Thursday, May 17, 2012

3 is fast, what a blast! Happy 3rd Birthday Adam!

Our dear son turned 3 today and we had a school celebration. It turned out well, he was super happy to be surrounded by his friends and teachers. Best of all, today is the only day of the year where his Dad & Mom are in school with him. He woke up in the morning beaming. What a terrific start. What a blast!


His birthday planner is HERE.


What's a party without balloons?

Gift favors for his classmates

More gift favours (for the younger kids from Play group)

Personalised bookmarks which double as fridge magnets

Adam's cake for his school party

Our boy is Happy:D





His favourite part of the whole celebration


Sunday, May 13, 2012

Mother's Day cum Adam's birthday celebration

We celebrated Mother's Day and Adam's 3rd Birthday on Saturday, 12 May 2012, at Yan Palace.
I am 25 weeks pregnant in this photo



Adam chose the cake design himself!







Despite all the sleepless nights and "Oh my God you didn't just DO that!" moments, being a Mom is the best thing that has happened to me. Everyday I feel lucky and blessed to have Adam and a beautiful family.
Sometimes I come home to see a messy house, toys strewn around the living room, or dirty little footprints in the toilet, it suddenly hits me - I'm a Mom!! and I have a child!!
It's been (almost) 3 years since the day I first lay my eyes on a little bundle which the stork dropped us. Now the little bundle is turning 3 and it still feels surreal.

One day if you are old enough to read Mommy's blog, I want you to know I love you so much Baby Adam. You are mommy's forever baby and I hope you will grow up healthy.

Love,
Mom & Dad.

P.S. Adam's 3rd Birthday planner can be found here.

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Booster car seat for Toddler Adam

I'm not sure why in Singapore we need law reinforcements for parents to realise the importance of putting their own children in carseats. In other countries such as UK, Australia and US, parents are BIG on child safety at all times. When we went to Australia, even our rented car comes with carseat rental option, and the categorise the carseats according to child weight!
I've ever seen expats put their babies in carseats to board taxis although they may not own a car in Singapore.
Yet, my own relatives and friends put their children/ grandchildren on their laps/ sit in the front/ climbing everywhere and leaving a maid to "deal" with them.
I think I will be shocked out of my life if I'm driving and have to deal with a toddler "on the loose"!

I posted about the plight of Adam's car seat few days ago.
Then I thought that since Adam is already getting too big for that infant car seat, I might as well get him a toddler booster and recycle the infant one for Baby No.2.

So in the end I bought this online:

























I ordered from Aprisin and they delivered within 2 days. As a matter of fact, I got it today (Vesak Day), which is a public holiday. Quite impressed with their prompt delivery even on a PH.
It doesnt show clearly on my iPhone camera, this is how it looks like:

















Adam seems to like his new car seat. He fell asleep in it soon after we got on the car.
It gives him the added height so the seat-belt doesn't cut into his neck. Not bad for a $69 purchase.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Maid or no maid?

When we found out about my pregnancy, Andy & I have discussed endlessly about the care arrangement of our kids.
With Adam already in full day childcare, we have the following options:
- Hiring a maid
- Me quitting my job to be a SAHM
- His mom will help with the baby while Adam is in school (this is my last option and if I can help it I wont wanna consider it)

Initially, Andy was quite against the idea of having a stranger live with us and suddenly there will be an "extra" mouth that we have to feed whom we are not even related to. It makes sense, because since we shifted to our own place, we have valued our privacy, and considering the only times we spend at home are to sleep (other than weekends). With us not at home 90% of the time, it really doesn't sound safe to entrust a whole new stranger to the care of our infant.
We've all heard of horror maid stories. It's not that there are no good maids around, but these competent and reliable helpers are few and far between. Besides, do I really want my child to be mothered by a stranger? I already feel bad enough that my MIL is Adam's "go to" person when the school calls up to say he's sick/ etc etc.

Therefore, Andy has suggested to me that I can be a SAHM if I want to.
My only memories of being a SAHM were during my maternity leave with Adam, which was 3 years ago. Other than that, I was a SAHM after I resigned from my job and stopped work for a few months mainly to oversee the renovation of our new home and running errands because Andy couldn't get away from work. That's it. I claim no credit in being the true SAHM that some of my friends are.

I'm lucky that Andy allows me to choose what kind of mom I wanna be, a working mom or a stay-home mom. In Singapore, with the standards of living sky high, most couples do not have the option to stop working. Throw in a car, house loan and monthly expenses, many couples don't even want to have children! Those people we know with kids have to solely rely on childcare centres or their parents.
It is really not easy.
As such, I am grateful that my husband is kind enough to shoulder all the financial burden and let me decide what I wanna do. Afterall, we are talking about his offspring as well, not just mine.

Right now the question I've repeatedly asked myself these few months - Maid or no maid? Can I stand up to the chores and expectations of being a SAHM??

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

More art & craft with Adam

Did some more art & craft with Adam this week due to the Labour Day PH and my being on leave.
Here he is applying glue to a paper roll to make a sheep.
Materials needed: paper roll, cotton wool, glue, googly eyes, crayon.



This is the end-result :P


















Today, Andy brought Adam out so I can gather some rest at home.
He Whatsapped me this photo which made me more than just a little bit nervous.
Adam is not in his carseat! That's because 2 day's ago, he had too much to eat for lunch and threw up his food all over himself and we had to bring the carseat upstairs for washing.


I was secretly nervous about the 2 boys going out alone without me, without Adam in his carseat. But a while later I received a call from Andy to say he managed to get his grocery shopping done and now they are going Longkang fishing at Pasir Ris farmway and reassured me I should get my rest. Pheew!

My boys never fail to amaze me!

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Baby Expo 27-29 April 2012

There's a Baby Expo going on this weekend at Expo Hall 5. We decided to check it out to see what supplies we can get to prepare for Baby No.2's arrival.
Unlike previous fairs we have been to, which in all honesty is not that many, this time round it is rather sparse and not many booths were there.
Definitely no Huggies, even though I was thinking of stocking up on their wet wipes.
Oh well, luckily Expo is only a 5 min drive away from home otherwise it wouldn't have been worth the trip down.



Adam has claimed the rocker as his, because he decided to swap birth order with his sibling and become the Baby instead.
No problems with me, as he promised he will share it with his sibling when the time comes.

























I recently bought some California Baby products from this website: www.mummytoon.com which sells CB products at least 20-30% cheaper than retail price. Top up $3 for next-day doorstep courier service. Thumbs up, I say!

Adam is a naughty boy tonight.

Whenever I hear people around me complain about their mothers-in-law, I secretly feel lucky that I do not have a MIL from hell. Though she is not the best MIL in the whole wide world, she has treated me well and even help us look after our son without any complaints.
Sometimes, I think the way she brings up my child is the polar opposites of how my Aunt/ parents brought us up, but I accept that she is my husband's mother and whatever discrepencies I feel, I make it a point to discuss with Andy instead of quarreling with my MIL.

Tonight, we went for dinner with Andy's parents and brother as per any other weekend, but unlike the usual dinners, Adam was exceptionally impossible tonight.

He misbehaved himself at the table. He wouldn't stop banging the utensils and plate, and basically he did the exact things we told him not to, and this tested Andy's and my patience.

There was a family seated just behind us, with a toddler who looked about Adam's age, and he was totally well-behaved and oblivious to the whole ordeal because he was concentrating on an iPhone.
We were EMBARRASSED out of our wits!!! and I think that family must've felt sorry for us and thanked almighty heavens for a well-behaved child.
We told Adam nicely, we scolded him, we threatened him but nothing worked and his bad behaviour continued, which made Andy lose his temper and smacked Adam on his hand.
The smacking made Adam cry.

At that instant, Andy's mum immediately stood up and rushed over to Adam's side and wanted to whisk him away. Mind you, Adam was seated in between Andy & I.

Furious, I told her not to interfere when we are disciplining our child, and I said to her "Is he our child or your child?!" those were my exact words to her.
As I was already very stressed by the whole dinner affair gone awry and the embarrassment of everyone at the coffeeshop staring at us, I flared up and didn't bother to keep my voice down so I think everybody around us heard me scolding my MIL. My FIL, being the sole-breadwinner, chauvinistic kind of man, glared at me.
Well, to make things clear - this is not the first time my MIL is rushing to Adam's rescue everytime he cries/ fusses. She doesn't even bother to ask us to stop scolding/ smacking Adam, she just takes it upon herself to barge in between us and whisk our son away! And everytime, it's Right at the moment when we discipline him.

In the end, my dear husband had to ask his parents and brother to go home once they were done eating and leave us (Andy, Adam & I) alone to deal with it as a family (our nuclear family).

The moment we got home, I called Aunt LY and texted my Dad and brother to tell them what happened and seeked their opinions. Was I in the wrong??
Their answers were - all of them thinks my MIL is wrong in interfering with our child-disciplining, but Aunt LY thinks I was also in the wrong for having talked to my MIL in such a rude manner in public. My Dad and brother think I didn't mince my words but they thought getting my true feelings across to my MIL was the right thing to do otherwise more negative feelings will be harboured .

As for my dear Hubby?? After I tucked Adam to bed, I had a talk with him regarding my behaviour tonight and he said matter-of-factly that I should probably apologise to his mom and at the same time reinforce to her that she had no business interfering with how we discipline Adam, now and in future.
While I am truly grateful to her for helping us look after our child, on top of cooking and washing and all the chores without the help of a maid, I would really appreciate if she left the parenting as that - to our child's parents. ie. US.

What happened tonight made me develop a newfound admiration for my Husband - for standing firm on his belief, for being the man I need in my family, and for taking "right" sides on this matter.

Monday, April 23, 2012

HFMD!

The week that just passed was horrendous. Adam contracted HMFD and was home-bound for the entire week.
He missed school and was cranky due to being confined at home all day, everyday.
One morning, Andy called his mum's place and Adam answered "Good morning, Teacher Loh".. LOLsssss.. Poor kid.
Poor us.

As a result of his illness, I hardly had enough rest and missed work for 3 days.
I did the graveyard shift and made him milk feeds several times a night because he couldn't eat much due to pain from his mouth ulcers.
During the day, if I was lucky, I got to nap 1-2 hours.
On top of caring for Adam, I was worried about getting the disease myself especially since I'm pregnant.
I nearly died.

At home, to keep him occupied, I read books and doodled with him.
We also did some craft work using cardboard, pipe cleaners, and googly eyes.


Can you guess what this is???
It's actually Adam's Incy Wincy SPIDER! (unintentionally disguised as an alien).
I helped him to trace the circle shape, and draw the spider's mouth. I asked him to draw the mouth but he said he doesn't know how (read: lazy). But he was very keen on using glue to stick on the eyes and legs.
He insisted that his spider has 4 legs and if you notice, its legs are actually 3D instead of equal number on each side. He decided where the legs were supposed to be and asked me to help staple them in place.
To be honest, I'm not at all worried about his imagination. Alarms will be ringing only if he could sing the entire ABCDEFG~Z song not knowing what anything meant. So for now, Adam is free to be creative and if a car has only 2 wheels or his spider has only 4 legs, so be it.

Anyway, it's kinda ironic but I'm gonna say - Thank God it's Monday!
The terrible week is finally behind us and Adam is fit to go back to school tomorrow!
As for Mummy Me, I need a pedicure, a spa and some pizza~!

Friday, April 20, 2012

Charmaine's Birthday



I'm 20wks+ Pregnant.. Almost 21W. Actually my arm very flabby in this photo but I made Charmaine crop my flab away. LOLssss


Our babe Charmaine turned 20-something on 13 April...
Actually she is 2 years younger than me, but she insisted that she's forever 21... that's why got 2 big candles and 1 small candle.. this woman not shy one, but it's her Birthday so let her win. Hahahahaha! Go figure.

The plan was for Meena & I to bluff her say I'm stuck at work and gotta cancel last minute but actually I went to Paragon - Cova Pasticerria to pick up her chocolate truffle cake then gotta take a cab down to Vivo City Carnivore to meet them.
I had to lie to Charm saying I was at work otherwise she will pick me up from my home (since we stay same estate).

So Ok, I went to Paragon picked up her cake blah blah... Then when I reached Vivo City, this Aunty Meena still havent reach. Hello. Supposed to meet at 12noon, I reached at 12.15pm and Charm also reached already but Meena still stuck in a jam near Woodlands!!!
Then what she wants me to do? I asked her, I go hide or what??!

So in the end I went inside Carnivore first, asked the waitress to hide the cake for me, then I called Charmaine and asked her get inside the restaurant because I was on a cab down from my work place. (But actually I was seated inside already. Of course lah, 1 pregnant Aunty carry cake run here run there cannot hide too long right?? Need to sit down mah)
So when she came in, she was quite surprised to see me, she thought I was still on the cab.

Then I Whatsapped Meena ask her change the bluffing plan - asked her to tell Charm she's not coming because she is still at home and some cock & bull excuse.
Of course Charmaine didn't believe it but we started eating without her (because she is always late for our gatherings, used to it liao. No fun already LOL)

So anyway, to make the long story short - we celebrated Charm's birthday and managed to surprise her with the cake.
This year, she made the most "aunty" wishlist - she asked us to give her Angpao because she doesnt know what she wants.
Actually I secretly planned to buy her a Ferragamo hairclip same design as mine but when I went to pick up my new shoes (more about new shoes later), they don't have the hairclip design anymore!!
Thought it was CLASSIC ??? So.... in the end no choice we gave her an Angpao.

Ferragamo Barbados jelly flats


My back started feeling like a 200 year-old lady since the beginning of my 2nd Trimester so I went to buy a new pair of flats (lame excuse, I know, heehe). Criteria: must be durable and cannot give me any blisters.
Saw these and fell in love with them immediately but because my size is always impossible to buy for (I'm sz 35, sometimes 34), the sales asst was very kind - offered to make an order for me.
But I had to wait 2 months before my size finally reached Singapore!
In March I finally received a call to go pick up my new shoes. Super comfy and size fits true.

Happy feet :)

Sunday, April 15, 2012

DIY: Color magnets and teaching tracing

Learning Colors:

Adam is one month shy of turning 3 and has learned colors and shapes in school.
Sometimes, he gets his colors correct yet other times, he seems to totally forget what he learned and everything becomes blue. Or red. Or yellow.

I gave him a packet of M&Ms the other day at the mall, and I asked him to match all the colors of the M&Ms to objects he can find of the same colors before eating them.
He got them all correct - yellow T-shirt, orange shorts, brown chairs, green ceiling, blue Crocs, red cushions.
Which also meant he finished all the M&Ms.

But I can't possibly open a packet of colorful chocolates all the time and risk my child getting obesity, therefore I have to think of something which is relatively cheap and easy to DIY at home. And I found my solution - DIY color magnets.

I cut out the color squares from a sample catalogue.


I then mount the squares on magnet sheets and cut them out. On a scale of 1 to 10, the difficulty of this project was 0. And it cost me practically nothing to do.


They go on the easel or fridge. It's really fun and easy!


I made some more!


Learning to trace

the top-most line is so neat because it was drawn by me!





I'm starting Adam on some "homework" only now. I'm such a lazy Mummy. I don't send him for enrichment classes on weekends, and the most scholarly thing I've ever done with him at home is reading storybooks.
I must say for his effort (considering this is the 1st time he's tracing lines at home, he might have done it in school, I never asked), I'm pretty impressed that he actually followed the dots instead of doodling a whole chunk of messy colors on the pages.
My poor baby is growing up too fast!

Detailed scan at MAH and how my Saturday went

Bright & early today morning, Andy & Adam went with me to Mt Alvernia for my detailed scan.
For the longest time, I was a nerve-wreck. I was worried about how Adam would react - in a hospital/ being made to wait/ sitting still while waiting for my scan to be over.
He's been with us to my antenatal appointments but I've always had Aunt LY around since I can't be lying on the couch (I asked Hubby how to spell "couch".. I kept spelling "cough". another example of my FRIED BRAINS) and handling Adam at the same time; and Andy also wants to see the scan/ listen to our Doc.

So anyway, today is finally the Big day to put Adam's patience and behaviour to the test.
We woke up early and set off to the hospital. My appointment was 10.30am but we had to wait about 30min before it was our turn.
By then, Adam was hungry and asked for milk. I said I didn't bring his milk out (yet another example of fried pregnancy brains) so I went upstairs to the cafeteria to grab a char siew bun and soya milk, which he finished without a trace.
Then the sonographer called my name and Yes it was our turn. Timely!

Andy, Adam & I got ushered into a dimly lit room and Adam sat nicely and cooperatively in his pram while I lied down on the couch and the sonographer got started.

In between, when Adam realised I was stuck lying there for yonks and he couldn't get to my side, he cried about 2 times but I promised him once I'm done I will give him his Donald Duck chocolates (handmade chocs my Mum bought for him). But overall he was so well-behaved. He didn't throw any tantrums neither did he cry the house down. I'm generally more than pleased with him and am relieved that we managed to complete the detailed scan at one go. Didn't need to be excused to hush him before continuing! Yay!!
Sometimes, I think we parents just need to have more faith in our children, yeah??

We got home after lunch and my friend Joryl came over to visit Adam and my unborn child, with her new puppy - a Sheltie girl!!
Oh I miss my Alice so much!

Joryl & Sunkist.


What a sweet darling little girl - all 5 mths of her :)

After dinner, Andy & I went to IKEA and bought some wardrobe organiser and household stuff for the nursery.
P.S. We are keeping the gender of our No. 2 a surprise except for some close friends & family.
So please, if you happen to be one of those who are in the know, please do us a favour and keep it a surprise for us!

Also, this time round, I've instructed my in-laws not to tell their relatives our address / lie that I'll be doing confinement at my Mum's place.
This is because - when I gave birth to Adam, I did my confinement at my in-law's. (Our own home wasn't ready yet.)
And to my dismay, people started visiting - one by one, at their own convenient times, while I was still doing my confinement!! Or should I say, all through my 1 MONTH of confinement!
They know that for Chinese women, during the 1st month after delivery, we are confined to the house and cannot go out as this is a tradition known as "doing the month" or "zhuo yue", that's why those eager beaver visitors came knocking at their own preferred timings and didn't even bother calling up before-hand.
There I was, all sore from my C-sect wound, nursing a newborn every 2-hourly, and getting used to my new role as a Mummy, trying to bond with my baby and squeezing in as much rest as I could during confinement. And people would just turn up. And my MIL would knock on my door *Bang bang bang* "Shuqing, so-and-so are here to see the baby!"
Sometimes I would be naked in my room nursing Adam or pumping milk and people would knock on my door.
How irritating is that???! I understand that as a first child, first grand-child, and first great-grandchild in the family, Adam was special and everybody was excited to meet him; and I really do appreciate the gifts they bought.
BUT ..... Can't they meet him at the baby shower???

until today, I still remind my MIL and Andy how annoyed I was so I've made it clear this time - PLEASE no visitors during my confinement.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

East Coast Park with my boys

Went to East Coast Park today with my boys to soak up the sun.Thankfully, it wasn't too hot. It was cloudy and windy and threatened to rain.I love weather like this :)


Adam learning how to throw a decent Frisbee









My 8 yr old Border Collie is still working well, though signs of old age are surely creeping up on him.He used to sprint like the wind and how he can only run. But that's fast enough for Adam otherwise the kid will be bowled over.At home, he has also mellowed down alot. He naps most of his time away, when he used to always look for a ball game or something to play with.And he's also put on so much weight! He sometimes snatches food from Adam's hands, especially if he's holding a bun/cake/bread.
Time is not on my dog's side, but he's taking everything in his stride :)

Thursday, April 5, 2012

My (fried) pregnancy brains

My fried brains are back again.
I've been super forgetful / clumsy/ tired x 1000 lately.
The other time, my supervisor SMSed me a reminder to attend a lecture. I kept the SMS in my hp the entire time but when the day came for me to attend the lecture, I actually missed the date and "attended" it one day late!!

And just this evening, I was in the shower and pressed a good glob of facial cleanser in my hand (I usually wash my face 1st) but I really don't know WHAT went into my mind, I ended up washing my vagina instead. (!!!??!)
I don't even know how that happened.

Maybe it was because Adam wouldn't leave me alone in the shower. Everytime I have to use the bathroom, he says Ok he will play on his own but thus far I've yet to use the loo without him knocking on my door 2 minutes later and asking me something.
This evening was no different. We were alone at home because Andy had to work late.

Me: I'm going to take a shower now so can you play by yourself first and I'll join you in 5min?
Adam: Ok mummy. I'm waiting in the Play Room.
*I scoot off to take a quick shower*
2 minutes later.... *Knock knock*
Me: (&%^&$#$. I had JUST pressed some facial cleanser onto my palm & turned on the shower) What is it???
Adam: Mummy what are you doing???
Me: I'm going to take a shower!
Adam: Ok mummy. Remember to close your eyes if not you will be "meh meh" (Hokkien for blind. I always tell him to close his eyes when I rinse off shampoo).
*Right this moment, I began washing my pubes with my facial foam!*

Oh gosh. Lucky it was only facial foam instead of toothpaste/toothbrush.

Anyway, after my shower I joined him in his playroom as promised, and he played Doctor on my bump.
I asked if the baby is talking to him, he said Yes. So what did the baby say? I asked.
He quickly replied that the baby wants to eat raisins.
HAHAHAHAH


My son can be so random.