It's all about Jarrett!

Smoking hot

2011-09-21T13:41:00.002+08:00

J was playing with his cars and trucks in the living room. He picked out a white truck and said to me:

J: Mama, this is for you!
Me: No..I want a hot car.

Looking at his toy cars, he picked out a red model with flames printed on the side.

J: Mama, this one is very hot! See got smoke!

Mooncakes

2011-09-13T17:40:00.004+08:00

J's teacher left a note last Friday to remind me to pack a lunchbox on Monday (Mooncake Festival) so that J could bring his self-made mooncake home.

So on Monday morning, I spent some time nagging him to bring back the mooncake so we could see what he's doing in school.

At 5.30pm, the little one called.

J: Mama, can I watch DVD?
Me: Ok. Did you bring home the mooncake?
J: HUH? What mooncake?
Me: The mooncake you made in school today.
J: No...NO Mooncake!
Me: But Tr. Catrina said you would be making mooncakes in school today.
J: Oh.......that mooncake. We had a party in school today, Mama, and I ate it!
Me: WHAT? But I told you to bring home and show me. I just want to see what you have done.
J: Oh Mama, it was so ugly, so I had to eat it.
Me: ..................................

J's first movie

2011-06-15T19:38:00.010+08:00

For the first time, in 3.5yrs, J was treated to his first movie. Sure, he has watched stuff on TV, like Ice Age etc, but never at the cinema. The little kiddo was so hyped up about the whole thing. He "invited" the whole family and even his "gf" from school, though we only had 3 tickets. It was quite adorable to see how excited he was.

The days before the movie treat, he did (almost) everything we told him to do. He brushed his teeth with no fuss, drank his water when asked, he was practically a little angel, all because he wanted to see PANDA!

On the "big" day, we picked him up at 5 from school, had an early dinner and found our way to Suntec Eng Wah to collect our complimentary tickets (from our very nice financial advisor), got the pop corns and got seated. Figured out we should get him settled down first. The little guy was munching quite happily on his popcorns while waiting for the movie to start.

10 mins into the show:

J: I am not ok. I am not ok at all.

Mama & Papa: Why? What's wrong?

J: Why are all the lights turned off? Why is it so loud? I don't like it (pouts)

Mama & Papa: Errm...but it's like this in the cinema. You'll get used to it. Shh....don't disturb others ok?

5mins later:

J: I don't like it. It's too loud.

Mama: Eat ur popcorn.

half way into the show, with no more popcorns.

J: I want to go home now.

the scene where panda's Mama got killed:

J: ah.........(brawls) sob sob...........I WANT TO GO HOME

Papa & Mama: WHY?

J: Cos Panda lost his mama....sob..sob...sob...sob...

Papa: Ermm..why don't you close ur eyes and sleep.

J: OK! (snuggled up in Papa's arms)

So it wasn't so great, the experience. J didn't enjoy the movie, hated how loud it was in the cinema and got really upset with how Panda lost his real parents (he had a nightmare that nite). I guess there will not be any movie treat any time soon. LOL

It's all really crappy

2011-06-14T11:06:00.002+08:00

The past few weeks have been really, crappy. Seriously depressing.

The result of too much WordWorld

2011-04-04T18:57:00.004+08:00

Taking a walk up Bukit Timah Hill. J: Look Mama! Big spiderweb! All of us walking nearer and J crouching down for a closer look. J: Why is there no "W. E. B" on the web?? LOL Well, at least the little one's getting his spelling right

It's been a while....

2011-04-04T18:53:00.002+08:00

So it's been a while....and as the saying goes, time heals all. Well, at least we feel normal and life goes on. I still hate it when someone tells us to try again. Don't, ok?

Baby J

2010-10-04T10:23:00.011+08:00

Baby J was a brief chapter in our life. Too brief and gone so soon. Only a little bit more than 7 weeks old. Too small for anyone to know if we had a boy or girl.

Baby J wasn't exactly planned. According to my calender, he wasn't supposed to happen, but happened he did. It took me a while to accept it. I wasn't prepared for another baby. I wasn't prepared for 9 months of pregnancy, 2 years of insufficient sleep and 1.5 yrs of breastfeeding. But I looked at Jarrett and knew if Baby J was a gift from God, then surely, Jarrett deserved this more than anyone else. He should have a playmate. So after many days of procrastination, I accepted that I was going to be a mother again.

I did the SOP, visited my OB, took my multivits, and did a blood test to confirm my pregnancy. The doc called on the 2nd day with the good news but ended it with a warning - Ectopic Pregnancy.
Apparently my hormones level was way low for a pregnant mum. But I didn't paid much heed to it, thinking it's just my KS doc on paranoia.

Week 6, days before our family holiday to Phuket, that's usually when a baby heartbeat can be seen and heard. But there was nothing on Baby J. Doc couldn't find any sign of the baby. I was sent to do another more detailed scan. Again, no sign of anything after close to 45mins of probing. The radiologist was called in and finally a sac was detected. After a few questions, like "any bleeding? any pain?" and much frowning, I was a nervous wreak.

My doc later explained that the presence of a sac did not rule out the possibility of ectopic pregnancy, sometimes it acts like a decoy. Especially so in my case as they couldn't detect any heartbeat and the size of the sac was too small. Another possibility could be a missed abortion or a threaten miscarriage. Either way, the doc was against the idea of a holiday. He didn't want me to go for fear of a rapture or a miscarriage with excessive bleeding. Ordered to have bed rest and do nothing else. Took me some time to convince everyone that I was okay and fit to go and that a trip would serve me better than staying alone at home with my thoughts running wild. On a rational side, I knew it would have been wiser to stay home, with medical help close by, but knowing how restless I am, I knew I would go crazy at home and probably gone all depressed.
Doc reluctantly agreed but I was not allowed to go out of the resort and prescribed lots of bed rest.

The resort was lovely, albeit some screw ups. I spent many hours looking out of the windows in my room.

Beautiful scenery but I kept thinking of the poor little babe and felt so depressed at one point, feeling like I was just lying down, waiting for my baby to leave. Somewhere along the way, maternal instincts had kicked in and so did a woman's instinct. And somewhere inside of me, I knew that my time with this baby was coming to an end. Some of the symptoms of the pregnancy had stopped, though I was still so exhausted and lethargic all the time. Spotting again in fresh red with cramps, nothing looked good. I thought I had to take an emergency flight home, but I managed to make it home safely as scheduled.

Week 7, day 3. Another detailed scan. Sac has not grown any bigger and still no heartbeat. Doc was all grim face when he delivered the news. Things looked quite final as he said a week ago that if by the end of another week there was still no sign of growth or life, then this baby was destined to go. Doc offered to wait another few days but from his expression and explanation, it seem quite pointless. It broke my heart, it really did when we made the decision to go ahead with the surgery. I felt guilty, like I was giving up on my own child and it broke my heart to send him/her off without a proper baptism.

I once read a book "Heaven is so real", by a Korean-American who was offered a glimpse of heaven. In it, she wrote that she saw a huge room full of babies and she asked God "Why are there so many babies?" "These are babies of mothers who did not want them. I will keep their babies!" the Lord answered.

I did not want Baby J to end up in this room. I wanted him to know that however brief our time was, he/she was loved by us. I spent some time in the morning before surgery in prayer, asking God to take my child in His hands and also His forgiveness for the anger I felt. My doc kindly offered to say a prayer for Baby J as well.

On the morning of 2nd Oct 2010, our journey with Baby J came to an end. It was a simple procedure and took less than 30mins. The nurses and docs were all very kind and sympathetic. It was a painful experience. Even thou Baby J wasn't planned, it was still so painful to let go. I was shown the "product" when I woke up in the recovery room and I managed to say a short little prayer as I held on to the little plastic bottle. It was whisked off to the lab before I could say another word.

A friend said things like this will change a person forever. Maybe he is right.

~ Baby Jae Ng ~

Sent to Heaven with lots of love from

Papa, Mama & Gor Gor Jarrett.

2 October 2010

Quotations from Heaven Is So Real by Choo Thomas.

Very.....happening week

2010-09-12T21:44:00.004+08:00

I turned on the laptop, expecting to write a post or 2 about what happened this week but nothing came out sounding right, so I had to delete everything.............away.
So instead of a really nice write up, this is the summary:

1) Started the week feeling really excited cos there was a hot party planned on Friday, for 2 of my closest gfs who are getting married soon. I was supposed to be a mamasan!
2) Dreading the 1st 4 days of the week, cos of cashier duty at the co's warehouse sales.
3) Turned out, only 2.5 days of duty.
4) Because......after years of no fever, I suddenly had a really high 38.9 burning fever, which lasted for 2 freaking days.
5) On the day of the party, still with a tiny hope that I could recover in time, I visted the doctor for an A-OK.
6) Doc took one look at me and said "Sorry girl, no hens' nite, u've got the HMFD" !!???!!!!????!!! Helllo.......I'm like ancient, do pple like me end up with HMFD?
7) Went home sulking though I have 10 days MC and realised this also means 10 days with no Jarrett since I have to be quarantine. damn!
8) Was shown live pictures on facebook about the party. (feeling real great while I sat in my pyjamas, scratching my hands)
9) Realised I could be pregnant!!!???!!! after ingesting all the meds and high fever.

What a bloody week!

my ABC

2010-07-02T15:51:00.004+08:00

Jarrett reciting his ABC....

J: A for Ant
J: B for Banana
WX & I: Good job Jarrett!!
J:C for Crocodile
Wx & I: (thinking wow..so smart, used to be A for Apple, B for Boy, C for Cat)
J:D for Dick

WX & Me: Err................................
We swear we are always very careful of what we say when we are around J, no idea where he pick this up from.

Meet the Parents' Day

2010-05-30T17:25:00.004+08:00

We attended our 2nd Meet the Parents' Day at J's school on Thurs. Seems like the little one has been doing very well in most aspects. We are very pleased with his progress thus far and the teachers seem very impressed with his development too. So it was a happy meeting, everyone was all smiles. Us smiling like idiots with so....much pride, and the teachers no doubt smiling with pride too, pleased with their nurturing skills. Haa...

In the report we were given:
1) J is the only one who can write in class, despite the fact that he's the youngest.
Awww.....we are so...........proud.
2) J's in the advanced stage of reading. Only 3 children in the class can read, as in they can recognize words and read books by themselves. Most of the other children requires much more assistance. The other 2 boys are the oldest in the group. So J's reading skill is really not too bad.
3) J is very bossy. He likes to hang out with the girls and boss them around. According to the teachers, it's quite likely bcos he's the youngest boy and the older boys will talk back to him when he gives his orders. So he has learnt to hang out with those who will listen and look up to him. (Hahahahaa.....)
4) Loves to eat......he is quite possibly, the easiest kid to feed in school.
5) Very impatient with his food.
6) Loves his Speech & Drama class, and is showing quite abit of potential. His form teacher has taken a video clip of him for a commercial audition.
7) Very helpful, to the point of pissing off his friends. There was once where they were all asked to bring their favourite fruits to school. J named most of the fruits before the children can do their "presentations". One of the girls got so upset that she burst into tears...oooppsss..
8) Listen and follow instructions very well. ( I think this special skill is reserved for school. We usually have a hard........time screaming at him to follow our instructions. )
9) Can do his work very well without much supervision. He usually finishes his work much faster than the other children and........end up doing his friends' worksheets.
10) Knows how to pacify his teachers when they are upset with him. He'll strike his signature pose (fingers pointed at his cheeks with a wide smile) or he'll start singing and dancing. The principal said she just can't stay angry with J for long.
11) Gets along very well with all the children. He has quite a few good friends among the older children. Some of them takes good care of him.

So it's been a fruitful 9 months. J has learnt much and seems to be well loved.
We'll post some of the pics the teachers have given us soon.

to the doc

2010-05-25T13:00:00.002+08:00

Mama: Jarrett, mama's not feeling well.
J: Mama go see Dr. Yap
Mama: Can you bring me to see Dr. Yap?
J: Ok. I drive the car.

Hee...har......my little cowboy

2010-04-19T16:36:00.004+08:00

my little grown up boy

2010-04-19T16:20:00.001+08:00

Mama: J, do you want to join Papa and Mama for dinner tomorrow?
J: Ya, Sure!
Mama & Papa: ..........................................

It's a food day

2010-03-28T16:08:00.001+08:00

Busy day eating. First stop dim sum at Oriental Mandrain, followed by ice cream at Marina Sq. Little J was most happy with the treats.

Sunday Brunch @ Graze

2010-03-14T15:51:00.000+08:00

Pic of me taken by J, pose inspired by J.

my blood

2010-03-05T09:56:00.002+08:00

I was sitting in the car with Jarrett in his car seat, waiting for Wx. Took out my wallet and pull out some notes.

J: That's money!
Me: Yes, that's right.
J: Jarrett takes some money.
Me: Why do you want some money?
J: I want to buy bag!

At 2yrs, he's showing very positive sign of sharing my obsession with bags.

Baby can read & write!

2010-02-04T10:59:00.006+08:00

At 25mths, Jarrett is able to write, unassisted, numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 and alphabets E, F, L (O not counted right?).
He's also able to read a few books by himself. I have no idea how many but his teacher was telling me she's running out of books for J. He's also able to recongnize and count big numbers, his favourites being the 30s series...dunno why.
I have not consulted my parenting books, so I have no idea if this is the norm (probably is, after seeing some of the kids in his class) according to the age development but I am fairly bursting with pride. LOL. My little baby is growing up!

Jarrett and his little friend

2010-01-13T10:17:00.002+08:00

Jarrett sitting on the toilet, looking between his legs, trying to pee.

Papa: Are you done?
J: It's not working!

LOL!

Birthday dinner with grandparents - Part 2

2010-01-11T14:05:00.003+08:00

Maternal aunties and uncles were away on a holiday in Japan, so only the grandparents with his 2 uncles.
Fighting to cut his cake.

Finally got to cut his cake.

Cheeky Jarrett at 2

2010-01-06T13:37:00.006+08:00

Scene 1: Mama really really angry with J.

Mama sitting on the bed, Jarrett standing in his cot facing Mama.
He started combing my hair with his fingers and.......

J: Wow! Mama so pretty!

How to stay angry with this kid?

Scene 2: On the road, heavy traffic. Mama doing a turn.

J: Mama...........be careful!

Awww.............

Scene 3: Eating breakfast - Oatmeal with banana.

J: Good morning banana! Banana go take MRT

His fascination and obsession with the MRT.

Scene 4: Reading a book about a boy named Micheal who is learning how to use the potty.

J: Micheal, where is poo poo? (page 1)
flipped a page
J: Micheal, where is poo poo? (page 2)
flipped another page
J: Micheal, where is poo poo (page 3)
and the same thing for the all the other pages
J: Micheal, where is poo poo (last page)
J: The End!

LOL, he just rewrote the whole book.

Scene 5: Fresh from the shower, papa trying to wrap him up in towel.

Papa: Ok, u want to be Alibaba (wrap head) or Sexy Baby (tube dress style)?
J: SEXY BABY!

2nd birthday - part 1.5

2010-01-04T17:24:00.006+08:00

No party on his actual birthday due to the illness, so we tried to make it up with birthday presents.

Opening the present from mummy
Waiting for the train to go thru the tunnel

So happy the train's finally here

Again!

and again!

and again...on another night. the train has since expaned to multi-levels, multi tunnels, with bridge etc.

the boy's in heaven playing Gorzilla!

the boy turned 2 - Part 1

2010-01-04T11:41:00.005+08:00

Celebration at maternal grandparents' place with his loving great grandma, grandpa, grandma, uncles, aunties and cousins.

J turned 2 on the 16th Dec. Poor little boy was sick for more than a week and so his birthday plans were all disrupted. The party in school was delayed for 2 days, dinner with grandparents delayed 1 night. But overall, it was fun. He had 3 cakes this year! 2 small and 1 big cakes. So happy...got to eat his favourite food so many times in a week.

thomas goes to bed

2009-12-21T11:16:00.004+08:00

Scene: 11pm, in the living room, playing with his new train set.

Mama: Jarrett, the train is tired.
J: Thomas is coming! Choo choo...................................... (jumping up and down)
Mama: Thomas is tired and he wants to sleep
J stood quietly and watched the train
Mama: Let the train sleep ok?

After 5 seconds
J: Bye bye thomas. Thomas go sleep (we r still working on the grammer)
he bended down and picked up the train and walked into the bedroom.
He then attempted to put/throw the train onto the bed, but failed.

J: Mama.....Thomas sleep (tugging at my hand)
Mama: Ok......

I took the train from him and put it on the bed. He went over and patted Thomas a few times.

J: Sleep.
and bounced off to the living room.

Awww....heart melted.

Jarrett turns 2 today!

2009-12-16T10:33:00.002+08:00

The little one turns 2 today. This morning at the time he was born 2 years ago, he woke up to a burning fever and was force fed his medicine. Pook kid. He's been sick for the past few days. We made plans for a celebration in school, and dinner with family but all these will have to wait.

till then.......

After a week of holiday

2009-12-08T10:17:00.003+08:00

This morning, in the car, on the way to school.

Mama: Is Jarrett happy?
J: No. Jarrett Sad.
Mama: Why is Jarrett sad?
J: I don't want to go school.
Mama: But school is fun!
J: Go Bali!

Followed by sobs at the school gate again....

2 boys and a bird

2009-11-29T23:47:00.002+08:00

MRT & kiwi fruit

2009-11-24T17:34:00.003+08:00

Scene: Jarrett crying and fussing for around 15mins in the bedroom right before bedtime. Papa was trying hard to calm him down with distraction, with the usual things like books, songs. Nothing works until he mentioned MRT.

Jarrett: See MRT!
Papa: But MRT is sleeping. Jarrett needs to go sleep too. When you wake up in the morning, the MRT will have waken up and you can see the MRT then.
Mama: Do you want kiwi fruit?
Jarrett: YES!
Mama: Ok, mama give you kiwi fruit for breakfast ok?
Jarrett: eat kiwi fruit. eat kiwi fruit.
Mama & Papa: Yes, you get to eat kiwi at breakfast.
Jarrett: MRT sleeping!
Papa: Yes. so you go to sleep. When you wake up, you get to see MRT and eat kiwi fruit.
Jarrett: ok.

He then flopped down on bed, face down and promptly let out a few fake snores, and after a few seconds.....

Jarrett: Good Morning! MRT not sleeping. Eat kiwi fruit! Eat breakfast! Yeah!!!!

LOL.

ARGH...............................why is parenthood so tough

2009-11-20T17:48:00.003+08:00

It's almost the end of Nov and we now have to make a final decision on where to send Jarrett. Does he remain in his current childcare or does he go to Glory Kindi?

We have dragged making this decision for months.
I enrolled J in Glory Kindi early March this year, being the first to apply (VERY KS), thinking I best get a slot for J in my desired kindi ASAP. But then, we started thinking, maybe a child care is better, especially after the grandma raised the white flag and claimed defeat, saying she could no longer handle J.
We could have opted to employ a domestic help and let J stay with grandma till he turns 2 and start Glory Kindi in Jan 10, but then we could see the little one was bored at home and we hate the idea of having our privacy invaded. So we started searching for a child care ctr. Turned out Singapore mummies start chopping places in child care even before babies are born! So the top 2 ctrs we wanted turned out to be full. Heck, even the waiting list is full. Now dun get me started on how long is the waiting list at Nanyang Kindi, it's crazy. It's a crazy world!

So anyway, we finally found a place we like. J started school in Sep and managed to settle down after a few weeks. He seems to like his teacher a lot and been learning lots of new things each week. He sometimes surprises me with new skills or new words. Just yesterday morning when he saw my coffee, he went "Oh mummy coffee!" and made the drinking action. We said "No...no coffee for Jarrett". He pouted and said "Oh....poor Jarrett!"
And this morning, when Wx said "Jarrett, repeat after me. Say... I... am... a..... smart.... boy...".
Jarrett simply said "I'm a smart boy" and it sounded like it came with a smirk (hey! shortcut!)
I'm not saying he's a genius, but he's less than 2 and I am impressed with what he can say sometimes.

When J first started child care, I was still very adamant about him going to Glory. It's a good school with great reputation and most importantly to me, being part of the church, imparts Christian teaching to the children. I love that! I know I am not the most pious person around, so sending J to a Christian school will help greatly in introducing him to the faith. The plan was to use the child care as a temp. solution and transfer J to Glory a few months later. That was the initial plan.

So now, here's the cause of my headaches and Wx's as well:
1) Since J has settled down in Cambridge, we are reluctant to send him to somewhere new and get him to cry every morning for the next few weeks again. It's very heartbreaking and stressful.

2) I LOVE GLORY

3) BUT Cambridge seems to be doing a great job with J. He has been learning lots of new things, has his group of friends and loves his teacher.

4) The teacher to student ratio at the childcare is small, currently it's 2 teachers to 3 kids. It will prob grow to abt 1 teacher 5 kids next year when he moves up to N1.
In Glory, it's 2 teachers to 12 kids.
So in other words, J gets more attention in Cambridge now. But then may not be so next year when he goes to N1, but still a smaller ratio than Glory.

5) Cambridge is full day, with no long sch term breaks. Glory operates just like a normal school and has 2 long breaks per year. ie..no one to entertain J at home during the holidays. Even with a maid to help, the grandparents still can't provide much stimulation. J will definitly be well taken care of, but they are very old school and wun bother with activities to let J explore and learn. I know he's only 2 but he does get bored at home.

6) While I have warm up to the idea of having a domestic helper (dying here), Wx is still very reluctant to have someone else at home.

That's all I can remember now, but I am sure there's more...

So I'm off to kill myself trying to make a decison which I think will be best for Jarrett. Please dun call me, I'll be hard on my kneels, praying for a sign. Will it be a G (Glory) or a C (Cambridge)? Please God, heed my prayers....

First attempt - pics for his passport

2009-10-15T15:06:00.005+08:00

scary face. we had to ask him to tone down.

the blur look. had to keep asking him "close your mouth Jarrett!"

turning cheeky

getting a little irritated.

and we call it a wrap. bed time for the little one.

A date with Pooh at the supermart

2009-10-15T14:53:00.003+08:00

Why I can't afford to have no. 2

2009-09-20T21:42:00.001+08:00

J's first grammatically correct sentence:

"I WANT RICE!"

It's just too expensive to feed these Ngs.

2 weeks into school

2009-09-19T17:07:00.004+08:00

The poor boy has fallen sick. We have no idea if he got it from his new friend (there's this other boy who's been missing school) or his papa, who got sick just a few days before him. Anyway, he's been sick for a week, missed 4 days of school. Poor little thing, lost some weight despite his increasing appetite.

Anyway, it's a merry go round, it's now my turn to fall sick. If this means losing a bit of weight, I have no complaints. Ha...

very nice....

2009-09-18T18:22:00.002+08:00

Sister rushing into my cubicle.

Sis: Eh..u know ur bro in law's friend? That very eligible guy, with a fortune?
Me: Yeah...the one who has all the girls drooling over him?
Sis: Ya that one! U know the other day he asked your bro in law if I (as in my sis) have a sister..one who is available and as capable!
Me: (perking up) Really? Then what did he say?
Sis: U wun believe it.
Me: (even more perked up) What?
Sis: hahahaha...a norm response wld be that you are married rite?
Me: Yes...(dreading the answer)
Sis: He said....
Me: WHAT?
Sis: Wow...she's a fierce one. U dun wanna meddle with her.

THANK YOU BROTHER DEAR, I LOVE U TOO!

Pictures of J!

2009-09-08T18:31:00.003+08:00

First day of school, in his new uniform.
Having fun painting with his new friend.
Chinese lesson. The teacher trying hard to get his attention.
Party on the 3rd day.

The boy's in school.

2009-09-07T10:33:00.001+08:00

J officially started school, or rather child care last week. After months of searching, shortlisting and so on, we finally decided on a school for him. We went on the trial, like what we saw and J seem to like it. Asked if he will like to go to school and he said "Yesh!".

The first 2 days, he went on half days, as advised by the principal. So it was all really fun, mixing with the children, playing with all the new toys, blah blah blah. I was with him, so he felt really secure and confident enough to explore by himself while I sat in a corner with a mag. The real test came when he started on a full day by himself. The first day was easy, cos he didn't expect me to sneak off, so all was well, with the occasionally "Mama, Papa", a few sobs which was easily smoothed with hugs and kisses from the teacher. On the 2nd day, again, not much problem. He went in and mingled with the other kids, who seem to like him, and it helps that there are a few older kids who like him enough to look out for him.
There's this cute little boy who asked me "What is his name (pointing to J, and then proceeded to squeeze next to us in the tiny bathroom)?" "Jarrett." "Oww.....I like him, he's so cute!" Ah..this boy, won so many brownie points with me. Hahahaa...
So anyway, when I picked him up early on the 2nd day, thinking not to stress him out so much, the little one was crying and hugging his teddy at the door. Aiyoh..my heart broke.

On the 3rd morning, while putting on his uniform, he told me "Go Ah Ma! Ah Ma! Ah Ma!" He apparently wanted to go grandma house instead of school. Needless to say, there was much crying at the school gate. I swear my heart broke into a thousand pieces when he tried to reached out to me, crying when the teacher tried to carry him away to class.

Today, which is the 4th day by himself, still a struggle. Poor boy...I hope he gets used to the routine soon.

Pictures later, busy with work...

Something's wrong with my blogger, can't post pics. How?

2009-09-01T20:27:00.003+08:00

Do u love........?

2009-08-25T17:22:00.001+08:00

Papa: Jarrett........(kiss kiss kiss kiss) do you love mama or papa more?
Jarrett: Mama (loudly)!
Not giving up
Papa: Jarrett...........do you love Papa?
Jarrett: Syesh!
Mama: Do you love Mama?
Jarrett: Yesh!
Papa: Then do you love Mama or Papa more?
Jarrett: Mama!

Papa getting a little irritated
Papa: ok...do you love Papa or Mama more (notice the change in sequence?)
Jarrett very smart!
Jarrett: Mama!
Mama: Hahahahahaa

Man....motherhood...sweet

We heard the Indian Ocean calling us...and we simply had to go

2009-08-13T18:20:00.000+08:00

We left J with the in laws last week and spent the time in the Indian Ocean to recharge our batteries. We didn't plan on the trip so soon after just going in Dec but the last trip left us so dissatisfied that we just had to do a make up trip. Blisss....this trip is worth every single cent.

We wanted to bring J with us initially, u noe..let him have some fun in the sun, play with some sand, catch some insects and drive us insane chasing after him, but then the H1N1 sort of got worse, and the grandparents started getting paranoid and said the little one should avoid air travel. We fought with the guilt and finally agreed that it was best to leave him at home. The last couple of months had been quite stressful and demanding, both Wx & I were exhausted. I was tried of everything, and dragging myself out of bed was a pain some mornings. We also found out about Angsana's new InOcean Villas and just had to be one of the first to try it. Children below 12 are not allowed, so J just had to stay home while papa and mama get some couple time, and rest. Have to work on the romance especially after becoming parents right?

The month before the holiday, I was looking forward to leaving everything behind. I wanted to sleep late, enjoy my meal at a snail pace, read, swim, nap, take long..........showers, soak in the tub...everything I can't do much back home. But the week before we were to leave, the guilt started to set in, eating me slowly and painfully each day, and escalating to a point where I really felt like the worst mother when we were at the departure gate.
J sensed something was wrong even before we said our byes, he started clinging on and refused to let go. When grandma grabbed him and made him said bye, he screamed and brawled like we had done the worst thing to him, which in his eyes, probably was, to leave him behind. It was just a week away, but I just couldn't help the few tears I shed for the pain I caused my child. Darn......I’m sounding like some melancholy idiot. The guards probably thought so, cos I heard a few chuckles.
I don't know why, it was never so tough when I traveled, even when I made the 2 weeks trip last year. Maybe it was because J didn't really make a fuss when he was younger, so not much guilt.

The first day away was the toughest, we made calls back to check on him and made all sorts of silly talk with him. That day, we stayed at the beach villa, with our very own jet pool. Towards the end of the day, the guilt started to fade...and guess what, once we shifted over to the InOcean Villa, the guilt had slowly faded...to a very manageable level. By the 3rd day, I was just feeling a little sad how fast holidays always seem to end. LOL...

Pics of the holiday coming up

Return to reality

2009-08-11T15:34:00.000+08:00

All it took was one day with J to completely exhaust all my renewed energy from a one week break. How powerful is this kid huh...

This is why we don't need a domestic helper

2009-07-29T23:27:00.001+08:00

Cos Jarrett works hard for his milk.

Weekend get away

2009-07-23T14:20:00.008+08:00

We spent last weekend at the very classy St Regis, celebrating the Mr's birthday and also to let J have some fun where I don't have to worry too much about cleaning up...hahaha..

J having fun playing in the pool

my 2 boys

He had lots of fun with these sliding doors which gave me some time to enjoy my fancy coffee served by the bulter no less, and the Sunday papers. Nice..........

Grandma wanna be

2009-07-23T14:00:00.002+08:00

After a bout of sickness, I've pretty much lost my appetite for most things. So when the grandma asked if I would like my usual cup of herbal tea and I replied "Dun want. So sick of that". She gave a very hopeful look and asked "You pregnanat ah?"
Faint!

How?

2009-07-17T18:10:00.001+08:00

I've been tasked with a really difficult task. How do I write a self intro? I suck big time at this and dread coming up with something really corny. Can someone help pls!

Chill..

2009-07-13T16:46:00.006+08:00

Instead of howling at J every 5 mins with a "NO!", we decided to let the little kid had some creative play without anyone hovering around. We left him alone in his high chair in the dining area, with a bowl of apples and a mug of water. Actually, we didn't plan this, we just wanted to have 20 mins in front of the TV and veg. And also, we got tired asking J to "feed Mama, feed papa" when he obviously wasn't in the mood to share his food. So we pretended to be pissed off and walked away.

We checked on him from seconds to seconds, to make sure he didn't fall off the chair or stab himself with the fork, but what totally amused us was how much fun he had. We thought he would be upset being left alone but not at all.

Since he was hogging his apple with so much fervour, he of cos started off with feeding himself. He would occasionally turned to face himself in the mirror and beamed with so much pleasure and turned back to eating more apples. And then he decided maybe eating apples just wasn't as much fun as making apple juice, so he turned his mug upside down and "washed" his hands before he proceeded to make himself some freshly squeezed apple juice. Very nice....he pinched the apples with so much might, I fear it would leave marks on his tiny fingers. He was very careful too, making sure the apple juices fell straight into his little bowl. But I gathered he wasn't too thirsty and wanted to perk up for the next day, cos he started giving himself an apple facial. He smeared his face with 2 little hands full of apple juice and made sure they reached his neck too. Very through indeed...

This went on for another 10mins or so. By then he had enough fun and was ready to terrorise us with his apple flavoured self. Didn't cost us anything, but it got us some 20 mins of bliss and so much fun for him. We should do this more often.

my cuddly little bear

2009-07-06T19:44:00.002+08:00

J never has an issue with sleeping by himself since birth. In fact, he didn't like us to cuddle him much right before sleeping. He preferred rolling around by himself in his cot, hugging his bolster and companion, Kaka, before falling asleep. When we tried to get him to sleep with us in the big bed, he would make a big fuss until we put him back into his little haven.

4 weeks again, he went thru a sudden transformation. Instead of the usual practise which was milk, kisses from mama & papa, and then to his little bed, he clung onto to me like a koala bear and refused to let go. So that night, he slept on me. He first slept right on top, with his face tuck under my chin, when I tried to move him, he still clung on and shifted to my tummy (very soft and nice?), and finally when I tried to shift him back to his bed, he stuck his face right to mine, with his butt high up in the air. Since then, every single nite (unless he falls asleep in the car first), he has been sleeping in our big bed, either with papa or mama. Sometimes he'll get to sleep with us thru the nite, but most times we'll shift him back to his cot right after he goes into deep sleep.

To be honest, I don't mind this change. I know....i noe..there are probably some horrified looks on some of your faces now, thinking I am crazy to let J grow into this habit, and how we should be cultivating independence at this stage and what about personal space and all. Seriously, how long do you get to hug and hold your kids to sleep? You don't need to do any maths to know it's only a few short years, if not months. How long do they stay such trusting little babies? Too short I say. Already J is showing signs of wanting to do things by himself, like "wearing" his own shoes, taking off his clothes, refusing to hold our hands when he wants to run....my little boy is growing up. Soon he'll reach the stage where kisses from mama is so not cool and I'll be left thinking about the little bear who slept on my tummy and clung on to dear life when I tried to shift him away. So is it wrong of me to love sleeping with him? Nah...I don't think so. It's something I quite look forward to at the end of a work day =)

Day 11 - End of breastfeeding

2009-06-27T23:49:00.001+08:00

After 11 days of pain and gallons of chives tea, I think I am almost there, the end of my breastfeeding days. It has been more than 24 hours since my last pump! A major feat for someone who used to turn into a grouchy monster after a 4 hours lapse.
Woohoo to no more engorgement, whoohoo...to more freedom, whooohoo.....to no more lugging pumps and milk bottles everywhere I go, bye bye to ugly nursing bras!!!

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-24T23:23:00.004+08:00

J got Mama as his "assistant" and made Papa a father's day card! Both grandpas got their cards too.

24th June

2009-06-24T23:11:00.005+08:00

J & I had the whole of Wed to ourselves. Grandma & Grandpa were away on a holiday, so I decided to have some quality time with J. To ensure Papa was not left out, we took some pictures to document the day.

Fresh out of bed.

Feeding himself breakfast.

and sharing it with his favourite bear.

Playing with my pots and pans when I was doing the dishes. He "made" a pot of soup (stiring and blowing) and "served" me some too.

Coffee (my empty mug of cos) after dinner.

Weaning of BM - Day 4

2009-06-20T14:42:00.006+08:00

I am an easily replaceable cow. J has been successfully weaned off BM since day 1. Ever since Grandma succeeded on Wed, the little one has not much issue with the change of milk. Darn...i didn't know I am so replaceable, feeling abit wounded, esp when Wx said so....hahaha..but of cos I am so glad we have it so easy with J. I have heard of so many horror stories about weaning that has indirectly made me hesitant in stopping breastfeeding.

So anyway, J's not the one walking around with a sulking face that there's no more milk milk from Mama. Rather, I am the one suffering from withdrawal symptoms. This cold turkey method is really tough, from latching on twice a day to zero within one day, it has made me feel alittle lost. Like I didn't know what to do with the existing milk supply, and then of cos my desire to feed him ONE LAST TIME.

When I first decided on weaning J, I wasn't thinking of the cold turkey way. I was thinking mixing a little here and there until the supply dries up. But Wx and my MIL want it the hard way and insist if I really want to stop, it has to be here and now. So I've been mopping around, grouchy too cos of engorgement. It's like bringing 2 stones with you wherever you go. Argh............................................................and u know what? Now that i have the freedom to drink coffee as much as I want, the urge is simply not there. Sigh........

Weaning off BM - Day 1 Part 2

2009-06-17T22:30:00.001+08:00

9pm: Fuss a little when I tried to give him the bottle. Wx took over, gave J a story book and the little fellow settled down and finished every single drop.

Weaning off BM - Day 1

2009-06-17T17:15:00.018+08:00

J officially turns 18 mths yesterday. I'm proud to say he has been totally breastfed all these time, not a single drop of formula milk (unless the nurses cheated and gave him some when he was in the hospital). It has been a long journey, taxing, frustrating at times, esp the beginning and very demanding, especially when I was travelling, but it has been truly fruitful. Aside from the health benefits and nutritious value, it has helped me bond with my little one. It means a lot to me, since I don't get to spend alot of time with him, being a FTWM.
But I can't breastfeed him forever, and I have been thinking when to stop for the longest time.
My initial target was to BF for 6mths. 6mths came and I was like "hmm...maybe another 6mths" So another 6mths came, and I was like "Ah...maybe another 6mth". At the rate I was going, it will be never ending, but i don't want to gross out people when I said "Oh J's still on BM when he's like 10 right" so I decided 18 mths it will be. 18mths of goodness, I think it's enough. We are planning to enrol J in a playschool soon, so it will be good to get him comfortable with formula milk/fresh milk before he starts and also with our holiday coming up, I think it's now or never. I want to travel without lugging pumps and milk bottles for a change, drink coffee as much as I want, at any time of day and drink my wine without timing myself.

So this morning, I took out the tin of formula milk I bought, I was a bit clueless since the last time I prepared milk was say...15 years ago for my niece and I probably did that only twice. But honestly, i think it was mainly the reluctance to stop breastfeeding which made me paused and hesitated in reaching for the bottle. It has after all been 18 months, for all my whining about no coffee, no freedom, I am very attached to this breastfeeding biz. It has already become a large part of my life. So u may be thinking, why stop? Continue till he's 2 then, well, pls read above..it will be never ending and if we really want to have a no. 2. I really will like to have some time to rest before we embark of Project No. 2. BUT.........don't get too excited yet, this doesn't mean we are in stage 1 of Project No. 2, the management is still in discussion.

So anyway, J's progess on weaning off BM:

Morning: Failed. Took 1 sip and started showing me his "preference" ie. brawling like mad, hitting me in the chest.. Gave up and BF him in the end.
Decided I will pass this "chore" to my MIL instead. Maybe without the cow (ahem, me) around, he'll be less selective.

4pm: Drank all! Yay!!!

9pm: We'll see how I fare tonight.

A day at the beach...not...

2009-06-17T15:19:00.012+08:00

J had a date with Kayden last Sat to play at the beach. Armed with spades, buckets and even a watering can, both kiddos were ready to spend some serious time building sandcastles with the daddies but......5mins (or was it less) into the play, thunders, lightnings and strong winds had all of us running back to the car. Sigh....it has always been like this. Whenever we plan some outdoor activities with J, something is bound to happen to thwart our plans. So with the rain, we went to T3 for dinner instead. Lots of space for the kids to run around. It only hit me that it was not the most ideal place to go after we got there, what with the HINI thing going on.

Anyway, here r some pics, which i stole from Kayden's daddy. Forgot to bring my own camera...more pics of the kids can be seen on Mervyn's blog

Learning my ABC

2009-06-10T17:05:00.002+08:00

J's picking up alphabets these days.
It sort of slipped our mind to teach him ABCs until a few short weeks ago...I have no idea why, but I think it's mainly because he was on the GD method. GD advocates not to teach abc and numbers until dunno when...I just can't remember which means it's rather obvious we have stopped practising the GD way with J.
Anyway, unlike most kids, J didn't start with A for apple, B for boy....his 1st alpha is F.
He'll go "F ah!" and he does this everywhere he goes in his totally loud voice. It's rather cute, truth be told, but it can get embarrassing at times cos .........when he gets excited he goes "F ah!", when he's happy he goes "F ah!", when he sees mummy/daddy coming he also goes "F ah!", basically his Fs are everywhere....if your mind's pure and totally intainted, you may not catch the joke. So funny or not? ;-)

The other woman in my life.

2009-05-05T09:24:00.009+08:00

I love my mum lots but this year, I've decided to give tribute to my mother in law who has welcome me into her home with open arms way before Wx & I got married.

My MIL is a very simple woman who ask not much from life or the people around her. She derives her joy from the little things in life like making sure her family's well fed and taken care of and her weekly mahjong sessions. She doesn't expects anything from us, but has so much to give.

My relationship with her is truly blessed. There's no love hate drama and we have gotten along very well since day 1. I honestly think it's because of her patience and easy going nature which makes it so. I know I am not the most easy person to get along with, what with my obsessive compulsive disorder (hahaha). Of course we have our differences and at times "fight" for what we each think is right for J, but she basically really respects my wishes as a mother to J. For that, I am really grateful. After all, she is the one who has brought up 3 boys while I am all new to this mothering business next to her.

Being a working mother, it is really important for me to know that my baby's safe with someone who love and care for him. It gives me a peace of mind and allows me to concentrate well on my job when I am away from J, esp. when I need to travel. I count myself darn lucky to have my in laws help and not have to resort to other help such as infant care, maid etc. I am one who never believe that grandparents should naturally be the caregiver when the little ones come along (that is if the mother is not a SAHM), instead, it is a blessing when the elders want to take on the job. Every parents already paid their dues when their own little ones arrived in their lives. Imagine having to take care of us brats for close to 2 decades and when they finally can retire and enjoy their golden years, they are expected to take on another round of baby chasing? Mind you, some kids never grow up. Heard of the Italian boys who will always be mummy's' boys. Now imagine, having to take care of ur kids forever, and then their kids forever. It may be fulfilling but I am sure there are some parents who want something else from their lives and I see nothing wrong with that. Of cos it's fun for grandparents to be with their grandchildren but it sure sounds tiring and I am sure there are some who dream of travelling in their retirement, enjoying a cuppa with their friends as and when they like, etc..I'm sure you get the picture . And because of my beliefs, I am really grateful and appreciative of my MIL. She's so patient with J, so patient that she puts me to shame, really. And nobody watches over J as well as her, she's with him every single step.

She's not one to openly express her affection, except with J whom she grabs and shower with kisses so I have never told her how I feel. Frankly speaking, I have no idea how. It's not like I can goof around my mum, gives her a hug now and then and make her blush when i plant a kiss on her cheeks. This mummy is more conservative, and not easy to shower with gifts since she lacks nothing and wants nothing. So this year, for mother's day, I want the world to know how great a mother she is. Happy Mother's Day Mummy!

Birthday brunch at The White Rabbit - pictures intensive.

2009-04-23T09:26:00.011+08:00

Instead of doing the usual, which is dinner, we decided to have brunch instead for my birthday. We figured out it would be easier for J cos of his bed time and also we didn't want couples out for a romantic time to throw us dirty looks when J starts "sharing" his excitement, ie. screams & yells. So we headed to The White Rabbit, a beautifully restored chapel in Dempsey to chill the Sunday afternoon away.the much talked about Mac & Cheese on the left and Benedict Eggs on the right. Both were yummylicios. No complaints about the food, it was really quite good but the service needs to be improved. There was this rotund waiter, who couldn't wait to snatch the menu from our hands, even though it was very obvious we were not done with it yet. tsk tsk..

this is a recent problem we have with J. He has started staring....in a pretty hostile way. Wx confessed one day that it could have been him who got J on this bad habit. There are times when J misbehaves, Wx will glare/stare at J, so he figured out that was where/how J picked it up and you know what's the funny thing. J has exactly the same look as his dad when he does this. No kidding.

and the little one has gotten more animated. see what he did when we asked him to pose for the camera.

and the little sweetie giving mummy a bouquet of flowers..

he was very careful with the flowers, watchful of his every little steps, lest he fell and crushed the flowers

getting a bit tired........

back home for the cake cutting in the evening...

look what fun he had with the cream

yummy yummy!

tada...J's creation.

playdate with aidan

2009-04-23T08:53:00.003+08:00

Jarrett spent a Sunday afternoon playing with Aidan. See the two of them making attempts to "interact". I think the adults had more laughs thou...

J having a ride on Aidan's toy horse.

backdated post: East Coast Park

2009-04-23T08:30:00.000+08:00

For once we decided to be healthier and make a date with the kids at East Coast Park for some outdoor activities, like cycling, playing with sand etc..but alas..God had some other plans for us. We were only cycling for around 30mins before it started to rain. Needless to say, that put a stop to all activities we had in mind. With the kids, we made a dash to Waruku for dinner. Brenda had made reservation for a private room, so that the kids had space to roam about and play while the adults catch up and ate.

They say the way to a man's heart is through the stomach. Well, the way to a toddler's heart was biscuits. See the 2 kiddos so happy...I don't know about Mervin & Kayden, but Jarrett definitly takes after daddy.

putting on my shoes

2009-04-11T00:48:00.003+08:00

J's showing more and more independence each day. He's already taking off his shoes by himself now, and is now trying to master the much more difficult skill of wearing his shoes.

trying to figure out which one goes where.

err....getting a little confused....

argh..........I need some help here!!!

Little J's growing journey

2009-04-11T00:16:00.003+08:00

Out for brunch on a sunday with papa and mama

strolling with papa at the esplanade

I'm all grown up, dun need to hold my hand ok....

making use of my tools

2009-04-10T23:56:00.004+08:00

I really couldn't wait for J to grow up, I had to start using the tools I bought, so tada...I made Japanese for lunch. I wanted to buy classic Jap bento boxes for us, the adults, but I just don't have the time to go shopping in Takashimaya or any of the Japanese department stores, so I could only make do and use a normal plate.
See top left hand corner...we had car shaped eggs! Made that with a really cool gadget which can mould eggs into shapes. There's many designs out in the market, like stars, hearts, bunnies, and even hello kitty. Also made some rice, shaped nicely with the rice moulds and unagi which is Wx's favourite. I also made some cold tofu and miso soup, but nothing special about that, so no pics..I jus want to show the car shaped eggs. hahaha...

Free beauty samples

2009-03-25T23:00:00.004+08:00

I've recently caught the BB cream craze. So while surfing for some feedbacks on the products today, I stumbled across this site Fr3b.com which is amazing. You can get free beauty samples here, which is great cos you get to try the stuff before committing to a full size product.

All you have to do is sign up, pick the samples you want and check out. The samples are free but you'll have to pay for postage/handling fee which is a rather fair deal. I've already picked out the items I want (2 BB creams, and 1 beauty essence)....I'll be looking out for the postman the next few days!

Check it out!

random ramblings......

2009-03-15T23:32:00.008+08:00

On falling sick...
22 days, I kept tab. It was a full 3 weeks where everyone (almost) took turn to fall sick. The last was me. I am actually quite impressed I could last that long before succumbing to the super duper bug. First was Jarrett, then Wx, then my father-in-law, next was my mother in law and even Wx's bro and then finally, me. I took so many days off during the 1st 2 weeks cos obviously everyone else was not able to care for the one super duper cranky toddler who refused to eat! Darn..i tell u, each time i manage to fatten up the kiddo, some virus will surface and wiped off the weight. We tried coaxing him to eat and drink with various method, at one point, we were even tempted to force feed, but of cos we didn't. The poor fellow (or was it us?) was brawling the whole house down (poor neighbours), that we just didn't have the heart to force him to do anything else.

On natural food therapy
In my quest to get the little one well, I adopted a pot of oregano. I wanted to use a more natural way to help J heal from the viral infection besides all those vile medicine. I am one who believe God has provided us with cures and solutions aplenty in nature, it's just up to us to discover, believe and make use of what is given. But of cos, He also provides us with doctors, so we still go see Dr. Yap lah...
Anway, this is what Oregano can do:
Has antibacterial properties and helps relieve chest infections, coughs and catarrh.

I have been adding a few leaves to the veg stock or J's porridge, together with a clove of garlic.

Garlic:
Has antibacterial, antiviral and anti fungal properties.

Also, Shiitake mushroom:
Has antibacterial, antiviral and antiparasitic properties and is a natural source of interferon, which provides protection against viruses. also a good source of germanium, an element that enhances immunity.

Prior to getting the fresh oregano, I would add a pinch of dried french mix herbs to the stock. Boy...I never knew how that one pinch can add so much flavour to veg stock. I am so in love with my french herbs. It has a permanent shelf space in my kitchen now.

So J's fully recovered, I don't know how much the oregano and garlic helped but I am definitely sticking to the way of using food to help boost my baby's immune system. Not only is it more healthy, it also adds more flavour to the food which helps to whet the little one's appetite..so it's one stone killing 3 birds! I think I am one of those fanatic mama who beams with pleasure whenever the kiddo finishes his meal.....

ok...too tired to continue, so this is one abrupt ending...I'm off to bed..

sharing "culinary" tips

2009-03-11T16:11:00.003+08:00

emails b/w 2 mummies on the quest to feed their babies right:

Question:

Hey you bot sakura chicken (fresh) from ntuc before right? Do you get them to chop up the chicken or bring home a whole and slaughter before you cook?
Best,
Idiot chef

Reply:

haha...idiot chef,

jarrett's mummy usually buy the whole chicken n chop it up herself at home. but as she doesn't own a chinese chopper nor does she noe how to use one, she often employs the help of the scissors, failing which the help of her hubby to tear the poor chicken into bits and pieces.
she'll also skinned n de-boned the chicken at the same time, saved the bones (with bits of flesh on it) to make chicken stocks for jarrett's porridge and if she's feeling ultra wicked, she'll also save the fats with skin (gasps!) for roast/grill chicken for the adults.

Best Regards,
Amature iron chef...LOL...AHHAHAHAHAAA...................................

Reply from idiot chef:

Dear Amature iron chef

Many thanks for sharing the ‘Best Ways of Handling an Organic Bird’.

I will try asking the staff at NTUC for help before battling it out myself…. kekeke

Ta!

Best,
Idiot but so wicked chef

Never underestimate the power of retail therapy

2009-02-24T08:32:00.013+08:00

My 2 boys are sick. While the hb is almost recovered, the little one still has some way to go before a full recovery.We are not sure who gave what virus to who, but it's sure no small bug. Both grandma and grandpa are also sick now.
The last weekend was truly most exhausting. Taking care of 2 sick patients with household chores was no joke. Ever heard of the saying "Be careful of what you asked for"? God must have suddenly recalled my earnest prayer for patience.

"Ask and it shall be given, seek and you shall find"

Both my bro and I believe that when you ask for things like patience and wisdom, it is often not handed out on a tray. Instead, there'll be lessons to teach you the values you seek. It happened just too many times. I am now much wiser and think twice if not thrice before asking for anything. LOL.

Anyway, Wx tried his best to help and was a gem for doing some of the chores despite the drowsiness from the medicine. It was just our luck that the part time domestic help wasn't able to come over when we needed her most. The most difficult part of the weekend was to ensure J was well hydrated and fed. He refused most food and drinks and even when he did accept any, it was at most tiny sips.

Needless to say, by Monday, my hair's almost all gone (I need to start saving for YunNam) and patience sorely tested. I was exhausted and irritated and both Wx and I were ready to snap off each other's head. If there's such a term, I think I had a mother's burnt out. So....serious therapy was required to get my balance back. No lah....dun start shaking your head, I didn't run off and buy myself a new Dior bag or new shoes (maybe I should have? Duh...). I went for a bout of cheap retail therapy. I went to....Diaso!
And look what I got! Such amazing things they have for $2. I didn't have to break my piggy bank or my "vow" to watch my spending what with the bad economy..actually I subscribe to the school of thought that spending is the tool to ride out a financial crisis. The above was written more for Wx's peace of mind, so that he knows I'm not going to break the bank and spend J's education fund.

Well...back to my loot...I'm so pleased.

Bento tools....I am at this Bento crazy stage...I can't wait to start making crazy cute bentos for J.
So though he can't appreciate cute train shaped pancake or Pooh's sandwich yet, I better start practising now. It's no easy feat to make those super duper cute bentos k...

and just when I was wondering how to bring cool snacks for J on a hot day without lugging the cooler box/bag, ta...da....i found this cool snack box! It comes with a gel pack which can be frozen before use so that it helps to keep the temp down..I'm gg to try this soon to see if it works..darn..my bro's so rite...i'm getting more and more aunty..imagine getting excited over a snack box..i am such a sad case.

this is how it looks like inside.

I even got J some books and ahem....haha..i know I m crazy...i also got him a colouring book but aiya..it's never too early to start him on some fun ya..I'm gg to try doing it with him this weekend and prob end up colouring it myself..but what the heck..it's nice to relive my childhood once in a while..

So ya..the therapy worked. I' feel rejuvenated, whole and well. I'm back on tip top mothering mode. I say the economy needs more people like me. Forget about the spa, send me on a shopping trip! I dun need my gucci, I'm jus as happy with a very cool cookie cutter. hahaha

to the zoo.....

2009-02-16T23:03:00.004+08:00

We brought Jarrett to the zoo on the 4th of lunar new year. Had the week off and it was packed full of activities, mainly for the little one. Small J had lots of fun, the adults were happy that he was happy, the weather was lovely....and besides a little horrifying encounter with a wild snake, it went great. There's not many pictures thou, cos the camera died...5 mins into the zoo. sigh.........

feeling a little sleepy..........

with daddy and grandpapa

while waiting for the tickets..father & son had fun posing for the camera

Pictures long overdued

2009-02-15T23:06:00.005+08:00

Pic of me with the little one @ his birthday party

waiting for daddy..........

his first reunion dinner with the adults.

Thank you Aunty Jean

2009-01-22T23:29:00.006+08:00

Precious Jean took the time to pop by my office to pass me Jarrett's birthday pressie. So thoughtful of her, especially with her ultra packed schedule as a TCM doc. Less than a year into her practise (or is it slightly more than 1 yr? Sorry my brain's growing smaller as I write this), I can already tell the changes in the way she speaks, really like a sinseh wor..i am so impressed. haha..

Aunty Jean's thoughtful presents

"I can read my own card ok....I've been watching Baby Can Read"

Woohoo..what's in there for me?

"clap clap" THANK YOU Aunty Jean! Muack!

Argh........guess what I was doing when mummy and daddy had their dinner.

2009-01-19T16:53:00.001+08:00

Jarrett's a "movie" star!

2009-01-16T23:34:00.006+08:00

Jarrett got a role in this year M.O.Defence ad. Ok..I am not too sure which kind of ad, but it's a video..and I am told it will be played on the 15th Feb when the M.O.D. starts its exhibition. It's not going to be air on national tv, but it's kinda fun shooting the mini. short ad this afternoon. My niece and newphew were also "invited" to take part. So all of us, my sis and bro included, made our way to Neil Road for our on screen adventure. The whole thing didn't take long, it was quite informal and simple. We just had to carry Jarrett between us, said some simple lines and give Jarrett a big "MUACK" with him doing nothing but being his charming self. The only misadventure we had was the smack he gave me at the end of one take.."ouch". I'm dying to see how that turned out. I've yet to see any clip, so I guess I'll just have to turn up at the ceremony on the 15th and try to catch a glimpse of the Ng's on screen.

Meanwhile, some shots of father and son goofing around outside the studio and our short Chinatown exploration.

Jarrett's 1st bento box!

2008-12-24T11:05:00.003+08:00

Jarrett's 1st bento box. I am so excited about it cos it says more exciting meal plans in future! He is slowly proceeding to more solid stuff, not porridge all the time. Just the other day, I made him tofu and egg custard. Faint..so excited to use my "culinary skills" (LOL).
So anyway, instead of puree fruit which I always give him when we are out, I have prepared wheatgerm bread and fresh blueberries. ok..so it's not a proper bento, more like a snack box, but what the heck, I am happy to show his cutsy box and his cool water bottle. He has refused to use his mag mag straw no matter how hard we tried, so we are going ahead and using his Shinzi Katoh bottle.

And he's 1

2008-12-17T12:45:00.004+08:00

my little baby turned 1 on Tuesday. No longer a baby but a toddler. It's amazing how 1 year just flew past. The past year had truely been amazing for us. Jarrett brings with him so much joy and love into our lives. Parenthood has taught us many things. The most important for me - patience and I finally understand the unconditioned love parents have for their children. No matter what he does, we still love him, thou there are times I want to pull out all my hair in frustrations.
We clean his butt when he poo, wiped up his puke and still plant lots of kisses all over his face before we send him to bed. Even if he drives me mad with his fussiness at times, I'll forget all about it once he plants a kiss on my lips, or give me one of his "cannot see eyes" grins.

At times, I feel overwhelmed with the love I have for this little guy. It's like I just want to eat him up so he'll stay inside me..lol..for months I didn't dare to voice this out, thinking I'll sound like a manic..until one evening, Wx asked me if I have such thoughts, cos he feels the same too! Waahahaha...

We didn't hold a big party for him, just a small one for both side of the families. We wanted to surround him with people who loves him best and I'm glad we did. It wasn't too fussy and the little guy had fun showing off his new toys and his first few steps. Pics coming soon..

Reporting from Paradise

2008-12-10T23:03:00.000+08:00

We are missing Jarrett.....alot....sobz...

3 times in 6 years

2008-12-08T17:03:00.002+08:00

Wx & I are off for a short break this week. 3rd time in 6 years, we are truely madly in love with the Maldives. So maybe for the next 20 years, all we can show you guys of our vacation pics are blue seas and clear skies. No matter how hard we try to plan our vacations for other countries, we somehow still end up dying to go back. The last time we managed to get to Bali, we didn't really like it one bit, except for the lovely resorts we stayed in. The comparisons started the min. we left the airport..We did really try to pick another location this time, infact we went right on and booked us a 5D/4n at a really nice boutique resort, X2 Resort in Koh Samui. I was honestly looking forward to my pte pool and lounging in my bath tub. But darn..the protests in BKK made us cancelled our trip cos the folks at home threatened to disown us if we insist on going.

So well, it wasn't tough changing our plans. Infact, Wx was secretly very pleased with how things turn out and ahem, I am not complaining too. LOL..

And no...Jarrett's staying home with ah ma. This is a romantic trip daddy & mummy.

Jarrett's education fund

2008-11-27T11:51:00.002+08:00

I've recently aquire this craziness for Japanese zakka stuff. They are all so adorable and makes me happy just looking at the cutsy illustrations. So to spread this "happiness", I've decided to bring in these products from zakka land and set up my 1st blogshop. It's not a big business, more like some fun project, and whatever profits will go into Jarrett's education fund. hahaha..
So guys, please help me spread the news and check out VanilaPod!

mummy & son

2008-11-17T12:27:00.003+08:00

Jarrett standing in his cot, mummy sitting on bed. Both looking at each other.

Scene 1:
Me: Call Mama
J spent a few seconds staring at mama.
Me: call ma....ma..
J: bird................... (or so it sounds. He noes what birds are)
Me: No....call ma....ma...
J staring at mama for a few more seconds.
J: bird..............
Me: Argh..........no lah! mama not bird (and walked away)
J: mama....ma...ma................

Happened 2-3 times.

Scene 2:
Me: call Mama...
J: Pa pa....(and gave me a smirk! I kid you not!)
Me: no...call ma....ma....
J: Pa pa pa pa pa pa pa (and jumping around in his cot, holding onto the side bar of cos)
Me: ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!! (walked away)
J: MAMA..................ma................................

Happened too many times...

The joy of motherhood....

Abbott

2008-11-11T13:44:00.002+08:00

Just got a call from Abbott.

Sales: Hello Mrs Ng, your baby is coming to 1 yrs old!
Mrs Ng: Yes, he is going to 1.
Sales: So are you still breastfeeding?
Mrs Ng: Yeap!
Sales: When do you intend to stop?
Mrs Ng: I have no idea.
Sales: So you still have ample supply of milk ya?
Mrs Ng: I'm a good cow
Sales (must be thinking: darn..this is bad for sales)
: Oh...good...but if any time you decide to stop, give me a call, I'll send you some free sample.
Mrs Ng: Ok.
Sales: I'll send you my namecard ok? Must call me hor.
Mrs Ng: ...............ok..............

In search for our christmas tree - Part 1

2008-11-09T22:21:00.008+08:00

Our search for a christmas tree took us to Ikea on Sat. We want to start a family tradition where we dress up the tree as a family and create some wonderful memories for Jarrett to look back on and smile when he has grown up. Of cos, he's not going to remember what he's going to do for his first Christmas but it's never too early to let him have some fun.
We started off with some grand plans to have a nice lunch, hop over to Ikea to Chirstmas shop and stopping at Rochester for tea and then move on to Singapore Poly to attend my niece's dance performance at 7pm. But of cos, with Jarrett, a schedule never work the way you plan it. So instead of stepping out of the house at 1pm, we only managed to step out of the house close to 4pm. So lunch was at 5pm, and since we were at Anchorpoint, why not shop around, since the tiny mall has gone through a facelift (small one I think).
And look what Jarrett got to do!

Sayang.....sayang....
Kiss kiss!

Weee........this is so fun!

Jarrett goes boom boom..his fav word now..cos he loves to play with our car wheels every morning. Each morning at the carpark, when he sees our car, he'll go "boom boom..." cos we told him it's "zoom zoom".

Natural driver, totally takes after mummy.

And over at Singapore Poly, those kids were so good! The performance was so much better than I expected. They reminded me of what youth is all about = vitality and good clean fun! Even with Jarrett in my arms, I couldn't help tapping my feet to the music and wish for a sec, I was on stage dancing my head off and having some fun. So kudos to Princess Qinzhen! Well done sweetie! And know what, Jarrett being his daddy's son, managed to fall sound....asleep in the 2nd half, despite the loud music and screaming. Wx once fell sound asleep in a club, as in snoring sound asleep...the ng's men, you amazing sleepers. And that....... include my 2 brother in laws who have their own "creative" styles of sleeping too.

Aidan's party

2008-11-09T22:07:00.004+08:00

We attended Aidan's first birthday party a few weeks back. The birthday boy had his party on a beautiful Saturday at his grandparents place. The place was great and the food was good. Jarrett met some little friends and had fun playing with Aidan's wooden walker.

Unfortunately, no pics with the birthday boy. He wasn't feeling very friendly that day. The min. I said "Aunty carry", he started brawling. So we tried to stay clear but towards the end, he warmed up to Jarrett and even shared his toys with Jarrett. Such a sweet & generous boy!

Another evening all alone with my little one.

2008-11-02T23:02:00.005+08:00

Can I say I have quite a "reputation" in my industry. Or rather my sis and I, we have quite a reputation. We once found out someone gave us the nickname "the fierce ones/sisters". Rather than feeling offended, I find it all too amusing. It's not a cutesy nick for sure, but i like it. We have other nicks of cos, such as the more common one "the pair of sisters", but this one is definitely my favourite. I once told someone who pissed me off "I eat little boys for breakfast" (besides Jarrett of cos) when I know he's already terrified of me. AHAHAHA..I am so mean..Wx once said if a newbie in telesales should call someone like me, he's downright suay.

Now, there's a saying which states that everyone has a weakness or as commonly said in Taiwanese shows, "Wo bai gei ni le". This is definitely the case for me when it comes to Jarrett. This evening is another mother & son quality time. Wx has a paper and so left Jarrett and I alone at home. I was a bundle of nerves before Wx left. I prepared everything in advance while Jarrett was napping, such as getting his dinner all nicely laid out on a tray, his pyjamas, wash cloths all ready by the side, my trusty Hotsling on stand by, his fav. CD (actually he only watches one) all ready in the player.... I was all prepared and ready. So confident was I, that I actually had the nerves to wake the little guy up from his nap! This takes a lot of courage ok, cos Jarrett strikes everyone in the family, grandma included, with fear when he's all cranky during meal time and this always happen when he's tired/sleepy. Infact, each time he refuses to nap, we'll all break down into cold sweat when his meal time comes. It's the same case when he doesn't get enough sleep.

God must have been watching over me this evening, cos Jarrett was a total angel! I know I sound like a really lousy mum, so terrified of doing the most natural thing every mother should know - taking care of their babies. But I am, I still have so.....much more to learn. Unlike Wx who's a natural parent, I confess I have so much more work to do, as in learning to be a parent. I can cook ok well for Jarrett, and I earnestly read up on parenting/child development but when it comes to practical, I am just so argh........

Anyway, today's a total success. Both of us had lots of fun together. Jarrett laughed at all the stupid things I did and we played balls. While submitting my report to the father, he even got a little jealous at how much fun we had. Well, today's not much but I certainly think it has made me more confident as a mother. =)

Jarrett's sick!

2008-10-15T12:52:00.006+08:00

For the first time in 10mths (almost), Jarrett's gotten sick and can I say it was all pretty drama mama.

The little fellow had never been sick before so you can imagine how we panicked when his fever shot up to 40.3 deg last nite. It started with a slight fever in the afternoon which didn't look too serious as he was still perky and eating well, so Wx gave him the fever med given by the doc when Jarrett got his vaccines. We thought it was signs of teething. Monitored his temp. and it went down to normal range right before he went to bed around 9+. But at around 1plus in the morning, Jarrett woke up suddenly (which hardly ever happens cos he has been sleeping thru the nite since 8th week), he was all quiet, lying in bed with his eyes wide opened. We were lucky Wx was up to check his temp. We found his temp hovering around 38-39.5!
Needless to say, we got into a mad rush to bring him to the hospital. When we got into NUH's Children A&E, his temp was around 38.5, but it later went up to 40.3. Jarrett's face was all flushed up, red as an apple. He looked all confused and exhausted, with weepy eyes when we tried to feed him the med and I finally understood why some mummies broke down in tears when their little ones fall sick, cos I felt like sitting down and weep a little too. Wx went around mumbling "so poor thing, heart pain".

The doc diagnosed it as viral infection but as a precaution, she wanted to take a urine sample to make sure it's not urinary track infection. Let me tell u, waiting for a baby to pee at 3am in the morning is not funny. The nurse attached this plastic pocket bag over his little friend with instructions for us to check every 20mins. This plastic pocket looks so uncomfortable! Imagine wearing a plastic bag over ur butt! So anyway, we settled in and waited for Jarrett to pee.
We could have taken the next alternative which was to bring the baby home but once he pees, bring in the sample within 2hrs. We thought since we were all up, might as well just wait a little and save us another mad rush to the hospital with the sample. So we waited, and waited and waited. No pee! Argh............

At 5am, I really wanted to go home, Jarrett was already sleeping and I was totally exhausted. So we packed up and left, with strict instructions from the nurses to bring back the sample within 2 hrs. It's not a long drive, from NUH to home, but at 5+ in the morning with no sleep at all, everywhere seemed far. Got into the carpark close to 5.30am, and guess what? Jarrett finally pee. So we restarted the engine and drove back to the hospital.
It was close to 7am when we finally got home. Jarrett's fever went down a little, hovering around 38deg.
For a little fellow who had never gotten sick, he sure knows how to do it with style for the first time.

Pest infection!!!

2008-10-14T09:09:00.003+08:00

We found a really huge mouse at home the other day. Strangly, it looked so much like little Jarrett.

Pest control??!? Ahahaha...I am so keeping these pics for his wedding montage, if it's still in vouge by the time he gets married in 30yrs.

Jarrett & Mama

2008-10-14T09:08:00.000+08:00

Playdate at Playdays

2008-10-04T13:05:00.006+08:00

Jarrett & Kayden had a playdate a few weeks back at Playdays, all kindly organized by Kayden's Mummy. Situated in sleepy Sunset Way, I like it for it's quietness. Everything seems to slow down once we turn into the junction from Clementi. Jarrett was the youngest kiddo in the class, all others were above 1 yrs old as it was a class for 12-18mths if I am not wrong. There's no weekend class for below 12mths.
Jarrett seemed to like it lots with other children around. Though there was not much interaction between children, he seemed to have enjoyed himself, all smiles and delighted screams.

I took the above pic when they had a little snack break. I don't know why but this picture made my heart break a little. Jarrett looked so lonely. I didn't manage to capture his exact expression but it made me want to give him a little sis/bro. Wx's banging hard on this pic to give him his 2nd child..hmm....

China milk scandal

2008-09-22T14:15:00.002+08:00

News on the China milk scandal have made me more glad than ever that Jarrett's on breastmilk. Over the weekend, all the men in my family commented "Wah...(pointing at Jarrett), lucky you not drinking formula milk! You lucky baby!" and this morning, my colleague actually told me to sell my excess BM to China. Now that's a thought..it's better than dumping them everyday and the money can go into Jarrett's education fund. haha..

On a more serious note, it's crazy, what's happening right now. I wonder what kind of lives these people lead to make them capable of such immoral acts. It feels (to me lah) like some sacred codes have been broken by these people. Instead of protecting babies and children, they have caused harm to these innocent lives and alreay, 4 had died. In a country so big and wide, one wonders if it's really only 4 or more. I am also thinking, what are the babies drinking now? I would think most parents are now too worried to feed their babies any formula. While the rich can easily afford the more expensive imported formulas, what about those poor families? Soya milk or goat's milk??

A mad mother's rambling

2008-09-16T16:39:00.000+08:00

I "caught" my nephew with his gf in the library the other day. I emphasize on the open inverted ", cos I didn't set out to catch them. I just happened to "catch" them when I was in the lib on Sunday. I can honestly say I am quite open minded when it comes to teenage dating. We have all been there after all. But the sight of the young couple made me sad. It's not because I am upset with my nephew (who's only 15 but then at 15, we all thought we knew everything rite) but I suddenly realised, my time with Jarrett where he's all mine, is relatively short. Was it just yesterday that my nephew was drooling all over himself and crawling all over as an infant? It certainly feel like a short time ago and now he's all grown up, dating a girl!

I don't think I'll become one of those crazy, possessive mummies who refused to let go of their sons and make their daughter-in-laws lives miserable. I am really quite a nice person (ahahaha) and don't think I'll ever become so mean. Independence is definitly a trait I want Jarrett to have. but I just can't help feeling miserable with the thought of him leaving the nest. I think mummies reading this may be able to empathize with how I feel while others may think I am mad.

Looking at how fast kids grow and mature these days, I better grab hold of the next 15 years and spend it well with Jarrett.

Tyler's turning 2

2008-09-09T13:08:00.000+08:00

Last Sunday was Tyler's 2nd Birthday Party. The family has specially flown back to celebrate his birthday with family and friends. Of cos part of the agenda for the trip is food. Tricia, the radiant preggie mummy has her sights set on all the local delights..i think.

Tyler with his "Bear" cake. It's a bunny named Bear.
Argh.....dun mess with me and my balloon.
Jarrett having lots of fun with his balloon.

Jarrett had too much fun that afternoon. Too much excitment and new faces, had him all wired up and simply refused to nap for the rest of the day which meant a very cranky Jarrett who refused his milk and food.

Project Tofu #1

2008-09-08T21:55:00.009+08:00

Wx's having lesson tonite, and Jarrett's at grandma place. So I thought to make the tofu I had been telling everyone I'll be making heh..

Pre-soaked organic soya beans
Blended soya bean Soya Milk. Yumz... Lemon juice added. Florets of tofu appeared.
Ta da! Homemade tofu!

Result: Weird tasting tofu. It's sour! I am sure it's safe to eat, but definitly too acidic for baby.

Will not keep this receipe for tofu making BUT........will keep it for making soya milk!

Homemade Organic Soya Milk

I was "smart" enough to save some of the soya milk before my attempt to make the tofu. It was really smooth and good. Could be more creamy though. I'll make note to use more beans the next time.

Long day...

2008-09-03T15:16:00.002+08:00

It's 3.26pm, 3 more hours to home and I am missing Jarrett. Life sucks sometimes

See what I found in Jarrett's box of cereal

2008-08-25T17:06:00.006+08:00

The black dots you see in the cereal are not brown rice..if that is what you are thinking.

Wx opened Jarrett's box of Healthy Times' Barley Cereal on Sat and to our horror, we found little bugs crawling and flying around. We are talking about a premium brand of baby food..organic some more ok..and we got bugs flying out of the box!!! Tsk tsk..you can be sure I will not be buying from them in the future.

I called up the supplier and spoke to the guy in charge. He sounded nice, friendly and (lucky for him) apologetic. I think I would have kick up a big fuss if he had sounded nonchalent about the whole thing. Imagine if the bugs were hidden deep inside the box and we fed Jarrett with the cereal. I would be ready to commit murder! But well, I didn't have to resort to such drastic measures. The guy offered a very..........long explanation and will be making a trip to my office to replace me with a new box of cereal. Nice...good customer service which is how it should be.

Look who's standing!

2008-08-21T15:59:00.005+08:00

You should have seen the way we went scrambling for the camera, or rather the way I did. Wx was sitting near to Jarrett, ready to catch him should he fall, but he was just as excited. Man..we were both bursting with pride. ahaha.. parenthood..
It happened quite unexpectedly on Sun. I was in the kitchen preparing his snack and Wx was sitting next to him, doing his own stuff and suddenly, Jarrett was standing. He managed to pull himself up by grabbing on to the sofa and pushing himself up. We didn't manage to take that pic cos the camera went dead. The above pics were taken when Wx let go of Jarrett and he managed to stand by himself for quite a while.

From then on, the little one has been trying to stand whatever chance he gets. He has also learnt how to sit from the standing position yesterday, by leaning his head into the sides of the playpen and then slowing sinking down to sit. Quite a funny sight. Since last night, he has been cruising along his playpen and cot, having a ball of a time. Wx commented Jarrett's indeed 1/8th of a teochew, looking very smug whenver he managed to pull himself up and cruise. heh..

the boy's 8 mths old now

2008-08-16T22:59:00.005+08:00

It's a amazing how fast they grow.....

Do boys play with dolls? This one does

2008-08-16T22:30:00.006+08:00

This is one of those things you either love or hate, like Crocs. My sis hated them and thought they all look hideous. But me? I like........these Dooodolls are so cool!
After much pondering (cos they all look so darn cute), decided to get Jarrett this alien looking one. Heh...and boy does he love it. It has since become his buddy, next to his smelly bolster and we have named it Kaka.
Kaka drying from his "bath". Jarrett's been munching on his ears and thighs..so poor Kaka has to take frequent bath.

An evening off

2008-08-10T23:09:00.004+08:00

I've got a bad......throat. Lost my voice since Friday and have been coughing here and there with a heavy head. Wx's off to take his paper tonight, and we didn't want to risk Jarrett getting the bug from me, so we sent him to the in laws' place for the evening. Which means.....I get the evening off.

It's been so long since I could take a stress free shower. What bliss. Long hot shower with a scrub, leisure hair wash, unlimited time to condition the hair and most importantly, not worry about a hungry baby.

On a normal day, one of the most stressful time for me is when we get home. Jarrett is often sleepy by then and all ready for bed, but hungry too. Which means we need to get him ready and settled for bed (clean and change) the moment we get in, me rushing like mad to get a quick shower, and then nurse him before he KO for the night. All these must be done A.F.A.P. So for months, I have not been able to get a relaxing shower, not even when I was travelling. But tonight....ah.........i feel good.

I could have opted to take care of Jarrett myself tonight but try wearing a mask with a baby at the stage of grabbing and throwing. Not very fun I tell u...I've taken to wearing a mask when I am with Jarrett since the cough started, but each time he sees me with it, he'll start trying to pull it off my face. So with Wx not around, it's much better to have him with grandma. No fun if I pass the cough on to him.

Jarrett's "horrified/puzzled" look when he saw me with the mask.

KISS ME! KISS ME!

2008-08-05T11:01:00.008+08:00

This is what you'll hear when u see us with Jarrett these days..because the little one has learnt how to KISS!!! It happened so unexpectedly that the first time he did it, I thought it was pure accident. He was leaning against my shoulder, with my face right beside his. He turned his head left and brush his lips against mine. So I was thinking "ok...not bad..not a kiss but I can pretend he's kissing me", and then it happened again. By then, I got a bit excited...and waited with impatience to see if there would be a 3rd time and he DID! i almost fainted with delirium! And he didn't do it thrice, he did it 5 times!!! Wx went sulking around the house, mad with jealousy for days before the little one gave him a peck!

So that was 2 weeks ago...now, whenever we hold him, we'll go "Kiss Mama", "Kiss Papa", "Kiss me! Kiss me!" I think we must have driven him crazy with our irritating, incessant chants. He doesn't "bless" us with his kisses freely (so smart, he knows not to overuse this), only when the mood strikes and when he does, he totally melts our heart. The cutest thing is the smile he gives us after his kiss. He'll look abit shy and very pleased. Now, he has couple the kiss with a hug too, he'll lean over, place a kiss on our chest and put his head where he kissed. Aww......is that a new toy u want Jarrett? Mummy will get that for u!

New food, new dishes

2008-07-25T13:32:00.005+08:00

It has been really fun, introducing Jarrett to new food, taste and texture. Each time I feed him with something new, his first expression is always so priceless. He'll usually show us his "ewww.." face and then proceed to gobble up everything. Strange..I always thought eew...goes with pui!
Thus far, he has shown no real dislike for any food, except for avocado (maybe I should try again next week). If he doesn't like the food, there's no way to get him to eat it. He'll keep his mouth firmly shut no matter how hard you try to shove it in and even if you manage to get a teeny bit in, the next thing you know, you'll have food splattered all over your face and floor when he goes "Boooooooooo.....". If he loves it, you better be fast cos if you are abit slow, he'll start yelling at you!

Last Sat, I cooked him tofu with egg yolk and he seems to really like it. I tried abit of the food myself and can finally understand why mashed tofu with egg is often used to replace mayonaise in many healthy receipes. It's really quite good and creamy. I will be adding this to my receipe notebook and replace the Jap. mayo which I always use for my wraps/sandwiches.
Another of his favourite is Potatoe, carrot with brown rice. Tried mashed potatoe with brocoli & breastmilk and he likes it 3! He definitly takes after his pa & ma when it comes to food.
This weekend, I'll be cooking him millet & brown rice porridge and introduce him to golden kiwi.
Can't wait!

Oh btw, Jarrett's 2nd tooth is out!

Happy Birthday Ah B/Daddy! (backdated post)

2008-07-25T12:55:00.000+08:00

Wx's first birthday as a daddy! With loads and loads of love from his double Js.

pool..........

2008-07-25T10:46:00.000+08:00

We got Jarrett his first swimsuit and float and brought him to the pool. Honestly, I didn't know if the father or son was more excited. Wx had been so anxious about Jarrett's first swim since his last jab and he was going on and on about when to bring Jarrett for his 1st swim.

So last thurs, which was also Wx's birthday, I took the day off and together with the in laws, we headed off to the pool.
The little one wasn't too enthusiastic. The dad was though... Overall, Jarrett had not much problem with the water. He seemed abit bored at times, and at one point, excited...he was kicking and kicking and the float was jus turning round and round the same spot, so funny.
We brought him back again on Sun and he showed more signs of interest. I think we have some potential there.

The cute mushroom float was a hit at the pool. All the kids were drawn to it. I like it that it provides a shade for Jarrett. Can keep cool eh..but of cos not very macho like some of the submarine floats I saw. Maybe I should get him one of those arm floats soon.

@ the spa this evening

2008-07-24T22:48:00.003+08:00

Got myself some "me" time this evening and pop over to the spa. When the masseuse was about to start the scrub:

Masseuse: Will you like your chest area to be done as well?
Me: No.
Masseuse: Oh..ok
Me: I'm still breastfeeding.
Masseuse: Oh....

30mins later when the massage just started and she was working out the knots in my shoulder and back:
Masseuse: So when I press like this (proceed to press down on my upper back), will the milk squirt out?
Me: erm...no...(DUH!!!)

Another 30mins later when she was massaging my arms:
Masseuse: so how come you can go around without feeding the baby the whole day and still no milk will leak out.
Me thinking "OMG KILL ME"
Me: Erm..I'll express the milk at work.
Masseur: Oh...........

A day of unfortunate happenings

2008-07-21T22:37:00.001+08:00

Jarrett had a bad.......day. 1st he fell off the bed and then he had his thigh clipped by the high chair. It was no wonder the moment he saw me, he got all whinny. Poor baby...
In the morning, Wx got scolded by the folks for leaving Jarrett unattended on the bed, thus resulting in the fall. By night fall, Ah Mah was the one feeling darn gulity for clipping Jarrett's fat thigh.
See...ugly bruise. heart pain!

Happy Jarrett

2008-07-15T13:45:00.003+08:00

Jarrett loves to play with us in our bed. He's generally happier when we are both with him over the weekends, or so I like to think. haha...

Jarrett having so much fun playing soccer with his dad. No prize for guessing right who was the ball.