'Stick Figure' Family

See the above icon/avatar(whatever you call it)? The selection on how each of 'us/our image' should be represented was done by Renee(but I've added shopping bags to 'mine', heeee) and she even called out "PaPa" affectionately when she was done with his, initially, :D.

Happy Reading

Supposed to go with daddy to the office as agents/staffs are to be there but seeing that my cough has worsened(all thks to his mee goreng dinner the other day, :>), he told me to stay home which turned out to be a good idea as I've felt lousy the whole day...

I remembered falling into a short nap and Renee, knowing that I wasn't well, left me lying on the sofa whilst she went about playing on her own. Shortly, I opened my eyes('cos I've not planned to nap and a light sleeeper by nature, I tend to wake up easily) and when she saw that, she quickly showed me a tiny elephant which she had moulded with my bluetac(she must have stripped some off from the paintwork corner)! I must say that I was very impressed with that as I've never seen her done an animal in clay-form art nor drew one before! Sadly, daddy hadn't got the chance to see it nor did I get the opportunity to take a photo of it to show you guys here 'cos by the time I remembered it when we got home just now, she's already cushed it away(to make other things)..., :(.

Daddy had wanted to go to Tony Romas(actually, it was prompted by his darling daughter) for our dinner but I wasn't feeling quite up to it to go that far(to him, it's near now that we can get there in 15mins), so we ended up at Cafe Cartel @ Hougang Mall. We went over to Popular bookstore after our dinner(where we had quite a big share of their freshly baked baguette - wonderful! Even Renee ate quite a few slices, on top of half of her dinner. Should hv seen her tummy! hahaha) and whilst daddy was getting more stationaries for his office, I went to the children books section, hoping to find some short version fairytale storybooks. I thought about the books that Eileen had passed to us which, with her permission, we've donated some(though old but well-kept but being of papre nature- they've turned very yellow and tend to have 'paper-insect'? Plus the content might no longer be suitable now) to charitable organisations - well, it's still being put to good use anyway.

I was still contemplating if I should get one of those '300+ fairy tales' story books, but whilst scanning through the books, I recalled that I seem to have kept this(but I guess she can only read it much later...too long for me to read to her lah, this one abv already contains pages n pages of each story) from the stash books Eileen had given us,

and unable to find those really short ones, I made my selection with these(below pic). I only grabbed the one titled 'In or On?' last minute 'cos Renee seem to be confused about her 'In(s) and On(s)' as she likes to say : "at/on the room...". Hopefully, this book will help

Renee was very excited about the books('cos daddy had told her about them when she wanted him to get her the books she'd found at the store, hahaha) and couldn't wait til we got home - she took hold of the small book(the ugly duckling) and tried to read in the car when daddy drove over to meet someone but I forbid her to.

A Nice Chat

Mommy Janice and I had wanted to go for a cuppa when we met at school yesterday but as we've sat back to watch our children rehearsing their performance and need to go back to cook their lunches, we decided to meet up today instead.

As I've forgotten about the school's Friday assembly and expecting Janice to be late, I took a slower momentum to getting Renee ready. However, that caused me to be unusually late and by the time we got to school, it was 11:30am and the assembly was over!(am pretty surprised that it ended so fast today anyway and was told that their class was only the only one performing - to make up for all those times they had not? lolz). Although whilst watching their rehearsal the day before, something striked across my mind that this might be a performance during the coming assembly but the other things on my mind had pushed the memory of today being the day aside... Poor girl, no participation in that to booast her 'stage confidence', heee.(if only we could be informed...)

At my suggestion, we went over to the HK tim sum restaurant at Kovan again and we had a nice time catching up(not without interruptions though - when I had to stop to text daddy about something which I recalled every now and then, heee). There seem to be quite some similiarities among us(motherhood experiences and such) and basically so far, we've been on the same key and that makes our chat more sincere and heart-warming. Not sure if we would ever become friends on our own(without the 'pull' of our children, as it seems more like it this way now) but I wouldn't mind if it's made possible since it's certainly lovely to have one more friend, on the same note, to share your joy/woes(hopefully not, hahaha) with, :).

Princess Story

After our lunch and Renee's violin practice, I decided to let her dabble with her paintwork again. Since the colouring books pages are not suitable for wet paint work, I photocopied a few pages for her. Then, remembering the Dora printable Li's got for her, I went in search of some princesses' and came across online story telling(though they don't start from the beginning and story's sorta different from the books). Renee was very excited about the stories and I let her controlled the turning of pages whilst I tend to her dinner preparation, :)

Yeah yeah, the table's a big mess(it's alot better now, :>). I've only began to sort the things out after daddy's left them the way they were when he moved his stuffs to the new office

Shoes need ornaments? What else?

Geez, merchants dealing with women/children stuffs really know how to 'make money', lolz. I've seen these from online sprees/merchants and on the day I brought Renee to the PD's on her allergy, we bought these :

I've bought them with the intention of perhaps using them for other accessories as she can't wear her crocs minnie mary jane yet, but I've just joined another spree(can't resist the designs/price) and getting her some more similar maryjanes from a US merchant, we might be able to use them soon after all(when we've collected the shoes of cos, :>).

And yesterday, after our lunch at Punggol Plaza(cos her violin lesson's postponed again, to Fri), I took Renee to the stalls at the atrium and we bought these :

Paint Flakes

When we got to the carpark this morning, 1 of the painting guys(our multistorey carpark is being repainted, which looks better and bright now)was cleaning my car! I asked if it's got paint on it, he quickly defended that they've put cover on it and no paint... On closer inspection, I do see tiny little flakes of white paint on parts of my car but they're removable, so daddy(I phoned him to double check) said to leave it. When I got into my car, this guy began wiping the car next to mine...

It was raining since morning but instead of feeling cool, we've all felt stuffy/sweaty(another consolation that I've cut my hair short, heee). I've thought that we'd be late for school but the traffic was surprisingly smooth today and having left the carpark at about 11am, we got to school at 11:10am(so I kana the car crowd at the sch compound, :<).

Back to School!

School resumes today and Renee's most excited about it, :). Saw the new Principal but having woke up with a burning throat, I left after handing the administrator our cheque.

I've missed a couple of calls when I was at the supermarket, 1 of which waas from Janice and when I text her(din wanna talk due to my sore throat), she replied that her hubby had told her about the school's email on 1 HMFD case from the next studio classroom, 1st session. Aiyoh, I was half suspecting it, as we've been advised much earlier that these cases usually occurred after a school holiday break. So far, it had been the children from the morning sessions whom have been reported so far(since last year) and we can't help wondering if it's due to them having more time to go to other places after school?(cos the last one was during school week)

Anyway, just hope that all's well under controlled again, so no other kid will get it.

We've noticed that the playground(the one near our block) has been blocked off since 1 or 2 days ago and this morning, a reporter, cameraman, the victim and his family were seen at the site(so it might come up in the news tonight). Daddy took the opportunity to tell them that we've in fact reported the danger of the particular 'item'(not sure what it's called) but after we've been directed to literally every department of the supposedly concerned offices(even the police dept's included, can you imagine?), there had been no conclusion and no follow-up/answer or whatsoever was given. The matter was just left to lapse despite our trying to phone them and now... The said 'set' was removed off from the site later this afternoon with a replacement(a Tic-Tac-Toe game).

The readers for this term :

KPE(ECP)

This link(from Seng Kang) is finally opened for public use today! Going to Suntec City(or anywhere that region) via this link will take us only about 10mins. We have used this link before but we'd have to detour to Tampines road, then to Hougang(on our way home), but not anymore!

However, the GPS will not be able to pick up this new route til a year later(understand that we might have to pay for it?) so I guess, unless I remember the routing myself, then travelling on this link will be quite unlikely? lolz... Anyway, I'm fine, 'cos the speed limit(with cameras everywhere in the tunnel) is set at 70km/hr(supossedly to prevent accidents) and you tend to fall asleep even though the road is quite bumpy - probably to keep you awake, :D.

Gadgets, gadgets and more gadgets!

Hadn't the mood to attend the dinner with daddy nor wishing to trouble Eileen further(plus I've just got the sore throat), I decided to go along with daddy to Funan to get some stationary and electronic supplies for his office. On top of that, we took the opportunity to look at the other gadgets that we've been wanting to get.

The iCharge/iStore/iDownload/iPlay comes free with the portable hard disk(1000gb) and with this purchase, we need not buy extra memory card for the digital photo frame(1gb).

We also finally moved our butt and got a Garmin GPS(for me obviously) but I'm not entirely sure how it works or if it'll be really that useful to me.

I'm given the task to find out how these gadgets work but being unwell and feeling tired, I gave up after I'm done with the hard disk installation(and the full drive transfer of files confused me)... Hopefully daddy will take over(not sure if he has the time) tomorrow so I'll only be left to tackle the GPS, heee.

With a sore throat, I've been hushing my 'instructions' to Renee and when she asked me why so, I've told her that it's because she's been naughty and I've lost my voice from the numerous times I've to tell her to drink water, to keep her toys, blah blah... She then said "I'm very sorry, mommy". Just now, as I was tucking her to bed whilst waiting for daddy to return, she sobbed and told me that she's very sad that I've lost my voice and would like my voice to 'return'(not sure if she had related it to the part of story which Eileen had told her - princess Ariel had given up her voice to be with her prince charming, etc...). I told daddy about it and he commented "so dramatic", hahaha.

Artwork(Drawing) Display

Renee's bought her toys over, on the recent occasions when we've left her at Eileen's and remembering those times she's brought her drawing stuffs along when we went to my sisters', I thought it'd be a good idea for her to use this hand-held bag as her 'artwork bag'. She was very excited when she heard this suggestion and readily brought out some of her arts stuffs which she thought she'd be packing into the bag in due course, :P:

Some of you may have remembered the 'winnie the pooh' bag of markers from her pool of birthday gifts. She for one, had definitely remembered and had immediately requested for drawing paper to try out the markers when I got them out of the cupboard, :). Looking at the drawings she'd done with them, I'm quite surprised at the vibrant colours the markers produced(comparing to those she's been using earlier)...:

Pa Pa's office

As planned, we followed daddy to the office and whilst waiting for him, Renee did her colourings at one of the 'stations' and even commented "Oh this is perfect" when I adjusted the seat higher for her, hahaha.

After the interview, daddy had to go to a client's office and so I brought the food I've prepared for Renee to the Jack's Place resturant downstairs, where we both had our lunch(later daddy told me he had his at a kopi tiam, heee).

Since young, Renee had always felt embarrassed whenever she got caught in action(be it something cute or even lovely) and in response, she'll turn hostile to those who looked on and smiled/laughed. We've tried explaining to her many times that people are not laughing at her but rather, it's because they had found her cute(or its relevant) but she still didn't like it. Today, after she's had her lunch, she went over to sit at the bench opposite and began her 'imagined' violin playing. She got carried away and was alittle loud in her tune that a family when saw what she was doing, laughed and she got angry, haiz...

With such 'shyness', it goes without saying that she'd have 'stage fright' and has always been unwilling to 'perfom' infront of others, be it a dance or a song she's learnt. Realising this, Ms Mok advised that I let her play her violin more, infront of 'people'. For a start, I'm to let her perform more often infront of her aunts and this was what we'd planned for this evening. As expected, she backed out at the last minute and even took a longer time to recover(as compared to the very 1st time she's played infront of them) and it's quite irritating especially after having had to go through the motion with her for a while. Let's hope she'll overcome this fear soon(before her exam)...

More Lollipops!

Renee had her violin make-up lesson today and as there was an extra 1 day break, we took the opportunity to 'practice-play' the last variation(the easiest) of the Twinkle2 Little Star song. To my surprise, she managed to get stars for all the other 3 variations! So it's hurray for her, as I've promised to give her either a heartshaped colourful lollipop(which she saw at mini toons) or for easier consumption, 2 smaller lollipops. After listening to my explanation on why the choice of the smaller ones is more feasible, she took it up and for being such a good girl, I gave her one the minute when we got home(til now she's not asked for the 2nd one, lolz).

Back home, after rushing through cooking her lunch, her shower, blah blah, we skipped practice today 'cos I've to help daddy prepare some documents for tonight's seminar.

I was also supposed to be drafting the letter for CH to the SF for the selection of his newborn son's name, but I gave up after a while when I simply couldn't remember some chinese characters and I text him to email me the draft instead, hahaha. He sent it over today but with some amendments going to and fro, I hope to be able to get it done for him by tomorrow...

Eileen, apparently confused by the come/no-come situation for the past few days and with daddy's telling me the wrong day of his client's invitation to his son's wedding, she got mixed-up I guess and had not known that Renee would be going over this evening! Good thing she's still ok when I've text her before we brought Renee down.

I feel kinda paiseh to trouble Eileen again this Sunday(not to mention the confusion I've caused her, heee), especially when it's quite a last minute thing since we got the dates mixed-up, I'll try ask daddy if my pressence is really needed at the wedding dinner event as I known that my attendance's already been confirmed(well, hopefully they won't mind if the angpao just go along, get what I mean, heee...). So, unless for some reason my pressence's required, otherswise, I'll try not to go(besides, dinner usually ends quite late and school's starting again the next day).

Meanwhile, I'll be bringing Renee down to daddy's office tomorrow as he would be conducting interviews for his administrative help, :).

A School Holiday Without Playdates

Daddy had requested for my help at the new office for the week and I've 'booked' Eileen for the care of Renee. However, none of these materialised - Monday, Tues, Wednesday..... and before I've wasted a whole week, just being on 'standby' when I could have arranged some requested playdates for Renee and her friends, I went to fix up a last minute facial appointment when I took Renee to Compass Pt yesterday(when her violin lesson's postponed last minute when the teacher can't leave the school on time).

A slot's available for me but suddenly recalling that I've to help daddy to tend to the phone calls still(before the line's officially activated on Friday), I quickly text him to double check if it's really ok and if so, I'll try to see if Eileen's ok to help out since I'm only going for facial, heee.

Tried a new treatment today and after a few times of them promoting mildly their monthly promotions to me previously, I finally took up another today(it was really a very good deal), heeee... I also hope to go more regularly, thus the decision to take up another package although the current one's still about S$1k balance. I should really try to go more often...

Needing to get something from Hougang Mall, I decided to pick Renee up earlier and since Li's at Eileen's too, she came along with us. Having had lunch at 3pm+, I wasn't hungry but longing to eat the popiah from QiJi again(used to go to their only branch then, at marina), we went there for dinner/snack. It's a good thing I've also packed an extra set of dinner from LJS when buying for daddy 'cos I got hungry when we finally got home, heee.

Raw Eggs? Oh No!

Renee's been getting mosquito-like marks on her legs and it spread to even the soles of her feet. Last night(or rather, early this morning), daddy whom had slept with her the whole night(to relief me from Monday's lack of sleep) noticed that her eyes were abit swollen again and her eyes did appear more puffy when she woke up later.

On Sunday evening, although she's ate a meal prepared by me but we gave her portion of the baked potato that came with daddy's dinner order. She's taken baked potato quite a few times before, at Tony Roma's but this is the first time she's developed such bad allergy reaction!(maybe diff restaurants diff ingredients used or it was abit more cream this time? not sure). Her left eye and especially the upper lip swelled badly and those at Sis' place that evening, had the chance to witness it. That night, at about 3am+, she began to complain about itch, mainly at the soles of her feet and I had spent the whole night(I was only about to go to bed then, 'cos we came home after 11 and I had to brew my chinese herbs and had accidentally switched it to 'slow') rubbing her feet til past 5am. Super tired on Monday and I couldn't nap as it's 'cleaning day'...

Daddy, after he's spent some good waking moments(he felt the strain as well) rubbing her with the prickly heat powder(we had thought they're mosquito bites), suggested that I bring her to the PD when I told him of my suspicion that it could be Uticaria. I was contemplating between the Chinese and Western medicinal help and chose the latter as having had such attacks before, I know the itch is pretty unbearable and the western medicine has a faster soothing effect. The clinic assistant whom recognises me told us to wait outside when I told her Renee's got 'rashes'. Then she tried to slot us in as quickly as possible, :>(we were still paying for Renee's colouring books when she called my mobile, heee). The PD told me that mayonnaise contains raw eggs but flu might also trigger hives(yes, in the chinese medicinal field, it is known so too, what body 'heaty/cool', blah blah blah, dunno how to put them into words here and I don't really feel like trying anyway...) but when she learnt that the time when Renee's eye and lip swelled, she concluded it must be an allergy reaction to the food. I then told her that I'm not sure if it's really mayonnaise or sour cream(the PD's not sure if sour cream contains any egg, raw or cooked) that was served and that perhaps daddy can't even tell which and she said "ya, men. they just eat " hahaha.

More Playdoh?

Sure why not. "New playdoh set, here I come!" is what Renee said when I passed her the still wrapped X'mas gift Sharmaine's got for her. Well, at least now she can make her own ice-cream without fear of it being taken away un-noticed, hahaha.

Playdate?

Unable to meet up with Wae Shuen from this week, we invited them over to our place tomorrow. But since mommy Sharmaine has only indicated 'Wed - Fri' in her sms, I doubt they'd be able to make it. Anyway, we can always keep this invitation open for the next coming school holidays...

Renee would be sooo disappointed but as she's already been informed that we would be leaving her at Eileen's during the week, I guess she's mentally prepared... I think I'll bring out the new Playdoh toy for her to play then, at least an exploration with a new toy set would keep her busy/occupied, :).

Disney on Ice - Princess Wishes

Renee had earlier seen its TV advert and requested to be brought to the show. I can't remember what I've replied her but she went to her daddy, hahaha. Thereafter, occasionally she'll bring it up to him. Daddy then told me to check on the shows' timings and hoping/thinking to get a better seat for this evening's show, we went to a sistic counter yesterday. However, as the tickets would be the same as if we were to book them online ourselves, we did not get any as daddy wanted only the front rows... - told him that for such seats, we would have to start book as early as in January!

Renee seemed to know that we're getting tickets but not knowing when, she asked when we were heading home : "where are we going now? what about the show?"..... Guess we'll have to try and get our tickets earlier next time(or next show) which I think would be quite hard, lolz.

Gatherings

No gathering at our mom's this Saturday and Li's 'jio-ed' us to her place, so I told Elsie that we'll bring Renee's gift to her in case she changed her mind(about not going as she's very tired from the busy week at work). She finally relented and went over, heee. Wayne and Li also shared and got her a cake, :D.

Another last minute session of mahjong yesterday but only my family and Li+Rick went over to Sis' and on our way there from Bugis Junction, daddy mentioned(he's said this a few time before) that perhaps we should change our gatherings(including our visits to mom's) to Sundays and with the few reasons cited, Sis, Li and Rick also agreed but we're not sure about the rest...

Choon Huat's sms announced the birth of their 2nd child today. He had earlier informed us about the birth of his son today so we all kinda already knew but we had not expected it to be this early, :). Nevertheless, it's 'Congratulations' to Choon Huat and family...

The School Holidays(1st term)

The last day of the 1st term of school today and Renee's feeling a little disappointed that she will not get to play with her school friends for the whole of next week...

Mommy Janice wanted a playdate during the holidays and I reckon that perhaps Wae Shuen's mommy might like to meet up too...but I would have to help out in daddy's new office, so I guess it's just playtime at Eileen's for her this holiday(good thing I've got quite a few toys/new playdoh creating set, etc for her). May even have to postpone the violin lesson since I won't be able to bring her there and there wouldn't be any practice for her during the week... :(

Traumatic still?

Still feeling phobic? Not sure, but each time I come near the traffic light, I'll tend to be alittle bit more 'anxious' and Renee kept saying "the naughty aunty banged onto our car". I've told her to stop saying this and hopefully she'll soon forget about this incident...

Lollipop, here I come!

Renee was 'angry' when I went back for her at around 7+(thought of going over later but felt that I shouldn't impose on Eileen for too long). She had not expected my return so early and she complained that she's not 'played' enough...

Eileen told me that she had not wanted her dinner and was upset and cried when was told that I'll be called to come over earlier to feed her. She took her dinner, finally(eileen has to feed her)... I've known/heard/experienced the so-called 'terrible 2', is this the 'terrible 4'(if there's such a thing), hahaha. Eileen accounted that to her being unwell, let's just hope so...

Before heading home, I decided to go over to the shops and get some snacks/titbits and afraid that she might get tired, I suggested driving over but she said it's ok and would like to take the walk. During the walk, her mood changed and she even sang the song : 'walking walking down the street, walking walking with my little feet, walking walking, mommy and me, walking walking 1 2 3"...

At the shop, she saw the lollipops and asked if she could have one then & there. Since she's been quite down, I acceded to her request and got her one to eat on the way back - that helped to keep her awake as well...

Nearing home, daddy's car suddenly appeared(cut into my lane) infront of mine and unknowing that he won't be able to see, Renee waved the lollipop at him from the back carseat, hahaha. At the carpark, when daddy reprimanded her for being rude(chasing me home and throwing tanthrums and I still got her the lollipop), she looked at me pathetically. Back home, she apologised...

Mommy got chased home!

Been in and out the past few days and I've been feeling alittle unwell myself, so not much posts put up, :).

PTM(Parent & Teacher Meeting) today and although we did not touch on very much stuffs, we were pleased with what we heard.

School-front, the VP's leaving the school but Mrs Ong will be staying put for the time being...

We packed lunch home and upon Renee's requests, I brought her over to Eileen's after getting some stuffs from Compass Point. Not sure if she's afraid that my existence there with her meant that she would have to go home early or that she wanted the attention of aunty pc(Eileen's talking to me) but she chased me home! She told me to go back for her later in the evening : "mommy, you go back rest, come fetch me later". We even teased her about staying there for the night which to our surprise, she asked me to bring over her pillow, bolster and 'bed'! Hmmm... maybe I could do that on one of the days next week(since it's the school holidays) when I have to help daddy again. Eileen told her "but you cannot cry ar", hahaha, we shall see about that...

Just as I've got home, I got a call from the CATS personnel regarding the advertisement and I get to view it on time but too bad, daddy's unable to confirm the alternative design layout as he's out(and receiving emails from his mobile is slower). The dinner Eileen's preparing for her family seems to be 'ok' for Renee too, so that save me the trouble of having to prepare her dinner and also, allowed me a little 'rest' before going back for her.

Lollipop

Renee earned her first lollipop today! I've promised her that she'll get one when she's given a star for her first song - Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and a bigger sized colourful heart-shaped one when she's got the stars for its other 3 variations.

She's coughing with phlegm and so I showed her the lollipop and she even said "ok" when I told her to leave it in the refrigerator till she's well enough to eat it, heee.

Heart shaped dinner, :)

Taking the cue from my friend, Karen's bento(s), I had thought that one day, I should perhaps try and get some of the japanese moulds to shape Renee's 'rice' to 'entertain/entice' her when she gets bored with her food.

I've not really given it much thought til 2 wks ago, I started to notice her getting bored with her usual meals but without much chance of heading down to Daiso for some grabs(and the ones I saw at other supermarkets are priced double or more than Daiso's), I decided to make do with some little changes to the dishes of her meals.

Good thing I remembered about Daiso when we got to Vivo yesterday and I managed to get a couple of the moulds and used one of the moulds for her dinner just now. It worked! From being super lazy to self-feed, she even finished up her dinner quite fast. She even requested that I do that for her in the future so she would eat her meals up faster, lolz.

New haircut

Hurray, it's done! No turning back liao, lolz.

I've told myself earlier that I must try to tolerate and tolerate during the 'hottest' months(which will be soon) so that when it comes to year end, I'd have really long hair then. However, just as the weather has only started to turn hot, I already can't take it, hahaha.

At the salon, Renee was left to her drawing whilst my hair's being washed and 'slaughtered', :D. My hairstylist tried to dissuade me from chopping its length off as she felt that this is by far the 1st time since I've gone to her that I've managed to keep it so long(since the birth of Renee, I've never been able to keep my hair this long and not to say, for months). Keeping long hair(much longer than my latest few inches over the shoulder length then, ;D) had never been as tedious as now but I guess, it's pretty inevitable when you have kid(s) to care for, especially in such hot/humid weather/environment. What's worse is when you have sensitive skin(I get rashes over my neck, back of neck when I perspired if the weather gets too hot).

So.....chop chop chop and here I am, home and breezing away again with my short crop, :).

Even Renee was smiling contentedly when she saw me with my blown dried haircut at the salon, :D.

To cut or Not to cut?

With the weather turning hot lately, I can't help but felt like having my hair cut short again. The chore of maintaining longer hair has eaten into my need of convenience and also, the question of whether to tie it up or let it down is a constant struggle - what would be the purpose of having long hair when u want to tie/clip it up and if I don't, I'll feel warm(even though it's alot better now that I drive). Also, I also tend to doll myself up lesser when I'm spotting longer hair and that kinda makes me abit un-groomed, lolz.

Unable to decide, I left the task to Renee and immediately she said : "Oh yes, short hair is better, mommy. Long hair is very troublesome, you have to do this(emphasising with the action of flipping her hair) and it's warm. Then you can also be like me", hahaha.

I guess it's quite hard when you have a young kid to tend to at home alone and especially if you wish to be active. I've thought to go for the cut once and for all(before it gets too long and I'll feel another pinch then - now already 'wasting' the recent rebonding I've had) but my director hairstylist will not be in til after 2pm today...

Renee's unwell and I'm letting her stay home(despite her protests - she wanted to go to school) and I've to see if she's well enough to go with me for the haircut later(cos daddy will be out soon).

Another busy Weekend

Saturday

We've woken up early today but due to traffic jam and a little delay in leaving home, we were late to pick our guest up. As all of us have already had our breakfast and daddy's choice of office being nearby, so we decided to drop by for a look first.

We headed home for a chat after lunch and reading that I'm a little into the stress mode now, our guest advised me to try and de-stress myself(from everything), etc etc(before it worsens) and I'm now hoping/trying to do my best. Perhaps, I should really try and change my lifestyle/routine, hmmmm, that might mean even lesser blog posts(I don't really have the mood these days anyway)?, :).

After sending our guest over to Eileen's for some discussion, we headed home for a little rest but the repairer told daddy that the workshop is very dusty and it's better for us to collect my car today, so we went. Thereafter, we met up with Eileen and the rest for dinner and a last minute detour to Li's place for a mini mahjong session.

Sunday

Woke up early again today as Renee's got a free trial lesson to attend at the Thinking Loft. The premise's very small/cramp and so I didn't stay to watch the activity(ies) that's engaged during the lesson. Although the brief assessment on Renee was pretty good but during the last few minutes, daddy, whom had been watching outside, wasn't impressed and told me not to waste time/$ on it. Personally, I don't have any comment I've not much clue as to what's being conducted during the lesson as we've left her there and gone to get our stuffs done but I do agree that the fees are being set on the 'too high' side - given that the premise's location, space constraint and the experience of the 'course' providers. We should have gone for the playdate at Go Go Bambini with Wae Shuen and friends, :).

After our lunch at Compass Point, we headed home to rest before heading out again. We had decided last minute to go to Vivo City for Mothercare's supervisor to check on the 'princess carseat'. I've got the info mixed up and we had to walk over to HabourFront's branch and the supervisor was very nice to accompany us back to the carpark to check on the carseat. He suggested an exchange upon a check on the seat but when we went back to the store for the exchange(told him to go back first so we can walk slowly with Renee), he told us that he's double-checked the set in the store and that the cushioning part was omitted from ours. The option was then to proceed with an exchange or to just stick to our current one with the cushion portion of cos, which is better than nothing. We looked around and unable to find any suitable(only 3 highback booster seats are with the 5 point harness and 2, including the one we have, are convertible to booster seats) or nice, we decided on the latter.

After the incident, daddy is now more careful in his selection of the car seat. He had earlier wanted just a booster seat for its convenience but now, even a high back booster seat(without the harness) is no longer in his list, :D.

Earlier, I've not related an accident that we've witnessed on Thursday when the workshop driver was sending us home. The collision was between a motorcycle and a Taxi and the rider was thrown off his bike. It was another shock to see such an accident so soon and that had depleted my brief idea that to give up driving and take taxis instead - which might not be a good choice since there're no car seat in the taxis and taxis are usually of asian made vehicles. Oh man, I think this is also a reason I'm stressing out, hahaha.

Anyway, conclusion : since my vehicle is smaller, in comparision to daddy's and I ferry Renee in and out everyday, plus she tends to sleep in the car, we've shifted the 'old' one from daddy's car to mine and the 'princess car seat' to daddy's... It's a choice of either me getting backache from the constant process of carrying Renee up and down from the carseat which is raised higher by its base or Renee's safety. Of cos the 2nd choice is of priority. To help ease me from straining my back(which will be almost immediate), we've told Renee to go up and down(with me holding on to her of cos) on her own and she's agreed after a trial run, :D. However, I must be prepared for the non-co operation I'll get from her from time to time, especially when I've to wake her up from her nap upon reaching our destination(s).....

Oh ya, at Vivo, I remembered about the cleaning agent Eileen's recommended and I bought 2 boxes. However, both Eileen and Li had forgotten on its actual usage direction, so I'll have to try and email the instruction to my Japanese SIL for translation, :D.

Workshop & Seminar

Daddy drove the car to the reporting centre after we've sent Renee to the school('cos I'm alittle phobic to drive the car now, hopefully it's only for the time being). It's near the workshop, so we just drove over and left it there for what necessary action that's required later(the other party's insurer's surveyor to take photos, etc) whilst the driver of the workshop took us home. We should be able to have my car back by Saturday judging from the minor damages on the surface(not sure if the impact would have caused any damage to the interior as the damage on the other party's car's quite bad).

The preparation of Renee's meal and the seminar kept my mind off the incident('cos the image kept flashing in my mind).

Daddy hadn't the mood for the talk tonight and perhaps, the audience we've got(from advertising in the wrong section of ST) wasn't as suitable, so we finished pretty early and daddy went to meet his overseas client whilst his bro drove me to pick Renee up from Eileen's.

Whilst relating to my sisters online about the accident and when we came to the part where I heard Renee's cry, images flashed again and I felt a rush of emotion... has the effect finally sunk in, is this the real aftermath?

The Accident, The Number

Daddy had always trusted and preferred european made cars to those of asian made for its stability and hard(er) metal. Years ago, he met with an accident that re-enforced his belief on this and today, unfortunately, the incident I've encountered further enhanced that thought(the other vehicle, a Japanese make, has a bad dent and thank goodness, mine was not that bad, given the impact).

We were on our way home from school and at inches(probably a couple metres, i'm no good with this) from the 1st stop line, with the traffic light turning red, I stopped. It wasn't a very slow stop, neither was it an emergency brake(no screeching sound anyway) but this lady behind had to bang head-on to my vehicle's rear. I wasn't even going very fast(as nearing traffic light) and naturally at that distance and speed, I had to stop. I came out to check on the damage and straight away, the lady driver of the other vehicle raised her voice and hand at me :

Driver : "how can u stop like that"

Me : (surprised)"it was amber turning red, I have to stop"
Driver : "Ya, but you cannot stop when it's amber, you have to go"

Me : (shocked this time) "hey, if you asked the traffic police, they'd surely tell you otherwise when you see the lights turning amber."(not to mention we have to slow down when nearing traffic lights/junctions, did she pass her theories? this is sooo basic)

She then continued to argue on her 'dash on when amber' point but I told her she should have kept the appropriate distance in the first place and besides, I have a child in my car, does she really expect me(or even anyone, for that matter) to dash over at that speed? Then, she began to apologise and explained that she was actually turning into my lane to which I told her that she should have been even more careful in that case.

*What's with some drivers these days, still yell at the 'victim' when they're at fault? For those who remembered the case of my car being scratched(at the carpark of Compass Pt, a few months ago) by another lady driver whom insistently went on to park her car, knowing that mine was super near hers? - Same accusationing happened then(for the record, paintwork resurrection was paid by them).

I was still ok and came out to check on the damage but when I went back for my mobile phone, Renee cried out for me and was crying badly. I turned from 'stable' to a state of panic when I heard her complaining of pain at the back of her head and big tears were rolling down her cheeks. I quickly went to check on her and not finding anything serious with my layman knowledge, I went back to tend to the accident situation. I told her that we'd have to move our vehicles off the main road but I would need to take some photos with my mobile phone first and she followed suit. Daddy was on his way to his appointment but he contacted his workshop agent and he arrived shortly after the agent did. Good thing for their existence, 'cos I still have not fully recovered from the shock I've got when I heard Renee's cry and couldn't think straight on what to do next(my past working experiences in related fields didn't help, again...). Even the other lady driver benefitted from their pressence as she was actually at a loss too.

The first thing daddy did upon his arrival was to check on Renee and he then asked me to take her to the Paediatrician for a check-up. However, they were closing when I phoned and they couldn't make an exception as the PD's needed to rush to the hospital, so I headed home.

Once home, normal routine resumed but I maintained a watch-out on Renee for signs of giddiness/sleepiness/vomitting. Blessed, protected, Renee's ok(as per PD after her check-up) and that's all that matters... The PD asked questions on how the accident occurred and about the car seat we're using. She commented that we've made the right choice by using the 5-point harness high back booster, instead of taking on just the booster seat, for stability/security, as she's not of appropriate age/size/height/weight for just the seat alone(luckily I've insisted on this man, though the adjusting knob at the head-rest is an issue for me now).

What's next would be to follow up with the reporting to our insurance companies and so forth and well, you might all think that's about all for now?... but haiz, when daddy was on his way to pick us up from the PD's clinic, he phoned to tell me that our vehicle nos(same no. actually, so only 1 set of number but am not gonna reveal the prize placing to maintain privacy) came out in the 4D results and what's worse was - daddy didn't place his bet!!! Oh man! Although he wouldn't be betting alot but the winnings would still be a pretty good amount and will certainly be handy now especially when he's looking for office locations. Arrrggghhhh...

Daddy was pretty upset about this miss(particularly this) that he got sooo muddle-headed that he forgotten about his handbrake when he came to pick us up from the PD's clinic and the vehicle was moving when he was getting outta car/I was holding on to the door, geez! All I can do now is to urge him to forget about the 'small' missed fortune(small as compared to our safey) and what's ours will be ours in one way or another. Besides, our daughter's fine and that's the best we could ever ask for...

The aftermath - Upon reaching home, I was slowly recomposing myself from the incident but unable to shake off the image which I still remembered very clearly - I still saw her car in my rear view mirror after I've stopped and thinking to myself "*phew, the car's sooo close, luckily it din hit mine" and just in the second when I turned my gaze back to the front, we were 'banged' forward...

Lesser Posts?

This is yet another busy week for me, with the next seminar(more preparation work for me - calling hotels, town council, answering queries amidst my duties attending to Renee) and our guest from HK arriving on Friday but luckily we had agreed to kinda stop the answering of phone queries, so the pressure/rush was lessen.(I'll try to put up posts regularly but as you can see, I've began to 'skip' on some days' already...not that we're not doing anything interesting but sometimes, I just don't feel like it, hehehe).

It was the 1st time Jerome's mommy, Janice was earlier than us and she came to my car when we arrived. Citing being kinda bored, we went for a little walk at Hougang Point(we went in Janice's vehicle) and I got some stuffs, hahaha(there're some new interesting shops there now). Then at NTUC,, I saw this bag again and remembering the free mc's bag Renee's lost, I decided to get it for her this time. Isn't it cute? I hope she won't lose it...

With nothing much in mind to go for, I requested Janice to take me home so that I could cook Renee's afternoon meal. This is the 1st time Janice has been to our place and unfortunately, at a time when my place's at its untidy state, hahaha. With this trip back, I even managed to boil the soup for dinner, :D.

*ok, back to 'work' again now... :{