Went prawning

We left the kids with my MIL and helper last night and went out with Hubby's friends to do something which I haven't done in YEARS - Prawning!

It feels great to get the kids out of my hair once in a while and just go out with the husband.

at Angler's Paradise, Punggol.

 

Garrett and his wife Thuy got the 1st catch!

I got a big one Ok.. Don't play play.

Jason looking miserable sitting on a ring float because he had surgery to remove haemerrhoids. LOL!

At the end of the night, here are our catches. Poor business cos we not pro like the other uncles and aunties. But we had fun!

Changi Fire Station open house

Adam is crazy about fire-fighters and fire engines. He has books about fire-fighters which he reads over and over and plays pretend all the time.
As his crazy mother, I thought it would be so kick-ass to actually bring him to a real fire station!
As luck would have it, I did a google search online and found out that every Saturday is SCDF Open house (except for Jurong Island station).

So today, I woke up bright and early and dragged my sleep-deprived (lazy) husband out of bed to go with us to the Fire station nearest our home - Changi Fire Station.
We were there with another family but the tour of the station was conducted by individual staff per group.

Why his poses all like that?!

Riding on the Rhino

Fireman Adam is driving a REAL fire engine! *Huge grin*

Bear Hug pose

Singapore pose

New recruit!

Adam is into making silly faces for photos, it's driving me nuts.

Every kid gets a free Fire-fighter hat and uniform. Total kick-ass!

Thank you SCDF for the friendly and hands-on educational tour! We were attended to by Staff Sulaiman who very patiently explained the functions of every vehicle and equipment to us.

It made a little boy's dreams come true :)


For parents with boys like myself, you can now add Fire Station tour as one of your weekend activities.
Educational tours are conducted every Saturday, 9:00am - 11:00am, at all fire stations in Singapore except Jurong Island.
Admission is FREE but bring along your IC to register at the entrance in exchange for a Visitor pass.

Leapfrog Tag reading system

I chanced upon Leapfrog reading system when I was browsing toys with Adam at Kiddy Palace.

Not sure why I didn't even come across this sort of gadget before, I went home to do some research before deciding to buy Adam a set.
During the 90s, I grew up with sets of encyclopedias which my parents spent a fortune on.
Now, reading systems come in an array of colorful picture books and electronic "magic" pens which read word-by-word out loud to teach Phonics, Vocabulary, Math and Science!

$59.90 for the Tag reader pen only. Comes in Green or Purple.
I chose Purple because the color looks nicer. I'm superficial like that!

Left of the picture shows the Green pen, together with some books.
Each hard cover book costs $18.00.

There are so manny books to choose from - these boxes are Book Sets which cost $32 per set of 6 or 7 books.

I chose these 2 books for a start.

At home and finished downloading the Leapfrog App.

 

Pros of Leapfrog Tag reading system:
- Works like magic, reading word by word or by the entire page. Some book series even read each individual letter.
- Available also in Games, puzzles and stories.
- The book apps can be downloaded into the Tag pen by plugging into a PC with Internet connection and the provided cable.
- Unlike the Vtech Bugsby reading system which loads catridges for every book, no worry about catridge getting misplaced.
- Many books to choose from.
- Tag can be used to read Tag Junior books but not vice versa.
- You can track your child's progress by logging on to the Leapfrog App on your PC.
- Suitable for 4-8 years old

Cons:
- The tip of the pen is quite small and sharp so for younger or destructive children, the pen tip may get destroyed easily.
- Needs 2 AAA batteries, which I personally think is a hassle to keep on buying and replacing.
- Limited memory space. Can only download max 5 books. As you add on to your child's book collection, you need to delete the previously downloaded books from your pen.
- For those parents / Grandparents who are not tech-savvy, downloading the App and the books to the pen may be a problem.

More selection of books: http://www.leapfrog.com/en_gb/families/tag.books.html#0:1:0

Hope you find this review useful if you're intending to purchase a reading system for your child!

The ultimate birth control

My 3yr old is the ultimate birth control. Here's how.

It was a typical Sunday dinner with my in-laws. When the dishes started arriving at the table,
Adam: Mummy I want milk.
Me: The food is here baby. We're having dinner.
Adam: (whines) But I want milk.... I want nan nan!!
Me: I didn't bring your nan nan out. You can drink when we get home after we finish dinner Ok?? (I start dishing up food for him into his bowl)
Adam: (face crumbles and starts wailing) I WANT NAN NAN! WAHHHHHH!!!!! I WANT TO DRINK NAN NAN! WAHHHHHH!!!!

At this critical point, the baby starts wailing in the pram as well, demanding a milk feed.
We were The Family with 2 Wailing Kids.

On a separate time, as we were preparing to go to my Mum's one day, I told Adam he could pick out a toy to bring there.
He stood in his Play room for a grand total of 15 minutes and could not decide which would be the lucky toy. Everyone was waiting for him at the door - the helper carrying bags, Andy carrying Ashton. I was getting impatient.
Me: Adam hurry up, just pick a toy.
Adam: I dont know which one.
Me: Ok let me help you. How about your aeroplane?
Adam: Nooooo...... Put it backkkkk......
Me: Ok then you can bring the helicopter (takes helicopter).
Adam: Noooooo I don't want helicopter.......
Me: so what do you want?? Your Tonka trucks?
Adam: Don't wannnnnnn...... (starts stamping feet).
Me: Ok then we don't have to bring any toy there if you dont want to. Come let's go.
Adam: Uhhhhhhh I WANT to bringggggg.....
Me: (raises my voice) Then just pick a toy! Hurry up Adam. We need to go. Or you can jolly well stay home with Aunty Dwi and we are leaving without you.

By the time I finished my sentence, Adam collapsed to the floor bawling, although I should be the one collapsing to the ground in exasperation instead.

Seriously, my child is the ultimate birth control.
Just looking at him is enough to make any man shrivel up.
There could be a correlation why our direct neighbors are childless, or why my good brother, who offers to babysit him when we are at my Mum's, disappears quietly to his own room after 10 minutes.
For all you know, he could even be one of the contributing factors to our nation's declining birth rate.

If you are considering whether or not to have children, I highly recommend you to spend some time with mine.

Jacob Ballas Children's Garden

We brought both kids for a little adventure today.

Where: Jacob Ballas Children's Garden (near Botanic Gardens).
Fees: Entrance is free for everyone of all ages.
Parking: Gantry EPS parking with ample lots.

At the Treetop slides

At the water playground

Hubby told me to capture the Butt cleavage!

 

Sleepy baby, without a care in the world. 

I was quite disappointed with the Water playground which is nothing compared to Changi City Point's, but hey, kids are rather imaginative and Adam had fun pretending to put out fires and battle monsters.

Two hours later, the skies were overcast so we adjourned to the cafe for a late lunch.

They serve pretty decent food here. Fast and doesn't taste too bad for the price.



Mummy's little date insists that we sit at the kiddy table & chair.

Right after Andy took this photo, Adam turned to me and scolded "Mummy, you didn't open your mouth!" I swear my son has got my insane genes. Sorry Adam, I spoilt your photo!

It started raining by the time we finished lunch, so it was time to go home for our much-needed naps.
Good bye and see you next time!

Life with two.

Recently, an ex-school mate of mine who is expecting her second child SMSed me asking how's life with two kids.
My reply to her was, "It's crazy. I don't even have time to pluck my armpit hair".
It's true - I can't make this shit up.

I'm slightly irritated at this point of my life.
Having two kids under the age of four has totally thrown my life out of whack.
Every night, I dread having to put both kids to sleep.

You see, Adam is rowdy and keeps the baby awake. Yet, he cannot sleep without me because I'm the only person in his whole wide world who can put him to bed.
The baby cannot stop sucking on my boobs. Left breast, dozes off. Put baby down in crib. Starts fidgeting. Escalates to crying. Right breast. Baby dozes off. Put him back into crib.
Meanwhile, I tell Adam to go back to his room and sleep, only about 700 times. But we all know it too well - he walks in and out of my room about 750 times. And because of this, the noise is keeping the baby awake.

Who exchanged the Adam who could sleep through the night alone with this needy kid??

When the baby finally sleeps, I drag Adam back to his room & we fall asleep together on his bed because I am too bloody mother-fucking exhausted.
The next time I wake up is about 3-4hours later, to the cries of the baby in crib in my room. I also have my contact lens/ glasses and hair band still on because I was too bloody mother-fucking exhausted to remove them. Night after night after night.
If there's one thing motherhood has made me do, it's swearing. I find myself swearing a lot after children entered my life.
I hardly sleep anymore, fuckit, but life still goes on. My bladder is full, goddammit, but the baby can't break away from my boobs. I smell of stale cheese and have spit-ups on my T-shirt, the same one I wore since yesterday. Shit.
What did I swear about in the past anyway? A broken nail?

Another 3-4 hours later I wake up again for another feeding, and then it's almost daybreak and soon I have to wake Adam up for school, and get on with my day's activities functioning on so little sleep.
By mid-day, my hair is in such a mess that my keys could get lost in them.

I now have two needy children despite the fact that I have a husband, a mother-in-law and a helper.
Weekends are no better. The entire household is hyped up about not having to school/ work and everyone but me seems to be happy with lesser sleep.
Never in my life did I imagine myself to pray for Mondays. Once Adam is out the door on his way to school, I do cartwheels.
I am grouchy and disheveled.
I wish this is only a passing phase and I can get my own life back. Soon.

By the way, here are my two slightly irritating children:

Opa Gangnam style at 9:30pm on a Tuesday night.
Yes, it's a school night and I let my child dance on the table-top.
Minus 300 parenting points.

Buddha baby with double chin.
A romper which says "I want Mummy's boobs" would be more apt.

Goodness, I do love my children. I'm just saying, being a mother is such a tough job!

Babywearing: Bjorn Synergy

I did a review on Baby Bjorn Active carrier last week.

Just an update: I love babywearing so much that I bought another carrier!

Meet the Baby Bjorn Synergy in white mesh:

It's a successor of the Bjorn Active model, which is shown here:

The difference between the Active and Synergy is that Active is made of thick padded fabric material, which can get a little hot for both Mum and Baby in Singapore's humid weather.
The Synergy is made of breathable mesh material, and is therefore lighter weight and more airy compared to Active.

Both Active and Synergy have lumbar supports.

Advantages of baby-wearing:
- Hands-free and hassle-free outing with baby
- No more blocking of supermarket aisles as a stroller would
- Do not have to worry about folding / opening stroller, especially when you are out alone with baby.
- Keeps baby snuggled close to you.


For Mummies thinking of buying Baby Bjorn carriers but not sure which model to buy, it is recommended that you go to your nearest Mothercare to test out the different models.

Verdict: I'm using my Synergy daily and love it to bits. Gonna use it to death to justify the price tag!