Change the Batteries

Couple of days ago, one of the DVD player at Mah-Mah's place went kaput. I can't help but suspect that the players' lifespan got shorten because of Elaina's half-baked knowledge on how to operate it.

While everyone was frantically trying to find out the reason why the player kept ejecting on its own, Matty came along and decided to throw in his 2-cents worth. He insisted that we should just change the batteries disregarding our explanation that not everything worked on batteries. Actually he said the same thing to me not too long ago when I was meddling with something that had failed to work. Obviously he had thought that way because whenever his toys are not working, the only reason is because the batteries have gone flat and a change of batteries will always do the trick.

Kids - they are so adorable because they think so simply and are always brimming with innocence.

Superstar Virgo

We went on our second family vacation on 13 February. This time it was a short weekend getaway on a cruise.

It was definitely not as disastrous as the last time except that Elaina is getting lazy these days and refuse to walk, demanding to be carried no matter how hard we try and encourage her to get off the "tree". She had put on quite a bit of weight lately and even though she was only in tee and overall it was so much heavier compared to 6 months ago when I had to lug a baby who was all wrapped up in warm clothing.

The food wasn't as fantastic as I remembered it to be but we managed to get quite a bit of sleep while on the ship - at least Matty willingly took an afternoon nap on Saturday afternoon without even being asked to. The excitement of sleeping in the cabin probably enticed him to do it.

I would say that the overall experience wasn't too bad. Wonder whether I will have the guts (or insanity) to bring Elaina to Japan next Spring.

Orange Juice

A question that popped up in one episode of Blue's Clues - where do orange juice come from?

Matty's reply - from the fridge.

I almost fell off my chair.

Our First Baking Venture

Matty and Mummy attempted our first baking venture today. This wasn't made from scratch in case you are wondering... we got ourselves a box of pre-mix the other day. Purpose was really to keep Matty occupied for one afternoon while Elaina takes her usual afternoon nap. The muffins (although it looked more like cupcakes!) turned out pretty well... I wasn't expecting it to be so moist for a pre-mixed cake =p

Riding High on Energy!

Busy as we may be, Mummy is proud to say that we managed to accomplish a fair bit even before we see an end to January.

We finally brought Matty and Elaina to Sentosa last evening to catch "Songs of the Sea" as promised moons ago. Lights, dancing fountain (as how we described to Matty), spitting fireballs and a minor display of fireworks towards the end, all for only 8 bucks. Not too bad a deal and a fantastic way to keep the children entertained even though it lasted a mere 20 minutes. And since we were there, we took the opportunity to bring Matty and Elaina on the cable car... another promise that was made moons ago.

The weekend before, the kids had their first go at kite-flying at the Marina Barrage. Whoopee~

I started a blog to document recipes gathered.... and of the collection, half of which would have been tested on. Guess it didn't take 20 years to get my butts moving on this one as expected. The truth is that I was forced to act on it because the OpenOffice wasn't quite as ideal as I had hope and I encountered some nagging problems when managing the document file which was created using Words. Updating the document with new recipes became a chore! I was left with no choice and had to quickly find a solution that will allow me to access the recipes whether it is from the office, using the PC or the MacBook. And so I accidentally got to check-the-box on this task. Recipes are slowly being uploaded and hopefully while I am at it I will attempt to try each and every one of the recipes just so that I can take some tantalising pictures to upload to the blog.

Over the course of 2 weekends, Mummy also managed to clean the wardrobes, pack the clothes that Matty and Elaina can no longer fit and threw out some stuff that are useless except for collecting dust. I should try and take a day off work sometime in the 2nd quarter and do a round of major cleaning to the wardrobe. I bet that underneath each drawer there is a very thick coat of dust. The only thing which I would very much want to get done before the Chinese New Year but did not get round to was to take the curtains down for dry-cleaning. It was too late to get an appointment by the time I called as the dry-cleaner was fully booked. This will have to wait until the 1st weekend after Chinese New Year.

Next... we need to get more photo paper and black ink to replenish the printer because I seriously need to fill up those photo frames before I invite people over. Do you think I will get to it before end-January?

The Accidental Milestone

8 January 2009 marks the day Matty swears off wearing diaper both day and night.

It took Matty more than a year to be toilet-trained for the daytime and hence came as a complete surprise that we didn't need to anything for him to be toilet-trained for the night. I was even contemplating toilet-training him for the night until he is much older to allow everyone a bit of space to breathe before another round of agony begins.

The day when he was fully trained for the day came as an instinct for Matty to stop peeing into his diaper during the night as well. We just didn't have the guts to put him in underwear in case he should wet his bed and so continued to make him wear his diaper to bed each night for the last 1 over month. The diaper stayed dry every morning.

The comfort he had during the day of not having something that bulky around his butt must be the reason that left him extremely frustrated the last couple of nights when he had to wear his diaper to bed. And so last night we decided to take his diaper off completely.

Hurray for Matty!!

2008 ~ 2009

Before I am able to digest 2008 fully, it has made its way into the history book and with Year 2009 making a grand entrance like the fireworks at Marina Barrage (which we missed even though it is just right opposite our apartment!).

I am sure that alot has happened in Year 2008 but most of it never got blogged about - blame it on the days that swooshed by even before Mummy could bat my eyelids. I think the most significant events in Year 2008 would be Matty starting at a new school and us moving back to Waterplace. Workwise, it was a year not worthy to be mentioned as I cannot think of any major accomplishments to boot about. I cracked my brains while doing my year-end appraisal and still ended up writing that blatant truth in my review.

As much as I would like to take things a little slower for Year 2009, I am not betting my life on it. The first 2 weeks of Year 2009 is enough to serve as a sneak preview. The days transit into the next without us realising, like the cans of cranberry sauce being removed from the supermarket shelves and being replaced with cans of soup stock for steamboat, Christmas crackers gone from display and mahjong sets taking its place. Not trying to be humourous here but it is the truth because Chinese New Year is tipping so close that retailers need to react quickly. Like the supermarket, everyone at home is quickly adapting to changes. Matty just started Nursery this year and is in the morning class. Elaina goes off to her playgroup twice every Tuesday and Thursday. New year, new routine.

Hopefully in the next 12 months after this post, Mummy will have more things to note down and not just another year that had slipped through the fingers.

Bad. Bite.

When a child displays a certain characteristic, It is either due to their genes or they learn by example. We are baffled recently by Elaina's reaction to agitation through biting!! It is not her nails we are talking about, rather her target is only and always Matty.

We have come to terms that Elaina is a temperamental and stubborn girl, it seems to run in the family but not sure where she got the violent streak in her. We have witnessed a few times in the last couple of weeks Elaina trying to take a chomp off Matty when they get into a disagreement. Good thing she hasn't quite succeeded in her attempts if not hell would have broken loose by now.

So far, we have not heard of anyone in the immediate family doing something this unthinkable, ruling out the possibility of it running in the blood. Neither can I recall any instance of someone another person during an argument (well... at least not literally), so Elaina couldn't have learnt from example as well. It this a self-defence instinct or plain naughtiness?

I can just about picture my girl being branded the big bully in school in the not so far future and the numerous times we will be summoned to see the school principal for her bad behaviour.

Power of Blogging

I have been cutting myself some slack these days at work (slacking if you prefer to call it) whenever I find the chance to or if I try hard enough to justify the need to slow down. Work has been overwhelming on most days so there is more reason to get a grip of myself before I lose my sanity. And besides that, since I hardly get a chance to surf the net at home now that I am a mummy of 2, the best opportunity to do so is unfortunately during the 5 to 10 mins break I award myself throughout a typical working day.

Yes... Mummy has been doing what I call blog-hopping - going around reading blogs of people I know and those whom are complete strangers to me. This is not new to alot of netizens just that I never got caught on with it. The habit only really started because I was doing alot of googling for new and interesting recipes to try out. The more I blog-hop the more ashamed I am of mine... I think I just don't put in enough effort to write.

Since I am into cooking these days most of the blogs that I have bookmarked are of people who share the same interest and can be bothered to do a proper write-up of recipes, take pretty pictures and post them for everybody to enjoy. They are an inspiration! Though I am not sure when I will ever get my butts moving and move out of the "being inspired stage" and do something similar here. Let's target that to happen 20 years later.

Other than cooking tips and recipes, blog-hopping has let me keep up with what is happening in friends' life even without having to actually talk to them. Hmmm... that should really be a bad thing isn't it? Then there is another cluster of people that I only know by name writing about their struggles in life from pursuing an MBA to fighting a battle with cancer.

It is amazing how much you can learn from the experience of others just by blog-hopping... and of course an avenue for me to shift my focus when the tough gets going at work (excuses, excuses, excuses!!).

I Think We Are There (Almost!)

It has been a week since Matty has gone "diaper-less" during the day.

He has had a few accidents in the last 1 week thanks to the fact that he still refuses to say when he needs to go most of the time. We need to drag him to the toilet religiously (and has been doing so for the last 15 months)... but that is not enough because only he knows best when his bladder is going to burst.

By denying him his diapers completely may eventually drive home the message that he has to tell someone when he needs the loo. Hopefully it won't be long before Mummy blogs about Matty having zero accidents and completely toilet-trained.

34, Eczema, Playschool and Birthday Cake

Papa turned 34 yesterday and we took the day off work to spend time with Matty and Elaina (well actually more like to run errands!).

We had to take Matty to the skin doctor yesterday morning after the "outbreak" appearing on parts of his body just doesn't seem to go away completely. The doctor confirmed that he is having eczema (again!) and promptly prescribed him with some cream and a bottle of syrup with apparently stops itches. No intention to give him the syrup unless the itch becomes really bad or if we want to knock him out - the bottle has a bright red label across it saying that it causes drowsiness *evil grin*.

We even enrolled Elaina with a playgroup which starts 6 January 09. Seeing how she enjoys dancing, singing and mingling with other little people she should have a good time in the playgroup... just a matter of how fast she can get adapted to the environment and being left alone. The good thing is that due to age, for the first term she needs to be accompanied. When she turns 2 in March 09, she will proceed on to level 2 which do not require a guardian to be around. Hopefully the first 2 months can help break her in gently.

Surprisingly.... this time round I seem to be less concerned about sending a little being off to school at such a young age. I used to battle with myself (and of course the rest of the family) when we had to send Matty to a playgroup at 18 months old. It felt so cruel to "abandon" a baby to a bunch of strangers.

Strangely... I have had a few people telling me that she is too young for school. And those who didn't think it was a great idea before (for instance my own parents) feeling otherwise now.

Technically... I won't even term it as going to school. More like socialising, having a place to hang around for a couple of hours per week and getting entertained.

Elaina finally understood the meaning of birthdays... or rather the whole candle-blowing and cake-cutting business. For the first time she attempted to blow off the candle after the birthday song ended. It was really cute to see her huffing and puffing with all the might she could gather.

The New-Age Little People

How different are the children of this generation as compared to the last? The list can be pretty long but to name a few, they are no doubt much smarter, more advanced in their thinking, has a stronger personality, more opinionated and definitely a lot more outspoken. The western counterparts probably raised children like these in the last 2 to 3 decades but for us Asians I am quite certain that is not the case until the recent decade.

Back when I was still a kid (and I clarify that it was really not very long ago!) the parents dictated what we do, what we can or cannot say, what our diet should be, what we wear or even how we think. No room for discussion or the next thing you see is the cane landing on our butts for disobedience. Come the generation of Matty and Elaina - saying that they live in a revolutionary generation is not an exaggeration. Never do we get through a day without engaging in some form of negotiation with Matty.

Since Matty has had a better grasp of the language in the last 1 year, he is also starting to have a better control of every aspect of his own life. He tells us which pair of shoes he wants to wear today, that he prefers the shorts to his jeans, why he does not want to take his nap, how many scoops of milk powder he wants us to put in to the bottle and the list just goes on. To give credit to him, he is starting to grow out of the stage where his reply is a simple "no" and act like a tantrum throwing kid when he thinks otherwise from us. He engages in a proper negotiation and would offer alternatives to us to consider... "how about (this) or how about (that)?". God-forbid... I can never imagine myself doing that when I was 3... either because I was too stupid to think in that order or too worried that I will get into trouble with my mum.

In the last couple of weeks, Matty finally decided that enough is enough... porridge is not his favourite food and he will not hesitate to tell his grandmother not to include that in his menu. He even took the trouble of explaining to his grandfather that the only reason why he eats his porridge is because of the "you tiao" which we all know he has a soft-spot for. On one occasion, he had even suggested to me to get chicken rice instead of porridge... and in his exact words while offering a third option for consideration "or noodles also can".

Elaina too (in mostly her own language with a few words which the rest of mankind can understand) will not give up any opportunity to exert her own thinking as well - which in her case is of course still in the primitive stage of "yes" and "no-no"... but working towards where Matty is.

Maybe as a "new-age parent", we play a big part in molding the "new-age little people" - freedom of speech, freedom to think and freedom to choose. Hopefully we are heading in the right direction and equipping our children with the appropriate values and character to survive tomorrow's world.

Taboo Topic

As all parents would, we dread to be caught in a "life and death" situation with our children. By that I mean having to explain "where do babies come from" and "what is death all about".

We were caught in a situation which none of us were prepared for few days back. A lizard was scrambling for life running around the corridor like a headless chicken, Mummy and the maid were screaming our lungs out, while Matty and Elaina froze and couldn't quite figure out the what the commotion was about. Daddy ended the episode by stepping and killing the lizard there and then. Very soon the following conversation ensued...

Matty: Is lizard sleeping?

The adults: Ermmm... yup the lizard is sleeping

Matty: Why the eyes not closed?

The adults: Lizards sleep with eyes opened.

It was really horrible to know that we lied through our teeth... but was probably the best that we could do knowing that the time is still not ripe for us to go into a lengthy discussion with Matty on the topic of death. We were just not mentally prepared for it. Hopefully we will do better in time to come... but preferably this opportunity comes later than sooner.

I wish for 25/8

Whoops... another month has gone by without any updates to this blog. So much has happened but Mummy just simply cannot find the time to write these days. And when I finally think that I have some space to breathe... I can't quite remember most events. Is that a sign of old age?

So what have I been busy with? Budget review, filling in numbers, document chasing - a typical 3rd quarter at work. At home, Mummy has been busy looking for new recipes and trying them out with some successes and some failure. I may even attempt to bake some cake if I can work out the budget and time permits. Baking is a big investment and I don't want to dump in the money and not get to do much of it. These days I am getting more calculative. Everything is getting more expensive and feeding a family of 4 is no small business.

There is still much to be done around the house. I got to find the time to pack Elaina's old cot and put them into storage. Same goes for the bedsheets and clothes that can no longer fit. The leather sofa and head-board needs to be polished - the stain remover was bought more than 3 months ago and has yet to make it out of the packaging. I haven't even had the opportunity to look through all the photos we took during the trip. (Can you ask Daddy to stop hogging the computer?)

24/7 is not good enough. Maybe 25/8 might work.

Gone and Back, In and Out

Busy busy busy - nothing else can better describe the last couple of weeks.

It was one full week of packing before the whole family packed off to Australia (Adelaide, Canberra and Sydney to be specific) for 10 days on 12 July. Gosh... Mummy used to bring one hand-carrier for a week of vacation but this time round, the hand-carrier was only good for diapers, a can of formula milk, wet wipes and medication for the kids. It was no small feat to pack for 4 of us. The thick clothing took up a lot space and the worry that the kids might dirty the clothes with food, puke and what not made me want to pack more than less... and that didn't help again.

Frankly, I was looking forward to having a holiday (I haven't been to anywhere since 4 years ago!) but on the first day there, I so wanted to come back home. Elaina reacted quite badly to the foreign land - the lack of routine contributed largely to it. She didn't manage to catch much sleep on the plane even though we were hoping that a red-eye flight would mean that she will be knocked out by the time the plane took off... obviously that didn't happen. By the time we had the first opportunity to give her some milk, she was all puffed up from the crying and lack of rest. The milk did knock her out though and didn't wake up until mid-afternoon. By then she had missed her breakfast and lunch. The only decent meal both the kids had were dinner. I felt so bad making them starve.

Elaina spent most of the following days clinging to Mummy. She lost her appetite somehow and was always crying for attention. She did enjoy parts of the trip but her upbeat mood was sporadic. I lost my appetite because of tiredness - my back was at the verge of breaking from the carrying that I did in the 10 days. Both Elaina and Mummy lost some weight when we got back.

Matty on the other hand had huge fun. He ate well, slept well and was always roaring to go. The best part of the whole trip and probably the only accomplishment is to see Matty enjoying himself. If only we had the time and mood to bring him to more places and packed in more activities for that 10 days....

The near-disastrous trip ended on 22 July and life sort of went back to normal for less than 3 days before Matty got hospitalised for gastric flu which made him unable to keep any water or food down. The doctor kept him bedridden and on the drip for one day. My worries that he would attempt to yank the drip-off, throw tantrums were unfounded. He willingly stayed in bed and glued himself to the TV and books. The 13-hour nap he took on the first day helped reduce the chance of him getting bored. Matty was finally out of the hospital on 27 July.

We are now back to the usual routine - Elaina is happy that her days are normal again, Matty is glad that he can finally get his normal food and milk... and Mummy is flat-out from all the running around.

Terrible 2 No More?

Matty is finally 3 and Mummy really looked forward to it because it means we have survived yet another year of parenthood and most importantly because of people around have been telling me how a Terrible 2 Toddler will miraculously turn into a not so terrible toddler when he gets to add another candle to his birthday cake.

Not sure if the theory does indeed hold some truth or because Elaina is now becoming a terror, Matty seems to be a lot more co-operative these days (except when we tell him he needs to share his toys with his little sister). I do see less tantrum coming from him lately.

Elaina on the other hand is getting Mummy frustrated. She clings to me like the cling-wrap, demands to be walked, makes a din when I try to get her to take a bath and refuses to allow anyone of us to close the bedroom door with her constant "open, open, open" when she knows that we are trying to put her to bed. I can't wait for this phase to pass through really soon, that her sniffles will go away completely before this weekend and that her teething which has been putting her in constant pain to subside. My patience is wearing extremely thin and that is not good especially when we are flying off to a holiday in another 5 days.

It is a good thing that Matty has fully recovered after his long bout of flu and cough (possibly due to Mycoplasma) and that we are finally seeing him smile a little more. Bringing him on to the Singapore Flyer made that bit of difference to his birthday and brightens him somewhat. I am sure he is looking forward to the holiday and will enjoy himself lots. Hopefully we can say the same about Elaina.

Good luck to us... we need lots of it!

Stock-Take

We have been living in frenzy for the past few weeks. The move and flu bug going around the household leaves Mummy with a blank mind on most days.

Unknowingly, Elaina is now able to mouth a few words. It didn't dawn on me until 2 days ago when she asked for "water" and pointed to her bottle. We took for granted that she babbles most of the time and never really paid attention to whether she actually meant something.

I finally took count of what she can say at 15-month old:

- open
- bye bye
- hello
- see you
- water
- that
- mine
- mum-mum (for food)
- bao-bao (carry)
- hua-hua (flower)
- apple
- pa-pa
- ma-ma (for both Mah-Mah and Mummy)
- gong-gong
- gor-gor
- shake shake (for milk-shaking and bum-shaking... in other words dancing)
- baby (referring to her Baby Einstein disc)

Actually Elaina is doing much better than I had initially thought.

The Bug is Here Again

Mummy is dozing off sitting in the office and staring into the computer. The utter lack of sleep is the culprit, and the culprit for the lack of sleep is the persistent flu bug that has been bugging us.

First, Daddy fell sick and then Matty came down with the flu. We were cleared for a mere one week before the bug stroked again hitting Daddy and Matty. Elaina has since caught the same strain of virus and is making her really sick. She hasn't been sleeping well since last Friday and Mummy has been surviving with a 3 to 4-hour sleep each night. I can hardly feel my brain except for the backache that usually lingers when I need to share the bed with Elaina.

We wake up each morning wondering if Elaina will be better tonight but so far we hadn't had any luck.

Better end-off here because I just caught myself falling asleep.

Kids Say the Darnest Things

I recalled reading an article online somewhere detailing how many words a child will know and be able to say at what age. Now that Matty is turning 3, his skills in the department of language is undoubtfully doing well and deserves a distinction at times.

Some nights ago while getting dressed, Matty was getting cranky after a long day and was saying "no" to whatever we tell him to do. When I attempted to comb his hair for him, he retorted with "No... I don't want to comb my hair... I don't want to be cute". I was getting agitated with his constant "no-this" and "no-that"... but at that moment I burst into laughter.

Matty got into the phase of not wanting to brush his teeth yet again. I was trying to reason with him why he needs to just the other day:

Mummy: Matty, do you know why Gong-Gong's teeth dropped and he needs to wear dentures? That is because he doesn't brush his teeth before going to bed. Don't you think you don't look nice without teeth?
Matty: Mah-Mah has teeth.
Mummy: Yup... because she brushes her teeth. So do you want to brush your teeth?
Matty: I want to be a handsome boy

Expressing his feeling is what Matty is capable of doing these days. He had a quirky exchange with Mah-Mah weeks before when he told her that he doesn't want to be a big boy because big boys are not allowed to do alot of things (well we tell him that he is a big boy now and therefore he cannot be doing things like throw tantrums etc) and that he wanted to be a baby. But after Mah-Mah evaluated the pros of being a big boy, for instance going to the supermarket for shopping when little babies like Mei-Mei needs to take her afternoon nap and that only big boys can eat french fries... he pondered over it for a few minutes and declared that he wants to be a "big boy baby". He obviously wants his cake and eat it too.

Of course other than saying how he feels, Matty tells us what he wants us to do or buy. In anticipation of his upcoming birthday, he has been constantly reminding us every other day that he wants a Mickey Mouse on his cake. One night after watching the episode "Birthday Machine" in Little Einstein, he told Mummy that he wants a big birthday with a Mickey Mouse cake, hats for everybody and a blue schoolbag as present. I hope the list will stop growing. He is pretty long-winded for a 3-year kiddo - doodled on his doodle board on Sunday and came running to me showing off his masterpiece. It resembled a box and he explained that it was a present. I prompted him further and he clarified that it is his present and guess what is in the box... a blue schoolbag.

Matty has started to ask "why" and not just "what" and "where". But he does it in an unusual way unlike most children I know - he phrases it with "because?".

Falling in Place

We finally (well almost since there are still some work left to be done) crossed the biggest hurdle anticipated for Year 2008 - the move back to Waterplace.

As much as we hate it, the move was an eventful one... rectification to be done at the very last hour because we found out about something really late or someone forgotten clean about it or someone wasn't using his brains in the process. A hood that failed to work just when we thought that we are almost at the finishing line. And like every move, the shopping list just gets longer by the day and up until now the list is still being revisited and revised now and then. The whole process was truly back-breaking... from the washing and cleaning to the unpacking and organising. It will not be a exaggeration to say that a gazillion hours were put in to get the place ready.

I thought that I could have managed this better since I have moved a few times in the last 4 years but things didn't seem to flow the way that I had wanted to despite all the prior planning and even the nice worklist that was composed so that we will not lose sight of what needs to be done. But like we all know, expectation and reality do not gel. The washing and cleaning took twice the amount of time that was factored for. We worked till the dawn just one day before the big move and still not all things were where it should be for "Day 1".

The amazing part of life is that no matter how bleak the situation might appear to be at the beginning, things do somehow fall in place. We got through the first night working on the basis that as long as the kids get their shower and milk, have a bed to sleep in... the rest is something to worry about the following day because by then we were all burnt out and the mind and body just couldn't work another minute. And so we survived "Day 1" and even "Week 1" despite all the prior planning seemed to have failed miserably.

We used to wonder and worry about alot of things in the last 4 years. We cracked out heads over not having the space for a cot in our room before Matty came long and how are we to fit 2 car seats plus a maid at the back of the car when we need to ferry everybody home each night. We never got an answer to how the cot is to be placed or if we need an MPV. By the time we got Matty, we were moving into a place that was big enough to fit a bed plus a cot, convert a room into a baby changing room and a kitchen big enough to accommodate a bottle sterilizer, bottle warmer, and whole lots of other baby stuff. When we had even gone through that stage with Elaina it was time for us to move in to an apartment once again. We don't have to ponder if a saloon needs to make way of an MPV because we are now comfortable with the thought that Matty is sensible enough to take the front passenger seat and making sufficient room at the back to fit in 3. We discovered that if we stack things the right way, all the tupperwares, containers, pots, pans, cutleries which used to fill 2 kitchens can now go into that one little kitchen. It seems that time and time again things will work its way out naturally and eventually much to our surprise.

It is high time for me to get used to the notion that a good plan is when we do not to have one and just let matter run its own course.