for the 2 of you 5 more days to your BIG 2!! Mummy is so looking forward to it!

YOU HAVE THIS THING FOR STICKERS NOW, YOU LOVE STICKING IT EVERYWHERE ESP ON YOUR NOSE AND FACE

Hi deardear,

Daddy will be leaving for Beijing in just a matter of hours from now, he will be leaving on sat morning and be back only on wed night.. Mummy misses daddy so much now.. and I know you will too… da jiujiu will be going with daddy, guess both of them will be going to visit the great wall of china on Sunday…

My 1 week hol is coming to an end.. *sian* Enjoyed your company tremendously.. treasured every moment spent with you, though my so called 1 week hols is not exactly 1 week… 2 days were taken up for meetings and I have got to do loads of work when Im home too… can imagine how my heart will break when I have to leave home on Monday morning.. you seem to be very scared of others taking you away from me.. you will scream or cry whenever wai po or ah gong try to carry you away from me.. mummy loves you so much and I really wish that I can continue to look after you full time as much as possible…

Hi darling,

Both you and daddy are happily sleeping right now, so it leaves me time to type a little into your blog, as I shamefully admit that I havent been diligent enough when it comes to updating it nowadays…

Heard that you woke up at 7 plus this morning and were screaming away for me, kept calling out "Ah Yi Ah Yi" sorry, mummy was not at home then, but I hope you will be able to understand that mummy will love to be there for you at all times if possible, to hold you in my arms whenever you are scared.. to kiss you whenever you feel upset… to cuddle you to sleep each time… I really really miss being at home with you soooo much… am tearing as I am typing this now…

Ok, lets go into your developmental milestones to date:

1. You can read simple sentences off books like:

a. Fat cat on a mat

2. Fat cat sees a bee

3. Papa, please get the moon for me

4. Have you seen my cat

5. This is not my cat and quite a few other sentences

You know all your letter sounds too!

You will say out the letter sounds (phonics) whenever mummy sings this to you:

The A says "air" (sounds like the word air to me)

The A says "air"

Every letter makes the sound,

The A says "air"

You will also answer in the following manner:

Q. C is for….

A: CAT!

Q: D is for…..

A: DOG!

You are merrily humming songs to yourself now and you can successfully hum and even sing several songs (though not all the lyrics though) and those words that you do not know how to pronounce, you will just replace it with "Tic ke tick ke tic!!" So simply adorable

Hi darling,

It has been 2 mths since mummy went back into the workforce.. and things have not been getting easier, my heart still breaks everytime b4 I leave home for work… it is a good thing that you are asleep at the time when I leave home, otherwise, it would have been extremely difficult for me to even want to step out of the house… I really really wish that I can stay at home and take care of you like before.. play with you… kiss you as much as I can (instead of calling you when at work and asking you to kiss me over the phone) and worse still, have to hear about the funny things you did at home from the maid… I miss you sooooooo much… and worst of all is I cant wait to rush home to be with you everytime but I am so drained so tried whenever I reach home… It really took me my entire mental capacity to psyche myself up not to rest and laze ard when Im home… as I do not want to waste every minute when I am back home with you…

On MC today, had a terrible terrible migraine last night, took 2 dosage of panadol extra strong and it had no effect on me (was surprised as it is usually very effective on me) felt like my head was exploding… and hubby was out last night with his ex colleagues, so I was left with bye.. I curled up on the bed in pain and bye was delighted, thinking I was playing rocking horse with her, so she climbed on my back and went "te ke te ke te ke" (horse galloping sounds) and screaming away in delight!

Sunday nights, what does it mean to me? Means that I will have to be apart from my darling for at least 9 hours everyday for the next 5 days… notice the words: "at least" Felt that I have not been a good mother to her, I havent been teaching her things!!!! I mean, this is the best time and she is absorbing things like a sponge, and yet this lousy mummy is feeling so tired most of the time and finding excuses not to give her best to her child…

No words can describe how much I love her.. she is my everything, no one can make me so happy by just laughing and smiling with me.. cant wait to have my no. 2 so I can have the exscuse of staying at home again!

Gosh, been some time since I last updated my blog, with my new job, new maid… basically new life… and with Amanda falling ill on New Year’s eve (almost ended up being warded in hospital) just to say that this new year didnt start off on a very smooth note.. Amanda vomited 20 times within 24 hours.. everything that went in, came out within the next hour.. water cinluded, my poor poor girl was dehydrated when I brought her to see Dr Yip on the 31st of Dec, a tablet was inserted into her anus to stop the vomitting (no point taking oral medication as she would have vomited it out anyway), this mummy again, was all teary and emotional.. how to go back to work in this condition? It really really broke my heart when I had to leave my girl for work on the 28th for meeting (8 am till 6 pm) my mind was constantly on her.. I never had to leave her side for so long… somemore she wasnt ill then… I kept calling back during break time… teared as discreetly as I could.. was just dying to hold my darling in my arms again.. and my dear mum bluffed me saying that my girl didnt look for me at all as she didnt want me to get too distracted… (and hey, I was so disappointed to hear that Amanda didnt miss me) but was told the truth by my helper that she kept calling for me non stop…. I was happy and sad at the same time…

Well, the worst that came was on the 2nd and 3rd of Jan, my darling stopped vomitting but had very very bad diarrhoea.. pooped so many times at night, about 5 times and wet the bed with her poo each time… imagine my anguish when I had to leave for work on the 2nd.. I had to physically and emotionally tear myself away from my girl… plonked myself down for a training session that lasted 2 days, from 830 am to 530 am… I was all highly strung up.. ready to fly to the bus stop to tke the bus back the minute we were dismissed, I walked so fast till I was the only one at the bus stop for the first 10 mins or so… was elated to see my darling daughter, hgged ehr and reassured her that her mummy loves her very much… she is my motivation to return home early each day… all I could think of is her her her… whenever I lack my bags and get ready to leave for home.. you may think that I am obsessed with my daughter and you are right! I just cant get enough of her… love her lots

Hi darling,

Mummy will be going for a long meeting tomorrow.. from 815 am to 530 pm… this will be the longest time that mummy will be away from you.. since the first day you were born.. I cant help but feel os upset.. I am already looking forward to 530 pm tomorrow so that I can rush home to spend time with you.. Never knew that I can love someone as much as I love you.. and daddy of course ;>

Love you so so much…

……………………………………….. {no words can describe her, never met anyone like her b4}

Hi darling,

Mummy will be going back to work in about 2 weeks time.. my heart neaprly dropped when I received the notification letter that I need to attend a 2 day course b4 I start work proper, from 830 am to 530 pm! That is a straight 9 hours stretch away from you! Not including transportation time! Our maid, Eti will be arriving on Wednesday, the day that Ah Gong and Wai Po will be leaving for china on holiday.. how?? Sometimes I have this silly thought, how I wish I am either Wai Po or Ah Gong or even Eti, at least they will get to spend all their time with you.. I just hope that I need not work such long hours when it comes to work proper, hopefully I will be able to leave early…

Just bought a fisher price kitchen set for you, havent opened it up yet but am sure you will have lots of fun with it!

Brought you to meet mummy’s uni friends on Sunday and mummy’s friend, Peipei got a little christmas present for you!

Thereafter, we brought you to Jasmine auntie’s house, Issac’s mother kindly invited us… along with your other friends, Keith, Lucas, Ruixiang (Im sure you know him as he is your shichida classmate), Issac of course, and you had a fun time playing with playdoh and eating it! Mummy is so happy to see you having so much fun! Then brought you back to TPY for your class, and you thoroughly enjoyrf the class, perhaps mummy made a conscious effort not to chide you for the slightest thing that you do, I was alarmed when you were pretty withdrawn in the class the week b4, even cired very badly when you got the booing sound from your vtech alphabet town toy, so mummy made conscious effort to spend more time with you, and in short, not get so easily frustrated with you over little thigns and it works! Sorry mummy has not been a good mummy, just been really tired, managing household chores, running the online biz and looking after you of course.. once Eti comes, I believe the value of our lifestyle will improved tremendously *cross fingers*

BTW, asked sensei Wan Ting if the boy Javan (the one who bit you twice on your face at LV) is indeed in her class, and she confirmed that, cos firstly there aint many boys with that name and mroeover with the same age too (saw his ice kacang drawing on the wall with his name on it), I just wanted to know thats all, not that I will wait outside his class and give his parents a good scolding? But somehow, I just feel that his parents should do more than just keep defending his actions, WT mentioned that his mother said he just meant to hug the kids (he has been pretty aggressive towards his shichida classmates as well) didnt know how to express himelf etc, thats EXACTLY whatt he LV teachers mentioned too.. instead of jumping to his defence straight away, they should address the problem and try talking to him? Wont forget the defiant look on his face when mummy told him it is wrong for him to bite other kids.. anyway it is history and will just move on…

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Managing Difficult Behaviour

By Sujatha Rajagopal

Every parent would agree that tantrums are number one on their list of dreaded childhood behaviour. The moment you feel an ear-shattering scream coming, it can be tempting to shout, scream or slam the door in return. Is there a better way? Yes, of course, but it will take time and loads of teeth-grinding patience on your part to make it work. Even the most good-natured child will, one day or another, test the limits of defiance on you, with some being more difficult than others. The best way to deal with it is to tell yourself that her behaviour is normal and will pass. Instead of giving in to frustration, treat each episode as an opportunity for education. It also helps knowing that these episodes are most common during the second year of life, and will usually become less frequent as her language skills improve sometime around her third year. Why the fuss? Tantrums and difficult behaviour are part and parcel of growing up. Children haven’t learnt how to control their emotions. When they encounter an experience or task that they cannot deal with, their only means of venting their frustration is kicking up a fuss. The most basic reasons for this fuss include: Seeking attention due to hunger, being tired or uncomfortable. Not being able to get what she wants or get you to do what she wants. Not being able to communicate or get her body to do what she wants. Your child’s frustration may not always be vented as a scream fest. It could take the form of whining, uncontrolled sobbing, kicking, hitting, biting or other forms of aggression, as well as being extra clingy or shy. Some of these may be more difficult to deal with than others.

Managing tantrums

Shouting at your child is only going to make things worse. Children do not know what is good or bad behaviour unless they are told beforehand. The best way to deal with an episode therefore, is to try and understand what is going on. So talk and explain instead of spanking or hitting. Physical punishment shows her that hitting is acceptable. Your child may also be tempted to exaggerate the issue. So don’t become a negative role model. Tell your child quietly but firmly that her behaviour is unacceptable and why. Indicate if you must that by changing her behaviour, she can expect some form of reward. A tantrum in a public place is better handled by bringing the child to a quiet spot and staying there with her till she calms down. Be consistent with the message you are giving your child; that is, if her behaviour is repeated, your response should be similarly firm and perhaps more stern the next time around. It will undoubtedly take a few tries and slip-ups, but keep this going and your child will understand that her behaviour does not please you and needs to be changed… but that you love her no matter what. And always follow-up on good behaviour with instant praises.

The following are some strategies you can try:

Behaviour Why and what to do

Aggression(snatching, hitting or kicking you or other children)

She may not mean to hurt. At this age, she is very focused on herself and may not understand the consequences of her actions. Help her by telling her why she shouldn’t behave this way. If the issue is about sharing something, introduce some food or toys that she likes very much, and encourage her to make the first move to share it with you or other children. Praise her or reward her instantly when she shares.

Clinginess

This is usually due to separation anxiety. If it is about leaving her at a day-care centre, be honest and explain that you will be back, and try to come back sooner for her first few days there. Do not be swayed by tears and do not show your own uneasiness at leaving her. Then, gradually prolong the length of separation.

Defiance and obstinacy

She may view the task or activity as uninteresting. Help her learn why she should do it. Explain that once she has completed the task or activity, she can do something that she enjoys.

Whining

She is seeking attention. Sit her down and using eye contact, talk in an even tone till her whining subsides. Let her know that you are listening to her. Ask her to speak as she would normally. Sometimes, although it is difficult, whining is better ignored. Remain quiet, but don’t leave your child or she may feel abandoned as well as upset.

Negativity

Behaviour such as refusing to cooperate is a natural part of growing up. Your child is merely asserting her independence. Explain why her behaviour is unacceptable. With an older child, you may be able to get her to see reason through role-play. Show her how being positive will help her achieve what she wants sooner.

Shouting

Again, an attention-seeking tool. Reassure your child that you are listening to her and she needn’t shout to get your attention. There may be reason for concern if she is constantly shouting as it may be a symptom of hearing problems. Have a doctor check your child to rule this out.

Hyperactivity

The key reason is usually over-stimulation. Do not allow your child to indulge in games or TV just before bedtime, and be firm about sleeping on time. Extreme cases of hyperactivity may require seeking professional help as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) could be the cause.

Preventing tantrums 

1. With a little careful consideration, there are a number of ways in which you can prevent melt-downs altogether.

2. Keep rules short and simple and enforce them consistently.

3. Use short time-outs if misbehaviour is constantly repeated.

4. Ask yourself if your child is getting enough attention from you. You may not realise it but you may have been extra busy lately.

5. Allow her some control. She may be less likely to throw a tantrum if she knows that she can negotiate certain things with you.

6. Listen actively. Allow her to explain her feelings. Don’t jump in with your own conclusions.

7. Keep objects (like certain toys or cookies) that bring on struggles out of sight. When she doesn’t see them, she may be less likely to make demands.

8. Distract her by introducing a new activity or by bringing her out. This will help her forget the forbidden activity sooner.

9. Establish regular routines that include ample time for active outdoor play as well as rest.

10. Don’t make everything off-limits. Consider her request carefully, and if you feel that it is not too outrageous, accommodate it.

11. Learn to observe and understand her limits.

12. Avoid squeezing in one more errand when you’re out together if it is obvious that she is tired, hungry or sleepy.

13. Present a united front when both parents are disciplining the child. You may need to be extra firm if the reason is a health or safety issue. Show her that rules are rules when it comes to her well-being.

14. For serious issues, get help while the child is still young as it will take time for intervention to work.

15. Join a parent support group if you think you need more help coping.

16. The best defence: Nothing is more helpful than keeping a cool head. By exercising self-control, you are showing your child that you are working with her, and not against her, to achieve a solution. Whatever the problem, she looks to you for guidance. At the same time, never give in to difficult behaviour or hold a grudge. Your reaction will be crucial towards how she handles difficult situations in the future. So take a deep breath, think clearly and be ready with a smile and a reassuring hug when she shows that she understands.

Be alert, however, if your child’s outbursts are too frequent, if she is destructive or tends to hurt herself or others frequently. Seek medical advice as soon as possible to rule out psychological or mood disorders.

The Imperfect Parents

The Too Much Trap

• People who constantly eat on-the-run eat mindlessly, without paying attention to nutrition and calories. This can lead to weight gain and life-threatening diseases like diabetes, cancer, stroke or heart problems. Why spend all that time you saved recovering in a hospital?
• Daily breakfast—even if it’s only one small bowl of whole-grain cereal and low-fat milk everyday—cuts down cravings for empty-calorie snacks like candy
• Studies show that sit-down family meals—even if it’s only one meal that you eat together a day—helps children avoid drugs and alcohol, maintain closer ties with their parents, feel loved and wanted and improve overall quality of life. It helps parents prevent stress and depression-related illnesses too
• When you eat healthily in front of your kids, you are modelling good eating behaviour. As a result, they will learn to make healthy eating choices on their own for the rest of their lives.
• Healthy eating doesn’t require much effort. E.g. everyday, place a bowl of washed fruit and homemade trail mix on the table. Include cereals, nuts and raisins for everyone to help themselves.

2. Playtime is for all ages
Mums, by definition, lead tightly-scheduled lives. Our kids often juggle not only school but also enrichment classes and a tonne of other things we feel they “have” to get done every day. Inadvertently, all unfinished tasks will spill into free days like weekends. No wonder children act up! They become withdrawn and less and less light-hearted. They may be getting naughtier too. Even if we give them some playtime, we don’t give them our unwavering attention (I used to use my son’s playtime to complete housework). And hands up every mum who rushes her child to play quickly so that he can do something else? See?

When this happened in my home, we established a Healing Routine. I had the license to fit in whatever we had to do from Mondays to Thursdays as long as they were completed by 5pm. Son had two hours of playtime thereafter—one hour without me so that I could complete my housework and the other hour for playing board games or listening to music together. Fridays, after his half-day at school, we keep solely for unhurried playground visits, shopping, badminton, reading together or painting.

The benefits have been manifold:

3. Do less…make your child do more.

Dr Dan Kindlon, a Harvard psychologist, notes in his book Too Much of a Good Thing: Raising Children of Character in an Indulgent Age, that by doing so much for our kids, we might actually be harming them. He cites the example of a teenage girl who hopes her parents will shower her with more of their time and concern rather than credit cards and freedom.

Good parenting, experts say, is not so much about giving material goods or taking care of each and every need. Rather, they feel, we should equip kids with real-world tools to be self-sufficient. For instance, how to prepare a simple meal if mum is too tired to do so.

How to teach your child to be self-sufficient:

• Give any child who is above four years old minor chores to do around the house. E.g. picking up clothes or folding own laundry
• Any child who is older than five can be taught to fix a simple snack such as a peanut butter sandwich
• Resist the impulse to buy your child every new toy. Teach him to work for and save up for the toys he really wants
• Teach a young child to make little problems right by herself. Teach an older child to face minor problems in school by herself
• Discuss why you have rules. Even if you’re a liberal parent, help your child understand that the final word is always yours
• Relate stories about inspirational family members, historical figures or inventors and how they never gave up but conquered their challenges.

No family can be truly happy or successful if its anchor—usually the mother—is ill, stressed or depressed. By prioritizing your health and emotions, you will be prioritizing your family’s well-being too. When you’re happy and in good shape, your children will have the peace and security of knowing that you’re there for them.

There are many ways to take better care of yourself. The three steps outlined above are a good starting point. So don’t delay! Wondering how to beat the Too Much Trap now? Start this second by giving yourself a break!

Are you a princess? Yes!!!

So here are some pics of you and mummy taken with the princesses: Snow White, Cinderella & Aurora.. mummy had to stand in the queue while carrying you, and 2 big bags for almost 1 hour! Saw actress Xiangyun and her daughter there too:

I went down to the childcare centre to withdraw my girl, on my way there, I was actually wondering to myself, if I was too rash to call it quits so fast? I have read and heard about biting incidents in childcare, and children falling sick frequently… and of course I do know that the first few weeks will be tough for both parents and child.. but subsequently, the children will be able to adapt… anyway, as I reached the childcare, I met one of her group’s teachers at the door, the same person who apologised to me saying that they were short-handed on Wed (which I find is an excuse, the ratio is 2:11, how can they say they are shorthanded, when that is their usual ratio?) I told her I will be withdrawing Amanda, part of the reason is I dont want her to get bitten again, and guess what she said: "Are you SURE she got bitten?!?!" in a very sarcastic tone. She was there to witness the bite herself! And what does she mean by challenging me whether my girl was indeed bitten? And why did she even bother to keep apologising on Wed and then change her tone on Friday?? The principal then came out and talked to me, just letting me know about things that I already knew as stated above.. saying sometimes, kids bite as they are lacking in communication skills, or they want to play and socialise with other kids, maybe they meant to just kiss or hug the victim and not bite them? And how does she account for the bruise ard my girl’s eyes now? And that same boy bit another boy earlier until he bled, was that supposed to be a hug or a kiss that resulted in bleeding if it is not meant to be a bite?????!!!!!

Luckily I was there to see for myself that my girl got bitten, for all I know, if I were not there, they might jolly well tell me that my girl fell down on her own etc..

Hi darling,

You are now down with flu.. believed you caught the flu bug during those few hours that you spent in childcare.. remembered that Shannon wwas running all over the place with a runny nose… and you might have caught it from her… tried to get you to take your flu medication, and you struggled like MAD, totally refused to swallow.. you tossed and turned in our arms, screamed and cried hysterically, how are you going to get well if you refuse to take your medication? You had a mild fever of 37.5 degrees.. last check, went down to 37.1, lets hope it stays this way, as mummy is dying to bring you to takashimaya tomorrow to watch the elmo musical show!!!! Do please get well soon…

First day (26th Nov, Monday)

Reached there at 930 am, had to drag myself and bye there as we normally wake up at 1030 am.. well they were singing nursery rhymes and the kids seemed to be enjoying themselves, mimicking the actions of the teachers while they sang the songs, bye was a little apprehensive and kept sticking to me.. tried to get her to sit on her own independently and she kept shifting her little butt onto my lap.. then brought them out for outdoor play (playground). The ground was muddy and the kids were running all over the place, the teachers told me it is the norm for them to get dirty, so I try to be as hands off as possible.. and of course bye was extremely happy, running all over the place, going down the slides, climbing the stairs.. and in the process, she got 5 extremely red mosquito bites on her arms and legs.. and it is still very red now..

Baby Bernice (newly promoted from nuesery class) was sticking to me non stop.. she is so smal and she kept crying, and funny thing is that she didnt stick to any of the 4 teachers.. and she kept sticking to me, Issac’s mother (newcomer too) and the maid.. (it really makes me wonder why is she sticking to strangers instead of her teachers?) She just kept crying non stop, so pitiful.. so I carried her in 1 arm, and then tried to carry bye in the other, but guess I didnt carry bye the proper way, and she ended up vomiting her morning dosage of ribena and milk over my clothes and her tee shirt. I wanted to change her immediately but one of the teachers asked me if I want to wait as they were going to shower all of them in 5 mins time, ok.. sounds fair enough.. no point changing her then taking off her clothes in another 5 mins time.. and so I waited, 5 mins became 25 mins.. they even brought the kids inside the building to sing MORE songs. then brought them in for a shower, they were all made to sit on the little stools.. and wait for their turns.. and they showered bye the LAST among the 10 kids, so she was running all over the place with a tee shirt with vomit on… for almost 40 mins! Of course, toddlers being toddlers, tend to be curious about the place ard them, esp if it is a new environment, so bye went ard the bathroom, turning on all the taps, and of course I was behind her turning off the taps as she went along, and I could see this teacher, lets call her A, wasnt pleased at all when she did that, and she also doesnt strike me as a person who is patient with kids.. (anyway she doesnt even look like she is married with kids). And while waiting for her turn to shower, bye then wanted to check out the teeny sized toilet bowls.. I didnt want her to explore that area, but I kept my hold on her, and of course she struggled and screamed.. so I stood up and carried her instead.. and teacher A in a way told me off in quite a sarcastic tone: "mummy, you need not stand up, you can sit down you know?" So should I continue sitting down and allow my girl to play witht he toilet bowls, or hold on to her and let her scream her lungs away?

Well, the teacher showered Amanda, I was just next to bye when she was showering her.. she only washed her face, washed her body, and her face and ears were not washed at all…

Then the moment I was waiting for, lunch time, was waiting to see if Bye will eat due to peer pressure, she didnt leh, and even toppled the whole bowl of bee hoon soup on the floor, and teacher A’s turned super black.. even in front of me.. I cant help but wonder, what would she do or say to Amanda if I was not there?

Disappeared for awhile when the teachers brought bye tot he music room, and all the while she kept crying and kept calling out for me: "Ah Yi Ah Yi".. didnt have the heart to hear that, so I appeared and hugged her and brought her to United Square to walk walk…

My parents came and pick me up from US, and Amanda fell alseep in my arms, while waiting for them… brought her home and let her sleep on the bed while I rushed off to TPY hub to meet Esther.. I went home and my mum opened the door for us, and with Amanda in her arms, with a droplets of fresh tears on her cheeks.. then heard from my mum that she kept looking for "Ah Yi Ah Yi" the minute she woke up till I arrived home… my heart just ached so much… knowing how insecure she is.. and I was so glad that I have decided to hire a FDW to help me parents take care of her.. while I go back to work next yr…

2nd day (27th Nov, Wed)

Went down for Amanda’s 2nd dat at childcare this morning.. reached at 1030 am as we both woke up at 930 am… what happened today made me convinced that my decision to withdraw her from childcare is correct..

This boy (think ard the same age or at the most 24 mths) lunged forward and bite Amanda twice near both eyes… lousy mummy I was.. the first time he did that I thought he was kissing her.. as Amanda didnt cry and I didnt noticed any teeth marks, the 2nd time he did that, Amanda cried very badly (and somemore I was holding her), it just happened way too fast.. and the other parent who was there earlier, said that the boy bit another boy on the face earlier, and the wound bled.. Amanda wasnt clinging onto any of the teachers, she didnt snatch any toys from him, she didnt even go near him.. and yet she kena bitten by the boy.. not once but twice! The teachers said, he only does that to newcomers.. and maybe those who snatch or fight over toys with him… the teacher apologised saying they were short handed that day.. (and the ratio that day is 3 is to 11 kids! normally is 4 teachers to 11 kids) to me that is not an excuse at all.. I immediately applied zam buk to her bite, otherwise it would have been worse.. it was pretty swollen and red initially, and is much better now.. but the trauma I experienced is still there.. watching my own kid kena bitten for no reason at all.. and thus mummy and Amanda cried when that happened, and thus mummy was still crying when Amanda stopped crying..

Somemore that boy, Javan, has been with them since infant care at 3 mths old.. so what type of discipline did he really go thru I wonder? 

Check out the bite mark on my poor girl’s face, just 1 cm away from her eye..

Hi darling,

You will be starting childcare today! Mummy has already packed your bag for you:

1. 3 sets of clean clothes

2. bag for putting dirty clothes

3. diapers

4. formula milk (yes, I am still trying to get you to drink)

5. UHT dtuch lady chocolate milk & milo

6. towel

7. Your elmo and stitch toys

8. your cup and water bottle

Mummy will be there with you for the first 3 days.. and you will be on your own after that, but mummy has the option of withdrawing you from the school within the first 2 weeks.. I am feeling so much more relieved now that I have the option of withdrawing you from the school if you dont like it there (now, I am faced with the dilemma, what if you like it how?)

Daddy & mummy have hired a dosmestic helped by the name of Eti from Indonesia. She should be arriving b4 christmas.. it was a long and hard struggle.. we coped well (well, sometimes, not so well) without a maid, but somehow, we have reached the stage whereby we are so tired of being bogged down with housework.. that we believe we need additional help.. Wai po, mummy and daddy will still handle all the tasks related to you, like eating (I dont want to scare the maid away with your eating habits!), bathing, playing… she will merely assists us with the household chores..

DH attended this StandChart Dinner last Wed, and well was a pretty interesting night.. there are various booths being set up at the dinner, one of it was the geomancy booth… the geomancer said that we will have 2 daughters, One is of course ManTing and our other princess will be named Amelia (Foo Man Ling) - we thought of this name eons ago… No No, I am not preggie yet, though I wish I am! Still heavily breastfeeding, how to conceive?? (this mummy here is not ready to let go, not to say that the little one is saying "ah bah yi" umpteen times a day, takes 2 hands to clap and in my case, neither hand is willing to move even a millimetre) And that we will have our 2nd princess next yr! Haha.. well we shall see

I’m feeling at a loss now, should I withdraw bye from LV which she is due to start next Monday and employ a maid to help my parents out?

Maybe sometimes I shouldnt read too much into it.. looked thru the forum and read about those horror stories about maids.. sighz.. having cold feet now, actually dh and I went down to Nation Maid and kinda decided on this Indo maid, and the so called consultant was pretty pushy.. and perhaps she seemed to know we were pretty desperate to get a maid just b4 I am due to start work next Jan? This Indo girl is only 5 mths younger than me, 28 years old this year, worked in Sin b4 for a year for an Indo/Sporean family.. has 2 kids.. well.. read thru the rest of the biodata… cant really believe everything I see there.. actually made up our minds to go down to the agency to ‘book’ her first thing in the morning.. dont know whether we should rush into it or still spend some time looking ard?! Initially we wanted Filipino maid, but changed our mind after being advised bt the consultant about the off days thingie…

Hi darling,

Here are some updated pictures of you:

Captured you on video, one showing how you behaved during dinner, and another one of you eating your fav food: fruits.. see the difference:

Video of you eating your normal meal:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAhEzKoO55c

Video of you eating fruits!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3VMLE99RmE

Why aren’t you eating again? You havent eaten much since yesterday, tried feeding you your fav soup with rice and you pushed the bowl so violently until the soup landed all over mummy’s legs.. gave you your fav bananas and you refused to eat more than 1 teeny weeny bite, normally you will gobble up the banana.

I even had to resort to bringing you to the provision shop and let you choose what you wanted to eat, and yes, you chose the meiji yam yam biscuits with chocolate dip and you liked it very much but mummy didnt let you finish the entire contents.

Brought you home, played mega bloks with you, changed your soiled diapers and you threw a tantrum and flinged your diapers (with the poo and all) ontp the bed!! Luckily it didnt get soiled…

Are you teething? Are your molars coming out? Or you knew that you will be going to childcare soon? Or you know that your breastfeeding journey is coming to an end soon? I am really at my wits end, really hope that you will be able to tell me what you want… and how you are feeling..

Before I was a Mom

I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.

I didn’t worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.

I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom - I had never been puked on.

Pooped on.

Chewed on.

Peed on.

I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.

I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom - I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests.

Or give shots.

I never looked into teary eyes and cried.

I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.

I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom - I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn’t want to put him down.

I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn’t stop the hurt.

I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.

I never knew that I could love someone so much.

I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom - I didn’t know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.

I didn’t know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.

I didn’t know that bond between a mother and her child.

I didn’t know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom - I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.

I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.

I didn’t know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom.

Hi darling,

You managed to poo into the potty last night! Good job done! You looked into the toilet bowl and made a disgusted look and kept saying: "Yeeee" Mummy gave you your 2nd star on your potty book, the 1st star you received was for peeing into the toilet bowl last week!

You will lie down and pretend to snore when we ask you: "How do you sleep"

You will make the airplane flying in the air when we ask you: "What does an airplane do"

You will make a helicoptor sound and mimick a helicoptor in the air when we ask: "Wjat does a helicoptor do"

You will bark like a dog, meow like a cat, moo like a dog, snort like a pig when we ask you what do these animals say

Hi darling,

You managed to poo into the potty last night! Good job done! You looked into the toilet bowl and made a disgusted look and kept saying: "Yeeee" Mummy gave you your 2nd star on your potty book, the 1st star you received was for peeing into the toilet bowl last week!

You will lie down and pretend to snore when we ask you: "How do you sleep"

You will make the airplane flying in the air when we ask you: "What does an airplane do"

You will make a helicoptor sound and mimick a helicoptor in the air when we ask: "Wjat does a helicoptor do"

You will bark like a dog, meow like a cat, moo like a dog, snort like a pig when we ask you what do these animals say

Hi deardear,

You will now answer the following questions with the answers below:

Q1. Are you a princess?

A1: YES!

Q2: Are you a good girl?

A2: Good. Then point to yourself.

Q3: Are you a boy?

A3: NO!

Q4: Are you a naughty girl?

A4: NO! & you will shake your head or you will simply keep quiet

Seems like each mealtime is a battle between you and I.. and your fav words during mealtimes is ‘I DONT WANT!!!’ even b4 you’ve had your first bite… and you will repeat those words almost a hundred times a day.. during breakfast, lunch and dinner.. you will throw food, utensils off your high chair, fling your munchkin cups onto the floor, spilling water / milk all over the place and struggling to get out of the high chair…

When will you start to eat readily?

Been addicted to facebook! Argh! Its kinda fun, with lots of applications to play with, but I should not neglect updating Manting’s blog…

You were ultra clingy to mummy the past 1 month or so, you will wave your hands at Ah Gong, Wai Po and even daddy sometimes when they want to carry you over from my arms, there were times when you will kick up a hugh fuss, screamed and cry and hug mummy even harder when they tried to carry you.. maybe bcos you know you will be entering childcare soon? 26th of November!! Perhaps you know you wouldnt be able to have ‘Ah Bah Yi’ (next time I must ask you what you mean by Ah Bah Yi, you always say this whenever you want to latch on) or is it that you know mummy will be going back to work very soon? Trust me, I am not looking forward to either of these.. but I guess I just have to 忍着心 … for the good of everybody… I just want to let you know that, by sending you to childcare, mummy deciding to go abck to work, it is by no means that I love you any lesser.. it will be good for you to learn how to be more independent.. to socialise around, make friends and learn things in school.. You have absolutely no idea how much mummy loves you, adores you.. my little princess, my little angel..

Being a mum, esp a full-time mum, you must be damn bloody good at multi-tasking.

This funny signboard that I came across on the internet!

Attended the shichida home practise session earlier.. which came at the right time as I was running out of ideas to do home practise with Amanda. What other stuffs could I do with her besides flash cards and reading of books? She seems totally bored with her flash cards now, will attempt to run away whenever I try to flash to her.. and well maybe I find it a chore to try to keep her still while flashing.. thus that made her run all over the place and being disinterested, as she could feel the negative vibes from me and made her feel stressed.. alright! I should start enjoying each home practise session, bond with her.. continue telling her how much I love her.. as what the senior parent mentioned earlier, it is about the bonding, the close relationship btw parent and child, about how to become the loving parent who brings out the best potential in your child… random maths dots here I come, starting tomorrow!

Yeah, guess you must be rolling your eyes at me right now? Come on, you kiasu parent, give your child a break! But if you looked at it from another perspective, I am learning how to be a good parent! I am not going to force my child to memorise words, dots, etc… I am just helping her develop her right brain, and at the same time, fuel her hunger for knowledge about this big wide world that we all live in

Extracted from zaobao.com:

http://www.zaobao.com.sg/zg/zg071029_504.html

重庆讯）重庆女童月月（化名）才6岁，就已经会说英、法、日三种外语，被称为“语言小天才”。然而，一个月前，她却患了失语症，除了哭完全不会作任何表达，吓坏了父母。

　　《重庆商报》报道，自月月一岁起，她那对分别为英语教师和外资银行英、法语翻译的父母，就苦心训练她学外语。从她牙牙学语时，父母亲就用英语跟她对话。3岁时，月月就能用中文和英语进行日常对话。之后，她也陆续学习了法文和日文。因此，月月常常一句话里，夹着英语、普通话、法文和日语。

　　一个月前，月月却突然一语不发，只能用哭来表达。父母亲带着月月到儿童医院检查才发现，她得了失语症。原因是，年纪过小就学习多种语言，造成月月语言系统的混乱，而难以用一种单纯的语言来表达。

　　医生说，失语症是由大脑皮层语言中枢受损或变异而引起的言语功能障碍，而丧失文字语言理解力，及形成表达上的功能缺陷。好在发现比较早，只要通过一段时间的心理治疗就能恢复。

　　美国儿科医生和学能发展专家梅尔列文教授表示，中国一些儿童过早学习第二外语，只会让孩子混淆口音，并且造成思维混乱。

Compliments from TWW!

Pandan Chiffon Cake

Ingredients
6 egg whites
80g castor sugar
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
6 egg yolks
80g sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
5 tbsp corn oil
2 tbsp pandan juice
100ml thick coconut milk (can get those kara ones)
110g self-raising flour, sift

Pandan juice:
5-6 pandan leaves, cut into small pieces
3-4 tbsp water

Method

To obtain pandan juice, put pandan leaves and water in an electric blender and blend to a fine pulp. Strain the juice and measure out two tablespoonfuls for use.

Preheat oven to 180ºC. Whisk egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar in an electric mixer until just stiff.

Whisk egg yolks, sugar and vanilla essence until light and creamy. Add in corn oil, pandan juice and thick coconut milk. Mix well.

Stir in sifted flour and fold in carefully and gently to mix.

Pour egg yolk mixture lightly into the egg white mixture. Mix evenly with a metal spoon or a plastic spatula.

Pour batter into an ungreased 22cm tube pan. Bake in a preheated oven for 40-45 minutes or until cake is well browned and firm to the touch.

Remove cake from oven. Invert pan immediately. Leave to cool, then remove cake from pan with the help of a thin-bladed knife.

Went to Hainan Kor eatery near my place, well the food is pretty nice, very much like homecooked food.. was too tired to cook that day.. hubby was salivating at the picture of beef stew after we finished our food, so I promised to cook for him the following day.. hey! I cooked that once, looooong time ago, during one of my home economics classes hehe.. so I shall try to replicate what I cooked eons ago…

Beef Stew

Beef Stew cubes (300g)

Carrots about 2 sticks (cut into circles)

Potatoes (about 4 medium sized ones, cubes)

Tomatoes (get those diced ones in cans)

Hoisin Sauce (By lee kum kee)

Chicken Stock

Peas

1. Marinate the beef in hoisin sauce

2. Fry the carrots, potatoes for about 2 mins in olive oil.. then add the beef till it is brown on all sides

3. Add in the chicken stock and canned tomatoes and make sure that the ingredients are totally covered and leave it to boil in medium heat for 1.5 hours

4. Add in the peas 10 mins b4 you are done with the above

4. Serve with rice!

Yummy!

Hubby was telling me that Amanda was sleeptalking last night, saying kick, kick and really kicking her legs at daddy, maybe cos we were playing with her b4 she slept, she was kicking the soccer ball flash card that we showed her b4 bedtime.. and I thought she wanted to latch on so i tried to turn her around, too late, she woke up and cried really loud, wanting the comfort of the breast. Buy dh was determined not to let her be so reliant on me.. so he took her out and ‘nia’ (hainanese for patting her to sleep) her to sleep,, she screamed and cried.. but eventually fell asleep.. and dh and Amanda went to sleep in the other room, and she only woke up once, looked ard for me and she fell asleep again.. ok.. I know it is time for me to wean her off the breast.. time to bite the bullet.. she is still sleeping now.. and I will prepare a cup of FM for her for breakfast.. bettter to start now than later as she will be entering CC next month.. and both me and dh are totally drained from the endless frequent night wakes for past 1 year… it is not going to be easy, it is going to be painful.. I will miss the close feeling of nursing her,.. hey! I have been doing that since day 1 when shes born! The closeness between mother and child in nursing is indescribable  let’s see if I am successful

Here is a video of Manting imitating Ric Flair!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3PMG5LS_MY

For those of you who do not know who Ric Flair is, he is the 16th time world heavyweight champion in WWE. Known for his ‘WOOOOH’ whenever he talks.. "All the while, Flair taunted his opponents with his famous “Wooo!” shout while boasting, “To be the man, you’ve got to beat the man; and whether you like it or not, learn to love it, ‘cause it’s the best thing going today!”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ric_Flair

Wanted to add the lookalike meter to my blog, but I have run out of photo space on friendster blog, but Amanda looks exactly like both hubby & me! Just what I thought too!

Just some thoughts, I was once a victim of name calling when I was in JC.. it was terrible.. simply terrible.. something that I do not wish upon anyone else, esp on Amanda. I will not hesitate to jump to her defence should she be subjected to any form of bullying, name-calling or any types of comments that belittle her in any way. Why is the world such a cruel place to live in, I wonder sometimes? It is scary to learn of kids bullying other kids, and even adults making uncalled derogating remarks on little kids! And it does make me wonder, are all humans really born pure? Or are their characters really moulded from the society and the environment that they live in? I really cant bear the thought of leaving Amanda in childcare when the time comes for her to enter childcare, in exactly 1 month from today! I know I cant protect her forever, but I will like to protect her from the harsh world at least for the first 3 years of her life. She is such a happy, cheerful girl.. and it will really tear my heart apart if she were to get bullied or belittle by others at this tender age

It makes me mad, just to think of this girl, who pushed my girl out of my girl’s play yard, almost made her fall, snatched toys from her, demanded to have everything that my girl was holding onto.. and best part, her mum seems to think that there is nothing wrong! And I will make sure that my girl will not end up like her! Will educate her to learn to share her things with others. I will want her to grow up to be as confident as her daddy, and hopefully not like me at all in this aspect.

Why issit that people like to compare what their children can do? I dont go around telling everybody that, hey, my girl knows about 100 words at 18 mths, my girl knows all her ABCs and 123s.. etc… etc.. and I no longer need to flash cards to her quickly as she wants to read the words off the cards herself. Even if I do make the above remarks, it is to share with others how I helped her.. and not to ’show off’.. I am confident in my girl’s ability, and there is really no need to make comparisons with other kids and I need not broadcast it to the rest of the world.

Found a good place for people to bring their kids along while they sit down for a drink or 2! Ordered strawberry margarita (yeah, this is the only drink I like now) and hubby ordered a pint of hoegarden, and all for just $20! The margarita is strong and it came in a big mug, and best of all, there is no dress code.. you can just walk in a order, no entry fee and you can bring your child along, no need to fret about who to leave your child with when you go for a drink… Not to mention that they have a fantastic menu of american food to choose from!

Daddy & Manting at Brewski Botak!

Hi deardear,

Mummy bought some apples and pears and left in on the dining bench… kept it in the fridge after awhile, and got a shock when I noticed one of the apples had been bitten into… for a moment, I thought either the rabbits ate the apple or we had a rat roaming ard in the house, then came to the conclusion that it muct have been you haha! Mummy did notice that you were standing suspiciously around the dining area where the apples were placed.. so you were the ‘rat’ who ate the apple from the plastic bag!

Tried to potty trained you as I thought I heard you said ‘Mmm..’ so took off your diaper pants and made you sit on your potty, while reading the potty book, of course, you refused to sit down the proper way, you turned ard and put your feet into the hole and sat down the opp way, with you backside hanging outside! You got bored after a while and started walking ard with a bare bottom, and you pee right outside the potty and started playing with your pee happily! Making the swimming action / playing majong action on the floor!!! Of course mummy had a hard time cleaning up after your mess!

Your developmental milestone @ 19 months

You can recognise most of the numbers from 1 - 10! You will say the numbers out loud when you see the numbers or words.. with the exception of 1, 9 & 10

You definately know ALL your alphabets by now!

You know the following words: yellow, moon, door, yes, sir, full, goose, pig, rabbit, cookie, sock, clouds, house, tree, egg, fish, girl, dreams, dots, shapes. etc etc

Name? Most probably hoppy

White rabbit: Bit (this is how Man Ting calls her)

Brown one: Hoppy

Do I look pretty in red?

I love to play with my baby einstein alphabet books!

Hey! Im a big giri now! Can sit on the chair on my own!

Daddy teaching me the names of the fruits and I know almost all the fruits!

This is how I look like when I am about to give mummy a kiss!

Hi dear,

Wah! Your stickiness is at its peak now! Mummy cant even leave the bed in the middle of the night just to visit the toilet, you will scream and kick until I go back to the bed. You woke up at 9 am this morning and stick to mummy worse than super glue.. I turned on the vcds to you to watch in the living room, and I then walked towards the study room, and you started whining and followed me.. and as I was tapping at the computer, you kept tugging at me, wanting me to put you on my lap… so this went on till 3 pm when you were having your afternoon… you almost drove me crazy with your whining… but you made up for it by kissing mummy on the cheek

This was what you had for lunch today, teriyaki chicken rice.. but you didnt really enjoy it.. *sigh*

You can now kiss daddy & mummy when asked to, or you will simply surprise us with a kiss! You really made our day when you peck us on the cheeks earlier tonight…

You recognise and pronouce the words: keys, egg, etc

Hi deardear,

Brought you and Nicole Jie Jie to The Animal Resort on Sunday 7th October and both of you had lotsa fun playing with the rabbits, guinea pigs, geese, goats, peacocks and kois. We are allowed to purchase food for the animals at 3 packs for $2. Here are some pictures as taken:

It is rabbit feeding time!

Are you snapping pics of me?

Cute rabbits and guinea pigs!

Nicole Jie Jie holding on to the baby bunny

I also want to hold the bunny!

Mummy feeding the bunny, did you notice the chicken too?

  Feeding the geese!

Feeding the goat with bread! You are the only person who dares to feed the goat at such a close range! My brave girl!

Feeding the kois from the bridge!

See how happy you were?

Admiring the parrot!

You can now bark like a dog, neow like a cat, snort like a pig, roar like a lion, moo like a cow and scratch like a monkey too!

You love cold things.. you love to touch cold things and then say "cold cold ah" with a very strong cantonese accent

The weather has been very warm these few days.. woke up early (8:15 am) on a sat morning to eat prata with hubby… of course had to bring our little princess along. She was grouchy.. think she still wanted to sleep somemore.. gave her raisin bread and it all ended up on the floor, gave her her bottle of FM in her munchkin dora straw cup and met with violent reaction from her.. though she did managed a few sips in the end… pushed her to the market after prata to collect her cod fish from the fish auntie (who kindly keep a portion for me every sat) bought some other food stuffs too… went back home.. and I prepared winter melon soup cum porridge for the little one.. and pack the stuffs from the market.. both me and hubby stink.. esp me.. smelling of fish.. and the little one was whining away all the time.. climbed up and down the tables and chairs, took her vcds and threw it all over the place.. and did I tell you that she destroyed her fav ‘wheels on the bus" vcd, vol 2, that one with the incy whinsy spider? Had a buy a new one for this destructive tornado…

Latched her to sleep. She is sleeping right now, as we are waiting for her to wake up to eat her porridge.. another major task to overcome.. hubby was saying he knows how I feel.. we are dirty, sticky, smelly, but no point bathing now as we will get all dirty when feeding her and showering her.. can only sit and wait for her to wake up and "mum mum" cant wait for my granny and aunt to come by so we can rest a little…

Why did the cat run so fast? I was trying to catch up with it?

ARMS UP!

Sitting on Brendan Di Di’s new toy!

I love slides!

What’s that on the floor?

Its a red circle!

  I want to drink the lassi! Cold Cold ah!

Hi Deardear,

An update on your developmental milestone @ 18.5 months

You can pronounce almost all the alphabets! With the exception of J, U, Q, and V. You will confidently say out the letters when mummy show you the Alphabets! Good Work!

Mummy no longer flash the cards to you as quickly as before, cos you will want to say out some of the words yourself: Like talk, tall, put, walk, red, horse, nose, head, hand, toes, ear, star, spoon, bowl, water, door, tea, red, cup, dish, moon, block, block, hat, close, eat, drink, girl, eye, sit, walk, hair, fish, hug, sock, heart, leg, toes, ball, kick, nurse, up, sheep, clock, grapes, egg, star, heart, cup, spoon, fork, cant remember off hand all the words that you can recognise and pronounce now!

You can also make the associated sounds or actions when you see the following words: baby, cow, lion, nap (you will snore!), monkey, toes, stomach, finger, arms up, pig, rabbit, stop, etc etc…

Daddy made a remark this morning: Man Ting is soo small but yet so powerful

Outing to the Singapore Zoological Gardens (short form: Zoo)!

~ 24th September 07

Hi Darling,

Brought you to the zoo on 24th September, just 1 day b4 mummy’s birthday.. daddy applied for leave just to spend the first 3 days of the week with us, brought you to the zoo cos you accumulated 10 stars stars for good behaviour during mealtimes. However, you seems to be really really tired that day, but nevertheless, you managed to view the animals in real form, other than those in your Little Animal Book:

I love the kangaroos!

Let me try to climb over the fence and join the kangaroos hopping away!

The white tiger parading in front of us!

Mummy, you and the baboons with the red asses!

You & daddy and the elephants!

Check out the pretty pony!

Your fav sheep and goat!

You & mummy, after feeding the goats!

See how tired you were? Taking your power nap, why power nap, cos daddy & mummy woke you up to pat the horse!

Daddy, you, and Mr Horse!

You sitting on the swing!

You enjoy going down the slide!

Check out the zebras!

Tall tall giraffes!

Check out the lion and his 3 wives! Daddy was saying the Lion has a really good life.. having 3 wives..

You & the resident Bird

Today is daddy’s birthday! 28TH September! Mummy’s birthday just passed, it was on 25th September..

Shall update here at a later date

IHOP Buttermilk Pancakes

1. Preheat a skillet over medium heat.
2. Mix all of the ingredients until smooth.
3. Melt a little bit of butter in the pan. Can also use normal cooking oil.
4. Pour the batter by spoonfuls into the hot pan, forming 5-inch circles.
5. When the edges appear to harden, flip the pancakes. They should be golden brown.
6. Cook the pancakes on the other side until they are also golden brown.
7. Enjoy.

Buttermilk is the secret ingredient to fluffy pancakes. U can get it in cartons at Cold Storage or Giant. Haven’t seen it at NTUC though

Watch my fav toy in action! (Many thanks to 大舅舅for bringing this back for me!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrIgi9ZKkFk

Amanda will walk round and round in circles whenever the spiderman and friends song is being played!

Cornstarch Paint

Ingredients

Food colourings
one cup of cornstarch
three cups of water

Instructions:
Boil water in a pan.
Dissolve cornstarch in a bowl with tap water.
Remove the boiling water from the heat then add in the cornstarch mixture.
Put on the stove to boil again and stir CONSTANTLY.
Boil about one min, until the mixture is clear and thick then remove from heat.
Once mixture starts to cool, you can put in different bowls and add different colourings.

Non-cooked Paint

Ingredients

Two cups of white flour
Two cups of COLD water
Food colouring

Instructions:

Place water into a large bowl. Add the flour SLOWLY while you stir. Once they are all mixed together, you can separate into smaller bowls and add food colouring.

Found these recipes off the forum, and decided to put it up here so I can have easy access to it:

HOME-MADE CHIPS

2 large potatoes
2 sweet potatoes
extra-virgin olive oil (for brushing)
a pinch of dried oregano

Preheat the oven to 190 degree C. Keeping the skins on (if organic), chop the potatoes into thick chip shapes. Brush on both sides with the oil and sprinkle with the oregano.

Bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes (longer if you are doing a larger quantity), turning once or twice to prevent sticking, until the chips are golden-brown and soft in the middle.

SHEPHERD’S PIE (for 8 portions)

1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large onion (peeled and chopped)
1 small red pepper, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
500g lean minced lamb
300ml chicken stock/beef stock
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp yeast extract
1 tbsp tomato puree
1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
175g mushrooms, sliced

MASHED POTATO
1kg potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
45g butter
4tbsp milk
salt and white pepper

Warm oil in pan. Add onion, red pepper and garlic. Saute until softened. Add meat. Saute until browned. If desired , transfer cooked mixture to food processor and chop for few seconds under pulse setting.

Transfer meat to sauceopan and add stock, parsley, yeast extract, tomato puree, Worcestershire sauce and mushrooms. Cook over a medium heat for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, boil the potatoes in lightly salted water until tender, then drain and mash with 30g of butter and the milk. Season to taste.

Arrange the meat in one large dish or in individual ramekins, cover with the mashed potato and dot the topping with the remaining butter. Cook in the preheated oven for 20 mins.

FISHY RICE

1 cup of brown rice
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 x 200g tin wild red salmon or tuna (in water or oil, not brine)
1 x 200g tin sweetcorn (no suger, no salt)
a handful of chopped parsley
a little butter or unhydrogenated margarine

Wash the rice thoroughly and cook in a pan of boiling water for 25-30 mins until cooked.

Meanwhile saute the onion in the oil until transparent. Put the onion in an ovenproof dish. Add the cooked rice, fish, sweetcorn and parsley. Dot with butter or unhydrogenated margarine and heat in oven for 20 mins, at 160 degrees C before serving.

wDead tired when hubby went off to work in the morning, only managed a feeble goodbye and fell back asleep.. totally exhausted from last night’s night wakings…

10 am: Amanda woke up and refused to go back to sleep, so no choice but to force myself to wake up too

Prepared formula milk for Amanda (120 ml) but think at the most she only drinks 60 ml most of the time, once a day). Packed her crackers and biscuits along for the trip to the wet market.. (helps to save some time eating on the go)

1045 am: Reached the wet market, and loaded my tank (it is actually the flimsy, easily toppled combi pram) with food.. to cook for lunch and dinner

1130 am: Reached home and started preparing Amanda’s lunch (pork ribs soup with carrots, tomatoes and potatoes with porridge)

1145 am: My parents arrived! *hurray* that freed me some time to prepare her food, without her whining away at the baby gate in front fot he kitchen door

Ate my own lunch, season the meat for dinner, surf the net while waiting for the porridge to be cooked

1245 pm: Turned on wheels on the bus (yes, have decided to let her watch tv while eating again) must the the one with itsy bitsy spider… and surprise! She ate readily…finished within 30 mins.. couldnt believe my luck!!

1.15 pm: Showered Amanda and let her roam abt for awhile, b4 latching her to sleep at 2.15 pm

Finally had some time to myself! Surf the net again, answered emails.. , pack the house.. etc..

4 pm: Went out to buy drinks and snacks for my parents

430 pm: Sat down and chi chat with my mum for awhile, while my dad disturbed Amanda from her sleep (!!?!) and she woke up..

Played with her, flashed cards, sang nursery rhymes (baa baa black sheep, hey diddle diddle and little miss muffet) over and over again.. *she simply LOVES the mother goose series, that comes with the audio cd

530 pm: Started preparing dinner.. baked lemon chicken & claypot vege.. and I only finished cooking at 715 pm! *dead tired* good timing cos hubby came back at that very moment too

Packed food for my parents.. they went home

We ate, coaxed Amanda to eat on her own (more of her daddy doing that) while she flinged the rice ALL over the place.. some landed on the anchestral area, some landed on the walls, some landed in her prams and most landed all over the floor.. so I had to clean the kitchen area.. the dining area, go down on all fours to try to find the fallen grains of rice.. and by the time Im done, it was…

915 pm (3 hrs 45 mins, just to cook, wash, feed) and was so tired..

Hubby showered the naughty one.. and we played with her and I managed to make her sleep at 11 pm (one of the earlier timing)

Chit chat with hubby for awhile.. ended arguing over Amanda’s eating habits..

1045 pm: Hubby fell asleep.. while I couldnt so decided to update this blog

Hmm.. actually it was not such a typical day.. I will normally have to enter the battlefield with Amanda during lunch, with the spoons, bibs, fruits, porridge, stand-by towel, wheels on the bus as my warfare, while facing the empty handed Amanda..

Tiring? - Yes! Extremely!! Hubby said I am Amanda’s slave.. but the psychotic part of me actually enjoys being her slave most of the time

Boring? - Its does get to me sometimes.. but I have already moved on to another stage in my life.. had ‘played’ enough, those clubbing times etc.. will look back with a smile, fond memories.. and that is that.

Rewarding? - Absolutely! Nothing beats being able to spend quality time with my daughter

Any regrets being a SAHM? - Not at all! Would love to be SAHM all the way.. but… some things are beyond my control

This is what happens when I tried out my bowl of rice on my head as a hat!

See how excited I am!

I’m wearing the puma shoes that 三姑 bought for me in Taiwan. Daddy is telling me that I can run like a puma whenever I wear this pair of shoes, so I like to wear it very much

Posing for the camera while on the MRT

I like to go to the market with Mummy in the mornings, cos I always get to sit in the ‘pooh car’ that moves to and fro on our way back home

See how excited I am!

Me and Daddy taking pictures with the rabbits outside the Learning Lab

I like playing with the abacus!

Song from the Shichida Class:

"10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100" repeat x1

I can count by tens

I dont need any paper or any pens

Beacuse I can count by tens

With my eyes closed

"10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100" repeat x1

No, I am not for sale

I want to be a train captain when I grow up

See me operate the controls!

Is your child a picky eater? If your child is reluctant to eat common foods or try new food to an extent that disrupts daily routines and causes problems for both you and your child, then he might be a picky eater.

A recent survey* revealed that 41% of Singaporean mothers think their child is a picky eater and that most of them have difficulty incorporating habits that help ensure their picky eaters obtain all the nutrition he needs.

Here are some tips to help you manage your little picky eater:

• Try exciting new foods to keep your child interested (you may try out the recipes below!)
• If your child likes the way you prepare a certain dish, try preparing other foods the same way
• Chop or mince unfamiliar foods finely and add them to your child’s favourite dishes
• Cook favourite meats or vegetables in new ways
• Keep ‘junk’ foods out of your house as they are low in nutritious value and will spoil your child’s appetite for more nutritious foods

If you are still worried that your child might not be getting all the nutrients he needs, you may also try a supplement such as PediaSure Complete.

PediaSure Complete provides complete and balanced nutrition with all the essential vitamins and minerals, nutrients and micronutrients that can be lacking if your child is picky or has a poor appetite. It also contains Taurine and Choline to support your child’s overall mental development as well as AA & DHA Precursors, the building blocks of the brain and eyes. The presence of FOS (a prebiotic) and probiotics in PediaSure Complete also helps to maintain a healthy digestive system which is essential for the absorption of nutrients.

Here are some interesting PediaSure Complete recipes you can try to make eating fun for your little picky eater:

Hi deardear,

You can now imitate a dog’s bark "woof woof" this seems to be your fav word at this point in time

You have been saying this for quite some time but mummy tends to forget that you can say: "cold cold ah" whenever you touch something cold. There was this once when you woke up in the morning, with the blanket kicked far away from you, and you hugged your arms and looked at me and said "Cold!"

You can also say the words:

Socks

Bib

Tree

TV

Comb

- Will update this once I get my mind cleared up, trying to keep my eyes open now, at 1:30 am in the morning….

You are now trying to help mummy around the house. You will use the magic clean broom to sweep the floor, use the cloth and wipe the floor, tables, etc. You are also learning how to dress yourself now.. well done!

Your sensei Wanting at the Shichida class gave out a developmental chart (which was derived from the long list of questions that mummy answered when you were 16 months old, and at 16 months old, your development was comparable to that of a 23 mth old, in terms of physical, linguistic, cant remember the other 2 offhand now.. mummy is soo soo proud of you!

You can now point to these objects when asked:

Floor

Grass

Tree

Bike

Air Con

Backside

Mummy was very mean to you earlier, I was drinking my daily 2 cups of Anmum breastfeeding milk in the dining hall when you walked all over the house, looking for me, and calling out for me, you seemed to be calling mummy by the name of "Ah Yi" which is what Ah Gong and Wai Po calls me.. so off you went into each room, and into the living room  dining room and you even looked thru the baby gate at the kitchen entrance, calling out for me, and I was hiding behind the kitchen cabinents.. you thought that I wasnt at home then and you started crying out loud.. in despair.. well, I couldnt  bear to disturb you any further and came out and gave you a tight 8 secs hug

Here is a list of your fav things or actions @ 17.5 months old

Fav food: All fruits! Esp grapes and apples

Fav Book: Mother Goose’s nursery rhymes Book: Baa Baa Black Sheep & Little Miss Muffet

Fav VCD: Wheels on the Bus

Fav Toys: Flashcards

Fav Activity: Climbing up and down chairs, sofas and table tops

Fav Animal: Cat

Fav mode of transport: Car

Fav Words: Car, Cat, Clock

Fav Shape: Star

Fav Song: The ABC Song

Fav Drink: Neh Neh!

Hi deardear!

Mummy can finally upload more images of you, cos I hit the limit of 50 pics for the month of August.

Pics of you and daddy eating apples together

Pics of daddy playing ‘monster game’ with Nicole Jie Jie & you

Hi darling,

Just when I thought I am starting to have it easy 2 nights ago when you only woke up once, you woke me up multiple times (until I lost count) last night, and treated mummy as a human pacifier.. you will yell whenever mummy unlatches you.. and finally mummy let daddy pacify you while you were screaming for me… let you cry for awhile and gave up after awhile, brought you intot he rooom and latched you on again and mummy tried to move to another side of the bed when you unlatched yourself.. You screamed the very minute I tried to get off the bed.. so I had no choice but to lie very still in bed while waiting for you to fall deep asleep

Hi darling,

Why aren’t you eating again? Seems like you like to bully mummy right? Anyway, you hardly ate anything for the past 1 week or so.. was feeding you your lunch this afternoon, and as usual.. faced extremely strong resistence from you, and you deliberately threw your toys and food off the highchair, and before you throw the items, you made sure that I was looking at you b4 you threw it.. mummy then cried in frustration.. and you got a fright and started crying too.. so mummy picked you up and pacified you and played flashcards with you instead.

Wai Po came and out of desperation, we fed you our fried rice and you liked it! You refused to be fed using your own spoons and only wanted to eat using the plastic disposable spoon. Mummy went to rest for awhile and Wai Po was trying to feed you, but you wanted to feed yourself. Mummy then came to take a look at you, and guess what? You immediately threw the spoon on the floor from your high chair AGAIN! Seems like you only do this to me huh?

Can go crazy trying to feed you

Ok, mummy has been a little lazy in updating your developmental milestones to date, so here it is:

You can now say:

DADDY! (We didnt know for sure if you were calling for Daddy for past few weeks as you were saying "Ah-Di-Ah" all the way, except last night, when daddy went downstairs to start the car and you started crying out loud and called: DADDY many times when daddy walked down the stairs..)

Heart

Door (but dont know why you seem to pronouce it as Coor, you tend to replace the first letter of each word with the letter C)

Mole

Sock

Cake

Grapes

Dog

Arm

The Alpabets: M, F, R

Cook (short form for our dog, cookie)

Sweet

Fish

Kick

Ball

Cup

I don’t want! (And you will shake your head vigorously)

You recognise the words and point to the correct items or body parts when asked:

Shoulders, knees, toes, arm, hand, eyes, nose, mouth, teeth, tongue, ears, hair, head, bellybutton, feet

Tree, grass, television, window, stars in the skies, moon, cant remember the rest off my head now

You can now build a tower of 5 blocks..

Daddy just started a sticker system for you now, for every cup of formula milk you drink or if you finish your meals fast, daddy willl award you with 1 star sticker. And you will receive a reward if you hit 10 stars. Now you have 3 stars, and Daddy & Mummy will bring you to the zoo once you hit another 7 stars!

You can now get on the toy car and step on the pedal and get it moving.. you can climb onto the tricycle too! Best of all, you are climbing onto everything else now, you climbed onto the exersaucer, tried standing on it then climbed into the seat and then climb out.

You can also floow a few steps commands without gestures now. Like "Pass the thing to mummy" ‘Dont throw the things on the floor" (but you never obey me and seem more determined to throw it on the floor" "Mummy pao pao" "Push the pram to mummy" "Bring the item to mummy" "Close the gate" ": Come here" etc etc..

Hi darling,

Mummy is such a bad, careless mummy.. I was mopping the floor after your dinner yesterday.. left you roaming around to play with your blocks in the living room.. and then you came RUNNING to me over the wet slippery marble floor.. and slipped you went.. and your head hit the cold wet floor really hard! You cried for what it seemed like ages.. and mummy really felt real bad and my heart hurts as if someone had inserted a knife into it and slowly twisting it around….. why didnt I leave you in the safety of the play yard? I told myself.. never again will I let such incidents happen..

    I love helicopters!!

Going to Macs is fun! Cos I get free balloons!

I love SNOOPY!

It is fun driving with the Tasmania Devil!

Read this off Yahoo: http://sg.grapevine.yahoo.com/comments.php?id=53&action=r

It all sounds oh so familiar! Couldnt resist a smile when I was reading through these:

The Mother-in-Law: You should not be walking around! Please lie down in your bed so that your womb does not ‘drop’.
The Mother: You must not lie down! Walking will help with recovery.

Hello mothers, does this sound familiar to you? Who was I supposed to listen to? Maybe next I would have to start rolling on the floor?

Everyone had a piece of advice to contribute to my little one and I, and I didn’t know who to believe. Initially, my husband and I had our own set of thoughts and principles, but our minds were soon clouded by a bunch of nonsensical comments. Who was actually right - the books we had read, or advice from our mothers and friends who had been through the whole song-and-dance? Perhaps it would have been helpful if I had joined a community for mothers, like the Singapore Nursing Mothers’ Group.

I started thinking that the real culprits behind post-natal blues are really our mothers, not our babies. After all, babies are harmless - all they do is cry, poo, eat, sleep, and look so adorable. If you need help with handling depression, this may be a good place to find support.

The confinement period is something most women can’t avoid but, thankfully, I did! I escaped the ‘no showering, no drinking of water, and lots of ginger’ episode. I managed to convince my mother that since I was breastfeeding, these urban myths would have a negative impact on the baby. She soon gave up nagging me

A piece of advice for mothers-to-be and those thinking about motherhood - don’t freak out about labour pain. It is indeed painful, but you will soon forget about it. Take everyone’s advice with a pinch of salt. Every baby is unique and there is nothing wrong in putting into practice all the tips you read about while you’re pregnant. Be strong when relatives start nagging at you - just remember to do your best for your bundle of joy!

Time flies! You are now an active, smiley, inquisitive toddler, with a strong mind of your own.. though daddy & mummy are enjoying the responsive you now.. but we do kinda miss those times when you were little.. still remember the song that plays from your mozart in motion musical mobile? Daddy & mummy were so excited when we first noticed that you managed to grab one of the toys from the musical mobile, see it swirling away.. one of the first signs of your mobile developmental milestones.. and little did we know then your little hands will grow to become so ‘itchy’ grabbing everything you can see.. throwing things all over the place.. messing up the entire house in just minutes.. but we love you all the same.. you bring immense joy to our lifes.. though mummy does admit that it is tough taking care of you.. esp due to the fact that you are very difficult to feed.. the hard work and the fatigue that mummy develops from looking after you, immediately disappears the minute you smile at me or the ‘gian; look on your face when mummy asks you to come over for mummy to ‘pao pao’

Mummy’s long time sec sch friend came over to our place today.. and she brought along your friend Brendan.. to come along and plkay with you.. here is a picture of the 3 of you together:

Daddy is ill today.. he kena food poisoning in the afternoon and silly him, still continued working and came home in the evening with a fever of 38.9 degrees! You missed daddy and felt puzzled why he didnt play with you today.. you went near him and he immediately walked away (he didnt want to spread the virus to you if any) and you seem visibly upset.. but fatique got over you and you werent happy when mummy didnt pet you to sleep and still took pictures of you.. see your ‘black’ face here

I dont want to pose for the camera!

We were there from 13th August till 20th August.. quite a bad timing to go cos… we ended up in the middle of a typhoon season! The heaviest rain ever in 40 years greeted us as we reached Kaoshiong Airport.. that was after our plane was made to go in circles in the skies for about an hour as the airport was closed due to bad weather..

We first spent 2 days at your gugu’s place near kaoshiong (Monday & Tuesday), then left for Taipei via the HSR on Wed and we stayed there till Sunday.. our initial plan was to return to Kapshiong on Saturday but Typhoon Sepat caused the service halt of the HSR for the entire Saturday.. so the 3 of us were trapped in the hotel the entire day.. keeping ourselves updated with the news on the typhoon and kept ourselves entertained with the stupid but hilarious bra shows on TV (live demo on the usage of a new type of bra).

We then spent Sunday in Kaoshiong, went to the dream mall and spent sooo much time trying to feed you until we were left with only 1 hour to shop.. and we only ended up buying your toys and nothing for ourselves

On the plane from SIN to Kaoshiong via Silkair

As usual, you refused to sit still and ran all over the plane!

Mummy, you & Daddy

You, running along the aisle

Daddy & u

Daddy has to play left leg right leg up & down to keep you still on the plane…

We were at your 三姑’s place for 2 full days, didnt really go out as it was raiing cats and dogs.. so we decided to go over to Taipei as we heard that it wasnt raining over there.. so there you are.. with Daddy on the 高铁 (high speed rail) you were very unhappy that we stopped you from running all over the train.. but you started posing for the camera when you realised that mummy was snapping pictures of you..

You playing with other kids while on the train

We chanced upon this bridal shop in taipei which has the exact same chinese characters as your name! 曼庭

Yuo climbing on top of the lugguage again, despite falling from it a couple times b4

You trying to fit your foot into mummy’s crocs!

Picture of us outside Taipei 101, the tallest building in the world, with the fastest elevator too

Picture of Daddy kissing you

You running all over the place again!

Pretty pic of you and daddy with a flower arch in the background

Picture of us at the observatory floor on the 89th level of Taipei 101

   You & Daddy again

Bird’s eye view of Taipei

Picture of you and mummy, you were frustrated as you wanted to run all over the place but mummy was holding on to you

Biodata of one of the 2 balls that are used to stabilise the building

Finally managed to capture a photo of you sitting still

A cute pic of you wearing your bablegs!

Pic of you and daddy at Taipei HSR station

Dadddy chasing after you as you ran all over the station

Mummy & you

Pic of you and daddy walking besides the Kaoshiong dream mall bears

Daddy. you and your third 姑丈at a Jap resuayrant in Kaoshiong

Daddy, mummy, you and your 姑丈’s mother

You, daddy & your 三姑

You, mummy & 三姑

Mummy & you at your gugu’s house

Daddy, you & gugu again

Us!

Part of your gugu’s house in Kaoshiong

Your Gu Zhang’s bird cage…

Gugu, daddy and your 2 elder cousins, Yuwei & Yuxuan

Hi Darling,

Daddy & mummy are waiting for you to wake up from your beauty sleep now.. we are waiting for you to wake up so we can bring you to your po po’s house.. but seems like it will take a long while more b4 you decide to wake up.. as you have been running all over the place today, throwing the remote controls into a plastic bag, taking it out and putting it back and placing it at all corners of the house.. its no wonder that you are so tired now..

Yay! Mummy can start work in Jan 2008 instead! Im so happy!! At last there will be enough time for mummy to wean you from the breasts totally, to get you adjusted to life in childcare etc.. enough time for me to clear the stocks as well!

If I were to be given the chance to turn back the clock 10 years back, I will:

Marriage

1. I will still want to meet my hubby and marry him.. but this time.. I want to meet him earlier!

2. Trash out the "Guo da li" customs with both families FACE-TO-FACE and write everything down in black & white, will not make any assumptions

3. Choose to stay at a place nearer to my parents, as they are the ones who are able to help me take care of my kids

On Amanda

1. Not operate the online business at all.. big big mistake.. what is the point in being a stay-at-home mum, when I dont have much time to spend with my child?

……….to be continued…….

Sometimes I cant help but wonder why is it that today’s parents seem to encounter so much difficulties in bringing up their children? A good example will be that my granny could single handedly look after my 2 bros and myself.. (we are all 1 year apart in age), fed us, bathe us, and even make all 3 of us sleep at the same time while she slept with us too.. but today’s parents seemed to encounter much difficulties in even bringing up one child? Several reason I can think of (macham like writing a report back in Uni days)

1. Information Overload

We seem to be flooded by loads of info that we gather from various sources nowadays.. from the internet, forum, t.v., books.. which bombard our heads with new breakthrough research on how certain things, food, activity which is not so good for children / babies.. for eg: It seemed perfectly fine to ‘force feed’ a child in the past, scold them, smack them, in order to get food down into their little tummies.. but recent or perhaps not so recent research has shown that, such actions by parents might have detrimental effects on their tot’s eating habits later in life.. so are we expected to put on a mask and lovingly tell our tots in the event that they refuse their food: "its alright honey, its ok if you dont want to touch your lunch, you can go hungry and just live on milk or raisins the entire day" or spend each mealtime, entertaining them like clowns just to make them eat the food that we had so painstakingly prepared for them and end up totally drained out after each meal?

Thus, we (or sould I say, majority?) tend to get freakish over minor little things.. buckle under undue pressure.. like whether we have enough milk for the little ones as everyone (except our MILs or even our own mothers sometimes) said.. as BM is supposedly the best for our babies.. and whether adding in that one egg into their meals, will trigger off a lifetime allergy to food??

2. Society’s expectation

Seems like today’s society has evolved to have a more balanced sex equality in the workforce. But it seems like the working mother’s role at home, has taken on a bigger chunk of what is expected of her. She is expected to be a good employee at work, a good wife, a good mother, fillial daughter.. etc.. etc.. she is more often than not, the more hands-on parent than her spouse (or issit self-imposed?) With so many responsibilities falling onto the shoulders of a modern mom, it is no wonder that we are feeling the strain..

Just some thoughts.. thats all?! Solutions? None..

3. Easily available alternatives?

What happens when one feels the strain of looking after our own child? Here comes along other alternatives:

i. Domestic Help

People nowadays are generally more well-off than our parents back in the older days.. so we can afford to engage a domestic help.. to help take care of our children.. but in my opinion, getting domestic help is a good idea.. but not so, when one thinks that they can unload the responsibilities of looking after a child onto someone else. It came out in the papers not too long ago, that a mother was spotted along Orchard road, carrying loads of shopping bags, and walking behind her, was her maid.. carrying the child.. of course, it is easier to just hold on to the bags, rather than to carry a struggling squirming baby / toddler.. but who is to be blamed if the child gets mroe attached to the domestic help?

ii. Weekend Parents

Sometimes we dont have a choice.. esp when both parents work long hours.. thus, it seems more feasible to leave the child at their granny’s place, and parents only need to play the role of parents over the weekends, and then deposit the child back to their gramps house when the weekend is over. But, I have seen cases whereby both parents do not really work that long hours, they have their own transport, and they stay pretty near to the gramp’s house.. and yet do not bring their child back home during the weekdays.. is looking after your child at night really that difficult? How would you feel if your own parents had done the same to you? My ex-boss once mentioned to me that she was a weekend mother for the first 2 years of her daughter’s life, the child’s grandmother is the main caregiver.. but my ex boss experienced a slap in her face when her daughter was ill one day, and totally rejected her, while screaming non stop for her granny.. it was only then she decided to bring her daughter home EVERYDAY without fail..

iii. Childcare

DH was looking forward to placing Amanda in childcare.. which is very soon.. he has very good intentions for doing so as he just didnt want to see me so tired.. so stressed up over Amanda esp over her eating habits. He was hoping that the CC pple will be able to help dicipline her.. But, the thing is, can we really leave it to the outsiders to discipline our child? I am not so optimistic that all our problems are solved once she goes to childcare.. to me, being parents is not an easy task, and what makes a parent complete is a parent who gets to experience the sweet and bitter moments..

Please leave your comments here..

Not sure if I had posted this b4, quite forgetful nowadays..

You can now sing along to the ABC song! You will give us the yaya papaya look b4 we reach the letters O & S. You will happily say these 2 words and complete the song for us.. you will also be able to say the letter "A" after we finished singing: "Now I know my …" This is how the song goes:

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY&Z, now I know my A B C, next time won’t you sing with me.

You are also our "Gate Keeper". We placed a baby safe gate at the kitchen door and you will run to the door and close it whenever we ask you to or when you see that it is not closed properly

You will lift up your hands when we say Arms Up

You point to your arm when we say Arm

You will place the picture of the ball to your foot and kick it.

These are my own recipes.. tried it on Amanda.. and as usual.. depends on her mood, will eat or not eat sometimes.. but personally I find that these dishes taste pretty nice *thick skinned*

Pasta with meat & vege

DIced Chicken, beef, fish or pork

3 to 4 cubes of laughing cow cheese

Pasta

Broccoli

Carrots

A can of ready made pasta sauce (or you can make your own)

1. Boil the pasta in water until soft. Chop and set aside

2. Cook the meat & vege. Chop it up and set aside

3. Heat up the pasta sauce in a saucepan and add cheese and a little water until the cheese melts

4. Stir in the chopped pasta, meat and vege. Ready to serve

Mashed Potato Delight

1 medium potato

Chopped Meat (either chicken or tuna or salmon)

A few leaves of cabbage

Fresh Milk or formula milk

Cream Cheese

Fresh Mango (optional)

1. Boil the potato, remove the skin and mash it up. Add in the milk and cream cheese. Mix well and set aside

2. Boil the cabbage. And chop into small pieces. Set aside

3. Cook the meat and chop into small pieces. Set aside.

4. Set aside a small piece of mango, and chop into small pieces

5. Mix all the ingredients together, serve hot or cold

Hi deardear,

You are no longer a pangbaobao but a skinny baobao.. you dont want to eat.. so you are getting slimmer and slimmer.. even though you are not as chubby as before, but you are still the cutest baby in mummy and daddy’s eyes.. honestly speaking, I never really liked babies or young children in the past.. until I set my eyes on you.. every action of yours is so adorable, so irresistably cute.. though mummy gets mad with you when you refused to eat, and when you push the food away from you, toppling everything onto the floor..

Hi deardear,

We will be leaving for Taiwan on 13th August and will be back 1 week after.. will be going to Gao Xiong to visit your 三姑 and your 2 elder cousins. It will be quite an experience as we will be staying with her at her place in the rural area

Think I better catch some sleep while you are sleeping… otherwise I wont have the tiniest chance to catch any winks while you are awake!

Hmm… was trying to sync the 2 blogs but am unsuccessful in importing the posts from blogspot to frienster.. so do view the latest blog postings at http://hunniepot.blogspot.com/

Current wallpaper on my PC

Dont know why you liked going around wearing your hat over your face, till you cant see anything in front of you… You only agreed to wear the hat a little longer bcos we said the hat looks pretty on you..

Another picture of you wearing your hat

Pretty pic of you, but too bad, it is quite blur

U like to play wit the fax machine at the corner of the study room

Finally! A decent pic of you wearing a hat! A hat doesnt stay on your head for more than 2 mins

Aspiring Air-stewardess.. cant wait to promote you to leading stewardess.. *private joke with hubby ;> *

The hat is unwanted!

Close up pic

Pic of you on the slide, after you’ve had your MMR jab

Cute smile..

Mummy & Man Ting

I am a big girl now!

Love your cheeky smile here!

You were happily shouting CAR CAR when you were playing with the wheel

I want to play CAR CAR again!!

Choosing a title for the posting, quite a headache sometimes.. cos I simply do not know what I should pen down as the title.

Words from a fellow mummy:

Hey mummy,

Really like your latest blog posting, so much so that I simply have to pen my thoughts too.

Motherhood has drastically changed me. It made me realise that life is not about friday nights, about booze, about having fun, about achieving success at work and in life…. I am now more grown up and more matured (but hey, there’s always more room to grow) and I am now just about as ah-soh as you are. Amen to motherhood!

Cheers,
mummy of Brendan

Hee, well said! I am proud of being a mother. There was a period of time in my life whereby I was kinda scared of going into the "vicious cycle" Finish school, find a job, get married, start a family… and from then onwards, you literally plan almost everything ahead for your kids. Be it holidays, career, where to stay, catching a movie, planning for their education" I was telling myself then? Is there no other way out? Do I have to live my life like everyone else.. well.. guess I didnt understand why everyone then was living their life that way, my grandparents, my parents etc.. now that I am in their shoes.. I fully understand the reasons why.. COS of the unselfish love you have for your child / children

Well I realised that you must be in the mood in order to pen down your thoughts on the blog.. guess I should be in the mood now.. so get ready for a long posting.. provided that Amanda does not wake up soon and demand for attention.

Sometimes, I do feel really bad about myself.. why is it that I can throw tantrums at my parents, get easily irritated with whatever small things that they do.. for eg, I will just talk back when my mom chided me for forgetting to bring Amanda’s health booklet for her MMR jab earlier this morning. To me then, I cant help but feel irritated with the tone of her voice, it was like as if I had intentionally forgotten to bring it along. My parents have been giving me loads of support since I got pregnant till now.. my parents love my daughter, their granddaughter very very much.. and they are willing to travel all the way from JE to my place every weekday just to see her and also to lighten my workload.. my mum still gets concerned when I mentioned that I wasnt in a good mood.. and why is it that I tend not to be as concerned when she was not in a good mood? Guess we take our parents for granted.. why is it that we can put on a mask at work, or even with friends sometimes.. we do not take it to heart what others say about us and we can blow our top at our parents for the most minor thing ever? I am feeling really bad.. how would I feel if Amanda does that to me next time? Guess I would be really really hurt…

To be continued….

4 wonderful shots that I got of you smiling away!

Your developmental milestones: 23rd July 07

You are developing so fast that it is simply difficult to list down all the milestones that you have reached!

Showed the "My baby can read" flashcards to you last night and you can:

Sign baby, dog and hat when you see these words, without mummy saying it.

Sign head and hand when you see the words, but you tend to get confused with these 2 words

You pretend to brush your hair when you see the words "brush your hair".

You pull at your hair and ears when you see the word s"hair" & "ears"

You point to your nose when you see the word "nose"

Say the words: cup, cat, car car, clap, duck.

You know how to say the words: keys, fish & book

You now recognise the alphabets: T, S, V, U, e, O, A, a

We were playing with Manting on our bed on Friday night.. and Nigel decided to listen to Mambo Jumbo CD on the Bose system in our room. As the music was played, the 80s music beats got our limbs moving.. and we took turns to dance with Manting.. laughing and singing as we did that.. Nigel then mentioned he purchased that CD 10 years ago.. and I remembered myself listening to the same CD day after day when I was studying in Aust.. kind missed retro then as the aussie clubs all played techno and trance music.. a sudden realisation just hit us at about the same time.. just b4 we met each other in Dec 03, we normally hanged out at clubbing places on a friday night.. at least for me, I will be at Velvet on Fridays, with Esther & Xinhui and the ‘posers’ kinda fun to see how the ‘posers’ try to pick girls up, with the "spiderman moves" etc and the next day realisation that the ‘chio bu’ in Velvet wasn’t that chio afterall.. blame it all on the lightings, the smoke and the music… had fond memories.. shared lots of laughters.. well.. but those will remain as memories.. I have moved on.. and so have you Esther  right? (but I am definately much more auntie and Ah Soh than you)

I am enjoying my girl now.. and as what Shir had mentioned earlier via MSN, this is an indication that I have scored other goals in life (well said!) .. I am a mother now, a wife.. etc.. can no longer live my haphazard way of life as b4.. I am still trying to change, to adapt.. to this phase in my life…

You are always signing the word "hurt"

You are looking more like a demure little lady..

You love to go over to the tv console and ransack all the vcds that you can find!

Hi deardear,

May I ask you, what’s so nice about playing with your poo poo? Mummy was preparing your porridge for lunch yesterday, put you inside the playpen and let you play with your flashcards etc etc.. and when I was about to pick you up, I could smell the stench of your poo, and little do I know that you were actually playing with it! Some of your flashcards kena your poo, your littletouch leappad too, and your hands were full of it! Smelt your mouth to see if you had swallows any of it, but luckily you didnt!

Brought you for your first shichida lesson yesterday and you are so engrossed in the lessons for the entire 1 hr!! Hope that this goes on for each week

You can now recognise the words:

Cat

Cant remember off my head which other words you can recognise now

You can recognise the pictures / words of grapes and apple.

- You were in the study room with daddy when I came in asking daddy if he wanted the grape or apple flavoured vitagen.. you were then playing with your fruits flashcards, and the next thing we knew, you actually picked up the grapes and apple flashcards and passed it to us!

Think I will just try to add on some recipes here, for the benefit of other mummies who might want to try out new food for their babies:

Recipe 1: Colourful Pork Ribs Soup

Ingredients:

Baby Ribs

1 tomato (chopped)

1 medium carrot (chopped)

1 medium potato (chopped)

A handful of dried scallops

Water

Scald the baby ribs in boiling water for abt 30 secs and drain the water. Throw all ingredients into the slow cooker. Add 2 tablespoon of rice if you want to make porridge out of this. Leave it to cook for 2 to 3 hours.. and you will have a tasty porridge with minimal efforts!

*This is a cantonese soup that my granny always make for us since yound*

Recipe 2: Lotus Soup

Ingredients:

Lotus Root (hrm, not sure if this is how you call it) - washed thoroughly and chopped

Red Dates (about 6)

Wolfberries (a handful)

Dried scallops

Baby ribs

Scald the baby ribs in boiling water for about 30 secs. Drain the water. Throw all ingredients into the slow cooker and cook for about 3 hours.. add 2 table spoon of rice if you want to make porridge.

*This is also my granny’s recipe *

Hi deardear,

Your fever is finally gone! Yay! You are now down with bronchitis, still on the nebuliser, but you are getting better now.. has been a truly tiring few weeks for me.. everyone in the family is ill.. mummy still has sore eyes from you.. been so busy with you till I have forgotten to apply the eye drops, thus the sore eyes is not getting any better..

Went for the first shichida class on Sunday.. went there alone as you were still ill then.. pretty interesting i must say as I am sure you will enjoy the class Looking forward to bringing you there this coming sunday again…

Hi deardear,

It’s confirmed.. mummy will be starting work in September.. and the day seems like a doomsday to me.. I cant imagine leaving you in the day of others, I am tearing as I am typing this.. I am just beginning to really enjoy your company.. seeing how responsive you are.. seeing how fast you learn things.. etc.. and I know I am the only person in this whole wide world who can give the best to you.. but mummy cant help it.. I need to go back to work.. I hope you can forgive me for placing you in a childcare centre.. I hope you can forgive me for weaning you off the breasts.. I will try my best to delay that as much as possible.. will try to covince daddy to let Ah Gong and wai po take care of you till you are older..

You are finally getting better.. was so scared when I brought you to SSBC on Thursday for a second opinion as your fever was running a dangerous high for 6 days running.. Wanted to bring you to see Dr YY Yip, but he was fully booked for the day.. so brought you to see Dr William Yip instead.. and no regrets! He is very thorough.. patient and reaasuring.. he was very alarmed that your fever was high and persistent for so many days.. he ordered an electrogardiogram scan of your heart and ECG tests on you, just to make sure that it is not the act of the kawasaki disease.. as I was waiting to make you sleep awhile with some medication, I was crying away while doing that as I was so so scared.. and then you vomitted all over me, can you imagine? The teary eyed me, all alone with you in my arms, with your vomit all over my top.. I just dont know what to say.. felt so so helpless.. called daddy and cried over the phone.. and luckily he came down to the clinic immediately.. luckily the test turned out normal but that alone does not rule out the kawasaki disease but your heart rate was high at 160 per min (normal was 100 per min).. brought you to do blood test and my heart hurts just hearing you scream and scream as they try to squeeze a hugh tubeful of blood out of your little arm..

Brought you back to Dr YY Yip this morning.. and he was pretty certai that it was just a viral infection.. esp that mummy caught the conjuntivitis from you.. (as kawasaki disease is not contagious).. but we still got to monitor you and bring you back to the clinic tomorrow if you are still running a fever or have red eyes..

Was pretty happy that you managed to eat half a bowl of fish porridge tonight.. after fasting for almost 1 week!! And you were so naughty,. running all over the place, destroying things.. messing up the house.. and kept bringing the tub of raisins and raisin bread to mummy cos you wanted to eat.. and that was a really good sign that your appetite is back! Well, daddy first fell ill 2 weeks ago with high fever, he finallt got well after 1 week,, then it was your turn to fall ill.. and mummy fell ill a few days after you did.. and now that both of us are getting well.. daddy is down with a temperature again! This virus is really potent.. wai po is affected as well..

Got these recipes online.. so thought of posting it here and sharing it with my mummy friends:.

1. Lean Pork Congee with Green Peas and Egg
========================================
Ingredient>

1/2 egg yolk
80g lean pork
10 green peas
rice
1 bowl hot water

Method >
Hard boil egg till done. Remove 1/2 egg yolk. Mash it and set aside.
Wash green peas. Set aside.
Wash pork. Scald half of lean pork in boiling water briefly and drain. Chop the remaining half finely. Set aside.
Wash rice and drain. Set aside
Put uncut pork and rice into a double boiling jug. Add 1 bowl of hot water. Cover jug. Place jug in water and simmer for 2 hours.
30 minutes before congee is done, add chopped pork and green peas into jug.10 minutes before congee is done, add mashed egg yolk. Cook till done. The uncut pork is only to enhance taste of congee.

2. Chicken Congee with Sweet Corn and Carrot
=========================================
Ingredient>

1 tbsp corn kernel
1 tbsp carrot
80g chicken meat
rice

Method>
Wash corn kernel. Set aside. Peel carrot. Wash and dice finely.
Wash chicken meat. Scald half of chicken meat in boiling water briefly and drain. Chop the remaining half finely. Set aside
Wash rice. Put rice, corn kernel, carrot and uncut chicken meat into a double boiling jug.Add 1 bowl of hot water. Cover jug. Place jug in water and simmer for 2 hours.
30 minutes before congee is done, add chopped chicken meat into jug. Cook till done. The uncut chicken is only to enhance taste of congee.

3. Lean Pork Congee with Apple and Egg
===================================
Ingredient

1/2 Apple
80g lean pork
1/2 egg yolk
rice
1 bowl hot water

Method
Peel apple and remove core. Dice. Wash and set aside.
Wash lean pork. Scald half of pork in boiling water briefly and drain. Chop the remaining half finely. Set aside.
Wash egg. Boil in hot water till done. Remove egg white. Set aside 1/2 egg yolk.
Wash rice and drain. Set aside.
Put apple, uncut lean pork and rice into a double boiling jug. Add 1 bowl of hot water. Cover jug. Place jug in water and simmer for 2 hours.
30 minutes before congee is done, add chopped pork into jug. 10 minutes before congee is done, add egg yolk. Cook till done. The uncut pork is only to enhance taste of congee.

4. Lean pork Congee with lotus seed and lily bulb
==============================================
Ingredient>

8g lotus seeds
8g fresh lily bulb
80g lean pork
rice

Method>
Wash lotus seeds and lily bulb separately. Drain and set aside.
Wash lean pork. Scald half briefly in boiling water and drain. Chop remaining half finely. Set aside.
Put lotus seeds, lily bulb and uncut lean pork into a pot. Add 5 bowls water. Boil until 1 bowl of soup remains as congee base. Set aside.
Wash rice and drain. Set aside.
Pour rice and congee base into a double boiling jug. Cover jug. Place jug in water and simmer for 2 hours. 30 minutes before the congee is done, add chopped pork into the jug.

5. Egg yolk and sweet Potato Congee
============================================
Ingredient>

1 egg yolk
1/2 bowl yellow-fleshed sweet potato

Method>
Soak 2 tablespoons of raw rice (about 1/2 cup) in hot water for more than an hour before making congee. Pour about 7 cups of water into the pot.
Wash sweet potato thoroughly. Cook with peel for 20 minutes until soft. Mash with a wooden stick. Set aside.
Add sweet potato puree and egg yolk when congee boils with bubbles.

6. Fish paste congee with spinach and egg yolk
===========================================
Ingredient

1/2 bowl of spinach ²¤²Ë
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon fish paste

Method
Blanch spinach in hot water. Soak it in cold water for a while to eliminate the taste of vegetable. Chop into tiny pieces or grind in blender to a puree. Cook the egg. Retain egg yolk and mash. Leave for later use.
Submerge 2 tablespoons of raw rice (about half cup) in hot water for more than an hour before making congee. Pour about 7 cups of water into the pot.
Add spinach puree, fish paste and egg yolk when congee boils with bubbles. Cook for a while.

7. Lean Pork Congee with Carrot and Sweet Corn Puree
=================================================
Ingredient>

1 bowl carrot
1/2 sweet corn
1 tablespoon lean pork

Method>
Unpeel carrot and cut into pieces. Cook in boiling water until done. Dice or blend to a pur¨¦e. Or, if baby has good swallowing ability,cook raw carrot cubes with raw rice until done to make it chewier!
Cook sweet corn until done and cut kernels off cob. Blend to a pur¨¦e. Set aside.
Add lean pork when congee boils with bubbles. Keep stirring to prevent the minced meat from sticking together.
Add cooked carrot pur¨¦e and sweet corn puree into congee.

8. Lean Pork Congee with Papaya and Egg Yolk
=========================================
Ingredient>

1/2 bowl papaya
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon minced lean pork

Method>
Soak 2 tablespoons of raw rice (about 1/2 cup) in hot water for more than an hour before making congee. Add about 7 cups of water into the pot. Adjust amount of water if you want to make mushy rice.
Chop papaya into small dices (to make the food chewier; if baby does not have good swallowing ability, mash papaya into pur¨¦e first). Boil the egg. Mash egg yolk and leave for later use.
When congee boils with bubbles, add mince pork and keep stirring to prevent minced meat from sticking together.
Finally, add papaya dices and egg yolk.

9. Chicken Congee with Broccoli and Cheese
========================================
Ingredient>

1 bowl broccoli
1/2 bowl chicken thigh
1 baby cheese cube

Method>
Peel off skin of chicken thigh and steam until cook. Remove the bones and grind in a blender. Leave for later use.
Chop broccoli and cook until soft. Grind in blender.
When congee is boiling with bubbles, add broccoli and minced chicken meat.
Add cheese when ready to serve to make it tastier!

10. Chicken Thigh Congee with Bean Curd and Sweet Pea Puree
==============================================
Ingredient>

1/2 bean curd cube
1/2 bowl sweet peas
1 bowl chicken thigh

Method>
Dice bean curd. Rinse sweet peas well and cook until done. Blend to a pur¨¦e.
Steam chicken thigh until cooked. Remove bones. Set aside.
Submerge 2 tablespoons of raw rice (about 1/2 cup) in hot water for more than an hour before making congee. Pour about 7 cups of water into the pot. Adjust amount of water if you want to make mushy rice.
Add all ingredients when congee is boiling with bubbles.

11. Fish Paste Congee with Broccoli and Tomato
==========================================
Ingredient>

1 bowl broccoli
2 tablespoons fish paste
1 tomato

Method>
Chop broccoli into small pieces and cook until soft. Grind in blender.
Steam fish with ginger over water. Remove the bones. Mash with wooden stick to a paste. If using salmon, blanch in hot water and trim off white fat.
Cook tomato. Peel off skin and scoop out seeds. Dice and grind in blender.
When congee is boiling with bubbles, add all ingredients and cook for 5 minutes.

12. Salmon and Bean Curd Congee
============================
Ingredient>

Salmon (5 pieces of salmon sashimi or salmon steak with bones removed)
1/2 bean curd cube
fish soup

Method>
Soak 2 tablespoons of raw rice (about half cup) in hot water for more than an hour before making congee. Pour about 6 cups of fish soup into the pot. Or, pour half bowl of cooked rice into 2 bowls of fish soup. The congee made will also be soft and tender.
Blanch salmon in hot water. Pick out white fat with chopstick.
Grind bean curd in blender. Set aside.

Hi xiao byebye.

You gave mummy and daddy and hugh scare yesterday.. you slept from 5 pm till 10 plus pm.. you are sooo tired, so lifeless..  teary eyes.. cos you were so dehydrated! Didnt want to drink anything or eat anything!! Mummy and daddy quarelled over you again.. b4 bringign you back to NUH A&E dept.. you managed to drink quite abit of milk while waiting to see the doc, so you looked more active when the doc was examining you.. otherwise you would have to be admitted and put on the drip in order to hydrate you….

We decided to bring you home to monitor your situation.. you better cooperate and start drinking more wagter.. otherwise the docs and nurses will poke alot of needles into your body..

You can now say: Duck

You can now sign: Hurt, wash hands, fish, baby, brush teeth

You can now point to t he cat (real or in picture form) and say cat, you will point to the bamboo, butterfly, bee, horse, pig, lion, tiger, duck, when asked

Brought you to Orchid Country Club’s children’s playgtound on Sat (b4 you fell ill) and you had fun getting yourself immersed in the balls

Daddy likes being inside with you, saying that it seems like ‘hell in a cell’ *sigh* it is a wrestling term. He even put you on top of the ropes, saying it looks like you are ready to punce on anyone *wrestling again*

You and your friends!

Hi deardear,

You are ill again, this time with viral fever.. your temperature shot up to a high of 39.4 degrees on Sat night.. and you could not sleep properly for a few nights in a row, kept waking up and crying every 30 mins or so..

Sorry if I have been losing my temper at you.. I really do not know what to do when you refused to eat, or drink since saturday night!!! You dont seem very interested in drinking milk either, you dont even want to drink your ribena.. out of desperation, I tried to force feed you with ribena using a syringe.. efforts foiled.. cos you ended up vommiting everything out.. including the milk that you took in earlier.. you didnt pass much urine either.. why?! cos you refised to drink water!!! how? what if you get dehydrated how??.. sigh.. so I am sorry if I screamed at you when you toppled your cup or when you pushed the bowl of food away.. I do not mean it.. but I just felt so helpless so frustrated.. whenever that happens

Moreover, mummy is ill too.. body ache.. mild fever of 37.7 just now.. I had ahard time last week taking care of daddy when he was ill (high fever too) and just as he recovered… you got it.. and mummy cannot fall ill, cos if I fall ill, who will be able to take care of you??

Hi darling,

Sorry mummy has not been updating the blog regularly.. been kinda held up with the PBB website..

You can now say:

Water

Drink from the cup with confidence! (does it mean that your bf days are coming to an end now? I cant seem to let go! As I think I am addicted to it!?}

Sign BABY whenever we sing: "Baby Baby Baby Signing times" to you…

Sign Hat

Sign Hurt and More (but think you just anyhow point your fingers at each other)

Brought you to swim at Breandan Di Di’s granny’s place at Yio Chu Kang last week and you seemed to enjoy yourself very much, out of the float, until you dunked yourself twice…

Ah gong and wai po just came back from China on Tuesday.. you were so excited to see then when they came over yesterday

I am tryingt o ask for deferment to start work next year.. if not successfuul, it will be next month! Gosh! How can I bear to leave my current ‘job’ of caring for you full time? My heart hurts just with the mere thought of it..

You now started pointing your fingers at us and say OHHH!!! whenever you know you are doing something noti.. but you still want to do it!!

You cominh in and out of the mega bloks toy box.. and of course.. you fell and hit your head on the floor while doing this many times, cry very hard after that and still want to do it

You playing with mummy’s rubber band (very nice to play meh? You seem to like it very much)

You hate to be left alone in the play yard!

You playing with daddy’s Father’s Day Present and mummy’s rubber band

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY! 17TH June 2007

Best Dad Award!

Best dad & Best Mum! (the purple bear is the present which daddy got for mummy during valentine’s day b4 you were born)

We first brought you to the bottle tree park @ khatid again.. there were so many families there.. the children were catching fishes while the adults were fishing for lobsters, fishes etc… you got very excited when you saw the hugh fishes in the pond too!

We then brought you to the stretch of road in between seletar reservoir and the sea.. you seemed to be taken in by the beautiful sights of the reservoir and the greenery of the Orchid Country Club surroundings

Our last stop of the day was at the Cable Ski Park at East Coast Park.. it was our 2nd time there, but you were so so tired and was sleeping away until we were about to leave..

Your developmental milestones:

You can say the alphabets: A & O

You can say the word: Kick when you kick the ball

You can sign "Brush Teeth"

Hi deardear,

You can now say the words:

Clap

Clock

Carrot

Vitagen (大舅舅 and 外婆 heard you say that once, but mummy wasn’t there to hear it for myself)

It’s in the wee hours of the day already.. 2:45 am to be exact.. you are happily sleeping besides daddy now while mummy is busy updating the PBB website

Hi darling,

You are now able to point to the following when asked:

Air-con (in English & Mandarin)

Bamboo (in English)

Flower (In English)

Blanket (In English)

You also know how to say the word CUP!

You are now learning how to feed yourself using the spoon! Good work! Very nearly there

Sorry daddy, accidentally cut off your face in this pic.. here is the complete one:

You love playing with the digital board on the stationary bike!

Picture of you trying to open the cupboard

Oh yes.. you can now take off your diapers too! Left you to watch You baby can read VCD just now, mummy picked you up and daddy later realised that you took off your diaper and left it in the play pen!

My family portrait

My mum with the 3 of us when we were young

My fav old pic! Got 3rd prize in a baby contest and Manting also received the third prize in Santa Baby contest!

Dont know what’s the relevance of this pic to this post.. but this is a picture of my living room.

Neoprint of Nigel & Me when we were dating.. was so slim then! Argh!! Will scan the pic another day..

My mum & my daughter

I have been a daughter for the past 28.5 years (hey, actually Im not THAT old haha, still have the number 2 in front! ;>), a wife for almost 3 years and a mother for 14 months.

Being a 1st-time mother

Being a mother, esp a 1st time mother.. has been the most challenging time of my life. Never have I felt so overwhelmed with love, responsibilities, concern, protectiveness, etc etc for anyone b4. Now I know how my mum felt last time whenever I hurt myself, or when I fell ill, or when I was upset.. trust me, our mothers feel the pain more than us. My heart will skip a beat whenever Manting hurts herself, my heart will ache whenever she cries.. I just have this overwhelming sense of protectiveness over her.. I just want to make something that has gone wrong for her become right, I want to let her know I am there for her all the time, I want to let her know I love her soo very much.. never thought that I will love her so much (coming from someone who doesnt like babies / kids in the past). To the extent that I put her welfare way ahead of my own. I thought, as her mother, I am able to give her my very best.. and yes! Looking back, I have done it, from the day I knew that I was pregnant with her.. till this very day.

During Preggie times:

First discovered that I was pregnant when I was 1 month preggie.

Immediately discarded all my high heel shoes and immediately switched to flats.. kinda funny to wear power suits at work with flats all the time.. but I didn’t care.. my unborn child’s safety is most impt to me.. I will leave nothing to chance

Quit my not-too-bad paying job when I was 3 mths pregnant (afraid that the stress at work will affect her development, among other reasons too)

Forced myself to eat fish and vege for lunch and dinner EVERYDAY for the remaining 8 mths. My 2 most hated dishes. Cos those are kinda like brain food for the growing foetus

Piled on 20+ kg and still not losing it (okies lar.. partly my fault too as I didnt control my eating habits)

After giving birth:

One sentence says it all: You had me literally wrapped around your little finger!

I can spend the entire day doing your stuffs.. and I dont even have time for myself.. but I am not complaining

Well, my friend ocne mentioned to me that: No point giving your all to your child now, they wont appreciate / understand all your pains / efforts invested in them. But me and my hubby’s thoughts are: That is that "wei da ness’ of parents. You give and give and dont expect your child to reciprocate in full.

Being a wife:

I am blessed! As I married the man who is the perfect hubby for me, and the perfect daddy for our children. Darling, You are God’s Gift to me.

Being a daughter:

It is only after being a mother myself, then did I realised what great pains my parents went through to bring me up.

My temper is bad.. really bad. I get impatient with my mum esp for every little small things that she does.

I didnt understand why she waited at the house void deck for me sometimes I went clubbing in the past. She will be sitting there ALL ALONE at 5 plus am.. tearing away, and not saying a single word whenever I scolded her for not giving me space when that happened.

And honestly speaking, if it is not for her help, her love for me.. I would have gotten into depression.. esp after giving birth.. she did my confinement for me, helped me look after my baby, and she and my dad still drive from Jurong to my place every weekday just to help me out by looking after her… ok.. I do most of the work.. but they relieve my burden by keeping Manting occupoied.. teach her things.. while I have some time to rest. I’m a SAHM, no income and thus I am unable to give them allowances.. and yet they did not demand a single cent from me. Friday is my house cleaning day. I think I will die from exhaustion if my darling mum did not offer to help out with my housework (note: she did not even have the time to clean her own house as she is at my place most of the time).

My temper may be bad, I may pick on her for every little thing she does or did not do.. I do get some snide comments from her sometimes.. but she is my mother (not forgetting my dad too).. the person who gave birth to me and brought me up.. love me unconditionally.. love my daughter unconditionally too. But I do love my parents very much. As what I mentioned earlier: That is that "wei da ness’ of parents. You give and give and dont expect your child to reciprocate in full.

Hi deardear!

You can put your hands together and "pray" to the ancesters! So cute! You learnt from daddy whenever he says: "Gong Po, Pu Xi Manting kwai kwai jiat bui" and you will put your hands together and sometimes even walk right in front of the ancesters tablet and put your little hands together!

Here are some pics of you doing that:

Here is a video of you saying Mo Leh (no more) in cantonese when the song we were listening to, was coming to an end:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3bePN5xYPw

You can also say the word CLOCK when you / we point to the clock.

You were so naughty yesterday night.. mummy had a hard time feeding you cod fish pumpkin porridge and Auntie Rita came to our place with Samantha and Stephanie. You ate the pumpkin, spat it out, and used your hands to scoop it from your mouth and threw it on the floor, and the food landed on Samantha and Stephanie’s legs! You then started showing off to them by taking 1 piece of apple in 1 hand and 1 piece of bread in the other and eating them 1 by 1, and you were so happy when we all clapped (you had 5 attentive audiences) whenever you eat..

Hi dear dear!

Brought you to the Bottle Tree Park @ Khatid last night. That place is a newly developed private park, located just opp your daddy’s old house in Yishun.

Took a few pictures with mummy’s handphone, but the pics just didnt turn out very well.. will bring along my camera when we go there again next time ok?

Daddy & you wearing a bandana each!

Daddy dancing with you! Wah.. he seems so slick with his moves.. how come he never danced with mummy like that b4? Asked him to take up salsa, and he simply refused.. saying that he has 2 left feet (doesn’t seem like it right?) Actually I managed to convinced him to take up salsa, and b4 he signed up for the classes, mummy became preggie with you

Another pic of the both of you dancing again!

I am up to some mischief…

I spot my target already…

I am going to create havoc again!

I love to read!

I am a big girl now.. no longer a baby..

Picture of you and mummy at the Bottle Tree Park

Picture of you and daddy at the bottle tree park’s sign board

Video of you rummaging thru wai po’s bag

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFZBnPVCmrk

Mummy will post the picture here anoyher day as I have ran out of the 50 pics limit as set by friendster for this month.

You can finally drink from the cup, however, you seem to find it very funny by spitting out the contents after sipping it from the cup…

You know how to indicate to us when you want to watch your vcds.. you will take up your vcds and then point at the TV.. you will also know what to do when the vcd is coming to an end.. you will pick up another vcd and walk to us when the current vcd is coming to an end..

Hi darling,

Brought you out to town on Friday night in daddy’s new car car! Finally you have your own car.. need not stand at your bedroom window to admire the cars on the roads anymore

However, you have been very naughty these few weeks.. you refused to be strapped onto the car seat anymore.. you will scream and cry whenever we put you in it.. and to prevent you from distracting daddy when driving, I have no choice but to latch you on all the way and you will normally fall asleep…

You walked the longest distance ever at Raffles City, from the office lobby to the MRT exit! You were so happy, kept smiling, laughing and talking to yourself! Brought you to the padang to watch the opening of the Arts Fest but we were too late.. but you had a good time walking on the grass for the first time…

Then we got back to Raffle City and you decided to be an exhibitionist.. you took off your top repeatedly and was laughing when you did that..

Mummy went to the OG sale on sat night, and got you a sesame street remote control and you loved it! I also got for you, Wheels on the bus VCD and you are hooked to it too! You will say ‘mo leh’ when the VCD is coming to the end…

See your happy face when you managed to grab hold of these 2 balls (these coloured balls are perpetually lying all over the house… cos you love to throw them EVERYWHERE!

You playing with the sliding door

Dont snatch my balls away!

Pretty you

These are the cars cars that you have at home!

Pic of you walking all over the place

Balancing act!

You bending down to look for dropped balls under the sofa

You tricycle

Another balancing act

You can sign hat and no more

Point to your head, ear and nose when asked.

You recognise the words: Warning & Caution (all thanks to Ah Gong who taught you these whenever you play witrh his steering wheel)

You can slide open the masterbedroom sliding door to find mummy

Can say the words: "Car, ball, stars, cat, mo leh (no more in cantonese, you will sign no more when you say mo leh’

Ok darling, let me list down the things that your daddy has done as a good hubby and daddy

GOOD DADDY

He simply LOVES showering you during the weekends

He plays with you non-stop right from the minute he reaches home till both of you fall asleep due to exhuastion

He is very patient in teaching you new things

He wipes your perspiring head even b4 the perspiration comes out

He still finds that he does not have enough time for you despite playing with you every night during weekdays and whole days during weekends

He does not want to give you a di di or meimei so soon, cos he wants to give you all the attention we have

He taught you how to play ball / kick ball

He changes your diapers, wipes you b4 you sleep every night

He helps to feed you too

He had LOADS of tactics up his sleeves to entertain / play with you

He LOVES you soooo very much…

GOOD HUBBY

Beyond words — but let me try to describe

He loves to fight with mummy to do the housework around the house

He has been very very fair

Dont know how he tahan mummy’s ’stickiness’

He loves mummy sooo very much too

He must help put around the house as he doesnt want mummy to be too tired

He gets upset when you upsets me

He accompanies you and mummy to gatherings with other babies

He does not mind opening up our house for gatherings

He allows mummy to buy loads and loads of toys and beautiful clothings for you

He is more than supportive that mummy stayed at home and yang tai and look after you full time

~ - ~ - ~ -  When you love somebody, there is simply no words or reasons to describe why you love him so ~ - ~ - ~ - 

Picture of you grabbing on to my handphone

Hello! Is daddy there?

You love to pull at wires!

Is there anyone looking at me??

The car car that daddy bought for you from china

Hi deardear,

Am unable to sleep.. dont know why.. perhaps I am too ‘excited’ about the basic theory test later this afternoon.. hey, it has been some time since I sat for any tests.. the last one being the General Insurance exam which I took when I was at my previous workplace.. didnt study much for the test.. just briefly read through it.. doubt that I can remember much… my darling hubby purchased 2 books on the basic theory test for me.. and guess what? Not surprising, it went missing for good when I accidentally left it at my mum’s house… went to popular to purchase another set, and purchased the wrong one.. (qns & ans) hopefully it can get me thru the test…

Back to the post header.. I am indeed blessed to have such a loving, understanding, caring hubby like your daddy… I am such a lucky woman.. to have found him.. all thanks to Auntie Jo Na Na Wouldnt have met your daddy if not for her that fateful night at Centro..

Wah darling, you are now back to your ‘old pattern’. Refuse to eat!!!! I fed you from 1230 pm till 140 pm earlier, and you only finished the cod fish portion, the pumpkin and porridge is totally left untouched. I was considered lucky if I could get you to open your mouth to take in 2 spoonfuls in 5 minutes.. and not spit out the food… almost tore my hair out.. you rather eat paper than eat your porridge.. sigh.. luckily 外婆 came to mummy’s rescue, I let her continue feeding you and you only ate less than half of whats remaining.. and she gave up.. 2 hours 15 mins in total!! I am so so drained out.. supposed to be studying for my basic theory test for tomorrow.. but I am simply too drained out to do anything.. cant absorb… just want to lie down stare blankly at the ceiling

Ain’t I pretty?

I love sitting on daddy’s shoulders!

Me and wai po

I love to walk!

This is my fav sleeping position

Your developmental milestones:

You can walk!!!

You started babbling non-stop for the past 1 week.. sounds more lke a foreign language and yet expects to be understood

You can point to the pram, shoes, nose, ears when asked.

You can say cat when you see the cat on the tv.

You can feed us with your hands! You tend to take thefood from your mouth then try to feed us with it!

Point to your name "Amanda" when asked.

You will kick the ball when asked (daddy even said that you have a better ball sense than mummy!)

You will pass a certain item to us when asked to, but not always obey it

You will be scared to touch something when we say 咬咬痛痛 in cantonese

You can slide open the sliding door and window

You will take the tv’s remote control and press the buttons and point at the tv, to try to turn it on.. and you succeeded a few times!!

You can press the talk button on the cordless phone

Hi deardear,

Brought you to T1 @ changi airport on Sat night.. to fetch daddy home after he is back from Shanghai.. while waiting, you were busy chasing after other kids… you chased after this jie jie who is 2 years old, and she even offered you pandan cake to eat… the jie jie’s mother tried to feed you with the pandan cake but you didnt want to take it from her, you immediately ate up the cake when the jie jie fed you instead!

You were happily walking all over T1 arrival hall, as the space there is hugh! Daddy finally arrived 40 mins late as the flight was delayed.. daddy immediately rushed over to us b4 he picked up the lugguage.. and your eyes really LIT UP when you saw him through the glass door.. you were so happy then.. you were happily waving both hands while walking towards him… however daddy couldnt come out yet as he needed to buy some items from the DFS and have to pick up his luggage first.. we sat down at delifrance for coffee while daddy brought out his gift for you, a remote control toy car… very unique car indeed as it can rotate in any angle.. and you were so awed by it… and the car also attracted many little boys.. and you tried to play with them too…

Here is a video of you and daddy playing cycling in the air last night:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwx3HHLq6-Q

Hi deardear,

Ever since you started walking 2 days ago.. you cant seem to stop walking, you will crawl into the room, then stand up and walk out fo the room.. dont know you have this funny gesture of waving your 2 little hands while walking and talking non-stop.. will take a video of you later and post it on this blog

Hi deardear,

You can finally walk!! Brought you to lao yi (外婆’s elder sis’s place) and we were so naughty, you kept playing with the phone and threw it on the floor.. and kept pulling at the toilet paper.. and you started taking the longest unassisted steps (7 steps)! Was so delighted!!

You started walking at home last night… you were no longer cruising so often.. you will walk 2 to 3 steps unassisted from the sofa to the playpen, play yard.. (you would normally crawl that few steps last time) and you even walked more than 10 steps unassisted from the sofas to the rooms! So happy!! But you are still kinda unsure.. will start giving you more chances to walk more today!

Hi deardear,

I really do not understand why I feel so upset, frustrated and totally stressed up when you refused to eat your meals.. like what the ‘babyproofing your marriage’ book talked about: Many mummies tend to see i as the end of the word if their babies do not finish their meals… or they are afraid that their children will develop bad eating habits for the rest of their lifes if they do not ifnish that particular bowl of food etc…

Fed you chicken and broccoli porridge just now at Ah Gong’s house.. you simply refused to eat.. and you were crying out loud whenever I tried to feed it to you.. even though wai po ( grandma) mentioned that you might be sleepy but I was determined to force 1 or 2 mouthful of porridge into your mouth.. I gave up and threw a hugh tantrum when you refused it for the umpteen time, totally upset and stressed up and retreated into my old room while wai po rocked you to sleep…

Sigh.. I hope you can tell me what you really want to do, whether you want to eat or not, whether you are sleepy, if you do not like chicken or broccoli etc.. I do not wish to set a bad example in front of you by throwing my own tanrums.. dont wish that you grow up like me… being so hot tempered..

Brought you to Bukit Panjang Plaza earlier.. and you were happily walking away while holding on to mummy’s hand, you suddenly fell and your face went smack on the cold hard floor… mummy’s fault! I was busy looking at other babies and didnt take good enough care of you.. you cried very hard.. and tears kept streaming down your cute little face.. there is a bruise on your face now.. a reminder to mummy that I have been careless.. that I am a less than perfect mummy.. sorry darling.. I will do better next time.. I love you so much… but sometimes.. I do not know if I am overdoing it…

Daddy left for Shanghai this morning.. we went to the airport to send him off.. he will be back this coming saturday night… about half the day has gone since he flew off and it seems like half a month has passed… just realised that I have been taking daddy for granted since you came into our lifes… my attention has been all channelled into you and you only.. I promise to be nicer to daddy when he is back… promise to cook at least 1 meal a week for him, as I have been cooking only for you nowadays… promise to do more of the housework.. and promise to plan more too.. and make daddy less worried…

We spent Mother’s day with your popo, 1st aunt, 4th aunt, 4th gu zhang, Kevin and Nicole.. and of course with daddy and mummy. We went to Crystal Jade for lunch.. and of course you couldnt have your meals with us yet… thereafter, the 3 of us went to J8 and walked around.. and went back home, dead tired.. but I dragged your daddy and you to ichiban sushi for dinner.. enjoyed myself very much even though it is a very simple affair.. just been with daddy and you is enough to make me very happy

Burst into tears when I received the card from the both of you.. didnt expect any gifts or cards and it came as a total surprise to me.. and am missing your daddy as he will be leaving for Shanghai for a biz trip soon… did you see your two little thumbprints on the card?

You looking so happy when watching My Baby Can Read VCD!

You & mummy at the Adidas shop.. one of the few pics that I have with you..

Look at your dimples.. one up one down!

Your sexy legs

You like to sit in Ah Gong’s car car!

Another pic of you

You bit mummy on my arms.. here is the evidence of your teeth marks on my arms!

Cant you sit like a little lady?

Daddy is a BIG Adidas fan!

You had lots of fun holding on to the handles on  the North East MRT train

You rather stand than sit down properly with daddy and mummy

You and your new found Indian boyfriend! You were so excited when you saw him, you just kept screaming and chasing after him!

You love to eat raisin bread! More of the raisin than the bread though..

Hi deardear,

You climbed off the bed when daddy was sleeping and when mummy was showering earlier, can visualise the gleeful look on your face when you walked towards the chest of drawers and pulled out all your clothes and threw them all over the floor…

You then ventured out of the room and into the living room.. luckily mummy just finished showering and managed to stop you from further mischief.. unfortunately you will crawling too fast then and you slipped and fell and hit your forehead smack on the cold hard marble floor.. you cried very long and hard.. and Im sure it is extremely painful for you.. can see a red patch on your forehead now.. bet ti will turn into a bruise tomorrow…

I quit my job when I was 3 months pregnant.. stayed at home and ‘yang tai’. Piled on 20+ kg of weight during my pregnancy… cant fit into all my clothes.. endured sleepless nights.. unable to drink a nice hot cup of beverage in peace without you calling for my attention almost all the time.. having to go through the stress of:

1. Wondering if I have enough milk for you at the beginning

2. Getting back your health when you were ill

3. Snide remarks from ‘not-sowell-meaning people’

4. Looking worse than a huang nian po (how to dress pretty when I have to chase after you half the time, and having to look after all your needs like bathing, eating, diaper change, play etc)

5. Feeling kinda lost and look at my working friends with envy at times

6. Not having much savings of my own as I have not been working

7. People around me tend to assume that the life of a SAHM is much like a tai tai’s.. pardon me.. but a tai tai does not do housework, does not slog like a slave at home.. a tai tai has loads of money to spend which I do not have.. tai tais dress pretty, play mahjong with friends, go for high teas, go for spas, while I cant even squeeze some time out to catch my beauty sleep! Tai tais also do not get blamed for things not done ard the house… and tai tais do not get blamed when their kids fall ill.. Iike what cheona mentioned, I stink like a rat the whole day too, forget to pluck my eyebrows sometimes, didnt have the time to iron some of my clothes when I go out..

Looking back, if you were to ask me if given a 2nd chance, will I still want to be a SAHM, the answer is a definately YES! Despite the hard ships, the snide remarks that I received, lost opportunities.. I am happy, happt that I have given in my 101% to my girl.. happy that I am at home to witness all her very ‘firsts’ first flips, first crawl, first step’ etc… was just doing a rough calculation.. the amount of BM which I have given to her is:

Assuming she takes in an average of 500 ml a day from day one (conservative estimate), I have been bf for 416 days to date.. thus I have provided at least 208 litres of bm for her!! And still counting..

To be continued…

外婆 cut my fringe for me yesterday.. I didnt like anyone to hold me still for more than 5 secs.. so I kept struggling out of her arms.. and she had a hard time cutting my fringe. She only managed to add in the final touches when I was asleep

I love my fringe!

I dont like to be strapped to the link-a-doos chair that uncle lawrence got for me!

Check out how happy I am again!

Side view

Crusing around the house

From mummy: You managed to walk a few steps unassisted from the exersaucer to the playpen.. but you still need assurance when walking..

Manting’s car car

Point to the Happy Birthday banner at Ah gong’s house when asked.

Able to point to the pram when asked.

Show us the yaya papaya look when you point to the ceiling fan and gong po (hainanese for ancesters tablet), testing us whether we know what those are.

Able to point to your shoes when asked are your shoes are

  How about wearing the diaper on your head for a change?

Daddy finally allow mummy to buy this tricycle for you! But you always want to climb out of it!

You love to throw the soccer ball out from the play yard and the cot… this is actually daddy’s new ball, and has become yours already

Hi little terror..

Why you dont want to eat your meals AGAIN? Sometimes I do not know whether I should be laughing or crying when I see you clamp that little mouth so tight, when you push the spoon, bowl, plate away.. or when you happily throw all the food down from the high chair? You seem to be losing weight.. and yet you still dont want to eat?!??

Made egg omelette fried rice for you.. and the only thing that you ate from it are the raisins!!! And then you throw the rest of the food off the high chair.. I let you self feed.. and think you only ate l=about 5% of your lunch earlier…

Couldnt believe that this is me!! And it was just 5 years ago right after I came back from Aust! Those 2 guys besides me are my brothers.. sigh.. think it is time for me to embark on a diet cum exercise regime.. so upset to see this pic

Able to kick daddy’s soccer ball and roll it back and forth

Able to understand and point at when asked:

Ancesters: In Hainanese, mandarin and english

Bolster: hainanese

pillow: hainanese

flowers: english

Will look for daddy’s soccer ball when you watch soccer on tv

Hi deardear,

You almost killed the pet fish yesterday.. mummy and daddy were washing the dishes after dinner last night and we heard a loud bang sound… thought that you threw one of your bigger toys (as usual) out of the play yard.. and to my horror, I saw the empty fish tank lying on the floor, with the fish gasping for breath.. and you were simply delighted that the dirty fish water had infiltrated into your territory, and you were happily playing with the water and even drank abit of it *yucks!!*

So daddy and mummy had no choice but to clean the house after your mess! Firstly mummy still have to feed you your dinner.. and while I was feeding you, daddy went to soak up the dirty water and mopped the area dry.. but alas, your entire play yard plus your matt and a few of your toys are totally wet (dirty) so we decided to do the housework then… from 7:30 pm - 10 pm, we did the following:

Daddy:

Soaked up the dirty water

Vacuum the floor

Use dettol and wipe all eight panels of your play yard and your mats (shared work with mummy)

Mopped the 3 bedrooms

Cleaned 2 toilets

Mummy:

Fed you dinner

Showered you

Mopped the living room and kitchen

Washed your utensils

Cleaned the kitchen stove and top

Use dettol and wipe all eight panels of your play yard and your mats (shared work with daddy)

And we were dead beat by the time we finish.. and why is it that we were able to do all these in such a short time? Cos we turned on the dvds for you to watch… 2 rounds of baby signing times and 1.5 rounds of tiny love magiq… and you were getting bored towards the end and kept complaining while mummy and daddy were sloggin it out…

We finally showered and sat down to watch chelsea vs arsenal… and tried to sleep during half time and you simply refused to sleep.. you were so active the.. climbing all over mummy and daddy on the bed.. so daddy brought you out to watch the the 2nd half.. and at 130 am, you were still fully awake!!!!! Daddy tried patting you but you just struggled and struggled.. so mummy had to latch you on for the umpteen time then you fell asleep close to 2 am…

Mummy has been wanting to buy this tricycle for you for the looongest time.. but your daddy just simply refuses to let me buy it

  Pictures of you sliding down the slide at the playground downstairs our home!

Another pic of you at the playground

This is a picture of you and Brendan Di Di at Grobetrotters playground

Daddy looking out of the 40th storey in Toa Payoh central.. we were so sua ku.. never see such high floor b4.. must take photo somemore But the night lights are simply beautiful!

Mummy, I want to go HOME!!

I love the fishball that you fed me last now

Your fav swing at Kiddy Palace

SEXY position

Another sexy pose

Mummy & you

You playing with the heart radio

Tiara jiejie giving you a kiss!

You & Daddy

Our old and very naughty dog, cookie

Look at daddy’s yawn? That was 1 am in the morning and you still refused to sleep!

Daddy watching you with tired eyes

This is your ya-ya look

Look! I have 4 teeth!

You in your arsenal jersey while daddy is in his argentina jersey (this is daddy’s fav photo)

Daddy & you

Love your wide smile here

You love to point at everything and anything!

Where should I crawl to next?

All dressed to go out!

You feeding mummy

You and Gu Po (mummy’s auntie)

Daddy and you at Delifrance on Valentine’s Day!

Hi darling.. here are your developmental milestones to date:

Able to understand fan in English, Mandarin and Hainanese, will point to the ceiling fan when asked

Able to say no more (mo leh) in cantonese and sign ‘all done’ at the same time

Able to pull at your hair when asked where’s your hair?

Will pull out your tongue when asked where your tongue is

Will say car car when you see a car

Will point at Ah Gong when asked where Ah Gong is

Will look at your clothes whenever we say pretty pretty (leng leng) in cantonese

You will grab the cup when we say cold cold or dongdong in cantonese, but you will look very wary and move your hands and legs away when we try to make you touch a cup when we say hot hot or yit yit in cantonese

You will point to your room when asked where car car is. Cos Ah gong always make you stand by your window and point out car cars to you

You are able to point accurately to your grandma and cousin’s pictures when asked.

You LOVE to self praise. You will clap your hands when you managed to do something right.

You are also able to point to the light, pillow and bolster when asked in hainanese.

Mummy and daddy brought you to Learning Vision to check out the premises today.. but the place is closed on sundays.. mummy will bring you down there personally to check out the place.. as I intend to put you into half day or full day child care when you turn 18 months.. that is to allow you to develop your social skills and to learn more things with other children…

Hi Deardear,

You are so so sooooo sticky to mummy! I cant even leave you alone on your own even for 1 sec! I managed to sneaked in the time to update this blog cos I turned on barney’s vcd for you to watch.. and you didnt even bother to look at me when I walked past you! Haha.. how dear? How are you going to cope when I decide to go back to work? Still deciding whether to take up the offer or not? I REALLY REALLY cant bear to leave your side even for an hour or so. how to get used to leaving you with your grandparents even for half a day every weekday? My ehart hurts very badly with the mere thought of it…

Hi dear dear!

Happy 13th Month to you! Brought you to botanical gardens to meet up with your friends.. Lucas, Ryan, Jarren & Issac. Unfortunately it was raining when we reached so we had to seek shelter.. and we got lost too! The fortunate thing is that you were fast asleep so you didnt go through the discomfort of being lost in the rain.. Auntie mom_yam managed to find us and we had a picnic with your friends, together with aunties Tiffany, Smurfy and Rach.

Mummy and Daddy are so mean to you.. we put 2 balls into your dress and voila! You have a full bosom!

Here is a link to one of the videos of daddy dancing salsa with you!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mid_AvdKSCI

Video of you playwith with daddy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64MKTiEN4Qk

Your developmental milestones:

Able to climb off the bed, sofa on your own, unassisted

Able to stand for a looong time, but you just refused to walk!

Able to take the cd out of the cd player by pressing the OPEN button, and insert it back.. then you will look at us and expect us to compliment you..

Able to open the car door

Able to slide the window open

This is one of mummy’s fav video of you.. you were playing with water… mummy’s reward to you for finishing your lunch!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYItoAR-_iE

Hi Darling,

Mummy cant tell you enough how much I love you.. cant imagine I can love anyone as much as I love you… anyway.. back to your developmental milestones:

You can clap your hands now! And you will clap your hands when we sing the following song to you:

When you are happy and you know it, Clap your hands *clap clap* When you are happy and you know it, clap your hands *clap clap*

When you are happy and you know it and your face will surely show it, if you are happy and you know it, clap your hands *clap clap*

You are looking more and more ladylike now!

Enjoying your car ride at AMKHub!

Sitting in the car seat in Ah Gong’s car

Enjoying your ride in the NTUC trolley!

I know this photo is kinda blur.. but you seem so happy to see mummy’s cousin, Xuemei!

Pic of you and Auntie Xuemei at Junction 8 coffee bean!

Pic of you in the jumperoo at 1 year old, compare this pic to the one below when you were just 4 months old!

You were botak then as your daddy insisted it that way… mummy cried when daddy shaved your hair off at 4th month.. he believes that it will help to make your hair grow faster next time..

Pic of us taken at foto-u studio.. think the pics are so-so only.. will plan to take another set of photos when you have more hair!

My little vainpot!

The messy you!

Love your eyes in this pic

Love your smile here

Daddy and Mummy brought you to the beautiful island of Maldives on 13th March.  Mummy had a hard time packing your items as I needed to bring the following along:

Food:

Pumpkin

Sweet potatoes

Broccoli

Dried sardine powder

Dried scallops

Canned tuna

Rice

Lots and lots of distilled water

slow cooker

and loads and loads more.. your items took up 2 big luggages while daddy and mine took up onyl 1 small trolley bag!

We had a wonderful time there.. went there via SQ451 and the flight crew loves you! They carried you ard the cabin and you even received a kiss from James Ingram the singer!

Took a 20 mins speedboat ride to Full Moon Resort and we reached there around 930 pm maldives time. We were really lucky that our choice of room was not available and we got upgraded to a water villa there!

Water Bungalows (view from outside our Villa)/ Our Villa

Dip right into the sea from the villa’s balcony!

Daddy and you at Breakfast time!

You looked  so happy crawling on the bed!

Our Family Pictures!

You had lotsa fun at the pool with daddy! Unfrotunately mummy wasnt able to join you guys as I cut my finger when preparing one of your meals..

Hi Deardear,

You are officially a TODDLER! You are exactly 1 year and 6 days old today! Got a barbie doll cake for you and as usual you cant keep your itchy hands to yourself.. you grabbed the cake from behind (luckily its from behind, otherwise I will not be able to take any nice nice pictures of your 1st birthday cake for you) It is a chocolate fugde cake which mummy ordered from online.. and you seem to like it alot … as seen from the photo below:

Just a quick recap of your developmental milestones here:

Able to wave byebye and hello

Able to perform flying kiss when asked

Point to the ceiling when we say Mandy is Number ONE!

Able to lift up our shirts and blow at our tummies (that is what we have been doing to you since young and now it is revenge time!)

We believe that you can walk but you are a little scared of walking without support, you will sit down or squat down immediately when we let go of you when you are practising walking

Able to point to daddy correctly when asked, mummy, wai po and ah gong too

Able to point to your oet fishes when asked where the fish fish is

Not always there for you, baby

Children need a consistent caregiver, or they run greater risk of mental problems: Survey

Tan Hui Leng huileng@mediacorp.com.sg

A PIECE of granny’s wisdom has just got some scientific backing: When a child’s growing up, nothing quite beats a parent being around. For many households, that is simply not feasible. For the more unfortunate ones, it can also have quite painful consequences. This was revealed in an Institute of Mental Health (IMH) survey of over 2,000 children in primary schools, as well as their parents, conducted over a three-year period. Children who were looked after primarily by domestic maids or at daycare centres were twice as likely to develop mental health problems, compared to those cared for by their parents. "Such children get less psychological support from their parents and the quality of care from their caretakers may differ," said Dr Bernadine Woo, the principal investigator of the study. "The results are quite significant." And they may also be depressing for working mothers. But the study throws up enough pointers to guide those who have no choice but to let others look after their children. The key, according to IMH’s deputy chief of child and adolescent department, Dr Daniel Fung, is that a child’s primary caregiver should be there for him consistently. This is particularly important in the first six years of a child’s life. So, should a child be sent to a daycare facility, ideally, the same person should be assigned to care for him every day. The same goes for maids. "You can have a very good maid who is very devoted to the child — but after three or four years she leaves and of course it’s a big blow to the child, because the child has formed an important attachment to her," said Dr Ken Ung, a noted psychiatrist in private practice. This is especially so as children suffer from stranger anxiety between the age of nine months and three years, said child psychiatrist Brian Yeo. It’s for this reason that even orphanages now try to have the same daily caregivers for children. "Whenever a child is stressed he will always think about the consistent figures in his life and whether there’s a good mother figure as a source of comfort," said Dr Yeo. "If you always come back to a place where there are different people looking after you then you also feel very insecure." Sometimes, these problems are transient, as parents step in to shower a child with extra attention once his favourite maid has left. Other sudden absences are more difficult to overcome. The study — whose results were presented at this year’s National Healthcare Group’s Annual Scientific Congress — found, for example, that children with single, divorced, widowed or deceased mothers are three times as much at risk of developing mental health problems as other children. Dr Ung mentioned the case of a six-year-old girl he treated last year. She was brought up by her paternal grandmother after her parents divorced. The girl went into depression, threw tantrums and refused to go to school. "Five or ten years down the road, she may still carry the scars," said Dr Ung. If a central caregiver fades from a child’s life, the insecurity can stretch into adulthood. "The child may conclude that ‘good things never last, I can’t feel secure; even if things are good, they may get taken away’," said Dr Ung. Children with multiple caregivers sometimes end up being defiant, telling lies or throwing tan-trums, noted Mrs Seah Kheng Yeow, the deputy director of Fei Yue Family Service Centre. The anecdotal evidence is now backed by the first child mental health epidemiology study ever done in Singapore , and it could well influence the planning of support services for the 10 to 15 per cent of children aged between 6 and 12 years who are at risk. The study also found that boys face a higher risk of developing emotional and behavioural problems than girls. Those with lower IQs also were three times as much at risk compared to those with higher IQs. The risk was also higher for children with fathers of lower educational levels. Armed with statistics, the group will present its findings to the authorities so that the more vulnerable children can be offered a stronger safety net.

Your developmental milestones 01-March 07

Able to point out your needs

Stand momentarily

Able to press the open / close button of the cd player, take out the cd, and put the cd back.. then look at us, expect us to compliment you

Flip the pages of a book

Understand what is xing xing or star star, tai yang, and point to the wallables when asked

Can’t sleep.. drank iced cafe mocha at Delifrance earlier in the night with baobei and hubby.. Argh! What happened to the old me who can down 4 to 5 cups of kopi in a day and am still able to sleep at night? Guess it is for the better huh? Too much coffee aint good for you!

Gave each other an early V day gift by quarrelling big time with each other.. same old issue about household chores not done, the perpetually stressed look on my face.. and after 1 night of tears and heated exchange of words.. we are both fine now, really! Part and parcel of married life, you get to know each other better by quarrelling! Baobei was so amused with me last night, she was laughing away as she saw the tears streamed down my face.. she thought I was playing with her!

That is the wonderful thing about having your own baby, your heart will just melt and cheer you up when you see their innocent smiles, in any situation!

Bro and gf took leave specially to celebrate V-day.. thats really sweet! For as far as I remember, hubby and I never really celebrate v-day b4.. except the first one we spent together, packing a picnic to East Coast.. and subsequent ones are spent at home or near home… Am I being a little too cynical by thinking that (chinese saying): "Marriage is the death of romance" Quite true! Not too long after those mushy sweet words are muttered, angry words, differences in upbringing, beliefs, etc all float onto the big picture in the process of planning a life together. Remembered the hugh scolding I got from hubby the first time, was that I was too hands-off for the renovation of the flat.. then I started getting more involved.. and got irritated by him when he became more hands-off… vicious cycle yeah? Then comes the wedding dinner.. I planned almost EVERYTHING (darling, you did your part in selecting the Bridal Boutique, muct give you credit for that). I did the choosing the songs for the night itself (only managed to do so on the morning of the Big day, and kena some snide remarks from you: "huh? you spent the whole morning doing this? i can finish this in less than 5 mins!" then you asked me: "anything you need me to help you with?" but the "you better dont give me anything to do" look on your face pissed me off big time, so I curtly told you to leave me alone..

Didnt know how I managed the reno of the house, planning for the wedding, and having to endure the wrath of my manager by taking leave on and off and not hitting the sales target during those months.. having the clean the newly renovated house all by myself (luckily my loving mum came to my rescue) just 1 week b4 the tea ceremony, ensuring that the house is in a liveable condition within 1 week.. that to me, is a hugh achievement, for someone who never had to do a single bit of housework in her whole life.. not that Im blaming you.. cos you had a hard time then.. flying all over the place to china, phillipines etc.. I know you will surely offer your help and work alongside with me, but work does not permit you to do that… and the poor us.. were not even granted honeymoon leave then.. I returned to work with only 1 day break after the dinner.. that was another feat that I went thru.. relocation of the office.. had to go back to shift office over the weekends.. then branch opening promos.. worked 14 days non-stop with no off days in lieu.. thats the time I fell preggie too.. too much for me to bear in such a short time, so I became a SAHMTB, that was the happiest time of my life hehe.. get pampered by everyone.. ok.. Im feeling kinda tired now.. time to sleep.. will continue again soon

Hi dear dear, I can only update your blog when you are asleep! Grandma and Grandpa didnt come over today as grandma has ear infection, felt giddy so they decided to take leave for today.. I cooked pasta for you today.. and as usual, you didnt like to eat it.. you gave me the very suspicious look when you first tasted it.. and you only decided to open your moth when mummy nibbled some of your pasta first b4 giving it to you… I started preparing your pasta at 1130 am, and you finally finished eating it at 2 pm! Coaxed you into eating it, from praising you.. to switching on your tiny love DVD.. You have been pointing your fingers everywhere.. Daddy has this habit of pointing his fingers at you while scolding you.. and now you have learnt to point your fingers back at him!

Would you allow mummy to go back into the workforce? Seems like you are getting more and more sticky to me.. you will scream whenever I leave you alone, UNLESS I turn on your fav DVD for you to watch.. sigh.. mentally I want to go back to work, but emotionally I cant seem to let go..

See the naughty you, always flip over on your changing table and grab your items and throw it all on the floor, so mummy and grandma wrapped you up like a new born so your hands are tied!

You seem to enjoy feeding yourself with crackers too:

Sorry, mummy has been so caught up with so many things since you were born, that I wasnt able to find the time to record your milestones..

At 10 months 15 days old as of today 5th Feburary:

Play peek-a-boo with your bib / clothes

You have 2 lower teeth

Able to flip from back to tummy, tummy to back lightning speed

Crawl very well

Pull up from sitting position to standing position

Say Papa & Mom Mom, and Da Da too.. your grandfather claimed that you can call him ‘Ah Gong’ at 3 mths old

Able to drink from the cup with guidance

Understand: "Give it to me" but not always obey it

Understand No, but never obey it

Scream when you see the doctor

Scream when you see the syringe in my hands, knowing that Im going to feed you medication

Pass an object from 1 hand to another

Hold on to an unopened can of nescafe coffee and crawl ard with it

Self feed a cracker

Scream when we take your toys away

Able to cruise around, walk around the cot, furniture with support

Stand momentarily without any support

Take an object in your hands and throw it on the floor, then look for it

Turn the on / off button of the vtech Alphabet town toy

Wave Bye Bye and Hello..

Being a stay at home mum has its gratifying moments too.. at least I was there to witness Amanda’s first flip, first crawls, first pulling up from sitting down position. Guess she does take me for granted sometimes, she goes to her daddy just to play with him, but when she was ill, feeling scared, she will reach out for me and no one else.. the really feels good! Just these tiny gestures from her is enough to make me feel that my decision to stay at home and look after her is a well-made one after all!

See how pretty she is? She is looking more and more like Nigel.. esp the eyes.. ok. I admit that I do not have that nice eyes.. she has long curly eye lashes too

Guess this mummy here is really crazy over her little girl.. from someone who doesnt like kids, to the person I am now, so ‘kan cheong’ over my baby, smiles myself silly whenever I think of her..

Darling, you can be so naughty sometimes.. you can NEVER EVER sit still even for 5 seconds.. you will try to wriggle out of our arms whenever we try to hold you.. you will never sit still or lie still for me to change your diapers on the changing table, you are always looking for something to throw on the floor.. be it the ruyi oil, your plastic balls, even my water bottle, which you grabbed from the vanity table, and on the floor it goes, you seem to find it so funny to watch it hit the floor, with the plastic bits and water flying everywhere..

You refuses to sleep till 1 to 2 am everyday… think you are the only baby at your age to sleep at this timing.. cos you will always be waiting for your daddy to play with you till you sleep.. there are times when we really do not know what to do with you.. esp when we were so tired.. and you look so hyper active, crawling all over us, pulling our hair, playing with the buttons on our clothes.. etc etc..

Just got you a play yard.. at least it is much better putting you in it to crawl, and roam abt, than putting you into your exersaucer or play pen, where you dont have much room to move..

You love to pluck the red telephone from the play panel, and then stand by the sides of the panel and throw it out.. and once it stops moving.. you will look for something else to throw! So mummy has a busy time picking up after you…

Your all time fav DVD is the Tiny Love Magiq.. You can watch it over and over and over again.. Got you the cow and the dog.. and you seem pretty amused whenever the animals starts to talk.. remember this song: "Belly Button, Belly Button, When you touch it, great things happen, it’s my tiny tickle dot, He He He"

Did I also tell you that you have loads of clothes? Think you have enough to wear for 1 year without me having to wash your clothes at all.. You never really have home clothes, cos mummy loves to dress you up in the nice nice clothings even when you sleep..

You are sleeping right now as I am typing this.. that is why I can afford to be so lor soh.. and the minute you wake up.. all my time is devoted to you already.. You look so sweet sleeping in your cot..

Being a new mother is definately not an easy task, esp. a full-time mother..

It has been a truly rollercoaster ride for me these past 1 month, firstly she was down with diarrhoea / stomach flu for 1 full month! Since Christmas Eve till just last week, the PD clinic seems to be like my 2nd home as I shuffle Amanda to and fro the clinic like almost every 2 days or so.. guess I trusted that ‘Dr Suay’ so much, gave Amanda all the medicine that was prescribed to her, esp the 2 courses of antibiotics that were totally unnecessary in the first place.. then she developed blood in her stools after the 2nd week.. it is so heart wrenching to see her try to poo poo, seems like shes is constipated but only watery stools came out, with streaks of blood.. and that lasted for more than 2 weeks.. got so worried.. and decided to bring her to The Singapore Baby & Child Clinic at GlenE.. Dr Y Y Yip came to Amanda’s rescue, told me to take her off the atibiotics immediately (as it causes the diarrhoea to be worse!) and was told to monitor her for awhile.. went back to Dr Yip when her diarrhoea did not get any better, and he immediately referred Amanda to Dr Marian Aw, a PD specialist in child gastro, and was told to change Amanda’s diet thats all! She also mentioned that antibiotics is not unnecessary for babies in cases of vomitting and diarrhoea.. imagine my anger when I heard that! Came tot he conclusion that Dr Suay only wanted to make money out of us thats all.. prescribed antibiotics after antibiotics.. told us to go back to her every so often.. and each consultation is at least $100! Can feel the anger rising up my head whenever I walk past her clinic, and see so many young patients waiting to see her..

Amanda finally got better on the 24th of January, was so freaking happy (spells the end of home prision for me as I could bring her out with me finally) and little did I know that she caught the bronchitis bug from someone and ended up with high fever of 39.2 degrees, was so lethargic, so listless, total loss of appetite.. wanted to bring her to A&E over the weekend immediately but DH wanted to adopt the wait and see approach.. so we sponged her, and did everything we could to bring her fever down but nothing works.. so off the GlenE A&E we went.. and Amanda was hospitalised immediately.. Dr Yip came back on a sunday evening to see her, drew blood from her little hand, and the pain that I felt when I saw her screamed and screamed in pain as the needle was poking into her little veins.. you woulsnt understand this anguish if you are not a mother.. even daddies wont feel it as much as mummies do..

She was then put on the nebuliser 4 times a day.. every 4 hourly, and she became better, luckily the blood test came out to be negative for bacteria infection (thus no more of those sickening antibiotics), thus it was just a viral infection.. brought Amanda back the next day, with the nebuliser on loan.. and am administering it on her every 4 hourly now.. she has nto yet recoveed.. but at least on the road to recovery…

Taking care of your own baby when he / she is sick.. is the most stressful period that anyone has to go through.. somehow or rather, you will end up questioning yourself.. "Is it all my fault?" "Is it cos I did not wash her utensils properly"? And those well-meaning suggestions come your way and make you feel even worse. "Is it because I eat too much fried stuffs that causes my breast milk to be bad for Amanda?" "How can you feed Amanda with fish when she has diarrhoea?" It goes on and on and on.. then you will start to soubt your parenting abilities.. ‘Am I fit to be a mother" "Am I a lousy mother" "What am I doing at home, supposedly to give the best to my girl 24 hours, but ended up causing her to be so ill" "Think I am better off going back to work, and leaving her in my mother’s care", at least it is not so much of my fault if these incidents happen again…

DH will also have a set of rules, expectations for me to follow.. she is ill cos I shower her too late, she is ill cos I feed her solid food so late at night?? Fingers pointing everywhere, and it makes one feel more inadequate.. You have to be there 24 hrs to witness the difficulties in caring for Amanda, doing housework and managing the online business.. if only I have an extra pair of hands and legs, perhaps I may be able to do a better job than what I am currenly able to do..

From someone who does not need to do a single bit of housework at home, from someone who has loads of freedom since young, from a rebellious teenager to a full-time mother / part-time retail person / part-time maid.. I believe I have done my best in every possible way.. but somehow or rather it is not enough.. someone is bound to be unhappy with what Im doing… with what I have done.. have received numerous phone calls from a certain someone (when DH is out at work), just to check if I am indeed at home.. how do I know? Cos that someone will put down the receiver the minute I answer the phone, and mind you… I have caller ID at home.. cant breathe sometimes.. esp when baby is crying, and a crazy dog jumping up and down for attention.. worst still.. when baby and dog shit at the same time..

Hi Darling,

You have just started to know how to blow bubbles with your saliva.. you can also sit upright for a little while too! When will you be able to crawl? You are now able to flip onto your little tummy, and you try to lift your little backside up, trying to crawl.. but you cant move much though.. but it is really good efforts on your part!

My naughty baby.. there were many times when you refused to let us sit down and hold you, you will cry and cry non stop and only quieten down when we carry you and walk around the house at the same time..

Not sure if you remember.. you actually pooed all over grandma’s face once! Grandma was changing your diapers then, she put you on the bed and she was sitting on the floor, and with no warning at all, your poo literally flew towards grandma and splattered all over her face! Luckily grandma was so shocked till she fell backwards, as a 2nd poo flew out from you, it seems to stop midway in the air and landed up on the floor just next to grandma! Best of all, you were laughing to yourself after the whole process has been done!

You werent too much of a smiley baby during your 1st 1 - 2 mths and you seemed to be frowning all the time too.. but things are so different now.. you are such a happy baby! You smile at everyone that you see, you allow anyone and everyone to carry you.. Thats how daddy and mummy had secretly hoped that you will be

Hi Manting Darling,

Sorry, mummy has not been able to update your blog as I have been really tired taking care of you, doing the housework and doing our small online biz at the same time.

You have integrated into our lifes for more than 5 months now. Or should I say, mummy and daddy have integrated our lifes into yours instead! My little terror you are! Daddy, mummy and grandma experienced sleepless nights during your first 1 - 2 months. Esp mummy, as I had to breasfeed you about 3 times a night, and for an hour long each time! Best part of it is that you gave mummy very painful, sore and bleeding nipples! Thank God you are alot better at suckiling now, just take a max of 15 mins to fill your little tummy with milk milk

Mummy had a difficult time delivering you.. I got admitted into Gleneagles Hospital on 20th March 2005 cos of decreased fetal movements. Dr Chong was worried when I told him you seems to move alot lesser then at 37th weeks and he immediately wanted to induce me.. after 3 tablets at 8 hourly intervals each (in total 24 hours), mummy’s cervix only dilated 3 cm, somemore with the help f Dr Chong, who pulled and pulled my cervix till I screamed and screamed in pain! Finally after 24 hours a bad menstrual like cramps, I was ready to go into the labour ward, to be put onto the drip. I was determined not to use epidural then.. so I kept using laughing gas to numb the pain as the contractions really kicked in then.. ended up begging for epidural 3 hours later, as I couldnt tolerate the pain( Mummy is not so gungho afterall)

8 hours since I got wheeled into the labour ward, your hearbeat started decreasing with each contractions, the nice nurses then called for Dr Chong and he rished doen immediately at 11 plus pm and told me I have to have a c-section to deliver you. I was so disappointed then.. as I really wanted a natural delivery so much.. so out you pop out just b4 midnight on the 21th of March 2006.

Mummy was asleep when Dr Chong took you out (I could feel the blade on my skin when Dr Chong asked if I could feel anything) so I was given morphine to get knocked out for awhile.. when I woke up.. I didnte realised that you were already out… asked Dr Chong where you were and the nurse took you out to show me and you cried like nobody’s business! You are so beautiful then and now… hehe.. cos you look exactly like mummy! *;P*

You are such a clever little darling, you started rooting for milk after you have been cleaned up… and everyone says "looks like mummy"

Guess you were still too sleepy from the epidural when you were in the hospital.. daddy even make a remark saying that you are such a dear.. as you hardly cry.. opps! He should know better not to say such things, as you shows your true colours the minute you reached home!

Sadly mummy had to leave you in the hospital all by yourself when you were 1 month old.. as you had to undergo phototherapy treatment for jaundice. Mummy cried and cried non stop at the thought of you, so tiny (oh yeah, your birth weight was 3.1 kg and you measure 50 cm long). Was so happy to be able to bring you home the next day…

Hi ManTing

You are born finally! On 21st March 2357..

Hi darling,

You now weigh 2.8 - 2.9 kg as of 2 days ago (13/03/06). Will be seeing Dr Chong on a weekly basis now b4 you decide to pop out.. You will be considered full term by the end of this week (37th week) and you can be born anytime from this saturday onwards.. Mummy has mixed feelings now.. half of me wanted you to come out earlier so all of us who love you will be able to take care of you physically.. and I will be able to monitor you better.. but the other half of me wants you to come out later.. about 2 weeks from now.. that is for your daddy’s sake.. Daddy was just calculating over breakfast earlier on.. that it will be ideal if you can pop on the 28th of March… but no pressure darling.. just come out when you want to..

Been having sleepless nights these days.. was experiencing contractions on and off yesterday night.. thought you wanted to say hello to me last night.. you also sent me to the toilet about 6 to 7 times last time as well.. but felt a little disappointed when I woke up this morning and realised it was just a false alarm..

Looking forward to seeing you again next Monday Mummy give you a kiss *muaks*

Hi Amanda,

You now weigh 2.7kg at 34 weeks 6 days (as of last friday 03/03/06). Which is a hugh relief, as I was afraid that you will grow to be too big, thus mummy might not be able to deliver you naturally. As of today, just 32 more days to go b4 you pop into my arms.. you seem to be very comfortable in mummy’s tummy.. you hardly give me any braxton hicks contractions or any signs of early labour *touch wood* so far..

You have been poking either your elbows, knees or heels at mummy’s tummy these 2 weeks.. it is such a joy to feel them but guess you found it too ticklish as you will never fail to move them away whenever mummy or daddy sayang you there..

Dr Chong was saying that, at the rate you are growing, most probably you will weigh about 3.4 to 3.5 kg at birth at full term.. which is a pretty ok weight for new born

Darling, though I wish that you can come out as soon as possible.. but at the same time, I am a little apprehensive about you coming out too early.. firstly.. I would like you to come out only when you want to.. it is more natural this way.. secondly, I am a little scared of handling the little fragile you.. what if I dont know how to handle you properly? What if I do not have enough breastmilk to feed you with? What if I do not know what are your needs whenever you cry? Guess we will both learn along the way together?

It is really not easy being pregnant… I now look at all mothers around me with renewed respect.. the 9 months of pregnancy can be quite a tough journey, with the morning sickness and other pregnancy symptoms in the 1st trimester.. as for me, it was heart palpitations, morning sickness, hypersensitivity etc).. come 2nd trimester (I must admit it was indeed a honeymoon period hehe), and for me, the most tiring part is the third trimester when you are getting so heavy.. and mummy has put on the most weight during this trimester.. imagine lagging a big tummy wherever I go… plus the extra 20+ kg which I have put on.. (other symptoms include heart palpitations, heartburn, frequent visits to the toilet, back pain etc) it is no joke! And not to talk about the long labour process which all mummies got to go thru.. this made me appreciate your grandma even more.. as she really had a hard time bringing mummy up (moreover I was so rebellious! I really hope you wont grow up to be like me :Þ)

Mummy and Daddy have signed up with cordlife for the purpose of banking your cord blood with them. It is more like a long term health insurance for you.. and of course we hope that you will never get to use it at all, ever *touch wood* Who knows, with the advancement in medical technology.. stem cells extracted from your cord blood might be used to harvest human organs in future.. and you might be able to save a life!

Love you darling.. can’t wait to see you again next week at Dr Chong’s..

Hello my xiao Baobei,

You now weigh 2.5 kg at 33rd week! Daddy, grandma & mummy got a shock when Dr Chong told us your weight.. meaning you have put on 1.4 kg in just 4 weeks! You are now the size of a 34th week baby.. slightly bigger than the average weight of 2.2 to 2.3 kg. It also seems like you are going to be born with long legs.. you thigh bone length is estimated to be the size of an almost 35th week baby.. see.. mummy knew from the start that you are going to be a tall girl

I have got to control my eating habits.. just 7 more weeks to go b4 your expected due date on 8th April.. and you cant be putting on 350g every week like the past 4 weeks.. otherwise I will end up having a difficult labour… and moreover mummy has put on way too much weight.. 20 kg in all! Really do not know how to lose it.. I have also been getting loads of stretchmark lines and spots on my lower tummy.. and I have been feeling breathless many times a day as I guess you are pressing against my diaphragm… but I know whatever discomfort that I go through now is worth it once I get to carry you in my arms Your auntie Xuemei (mummy’s dear cousin) has advised me to not put on anymore weight from now onwards.. she is a dietician by the way..

I have been having weird dreams almost every night for the past 1 week or so.. one of the dreams I had was that I surgically removed my head and then had it attached to a slim body haha.. so I need not go through the hard way of slimming down after giving birth to you my little darling..

Can’t wait to see how you look like.. will you look more like mummy or daddy? Your head is now turned downwards.. ready for birth.. but is not yet engaged.. be a good girl and be engaged by the time you reach full term (37th week) so that mummy will be able to deliver you naturally ok?

Hi Baby Mandy,

Today is the 2nd day of the lunar new year.. and it is the year of the dog.. which will be your chinese horoscope as well! Daddy just gave you your very first ang pow by placing it on mummy’s tummy.. he also wished you "kwai (4) gao (1) zhan (3) da (4)"! He has already placed it on your cot.. waiting for you to collect it after you decide to come out into our world..

By the way.. just realised that I have yet to let you know how many cousins you have.. on mummy’s side.. you will be the first grandchild.. so no cousins waiting to play with you yet.. but on daddy’s side.. you already have 5 cousins awaiting your arrival.. You have Yuwei and Yuxuan in Taiwan with your third auntie.. Yuhan (Kevin) and Jiaqi (Nicole) from your fourth auntie and Yifan from your second auntie.. Nicole is most excited about your arrival.. and she has been hoping for a girl cousin as soon as she knows that mummy is pregnant with you.. and indeed you turn out to be a girl.. you really made Nicole very happy.. and she has been a very good girl.. holding mummy’s hand as I walked.. just to make sure that I am alright

Just 68 more days to go b4 you pop.. but I hope that you can pop earlier.. preferably be an End March baby..

Hello my little ManTing,

Saw you again at Dr Chong’s clinic yesterday.. you now weigh 1.1 kg at 29 weeks. You have been very active for the past 1 week.. moving inside mummy vigorously.. kicking and punching.. and even turning somersaults! I was scratching one area of my tummy yesterday and it seems like you didn’t like it.. as you gave me a very hard kick at that very spot!

Auntie Xinhui bought you a pair of sweet flowery sandals today.. it will go very well with your winnie-the-pooh romper.. I am sure you will look very pretty in it Your second uncle just came back from Korea today and brought over your winnie-the-pooh (again!) bumper mat.. it is now sitting in the wardrode, eagerly awaiting your arrival.. so you can crawl and play on it soon… you must thank Auntie Sunshine for the mat ok? Bought you your first toy.. which is a little bunny toy which rattles as you shake it.. guess it will be your faithful companion for a long time to come!

Hi dearie.. felt you doing a somersault yesterday night as I was trying to sleep.. the feeling is slightly uncomfortable for mummy but it is not unpleasant As usual.. guess you were resting / sleeping just right b4 mummy tried to sleep last night.. and I tried to stimulate you to wake up.. but you didn’t really listen to mummy.. but once daddy called out your name, you then started moving vigorously! You prefer daddy to mummy is it? Daddy then went on saying that he has a feeling that you will stick to daddy very much as you grow up.. I have this feeling too.. as your daddy seems to have this "thing" with babies.. they love being around him! One more week to go b4 I see you at Dr Chong’s again.. seems like such a long wait..

Daddy’s friend, your Korean auntie, Sunshine will be getting you your bumper playmat and floormat this week and she will be passing it to your 2nd uncle when he goes over to Korea this weekend.. it is a very colourful Winne-The-Pooh silver nano bumper mat and a Pooh piano keyboard floor mat.. which are specially manufactured in Korea.. See! So many people dote on you already, even b4 you pop out of mummy’s tummy.. you are going to be the first "nei sun" for daddy’s side, the first grandchild for mummy’s side and the first great-grandchild for mummy’s grandmother.. and everyone is eagerly awaiting your arrival Love you my little darling.. daddy and mummy are now counting down the days to your due date.. 86 more days to go from today

Hi darling,

Hmm.. seems like I have yet to reveal to you your chinese name right? Your full name is Amanda Foo (2) Man (4) Ting (2). The name Mandy is chosen by mummy, and daddy suggested that your official name be Amanda, and Mandy for short. Man Ting is a direct translation of Mandy

Anyway.. just to keep you updated.. mummy has been going all over Singapore, buying your baby things, awaiting your arrival into our world. From chinatown to Ang Mo Kio to Bukit Batok to Jurong Point.. I have finally gotten everything for you.. from your baby cot, your play pen, stroller even your disposable diapers! Now your aunties are complaining that they have nothing left to buy for you hee.. guess I am too anxious.. It is now post-christmas sale everywhere.. and I am really left with nothing much to buy.. so I am now stocking up your little clothings for you up to 2 years old! Kiasu right? Was at Robinsons today, contemplating on whether to buy a winnie-the-pooh jumper suit for you.. it was then you gave me a few hard kicks.. and I took it as a yes from you.. so I bought it..

For those of you who are reading my blog.. you might find that I’m engaging a little too much into baby-talk with my girl here.. but this blog is really for her to read as she grows up.. so just bear with me if you still have further interest in reading what I type here for my baby..

99 more days to go before my little Mandy’s arrival into our arms.. can’t wait.. really can’t wait.. but feeling a little scared at the same time.. not sure if I can handle her properly.. not sure if I will be the type of mother she hopes to have.. what if she prefers her daddy to me? Guess I will feel jealous… :Þ

Hi Mandy Darling,

Wow! You now weight 700g, am 19.72 cm from crown to rump and approximately 30 cm long from head to toe. Captured you on ultrasound using digital video and caught you sucking your little thumb again! One thing I’m sure you’ve inherited from me is that you like to suck your thumb.. this was the second time we caught you sucking your thumb on ultrasound.. you look so cute! Can’t wait to hold you in my arms, watch you crawl and then take your first steps..

Daddy dreamt about you again.. for the umpteen time.. this time round.. you are a newborn with a pretty face.. but you are as big as a 6 months old baby! Daddy seems to have the thinking that you will be a big baby.. since both daddy and mummy are tall.. so most likely you will inherit our genes and be a tall girl in future..

Think mummy will most likely to send you to my alma mater; Raffles Girls’ Primary School. I always think that an all girls school is better for primary and secondary education and moreover it is one of the best schools in Singapore. So I have got to join the alumni in order to enrol you into RGPS.

Hello my little Mandy,

Going to see you again at Dr Chong’s clinic tomorrow.. please do not sleep like the other time.. but stay awake and make some movements cos grandma will try to film the image of you on the ultrasound screen tomorrow

You seem to be growing exponentially these few weeks.. and I seem to be bumping my bump into things nowadays.. very clumsy.. and I have been eating non-stop these days and I have put on alot of weight! I have lost my waistline already.. and your daddy is now calling me "fei mui" or "fei po" (cantonese for fat woman).. mean right? I never fail to buy at least one baby item for you whenever I go out.. and now daddy is scolding me for buying things excessively.. esp your clothings..

You have been very naughty these days also.. you tend to sleep right b4 mummy sleeps.. and no matter how I try to stimulate you to wake up.. the most you did is just give mummy a kick or two, and then you will continue to sleep.. And once mummy is ready to sleep.. you will then kick me non-stop until I have difficulty sleeping! But I am not complaining.. I love the feel of you moving inside me..

Looking forward to seeing you again tomorrow..

Hi my little darling,

Having you in our lifes is now becoming more and more of a reality.. initially I was abit skeptical about the fact that I am indeed pregnant with you.. don’t get mummy wrong.. I love you very much and both daddy and myself are eagerly looking forward to your arrival into our world.. it is just that my bump was too small then and I could not feel much movements from you.. Can you imagine how excited I was when I felt your first kicks about 3 weeks ago? And since then you seem to be practising martial arts inside me.. punching and kicking mummy till I had difficulty sleeping during some couple of nights..

Your favorite music at this point in time is menuet from mozart.. how do I know? Cos you never fail to kick me whenever I play that song to you… I have just started reading fairy tales to you.. forgive me for my monotone voice as I am still trying to get adjusted to reading stories which I have stopped reading many years ago…

Daddy and mummy had a really bad scare last weekend.. was bathing cookie when I slipped and fell in the bathroom.. both of us started crying as we were afraid that you would be hurt.. but luckily you assured us that you were fine with your ever-reassuring kicks..

I have started buying you your baby stuffs.. your set of little clothes are complete.. bought mostly pink stuffs.. I am sure you will like them very much… 

Hi Darling.. seems like my bump isn’t showing too much on the outside.. (those irritating people on the MRT only know how to stare at my bump and none of them gave up their seats to me!!) Well.. you have grown from a mere 4 cm at 12 weeks to 9.34 cm now at 16 weeks. Why were you so uncooperative at Dr Chong’s on wednesday? Dont want to let mummy see your genitals… shy issit? The sooner you let me now, I will have more time to buy more toys for you by the time you come out into this world Looking forward to seeing you again next month..

Had to cut short our Bali trip as we received news from home that Sung Chin had just passed away the day b4. Initially shock and disbelief overcame us, and then followed by a wave of relief. She has suffered more than anyone can imagine for the past 17 years. I am sure she is much better off, wherever she is now.

Many of us, at some points in our life, might feel inadequate about ourselves. It may be the cause of a failed relationship; not bagging that promotion; broken friendships..etc. However, if we really make an effort and look around us.. there are so many people out there who are dying to be in our shoes… but yet we are not satisfied with what we have, we take for granted what we are blessed with. I am of course, guilty of this… my visits to Sung Chin and her fellow patients have helped opened my eyes and made me realise how fortunate I really am…

Guess I am considered pretty backwards when it comes to online blogging. Am no longer the I.T. geek that I was known as about 5 years ago? Haved moved on with life now, priorities have changed.. now blessed with a loving husband and a baby on the way.. whats more can I ask for? Coming online now is a ‘by the way’ kinda thing now, not like in the past when I felt that my day is not complete without logging online for at least an hour or two a day…

Cut the story short.. anyway just to to let my hubby, Nigel, know how much I love and appreciate him.. and sorry dear.. if I have had been unreasonable and petty for the past couple of months… just endure with me for another 7 months ok? I promise you that I will be a good mother to our child (Dylan for a boy; or Mandy for a girl) and I will continue to lavish you with all the love and care that you will ever need.