Eggless Cubes

Wanted to run some banking errands, so hubby suggested going to the branch at Punggol Plaza either before or after Renee's violin lesson but last minute, he said that the maid's to go along as he wanted to view a car, arrrgggghhhh.  Luckily he still arranged to pick us up(else I'd tell him I wanna stay home with the baby, hahahahaha) and so, today's the 2nd time I sat in the lesson with the new teacher.  So far so good and I had another brief progess chat with Renee after the lesson, hopefully she'd adhere, haiz...

Since I've forgotten to bring the documents and whatever we needed for the banking errand, we headed to Compass Point instead... kinda miss this mall - I've had such fond memories of wonderful time spent with Renee there, :).

And as we were all rather hungry and had an early dinner there, we still had abit of time available even after baby's fed.  However, as been requesting for more Enid Blyton's story books.  Just nice, I also needed to go search for the  chinese books a nice friend has recommended.  Managed to find 1 of the few recommended and when I went to look for Renee, she had approached a staff to help her search for one of the book titles, :D.

Before we left the mall, I dashed over to Emicakes for my yummy supper and ended up buying these wonderful eggless cubes!  I had not known that they're eggless til I packed them into the refrigerator back home and searching its web, then I realised that they're indeed eggless!  These are new(to me at least) 'cos I used to buy their eggless cakes but they hadn't tasted as nice as these, probably due to lesser cream on those.  These are just yummy! heeee

Durian, Tiramisu, Oreomisu, Mocha

Mei Mei's 1st Flip!

For 2 days now, Rachel has been trying to make that flip.  I remembered asking her PD about this and he said that some babies might take abit longer to do the full flip due to 'more flesh', aiyoh!  Renee is alot chubbier leh...(Hmmm, but I can't rem when Renee did her 1st flip, must check...)

But anyway, guess what?  Just a few minutes ago, Rachel did it! All by herself!  And you know what happened next?......... Her jie jie was sooooo happy and excited that she almost teared! hahaha.  This silly, emotional girl, :)

What a pity, I had just turned my head away to face the laptop and she flipped!  Else I could have captured her 1st flip in video....

The Soother II

After rejecting the soother(more commonly known as the 'pacifier' locally) for a few months, Rachel seems to want it now...

Yesterday, not knowing that she might be hungry, I offered the pacifier to her and she took it(she must be pretty hungry!).  However, when she 'spat' it out a while later, she drank the water(with gripe water) I gave her rather vigorously - that's when I thought she's probably hungry and bf her instead, heee(wait wait, before u point the accusing finger at me, let me clarify! :P Her feeding schedule has been alittle disturbed the past few days, not sure if it's due to her recent jab but it's hard to tell whether if she's really hungry or just wanna suckle for comfort).

And for the past nights after the jab,  she's been rather cranky at night even after I've bottle-fed her and I had to latch her on to soothe her(when I finally buay tahan her pleads to latch on...) but she'd still fuss abit probably she just need to suckle but each time she suckles, there's milk to be swallowed...

Although she's been sucking her thumb rather successfully, she didn't seem to like to do so especially during the daytime or whenever she sensed I'm around, especially these few days.  She would also usually, go to sleep on our bed after her bath/feed, sucking her thumb in the afternoons, but when the same routine was completed today, she didn't quite want to(same rejection like the past 2 nights') and so I went to fetch the pacifier and she took it!  Oh man, looks like she's taking to the soother now, :( haiz...

I dun like the mark inprinted on her mouth(when I took it off after she's fell aslp) lah! Look...

I've checked with the Paediatrician last Friday on whether sucking a soother or the thumb would be more 'harmful' to the teeth development but his advice is that if the baby just needs to suckle for comfort, it's ok but it's best to quit the habit by 2 or before the full set of teeth is out(oh man...).  I guess the dentist would say the same...

The other thing is, I may have to co-sleep with the baby now if she takes too much to the soother...  Actually this co-sleeping thing has been on my mind for a while now, I'm just afraid that it'd be harder to wean her off bf once I let her latch on exclusively... Will sucking the soother help in this?

An Early Birthday Pressie!

A few weeks ago, I'd casually mentioned to hubby that I might be needing a change of purse soon and he suggested getting one for my birthday.  I had wanted to get another Coach's but he felt the other brand would be better.  I've never felt it 'justifiable' to buy wallets from this brand but now with most brands raising their pricings despite the US & Euro dollars are not as strong anymore(plus with all the fakes going around), and since hubby said so, why not? lolz...

Went to the brand's boutique a couple of weeks ago and had briefly selected one but due to baby's demand for feed, we had no choice but to leave the boutique hurriedly after hving the saleslady jotting down the model no.

Today, although my initial plan was to go and shop for some nursing wear after Rachel's jabs at the Pd's(really sick of wearing the same 2 nursing tops!!!), we had to change our plans abit due to the rain and we ended up hving to go pick Renee up first.  However, after picking Renee up from her Berries class, hubby suggested going back to Paragon and thus, we ended up hving lunch at Sushi Tei and  got the wallet thereafter , heeeee(so there goes our grocery shopping and lunch at Bkt Timah Plz...).

Good thing I hadn't bought the other purse earlier, 'cos salesman showed me more varities of style today and I found another which I feel may suit my needs better(will only know after using it, heee) and best of all, it's even cheaper than the original one that I've selected! :D

Ok ok, for those whom had been asking me at FB, hehehe, here's my pressie..... :

(now in the wardrobe temporarily -  'cos told hubby that he's not to give this with an 'empty inside' to me, hahaha)

Family Lounge

Renee's requested to go to MS(again!) after her class but as we're getting bored of that place, we decided to go to PS instead(had to go out, so maid can do more house cleaning).  Good thing we went there, 'cos the racks I've been looking for a few weeks ago had finally arrived! :)

Whilst waiting for Papa(in the toilet), I checked out the family lounge situated nearby and Renee said she wanted to go in there.  The child must be accompanied by a parent but seeing that there were only 1 or 2 other kids in there, they told me that if we don't mind, we could leave Renee there.  Papa agreed and since Renee is willing to go there herself, I filled up the registration.  Within the next 1 hour, I had to rush(again) over my purchases and when we went to pick her up, she showed me the 'shrinking art' piece she's done there.  I feel that this is a nice cozy corner for kids to spend their time whilst their parents shop, heee.

Thinking that we're rushing off because it's a school day tomorrow but Papa suggested collecting the product stock on our way back since we needed to buy more Mamy Poko diapers for Rachel and there's a supermarket near there.  Thus, we ended up reaching home after 9pm!  Geez...

An Expensive 'Spring Cleaning'!

I've been feeling exasperated with Renee's hearing lately and after Papa's confirmation that she's indeed having hearing problem, we decided to bring her to an ENT specialist but, it took us a few days to finally move our butts to search for one.  Had wanted to bring her to her paediatrician but since her appointments are also full and remembering her suggestion for us to bring Renee to an ear doctor before, we decided to go straight to the latter instead.

Before Papa's sent Renee off to her Berries class this morning, he told me to search the internet for a doc but half-way through, I had to feed Rachel and thus, he took over when he got back and finally found one at Mount Elizabeth hospital(I think he's finally 'heard' my complaints of hving to take care of almost EVERYthing.  Well, at least he took over...).

At the clinic, after the usual questioning, the doc told Renee to lie on the 'bed' and, same as what her PD had observed, the ENT doc said that her ear canal's on the narrow side, for a 6yo.  However, being a specialist in this area, he's well equipped to handle the situation and soon, we were watching the inside of her ear on a screen and oh my gosh, there're alot of wax!  Work began immediately to remove the wax and most of them are big! It's no wonder why she didn't hear us! However, when it came to the 'last piece', the doc had to be extra careful as it's near to the eardrum. - I believe this should be the one her PD had been unable to remove(thus suggesting us to go to an ear doc - anyway, the PD didn't really remove much then also) few years back.  A few drops of wax softener were put into her ear to try and 'dislodge' it from its original location but we had to wait a while outside the doc's room and that made us really late for her violin class.

I remembered buying ear candles from a reputable vitamin shop many years ago, and after using the candles, Papa hadn't been convinced that the 'wax' were indeed from our ears and reading a leaflet obtained from the ENT clinic, it is said that ear candling has been proven not effective at all! Aiyoh...

With Renee's ears being clear of 'debris' :), I was concerned about the noise input(as advised by the vitamin retailer then, we're not to subject our ears to loud noises/use handphone near to our ears, after ear candling), so I checked with the doc if it is true that we have to be careful with the noise volume after this session, especially 'cos Renee plays the violin, an musical instrument that's being played near the ear but he said need not, as our ears have its own mechanism to protect itself from noise.  The only thing we have to watch out for is if it's painful, then it's too loud.  When Renee heard my question, she said she doesn't want to go to her lesson after the doc's for fear of hurting her eardrums but the doc told her that it's actually better for her to learn music with 'clear' ears, hahaha.

Cost of this 'wonderful' session? : S$181.90!!!  Luckily the doc said that it usually takes a few years for the ear wax to accumulate that much, otherwise, can't imagine paying soooo much for her ears to be cleansed every year man!

'Tin Xie'

For the past 2 wks, I've been reviewing our family medical insurance covers and finally am able to sort of finalise them last night when the agent came over(hopefully it's really comprehensive now so I don't have to worry anymore and can concentrate on other matters now).

As for schoool, it's been 3 weeks now since Renee's back to the Kindergarten system and I've noticed recently that she's been bringing chinese work home('chao xie').  However, she had been unable to read some of the words given and hoping to help her learn more, I started using those words as a guideline and gave some of them to her as Tin Xie.

The reason why I'm doing this is because I fear that she may not be able to catch up/cope with the demands of Primary schooling due to her very limited vocabulary in the Chinese language.  However, after about a week or so, although I do see results, I find these grilling very tedious for the both of us.

A recent telephone conversation with a mommy friend made me re-think about this and after sharing my concern with another friend, I decided late last night, that perhaps I should give the school a call and see how I can work with the school to enhance her learning at home.

So, this morning, I phoned up the school and spoke with the Principal, Ms Yeo whom was the one monitoring Renee's progress.  She told me that indeed, lao shi has told her that Renee seems unable to recognise quite abit of words and those words given as her homework are supposedly/in hope to help her remember them better.  I told her what I've been doing for the past week but I find some of the words given are pretty complicated, so I'm not sure if I'm doing it right, to grill her on such words and are those words really what the K2s should be learning/preparing for P1?  She told me that laoshi has earlier, seeked her opinion as to how they should guide Renee and from her observation(she teaches Renee Maths & English personally), Renee has good positive learning attitude but as her Chinese is very weak, it's better that they try and do more work with her now, so that(hopefully) she could catch up with the rest.  Thus, Tin Xie is not of priority at the moment and that is why she's not given it at school .  They would rather that she learns to recognise more words now and those given to her as homework are merely to re-enforce her recognition.  However, by simply copying the words, I find, is not very effective(since she's proven to me that she's still unable to read them after doing it) but not wanting to grill Renee in the wrong way, I asked if she could let me know as to how I can work with the school and further enhance her learning at home.  Ms Yeo told me that she'd discuss this matter with laoshi again.

When we spoke again, she told me that laoshi is actually very pleased with Renee's progress and attitude in learning - she will do her work properly and has shown interest in learning.  On hearing this, I suggested to her that I'd perhaps just try to revise with Renee on the words given, and give her the simpler ones as Tin Xie and also to try & read more with her.  Ms Yeo remarked that this would be a good idea and on their end, they will continue to monitor and will periodically check if she's ready for Tin Xie at school.  As for han yu ping yin, MOE has stipulated that the Kindergartens should not teach HYPY but as many parents have voiced out their concern on this, she's looking into ways to try and see if they could inculcate the basics, during the last term.

Late Late Night

Ya, noticed the late hour?(also on the post below?).  A couple of hours after my gf's left, my Income agent arrived...

I had wanted to switch our GE medical covers over and we're also keen on one of their savings plans but we did not think that the meet up would take soooo long and she only managed to leave our place slightly after 11pm+(ermm, incl the time I had to coax Rachel with her bottle feeding...).  Geez...

With sooo many hours spent on discussion/explaining, it seems like I have more work to do to review the covers again, arrrgggh, haiz...

Baby Carrier or Not?

I've been wondering and contemplating IF or which baby carrier to buy since many weeks ago.  I've even gone to a shop at Novenq Square 2 to have a look at the various types of carriers.  So far, due to time constraint(I went there whilst waiting for Renee's maths class to end), I've only tried the 'Sleepy Wrap' with a dummy baby weighing 7kg and I would say that the wrap was really good 'cos I didn't feel the weight at all!  One minus point is that it's not that easy for a 1st time user to put her baby onto it and I don't quite like the 'soft/no back support' to the baby's spine, so I'm now considering soft structured baby carriers instead.  However, the good ones don't come cheap and as I'm not sure how much I would get to use it, I've been hesitating...

Today, my gf, Karen came visiting and she passed me her pre-loved Ergo carrier but as Rachel's still young and unable to fully control her neck, I am still unable to give this carrier a proper try...  I've checked the infant insert out online but it looked too 'thick and warm' to me, haiz...  I guess I just have to make do with going out with papa for the time being, heeeee.

*Thanks Karen, for the gift U've bought for Renee and passing me your Ergo carrier.  :)

Soother

Just like her jie jie, Rachel also loooves and neeeds to suckle to go to sleep and yet they both do not take to pacifier - they'd both push the teat out with their tongues.

Having said that, Renee's whines are less aggressive as compared to her meimei's and due to bf(and perhaps age as well, hahaha), I'm feeling tired easily these days and have succumbed to giving Rachel the pacifier.  However, the many times I've offered the pacifier to Rachel, she'd always reject it but last night, after she's cried the 2nd time I've put her down to her cot(after bf her, more like letting her suckle), I decided to give the pacifier another try.  The 1st time I put it into her mouth whilst she's in dreamy mode, she rejected it, even with many attempts.  But on the 2nd time she fussed on bed, I sensed that she's more tired already and so, after she's drifted off to dreamland, I waited awhile more before I delatched her and immediately 'fed' her the pacifier as soon as she stirred!  At first, she still tried to push the teat out but perhaps being tired herself, and maybe 'cos I was still holding her close to my chest, she finally suckled it, hehehe.  And then, it was good night for her..., although the pacifier has dropped from her mouth(leaving a big mark on her mouth area!).

Today, I took the pacifier along with me when we went out and as anticipated, she fussed each time she wanted to fall asleep and can't(due to noise or foreign environment) but again, she rejected the pacifier time after time til the last attempt when she was feeling too tired to continue rejecting hahaha.  However, when she was suckling the pacifier, she suddenly saw me and looked puzzled, as if wondering "ey, how come mommy's so far away?...", it's very funny to see that look on her face, hahaha.

Just now, again, whilst I was in the shower, Papa tried to feed her with the EBM I've warmed-up on standby but she wouldn't finish it.  She finally drank up the balance after I tried to coax her with a lullaby but 10mins after I've put her to her cot, she made noise again, haiz... So, no choice, pacifier to the rescue!  And again, she rejected it but again, I tried... She took it with lesser attempts this time round but then, as usual, she'd put her hand(thumb near) and she felt as if she's sucking her thumb... Not sure how tonight's going to be like, haiz.

To be honest, I've never quite like the idea of giving pacifier to my kid(s) but with Rachel's strong desire to suckle, I seem to have no choice.  I hope she won't take too much to it, as I really don't like to see the shape of pacifier inprinted on her mouth area(not forgetting abt the saliva rash) and I'm also rather afraid that the helper would give a soiled pacifier(if dropped) to her at night or when I'm not looking.  So, I really really hope and *crossing my fingers* that she won't get too used to a pacifier but if she does, I must remember to remove the soother when she's fallen asleep...  And in the meantime, I guess I'd have to try harder on other ways to soothe her...

The 2nd Semester with Nafa(Grade 2)

Renee had her 1st lesson with a new teacher('cos her 1st Nafa teacher will be delivering her baby in Aug) today and as with the other teachers whom has to take on teacher Xu's students for the 2nd semester, their slots are all taken up and we have to go down to his premise @ Hougang on a weekday, :(.

Again, Renee's corrected on her bowing posture(she always doesn't like to play from the frock, maybe she's too used to it alr, 'cos her 1st violin teacher told her to play from the middle bow...), haiz, when will this girl be more diligent in her playing posture, arrggghhhh.  It's only the 1st lesson today and Papa remarked that perhaps it's due to the teacher being a male one, he does kinda have a 'sterner' effect on Renee.  Let's hope he would be stern to her all the way and make her remember all her proper techniques/postures...