Hello Kitty present!

Ah gong and ah ma bought the little gal a birthday pressie! And it's a Hello Kitty fridge!

The fridge has a can dispenser where she can load it and press to release just one can!

The little gal loved it so much she was so afraid of losing the paper bag it was put in. ;)

An early birthday present...

大姨 is really sweet because she bought something for the little gal.

Little gal is of course excited about presents and all things labelled with the word "birthday". Mostly she associates the word with cakes and candles. In most family birthday celebrations, she will be there to sit on the lap of the birthday boy or girl and help blow out the candles...

Here is a few pictures of her gleaming away with the present from 大姨...

Someone is addicted to... Ovalteenies!!!

A picture paints a thousand words...

The Christmas portraits...

The very classic snowman for the coming Christmas! ;)

You know your little one has grown up when she swings her hand over your shoulder to pull u closer and poses for a photo...

Back to old school... ;)

Passed by a biscuit shop and found some really old school tidbits! Like the HIRO chocolate coated cake, the "ding dang cat" chocolate coated nuts...

I caved in and bought this! It's not so easy to find such things nowdays. Little girl requested for yellow... She took 2 bites and gave it back to me. I guess its because it's durian flavoured.

Then tried my green one and finished it. ;p here is a photo of her eating what she calls the "round and round"...

PS: This morning hubby was helping the sleepy gal into her school uniform. She stood up and just when hubby thought she was going to hug him and go back to zzz, she pushed hubby aside. Ran to the living room to pick up the "horlicks" sweets. She remembered that the night before mummy had promised her that she could have them when she woke up. Such a cute darling!

Little Megan's birthday party! ;)

We attended little Megan's party at Orchid Country Club - little ozone. The play area's pretty fun and the little gal enjoyed herself! ;)

Got to meet most of my forum friends and their toddlers! All are so grown already... ;)

Megan's birthday cake is really sweet and pretty! Adorned with lots of pretty flowers, butterfly and bees. ;)

Thanks to Phyl for inviting and we has great fun!

PS: check out the cute little gal whose posing with the cake... ;p

The accidental friend?

Went to eat at a neighborhood where there was a shop selling household stuff. The shop seems to be run by two ladies and their daughter was there.

We hung in the shop for quite a while because ah gong couldn't quite decide whether to buy the light bulbs or not... The shop owner's daughter was super friendly... She first offered my little gal some "mamee" that she was having. The little gal took it and I reminded her to say thank you.

Well after this, my little gal received transformer stickers (free from the mamee pack) from her. The little gal was at first apprehensive but soon opened up when the older girl began "talking" to her. Both of them even sat at one of the shelves to share the pack of mamee. To me, I hope this spells the start of my gal's ability to socialise and open up to others of her age...

I hope my little gal can also learn the generosity the older gal possesed. Not only did the older gal share her mamee and stickers, she also gave one pack of mamee to my gal to bring home. Isn't that sweet?

Well a picture paints a thousand words, so here it is... Don't they look like they have been friends forever? ;)

Kiddy lunch! ;)

Had lunch at Sun with Moon Japanese restaurant at wheelock place today! Bought a kids meal for the little gal. When it came, she was so amused by the presentation, she went "happy birthday to me uh?". Lol, she thought it was a cake... :p As always, I learnt something - "forget abt kiddy meals!" because you land up eating more! Something I won't want to be doing!!!

My new shoes!!!

Have been eyeing this pair of Crocs for the little gal for quite a while. It went out of stock from my friend's BP and it was dissapointing!

Luckily, the lil gal's 姨姨 (little aunt) workplace oragnised a basar. Though more expensive than the BP, it's still cheaper than buying from Crocs store. Since her shoes usually last for quite some time, it should be worth every penny. :p

Thanks to 姨姨，here is her loving the pair of ladybug shoes and with her favie umbrella...

Zoo zoo zoo!!!

The lil gal went to the zoo today. It's an excursion organized by her childcare centre.

The weather was pretty hot with the sun but I was glad it didn't rain. The little gal got to catch up with the orang utan, monkeys, snakes, zebra, giraffes, lion, leopards, etc. This time there was also the penguin enclosure which had re-opened.

Mama got to feed the giraffes bcos the lil gal refused! -_-" we manage to watch the rainforest show which features the spider monkey, orang utans and others. We headed home eventually with the lil gal falling asleep in the car all the way home...

Here's a pic of her with the "seals"...

Testing out the new iPhone blogger app!

Finally chanced a new Blooger app by Google for iPhone! And it's FREE! (double delight!)

Since we are talking abt technology/programs, hubby recently got an iPad2. And the little gal is of course happily enjoying the big screen and the apps that are available in iPad... ;p

Manage to catch a picture of her hard at work - playing the puzzle game - Tozzle. It's a program which Jinny introduced and it keeps her entertained. What I do not like about iPhone and iPad is she gets addicted (keeps whining to daddy for the 电脑！). My worst fears is she looks at the screen too closely and may need to wear specs at a tender age...

Well, got to keep reminding myself to balance out the use of technology! :)

The small things in life...

There is an unknown attraction between the little girl and the MRT. She gets all excited when it comes to taking a ride in the air-conditioned train... Maybe it's a novelty to scan the ez-link card and see the gates open... She got her fix on Sunday. One day before, she tried desperately to convince daddy that it is absolutely OK for him to take her on an MRT ride without mummy since mummy does not have her ezlink card (what more can I say right?).

Isn't it true that some small things in life can make one happy?  

The novelty of scanning the ez-link card... ;p

Kids and cold stuff... I remember loving ice-cream and yakult. This is totally random because I did not know that Ikea was giving away a soft-serve with every kids meal purchased! The cashier gave us a token and a cone. The machine is easy to use but I have serious doubts about the hygiene... ;p

 

Holding on to the ice-cream and trying to keep daddy and mummy distracted... 

*you cannot see the soft serve in my hands... you cannot see....* :p

 

Toilet training!

Toilet training is one of those parenting topics that I know almost nothing about. Admittedly, I hate looking at the clock and repeating myself like a broken recorder (You want to go pee?... You want to go pee?...). I am also not into cleaning up puddles of liquid and even less keen when she takes the floor mat to soak up the liquid mess on the floor... Toilet training requires lots of persistence from the parents/caretakers and lots of encouragement so that they feel proud to have accomplished it. :)

My girl's CC teacher told us that the little girl has been indicating that she needs the toilet and will be ready for toilet training. We jumped at the idea since consistent toilet training from Mondays to Fridays is better than just doing it on Saturday and Sundays (where we spend most of the time out). A successful toilet training also means I pack one less item in her bag and saves Ah Gong's money (Note: Ah Gong been sponsoring the little girl's Mamy Poko).  So for 1.5 months, I washed a total of perhaps 4 soiled school shorts. Somehow, the training went so well, she could go to the potty to poo and pee on her own over the weekend.

On Sunday, while dressing little girl for dinner, she chose an inner-wear and told me that she wanted to wear it. Not wanting to "over-stretch" it with the bulky diapers, I told her it's either inner-wear or diaper. She chose inner-wear and off we went for dinner without diapers. After dinner, we stopped by at a Caltex petrol station for the Restrooms. Caltex really pride themselves into providing really clean toilets! It's heaven compared to those dark, dirty and remotely located toilets where sucking your breath while doing your business is the only way out. A great choice for pit-stop toilets (LOL!). So a cool 2.5hours without any accidents! *Phew*

At 2 years and 8 months old, I would happily say that she is pretty much toilet trained (except diapers during zzz hours). Yeah, I am a lucky mum since I no need to clean so many "puddles"... :p

妈妈的爱心﹣八珍汤

Yes, mum made me her version of 爱心八珍汤! This soup is a chinese herbal soup that can be cooked with meat (chicken or pork) or without meat.

The soup is something which I drink regularly as a teenager until I got married. I did not get to drink it as much because I no longer stay with the persons who cook this soup (my mum and my grandma/aunt)! Anyway it's because I am lazy because the soup is really easy to prepare.

About 3 months back, I cooked the soup and shared it with my mother-in-law. :) This round my mother cooked it for me. For some reason, hers' taste better and it could be because I used "black chicken" while she used the normal chicken.

For those who are wondering, this soup should be taken regularly (monthly) by girls if possible. The tonic soup will nourish the blood. It is known to reduce menstratual pains and keep cycles regular. Some fellow mothers say it's good for women trying to concieve as it "warms" the womb. Men can drink this soup but in small quantities... :)

Anyway it's quite easy to prepare. You can boil it for 2-3 hrs on stove or use a slow cooker. I do not like to keep watch on fire so I use a slow cooker.

Step 1: You can buy a pack of the herbs for the soup. I usually buy from Eu Yang Sang and wash them before use (thou EYS says no need to wash la).

Step 2: You can choose to buy meat (about 1 chicken chopped up or into halves) to make the soup. Just wash the meat then place them into the slow cooker. Place the herbs on the top of the meat and pour water to cover the herbs and meat (if any).

Step 3: Set the slow cooker on high for about 3 hrs and the soup should be done. My grandmother usually cooks the soup on stove for about 1-2hrs only. The soup is usually dark when it's done... :)

This is my mum's 爱心八珍汤 (one BIG BOWL!). Thank you mum (you're the best!).

Jacob Ballas Children Garden...

It's been such a long time since I blogged. I read in a parenthood magazine about stolen identities and how a blog exposes private life for everyone to see... So got a bit scared and took off the blog into a "private space". Nevertheless, without the blog, it seems I have stopped tracking the little one's growing up proccess... How could I do that?

It's been 3 months since the last blog. Recently, her school had an outing to Botanic Gardens - Jacob Ballas Children Garden. She had missed this little outing as she came down with fever and lack of appetite. Hubby and I decided to bring her there on a Sunday. The map of the garden can be found here (http://www.sbg.org.sg/bukittimahcore/images/map.jpg)

The Jacob Ballas Children Garden is a small cut out of the bigger Botanic Gardens. Abeit the lack of care in certain parts of the garden (such as the water plant section), it can be an educational place for the little ones to explore the different plants - the "Touch Me Nots", spices (such as Pandan, lemon grass, lime plants). The banana tree was flowering when we were there! :)

There are physical activities which kids can explore there! The sand playground (which we skipped as time was running out), waterplay area (small, we also skipped as we did not bring spare clothes or towels), tree playground (for active kids to climb around, features very long enclosed slides) and of course the suspension bridge!

Well here are some photos!

Little girl's toilet woes...

Mother in law was ill today so no dinner at her place. Left work to meet hubby and lil gal for japanese food at Meidi-ya. She was about 2/3 through her dinner when she suddenly pulled up her shirt and started digging at her belly button. Initially we ignored her but with her food still in her mouth she said "痛痛！". I looked at her and she pointed to her tummy. Hubby who had finished his dinner brought her to the toilet after she nodded when asked if she wanted to poo.

5 minutes later, hb emerged with her. She took another mouth of food and started to dig at her belly button. Once again she nodded when asked if she wanted to poo. I brought her to the female toilet, sat her down. Less than 1 minute later, she happily told me "没有了！".

I frowned and brought her back. On the way back to dinner table, she started to clutch her tummy again and this time began to whine... She began to protest, refusing the food, whining very loudly with tears in her eyes and clutching her little tummy and digging at her (getting red) belly button... She also clinged onto papa and refused to let papa put her down.

It was the first time she had reacted so strongly to her discomfort so we decided to head for PD. PD checked her through and found her tummy to be soft (ie not constipated). She still prescribed wind med and depositories to standby.

15 minutes after entering the house, she squatted in the bathroom with the "teh-sai" look. Eventually, she poo-ed happily seating on her baby toilet seat.

Hb and I are on one hand glad that her tummy discomfort was just the normal tummy ache and yet a bit sian to spend $70 for nothing. But both of us are left wondering if she is whining in a bid to get us to rush home so she can sit on her baby toilet seat!!! -_-"

At 25 months plus.... I can???

The little girl has started playgroup in Feburary this year. The proccess of her integrating into childcare was (in the eyes of the teachers) very smooth and fast. In part, I have my mother-in-law to thank. As the little girl's caretaker, she has done a good job in exposing my girl to the school environment (my niece was in kindergarten). Other than her separation anxiety (with her grandma - yes she loves grandma and grandpa to bits), she only cried less than 3 times and each episode is mild.

School's been pretty good as she starts talking in fuller sentences and even learning some mandarin grammar like "已经". My mother-in-law was especially suprised when she sprouted "哥哥已经回来了." as opposed to "哥哥回来了". The school is also teaching them how to undress on their own. She can now remove her own shorts and shoes. For the first time, I saw her wearing shoes on her own. Really happy with her well she is progressing. :)

Just thought I'll blog about some of the cutest/quirky bedtime habits she has ( sometimes I dunno if I should be angry or to let her be):
1. Insist that she be read "bedtime with baby bop" before going to zzzz. U can imagine how frequent I read cos I can recite the book to hubby at IKEA.

2. Will insist on bringing what she claims is "baby 的＂to bed. Insist the item (including her watch n random small boxes) is lovingly put next to her - “跟baby一起睡”.

3. Babbles loudly before falling asleep. Her babble could b an imaginary phone call to someone or random ramblings (in tonight's session she babbles: 爷爷抱。爷爷出去买东西。妈妈出去买东西回来。爷爷抱。去爷爷家ok?) or some comment about what she wants to do tomorrow (妈妈，明天mickey playhouse ok?)