Saturday, September 29, 2012

Onederful Birthday Bash!

Whee, the day's finally here! Started the day by asking hubby to go collect the Little Tikes Spray and Rescue Fire Truck that we got from one of the Huggies promotion. Boy, the box was super huge, didn't expect that!


After that, we set off for Singtel Recreation Club at Exeter Road (near Somerset). I've been wondering how the place will look like since it's located at B2, but it's really quite a nice place to hold an event.


A panoramic view of the event space

Party was supposed to start at 2.30pm, and we arrived at about 15 minutes before to see that quite a lot of people have arrived. Organising committee rented toys (slide, playgym, activity table, etc) to keep the babies entertained.

A rented slide, which P kept trying to climb up
Int he playhouse with baby Yonglin
Activity table fun with Mirelle and Enya
Roaming around the playroom by herself

Food was catered from Elsie's Kitchen (high tea style).


One of the mommy's sister made cupcakes for the party.

1 cupcake for each baby, complete with a tagging of their names

Venue was decorated with balloons.


P had a feast. She ate so much from the buffet spread that when we are finally ready to feed her the Hainanese Chicken Rice from Petit Bowl (need to steam it on the spot because it was frozen), she's no longer keen to eat. What a waste!

Hainanese Chicken Rice from Petite Bowl!

Birthday cake was from Pine Gardens.


We also held a race for the babies - Group 1 for the crawlers and Group 2 for the walkers. P was super funny, as per her experience in the eXplorerkid race. When the race started, people started cheering and she stood rooted to the group and watched the commotion. After like 10s, she finally realized she was supposed to be in a race, then she started walking. While walking, other babies have already completed their race and the parents started clapping. That's when P started to walk and clap and laugh out loud all the way to the finishing line. Hubby and I concluded she will never excel in athletics, or any form of race.

The birthday song was sung and we took some group pictures. P was pretty tired by now and went to lalaland.

Group photo


Birthday bash ended with a lucky draw, which we did not manage to win. Prizes included hair clips, eXplorerkid membership, shopping vouchers and the much coveted Gaia hamper. All the clapping woke her up and we prepared to leave.

Since it was 5 plus in the evening, we decided to go somewhere for dinner before heading home. Recalled that Clark Quay was having some sort of mid autumn festivities, so we decided to check it out. In the end, there was just too much people and nothing much to see. If you are into street food, there's plenty at the stretch in front of Central.

iPhone wasn't able to do justice to the picture
Eventful day for us, and the 'lil one is tired when we got home. Nevertheless, that did not stop her from rummaging through the goodie bag. It contained reading materials and kite from Dads for Life, a Merries walker pants sample, a Gaia baby moisturiser sample, some Heinz cereal bars, disposable bibs from thelittleonesinmylife (owner is one of the mommies) and a couple of other stuff. The item I like the most is a customised badge with her name on it. That is going into her 'scrapbook' collection for sure.

Goodie bag - yay!!
Hmmm, that marks her last 1 year old birthday party! Time really flies!! And one more milestone today: She finally learnt how to suck from a straw. This works for the normal straws that we use at restaurants, and those on packet drinks. I'm so going to try her straw cup tomorrow.

Friday, September 28, 2012

Pre-bash jitters

Tommorow's gonna be an exciting day, coz it's finally the day of the Onederful Birthday Bash for all the babies in my Sept FB Group! The party theme is Retrolicious. We're looking at 51 babies, plus parents and siblings and maids and grandparents in tow. I can't imagine the scene.

Anyway, my FB group is flooded with preludes to the bash, from the organizing committee. I'm seeing the following names:
  • Heinz
  • Merries
  • eXplorerkid
  • Dads for Life
  • Joli Petite
  • Gaia
  • Gymboree
  • Petit Bowl (we have submitted our babies' food options 1 week ago)
Finally, TGIF! Can't wait to rush home to the 'lil one :)

Monday, September 24, 2012

A promise

Bought P her 1st lantern! It's in a shape of a cute little chicken, lights up and plays an annoying song. She swung it all over and the poor chicken was hitting the floor so frequently. Can't wait for mid autumn festival this weekend!

Brought her to AMK hub and she is getting quite addicted to kiddy rides. She will point and urge me in the direction of kiddy rides if she ever sees one. Looks like I need to prepare plenty of coins when I bring her out next time. Heard from my mom that I used to get free kiddy rides from a neighbourhood store aunty, who would grab a fistful of coins to feed the ride when she sees me everyday. Then again, the rides only cost $0.20 in the good old days. Now it's at least 5 times inflated. P took a ride that costs $1 just now.

To divert her attention away from kiddy rides, I brought her to the entrance of eXplorer Kid where she could see kids playing. Wrong move. She insisted on entering the playground and when I beat a hasty retreat, she threw a MAJOR tantrum. Struggled to be put down and once she is free, she dashed towards eXplorer Kid once again. Needless to say, that triggered another tantrum when I carried her out. Promised to bring her back someday and I wonder if she will hold me to my word at her age. I guess it's better to be safe than sorry. My hospitalisation leave got extended till Thursday, so I'll see if I can bring her tomorrow or the day after. My concern is my wound, which will likely hamper any crawling that I need to do at the indoor playground.
Papa 1 and baby 2

Sunday, September 23, 2012

4 days without P

I went to Gleneagles Hospital for an ingrown nail surgery last Thursday. The whole experience was pretty déjà vu. It's strange that they have to wheel me into the op theatre when I could have walked in myself. It reminded me of my emergency c section 1 year ago, when I was also wheeled into an op theatre. However, kudos to my doc and the nurses at Gleneagles. They were super reassuring (hubby wasn't with me), and my fears dissipated. The most nerve wrecking part was probably the anaesthesia, when the doc marked down the 3 areas where he was going to administer the drug, one of which I was suffering the most pain. I imagined the injection at the painful spot to be super super bad, but I felt nothing. I think doc was smart to do the other 2 areas 1st, so when he eventually did the painful spot, the anaesthesia from the other 2 areas has spread over. It was a short 15 min procedure, and I could be discharged on the same day. Doc gave hospitalisation leave till Monday, and asked me to go back for review on Monday.

While I was nursing my wound at home, P was spending her time at my mom's place. For 4 whole days, I (and hubby) didn't get to see P at all. We missed her lots, and I kept asking hubby to imitate her cute actions while we reminisce on her growing up phase. Last evening, mom even called to 'flaunt' that she is at Chinatown with P, looking at mid autumn festival lightings. Talk about rubbing salt into the wound.

My mom brought her back this evening and we celebrated with a family huggie! Also secretly glad that she still attaches herself to me despite the 4 days separation. It was almost as if we didn't separate at all. We then went to Novena Square for Kenny Rogers dinner, where she conveniently kicked over my cup of sprite while I was feeding her water. It was super embarrassing, and we hurriedly paid the bill and left.

My 'lil one seems be be having a mind of her own already. If she wants to come down and walk, she HAS to come down. Hubby was grabbing some reservist supplies at Watsons when she decided to do just that. And she spent her time touching each and every item on the shelf, even
suggesting to her daddy what insect repellent to buy, haha.

P is really growing up so quickly. We looked back on one of her pics today and lol-ed.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Mama, go fetch!

I was researching on baby milestones when I came across this on Baby Center.

"Fetch. Your 13-month-old will adore this one, though you may find it less than entertaining. Throwing toys out of his crib or playpen or food off his highchair and watching you retrieve the objects and hand them back to him is big-time fun. He may also enjoy handing you toys, books, and other objects, expecting that you will hand them back. This kind of give, take, and give again is actually a social game, a way of keeping your attention. You may also notice that he loves an audience, and will repeat any "performance" that elicits a positive response, especially applause."Immediately, a smile appeared on my face, because this is exactly the phase where P is right now.

Throwing toys out of playpen happens more regularly at my in law's place, for the playpen at our house is rarely used. She really takes pleasure at pick up a toy (usually a ball), stand in her playpen, hold up the toy in a teasing manner and DELIBERATELY drop it in front of you, just to see how you will react. The first few times, I would retrieve it (to her utmost pleasure), and thereafter, I will just ignore it. The reverse is true at my house. She would pick up her toy hammer from the playmat, and drop it into her playpen. Sigh, I was really quite frustrated with her when she did all those, but now it's starting to make sense.

I can also identify with the second part: give-take-give. P would hand me an object, only to take it back the next second. Then, she would scrutinize the object, as if I damaged it in that precious 1 second that I held it. After a detailed examination on the extent of damage, she would then decide whether to give it to me again. The only upside is that she is able to understand simple instructions like "Give to daddy", "Give to grandma", "Give to mommy" etc.

Lastly, audience. Very often, her audience would break out in applause after her 'performance', and her reaction will include
1. A super gleeful look
2. A super gleeful look + clapping
3. A super smug/superior look
Witnessing her reaction usually sends us into another round of laughter/praises. How not to love such a cutiepie?


The thumbsucker

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Cousin Jason's wedding

Attended my cousin Jason's wedding at Orchard Parade Hotel today! P woke up from her nap at 2 PM, and actually lasted all the way till we got home after the dinner ended at about 11PM. She was quite cranky when the dinner was about to start, so I placed her in my trusty ergo and she was going to fall asleep. However, the popping of crackers and the loud applause during the march in snapped her out of her tired state, and she became hyper again. Luckily my dad was around to play with her. He was on vegetarian diet and couldn't eat most of the food.

Anyway, the little one had a blast playing with the glittering streamers all over the floor. And she brought her grandpa up and down the stage a couple of times. I think she behaved very well on the whole. Super proud of her!
Argh, couldn't get a better pic of the blissful couple!
Anyway, here's my 'lil one bullying the colorful streamers

Friday, September 14, 2012

Hugs and kisses

P has been coming to me for plenty of hugs and kisses recently. Every morning when she wakes up, she will tend to look for me and want me to carry her while she puts her head on my shoulder lovingly. Before bedtime, she will clamber on me and just wants to feel the warmth. Hubby says that only girls do that. Haha, I love girls because they are THAT sweet :)

Monday, September 10, 2012

Petit Bateau sale

Headed to the Petit Bateau sale after work. It wasn't all that crowded, so I still had opportunity to sieve through the clothes. Prices generally start from $10, and you can get things like rompers, plain color t shirts, singlets etc. However, there were still a lot of clothing in their boxes, and it's hard to see the sizes. With strict instructions from hubby not to spend too much, my damage was only $20 although I was holding on to at least $70 worth of clothes. Took me a lot of self control to put the rest back, and I left with 3 singlets for P, which I think will match the leggings I bought from Carters and Osh Kosh perfectly.


I have also booked a ticket to the U Picnic that will take place on 6 Oct at Marina Barrage. 1 ticket admits 4 adults, and kids below 2 years old gets free admission. Ticket also allows you to redeem a picnic basket worth $30. To be honest, I've never been to a picnic before. Great that my first time will be P's first time too! I can't wait!!
Looking smug
Her tickled face. I was tickling her.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Mom's Birthday Celebration

Celebrated my mom's birthday buffet style at Fairmont Hotel's Asian Market Cafe. We have been there previously for a relative's birthday, and found the food to be quite good. For my family who hardly eat western food (especially my dad, totally cheena foodie), this is a good place for them.

Apart from the usual buffet spread, they also have DIY stations for laksa, kueh pie ti and ice kachang. Food was mainly Asian, which is really a plus for my family. Mom and dad were gushing over the spread and what they intended to eat, so I'm really glad we chose the place.

P also had her own buffet spread. Started her on her baby food, Super Salmon from Happy Baby that she loves a lot. After finishing the entire packet, she moved on to devour a chawanmushi, a small slice of papaya plus a couple of slices of desserts. This was much more than what she usually has, so I guess she's in a celebratory mood herself.

P loves this!
 The usual price per pax was $55++, but our bill for 5 adults came up to $275 after a 15% discount on hubby's DBS card. I thought that was a decent price to pay for the spread and the freedom to choose whatever you want to eat. Had we not come here, a meal at a seafood restaurant would probably set us back by approximately the same amount. More importantly, the birthday girl (erm, maybe grandma would be a better word) was very happy!

We passed by Bishan stadium on the way back home, and were pleasantly surprised by a series of fireworks. Heard from mom that it should be some closing ceremony for a sports meet. In any case, P was fascinated with the colourful display, and everyone else too.

What an eventful weekend! Hubby kissed P goodnight and told her he had a fabulous weekend with her. Parenthood really adds colours to the weekends :)

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Kite Festival 2012

Had a very nice family day today at the Kite Festival 2012. This was held at the Promontory @ Marina Bay, plus I won a $20 voucher via their FB contest, so there's no better place to be today!

The event is supposed to start at 4pm, but we arrived at about 3.30pm to find ourselves a nice parking slot at MBFC. I was initially worried about the lack of parking and the hefty parking charges, but hubby did some research and four that parking at MBFC on weekends is just about $3 for 4 hours. Yeah, sounds too good to be true? We parked for about 3.5 hours, and parking came up to just $3.21.

We were still able to find a bench for seating when we got there. P was happily looking up at the sky and all the flying kites. I wonder if she thought they were birds. Performances started at about 3.50pm, and it was great to watch. The kites are synchronised and I really applaud the kite masters for being able to do that. I mean, wind direction changes all the time, you really got to be quite pro to do synchronisation. It was great that the weather was cooperative too, not too hot and just enough wind to make all the kites fly.

Went to collect the $20 voucher, which can be redeemed at a kite store nearby. P saw a woman holding on to a bunch of balloons and edged me on that direction, so I find myself joining the queue of parents and kids to get a balloon for my little one.

Left P with hubby while I went to check out what I could get for the $20 voucher. In the end, I got a kite, a late windmill and a small windmill. Hubby wasn't too happy with my haul and asked me to leave those stuff behind before we go home. Sad... On hindsight, I should have just given the $20 voucher away to any family who was looking to get kites at the store. Just thought P would be really impressed with the windmill...

It started to get quite crowded after 4pm, and there were performances all along the Promontory stretch. We walked all the way to the MBS shoppes area, and grabbed a $10 kebab wrap and an ice lemon tea to share.

When we decided we had enough of the crowd and outdoors, we headed to the MBFC shops. Realised a lot of shops were not opened for a very good reason, who will come to MBFC on weekends if there isn't any big events nearby? P fell asleep in my carrier and we had some peaceful time exploring the shops which are opened.

Dinner was Soup Spoon and P woke up halfway into our meal. She wanted food immediately when she woke up, so she had some Tokyo Chicken Stew with bread. Haha, she's one of the few kids among my Sept FB group to be fed such 'adult' food. I realised the mommies in my group are really anal about what their children eat (strictly no adult food).

Headed to Red Mango for yoghurt after our dinner, and left P free to roam around the area as long as she's within our sight. P had a great time waving to strangers, walking and talking to herself very loudly. And, she even made a friend! There was a Caucasian kid running around barefooted, and he seems quite interested in P. Both of them had a great time chasing each other, so much that another parent decided to let his daughter join in the fun! Haha, kids are really so cute to watch when they play together.

That marks the end to our day. Hubby and I enjoyed ourselves tremendously, and I think P did as well! The Kite Festival runs tomorrow as well, so you still have time to bring your kids there. Plenty of kids, plenty of entertainment, highly recommended to go :)

There, the doting father bringing his daughter for a stroll amidst the kites


Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Maybe Baby?

Nah, I'm very sure that I'm not pregnant. The reason for the title is that P won a consolation prize in a photo contest organised by Maybe Baby.


My mom went to collect the prize on my behalf today, and came to my house with something resembling a goodie bag. There was a book titled "Muddlehood: What not to expect when you are expecting" and it seems to be quite a good read. There were also several publications from Maybe Baby, a baby comic mousepad, some baby comic magnets, post it pads and Similac Mum milk samples. Was wondering what to do with the milk samples, but I realised if I try for #2 successfully next May, then I can consume before it expires in Aug 2013. So, into the kitchen cupboard they went.


P hasn't been sleeping well lately, and that translates to me and hubby losing our sleep as well. For some reason, she would wake up crying in the middle of the night. Sometimes, it's because either hubby or myself are in her way of getting into a comfortable position (she tosses and turns a couple of rounds to get her ideal sleeping position). Other times, she seemed to want some coddling, or to simply sleep on top of me. P is over at my mom's place tonight, so I'll check with mom tomorrow to see how P fared over at her place. For tonight, it's sweet dreams for me and hubby.

Monday, September 3, 2012

Video cuddling time

Dinner at in law's place. P was sleeping when we got there, so we managed to have a peaceful dinner while she slept. Right on cue, she awoke after we finished our dinner, crying and pointing at me to carry her. She's such a mommy's girl, but she really brightens up my day when she does that!

Hubby's car needed a wash, so we drove to a nearby car wash. It wasn't P's first time at a car wash, but I always like to observe her facial expressions whenever we are at one. Today, her face crumbled when the guy started splashing water at our car. I wonder if she has the feeling of being trapped in a nightmare. Gave her lots of reassurance and she slowly got used to the car wash (and the man).

P's temper was much better today. Apart from a brewing storm when she got pissed with her bath toys, she was actually quite good. Did flash cards with her after her bath, but she was only interested to crush them -_-"

Recently, we also established a video-cuddle routine, whereby every night before bedtime, she will lie in my arms (cuddle) and watch her past videos with me on my iPhone. It's totally hilarious watching her laugh at a video in which she was lol-ing in it. We'll cuddle for 15 min or so till she gets tired of the whole experience. I really treasure such moments with her :)

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Tantrum tantrum

I'm pretty sure there's a Horrible One before the Terrible Two hits!

P has been nothing short of horrible when it comes to her tantrums these few days. The first straw came on Saturday morning. She usually wakes up ready to play with her ELC toy block sorter, or fiddle with the Baby Bear book. Sat morning, I started her on the ELC blocks, guiding her to drop the right shapes into the right hole as usual. She couldn't get pass one of it, and she just started sweeping all the blocks and sorter (think sweeping things off the dressing table in tv dramas), and threw the offending block far away. Then, she went into sit and reach position and pressed her face onto the mattress and wailed her hearts out.

As the day passes, as long as she is slightly unhappy with you taking away her object of interest (for safety reasons), she will go into the above tantrum mode. She even does this when she's bathing. If her bath toys don't do her bidding, she throws them with all her might to goodness-knows-where.

Today was also a tantrum day for P. Threw tantrum at home, threw tantrum at church, threw tantrum at MIL's place, and threw tantrum at home. We even got a "don't spoil her too much" advice from an Aunty sitting behind us at church. Good grief!

I got really really pissed with her, and shouted at her a couple of times, causing hubby to be mad at me. He then asked P why she keeps attaching herself to me when I treat her so badly. That got me even madder coz I don't think that's very nice of him to 'badmouth' me in front of my child. He can only blame himself for P's lack of interest in him. Who takes childcare leave to play computer games at home while leaving P at his mom's place? Yes, my hubby does that.

Shouting at P doesn't make me love her any less. Not shouting at P also doesn't mean that you treat her better and that she should love you more instead of me. It's the overall experience that she has with the person that counts.

As you can see, P's tantrum is putting a toil on our couple relationship as well. I seriously hope she outgrows this phase soon. Hopefully, it's just an onset of her 3rd tooth eruption symptom. I really pray hard!
Super interested in the pizza delivery guy

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Kiddy Fun

Kiddy Fun with P today! Bought over a voucher from one of the Sept FB grp mommies some time back, and only realise this week that the voucher expires 6 Sept. Definitely have to go this weekend, else I'll need to take a weekday leave to bring her there.

P was asleep in the Ergo carrier before we got to Kiddy Fun, but she awoke upon hearing the shouts and shrieks of children once I enter the place. This is the 3rd indoor playground that I have brought P to, eXplorer Kid and Hokey Pokey being the first 2. First impression was that it looks very fun. They have equipments that resembles merry go round and seesaw, rocking helicopter, spinning teacups. After we started playing, I realised the novelty runs out quite fast, especially because P is not old enough for most of the movable equipment. The place was probably more suitable for kids between 3-5. Any younger, they might not do well on movable equipments. Any older, they will be quite bored after a while.

We spent 2.5 hours there, and P didn't seem to mind leaving when we left. One more thing to note is that Turf City is undergoing major renovation. Although I had no problems finding the place, I heard from a Sept mommy she couldn't find her way and ended up just going home. We entered Giant from the carpark and walked all the way to the left. There you have the electronics department and an exit. The lift to Kiddy Fun is just next to this Giant exit.

P conked out in the car on the way home. I'm sure she had some fun, but I probably won't be back for another 3 years until all renovation is complete and I can be sure she will do fine on the movable equipment on her own.