New

A new book for dh and a new 'toy' for dd.

DH got himself a new book over the weekend from Kino's 20% sale. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. It is an Afghan novel and has also been adapted into a film. Shall wait for dh's verdict on the book before I decide whether to start on it myself =P

DD got herself a 'Snow white and Seven dwarfs' finger puppet set. Its for bringing her story-telling time 'to life'. Hmmm.. now the question is, should I give all of 'them' a bath first??

Evolution

Finally. Managed to change my mobile telco. No hardship Q-ing or the such. The 'package' went like this: 6mths free usage of my HP as long as I don't surpass the usage of the 'free' minutes; $100 off any mobile phone; 3mths free CND, maxmobile etc. Though we didn't need a new handphone, dh chose the new Nokia E71 which was just launched last week. Ita a sleek piece of technology.

Its amazing how advanced technology has become, I remember a time when handphone bills was a flat $50 and that is excluding airtime usage. Now, I even get 6m free usage from a telco... ha ! Even babies are no different, somehow, I fancy that they are a much 'smarter' lot these days than back in my time. What was I doing when I was 13mths? I am sure I wasn't talking yet nor even reading simple single words. All of which dd is now doing. O well, all in the name of progress and evolution.

Fiesta

Young parents magazine's fiesta led dh, dd and I to Marina sq today. We bought one copy of YP and came away with this whole bunch of things in a goodie bag =P. One interesting item in the goodie bag was a Bath book that changes color and picture when immersed in warm water. A one year subscription with the mag also gave us a lovely FP peek a blocks bucket as well as a coverlooks voucher for free session at their studios.
The lovely bucket of blocks from FP
Bot one mag at $5 and got this whole bunch free

PD 2

Our second trip to the PD. DD had drippy nose last 2 days and we thought it might be wise to get an opinion from her PD on the ailment. This time, we had MIL accompany us as she wanted to familiarise herself with the location.

Thankfully, it was pretty smooth going with no Q necessary when we arrived at the clinic. The pd was very nice to 'entertain' dd for a bit before doing all his 'checks'. We were prescribed a 'lung tonic' (yes, pd called it by that name) and a host of the usual medicine. This tonic supposedly strengthens the lungs against cough or any respiratory ailments. We were told that many mummies swear by it. Really now? We shall see ..

After the speedy PD consultation, we went to our usual Golden palace CJ for lunch. Sadly, dd did one of her 'cannot-sit-still' act again. Its fast becoming a habit. She grabbed, pulled and threw everything in sight. I considered just looking away and pretending that we were not there together =P. Luckily dh was around to lend a hand this time, but imagine if I had been out on my own ..... *shudder*.

Hike

Aiyo . Pump prices jacked up again today. The general impression is that global oil prices are easing so why this increase again? Well, whatever the reason, it has definitely helped to fuel (pun) our inflation up to a high of 7.5%.

Dh's petrol expenditure per month has been round about $220-$240. And thats on a quiet month, when we don't make excursion trips to Changi or Tuas. Now with the hike, we are prolly looking at a nett figure closer to $300? Sigh.. energy prices are just crazy. Take our utility bills. Last month, I thought I might be able to better my SP bill of the previous month but alas, it was neither better nor worse, just exactly the same amount of $150 ! Lest we forget, last month we were away on holiday for a week!

Since the start of this year, I have been making it a 'personal curiousity quest' to find out how low my utility bills can go. Unfortunately, can't seem to make much progress, not with the constantly increasing tariffs. Personally, I think I have come a long way, from days when I needed the helper to iron even my PJs (of cos I don't do that any more!). Anyhow, some measures I have adopted include:
1. washing our bedlinen once a week instead of 2 times a week
2. switching off our central water heater till needed
3. taking cold water baths instead of hot ones ( and then turning on the aircon thereafter!)
4. air drying our floor rugs (which are washed twice a week) instead of using the dryer since the rugs are quite thick
Lets hope my efforts pay off soon....

Silly

We trooped down to Suntec today to head for Starhub's roadshow. Unfortunately, bad planning and coordination by Starhub resulted in a long queue of people standing in line, awaiting their turn. We were shocked at the sight. We have ever been to a starhub branch and their usual SOP is for customers to take a Q no. and they will sms you when your no. comes near. Obviously they were not practising that here (which is really very silly of them) .

Since time is infinitely more valuable to us than standing in line for the next 4 hours (which is the average waiting time there), we turned tail and left. Instead of hiring and splurging the budget on the battalion of part-timers standing around giving out phamplets or balloons or even the huge stage with DJ and performers, perhaps it might have been more cost-effective to channel those resources to a better Q-ing system for serious customers. Yes, I got two free ice creams, two free balloons but I couldn't even get close to giving them my business ??? Hows that for sheer irony of 'marketing'?

Adage

Strength in numbers. There are now 4 of us awaiting the new school term at SM. :) Lets hope our li'l ones enjoy the lessons we have enrolled them in. DH's adage is enjoy while you learn. We shall see ... stay tuned !

Imitate

Two days of Vivocity in a row ? Por por came by with kong kong to ferry dd + me to vivo today. DD seem to be doing well in parroting the adults these days. From scratching head, to patting her chest like kingkong, to saying "A choo" when anyone around her sneezes and even saying "byebye" whilst waving her hand. My folks got some laughs out of 'testing' how well dd can imitate their actions. Invariably, she gets bored with their repeated requests for her 'performance' and turns away to pursue other more interesting activity like bitting her socks.

We browsed around the crowded stores ( crowded on a Thurs afternoon !) before stopping for coffee at Terra cafe. DD nodded off to lala land whilst midway thru playing peakaboo. Dinner afterwards, was my birthday treat from por por at Akashi restaurant in B2, with dh coming to join us after work.

Delightful

Pretty mummy, Dionne, arranged a meetup for a few of us at Vivocity today. DH came back from the work to give me and dd a ride to Vivo. It was my first visit to Marche at Vivo and it was rather pleasant. We had coffee at Corduroy cafe after Marche. It was a delightful afternoon with lots of chatter and laughter. Dionne: alrite girls, look up at the camera *5mins later* Dionne: ok, give up, never mind the camera

Sweet princess Desiree showing her enthusiasm

Jerald eyeing heavy weight champion Jayden's snack box. Errmm .. is that mineral water going into Jerald's milk bottle??

Dinner

We brought dh's visitor from Spain out to dinner at Brasserie Wolf at Robertson Pier. DD was acting weirdly again. The minute Jens got into our car at his hotel, and hailed a hearty hello to everyone, dd started bawling the car roof down.

Once we reached the restaurant, it was no better. DD was fidgety and restless and insisted on tugging the table cloth which had all the Riedel (I think) wineglasses and WMF cutlery laid out neatly on the table. No plastic wares for dd here at this restaurant. So I had to make do with a teaspoon for her to clang around with. In between snatches of conversation with Jens, I was busy restraining and shushing dd who was attempting to grab my table knife and spill my wine at every opportunity. Nothing could soothe dd out of her whiny mood and I felt sorry for the other diners in case they had anticipated a nice quiet dinner. At the end of the dinner, when dh and Jens were still sipping their latte, I was so beat from handling dd that I was all eager to wrap up the dinner and go home. Sigh, a pity I couldn't really enjoy the ambience cos the food was really quite good. Grainy mobileph photos again cos we didn't bring the camera along.

Jens and dh having a lively chat over some Shiraz
Attempts to soothe dd with her milk didn't workOur hors d'oeuvre : Escargots. The only photo of our food that I managed to snap before dd snatched the phone away .

Lunch

Bras Basah was the location of our meet up today. I ditched dd at home with dh, who had come home from work at lunchtime (in order to catch a catnap), before driving over to have lunch at Jack's place with some good pals. After lunch, we proceeded up to the book store to browse.

I was extremely pleased to buy a set of NLT bible stories which contained 3 lovely board books within. Aside from that , I also bought a set of 2CDs with 2board books , and another 3 board books. All for the modest price of $30.
Many thanks to Cass for arranging this lunch!

Different

The deed is done . DH's registration at SM was expediated thru his friend.

After our lunch at Sakae Sushi, I met with a few like-minded mummies who like me, are struggling to cope with the right 'methods' of 'teaching' our li'l ones their fundamental blocks of knowledge. The type of books, games, flash cards, etc and even the order, the pace, the sequencing of flash cards, all make for lively chatter and conversation. We shared on the games and activities to interest our fidgety young ones and how best to keep them 'entertained'.

In the evening, we headed for the Singapore Island CC for our usual sunday family dinner. But today's was slightly different cos it was meant to 'celebrate' 3 birthdays- my BIL, SIL and mine (yay! its my 21st birthday coming up!) as well as Daddies' day! Some grainy pictures from dh's mobilephone here:
MIL's last minute off the shelf tweety 'rainbow' cake 3 candles for the 3 of us 'birthday people' in the month of JuneDH: Ono ! What a kiddish cake ... I better hide my face behind dd

DD: *gasp* its tweety bird ! I like ...

DH: ok, now this is better, surely no one can see me now ...

DD: Daddy, is it my birthday again so soon? That's a really nice looking cake ...

Behavior

Por por came by to bring us out shopping today. We headed for Tangs at Orchard. DD fell asleep as soon as we reached the mall. We browsed around and just as I was engrossed in a chat with the nice sales lady from Benefit cosmetics, dd woke up. We were surprised since it was barely a half hour only.

DD started whining and crying and insisted on being carried by me. Even por por wasn't allowed to carry her. When she tried to carry dd, dd bawled her lungs out but stopped the min I took over. We wer both surprised since dd hardly behaved this way when she's out on a gaigai. In fact, por por doesn't recall the last time she saw dd cry =P. We offered her her milk but she refused and started whining again. This was the start of a super trying afternoon as dd squirmed and whined the afternoon away. At one point when I was carrying her, she even head-butted me right in the eye during her squirming and I swear I actually saw stars momentarily. DD looked at me as I exclaimed in pain and I pretended to cry as she looked at me. It took her about 10 secs to register that her mommy was crying and then she started to bawl really loudly. Not fair at all! I get a big hit in the eye and I end up having to console her as she bawled relentlessly? Sigggghh... some more por por blamed me for dd's crying cos I 'conned' dd by pretending to cry. Good grief.

Portability

Anyone in the same boat as me? Awaiting the big day on Fri when mobile phone numbers will be fully portable across all 3 telcos in Singapore. I haven't had a contract on my mobile since 4 years back (even before I was using my Vertu). I know the game where people sign on a contract, get a free handphone and sell off the new handphone. I just haven't gotten round to doing any such thing as yet. So I have been contract-free for the longest time. And I say, its time to move on!

Before I became a sahm to dd, I have always been with the treasury depts of various banks (my 'world' revolved around the money mkt/ forex/ futures etc) According to banking practice, mobiles' usage are a strict no-no within the treasury dept. Some may say no mobiles = zero radiation from the mobiles but truth be told, the number of monitors/screens that we traders are each surrounded by (ie the radiation ) is more than enuf to fry an egg.

Perhaps its from such die-hard old habits that I find myself making minimal use of my mobile these days not to mention my bad record of responding smses. My air time usage on my mobile is ikan bilis so I will prolly utilize the cheapest package I can get my hands on. I am eyeing Starhub since dh's mobile package is with them + broadband + cable tv. Any good deals, don't forget to give me a shout !

Sponge

Finally made it to Plaza Sing this evening ever since our aborted trip last Sat. We bot a wall mounted micro hi-fi system for dd's room. We had dinner at Crystal Jade thereafter. Midway thru our meal the waitress stopped by our table to 'chat' with dd. The waitress showed dd the motion for 'fren kiss' ( or is it thank kiss??? I can never understand which is it =P). I have never taught nor showed dd this motion so I watched as the waitress tried valiantly to elicit a response from dd. What a surprise I got! DD actually responded by imitating what the waitress was trying to 'teach' her! Talk about kids being like little sponges, better watch my p's and q's and any careless cussing from here on .....

Holed up

DH and I have been totally indulgent and holed up at home for most of this past weekend, watching the 5 dvds we rented =P .

The 5 discs are : In the valley of elah, Love in the time of cholera, The fantastic four (silver surfer), The darjeeling ltd n The Bee Movie. We were sorely disappointed by the valley of elah altho it started out real promising and it did star Charlize Theron (one of our favorite actresses) and Tommy Lee Jones. The ff and Love in the time of cholera saved the day despite boosting a lesser known cast. Lets hope our last 2 titles don't disappoint .

Books

We started the day (only at 3pm) with grand plans to conquer a few errands. First stop, we wanted to head to Plaza Sin to get some electrical appliances. Unfortunately, the ultra long queue of cars outside the mall, made us re-think our plans. We then headed to Suntec, as next on our to-do list was to check out the Suntec Book fair. Better luck here as the carpark wasn't jammed.

We grabbed our first meal of the day at the porridge buffet before proceeding up to the fair. The fair was bigger and more spacious than what we expected. We browsed thru the spread of Wink right brain products that had been so popular recently; a fantastic collection of cheap board books from The children's book store; cheap plastic posters; heaps of various IQ toys by different companies etc. Our best deals were 15 books with prices from $1-$5 and two plastic posters at $2@. For sure, we won't mind coming again for next year's fair if we can!

PD

We bundled dd up and trotted off to her pd's clinic today. No fever, but the cough was beginning to affect the nose and causing small drips. We decided to play-it-safe and consult her pd.

According to the pd, no fever was a good sign. But he could hear slight wheezing thru his stetho so he suggested medication to 'open up the airway'. Whilst he was discussing dd's ailments with me, dd was struggling in dh's arms as she wanted me to carry her. She shouted 'mommy!'. The pd was startled and commended dd on her clear enuciation of the word. As for me, I was more alarmed at her shouting then anything else =P.

Since I am alone most times at home, I have had to devise a strategy to dose her singlehandedly.
Step 0: Put her into her combi hi chair and lower the back rest so that she's reclining but not totally flat down.
Step 1: Get ready HT teddy biscuit and give her a small bite to get her smiling and in a good mood. Put balance biscuit in a bowl.
Step 2: Get ready syringes with diff medication on standby.
Step 3: Take first syringe behind my back (so she can't see it) and use other hand to take biscuit.
Step 4: offer her the biscuit. When she opens her mouth quickly move the syringe which is in my other hand towards her mouth and inject the med in.
Step 5: pop a little biscuit into her mouth to kill taste of med in her mouth
Step 6 : Repeat the above

Dumbstruck

DH picked me up at noon, today, to give me a ride to the far-away SP expo. Met up with 4 mummies to throng the Motherhood fair and contribute to the economy . We had a good time nosing out good deals and yakking non stop along the way. Highlight of the day was my movenpick icecream that the Nestle booth gave me *yums*. I was happily slurping away when I saw a sight that made my jaw drop ( trust me, dropping jaws ain't flattering). An enlarged photo of dh, dd and me, staring back at me at Dfoto's booth. I was dumbstruck. And whats more, the super-photographer, Alvin, smiled at me and handed me a brochure with the same photo staring back at me. At this point, I remembered my slacking jaw and closed my mouth. Many grateful thanks to Alvin for his excellent skills in capturing all the nice shots for us. Those shots has allowed us to 'immortalise' the 1 year old profile of dd. Indebted.

At 4 pm ( we spent 4 hrs at the fair !!), I stole a look at my watch and had a start. I was so busy yakking and browsing that I had completely forgotten I had a baby back home waiting to be fed her dinner ! I scrambled off to the cab stand. So much for our initial plans to visit the world book fair after the expo fair. Sighhhh....

Ill

DD is officially ill. This marks the first time that dd has fallen ill, ending her one-year record. ( Praise God for her good health and blessings ). Infants' health are SO fragile and delicate, its like striking the lottery just to maintain their well-being. You never really can tell when an emergency will crop up. Up till now, I haven't given dd any added probiotics/ multivit/vits. Not even sambucol yet. Just her usual diet of FM ( she has been on FM since she was ONE week old =P) and home-cooked porridge. Maybe its time to start her on some supplements to boost her immunity.

Today, dd was coughing a phlegmy cough. We dosed her on our standby medication for her cough. By evening, a tinge of fever seem to be creeping up on her. We are all prepared to pay her PD a visit should the situation worsen by tomorrow. Hopefully dd gets well soon, so that I don't have to disappoint my SMF pals since I have already promised to meet them for the coming motherhood expo fair =P.
Keeping my fingers and toes crossed here.

School

A chance phone call from my buddy whilst she was queuing up for entry into the recent Isetan private sale started the ball rolling.

She had finally decided to enrol her kid in the much talked about Shichida m school. Her niece had been in the programme before and she felt that it had a positive influence on the kid, hence my friend's decision to give the school a try-out. She urged me to join the school together with her. Her prompting got me seriously thinking about the question. I promised to discuss with dh since I was in no position to make the decision as the final nod had to come from dh.

Some weeks have passed since then and after some discussion with dh, we have decided to go ahead and register for the sm Oct intake (but not the July one) as we both feel that dd would be better suited to enjoy/ dislike the classes when she is 18 months old rather than at the current moment. DH is doing the necessary registrations at SM so we should know more about the details further on. Lets hope we get to be in the same class as my friend. Stay tuned :)