New Blog

But still keeping this one. Decided to try to organise my posts a bit more and put all LV and mummy-related posts to a new blog @ beingmummy.wordpress.com. Seeing as that most of my posts these days are about LV and being a mum, chances are I'll be posting there a lot more than I would here. Who knows? This blog might die a natural death, but one can never tell. Not in this age where multi-tasking and e-space hoarding seems to be the norm and order of the day. I think anyway.

Random bits of my life

We celebrated our 4th Wedding Anniversary yesterday with a simple dinner outing. All 3 of us. And instead of taking pictures of us, I ended up taking pictures of our food. KM thought I was nuts. But why not? Heh, heh, heh...

We wanted to have Japanese and ended up at Ichiban-Tei at Quayside (along the Singapore River). It was our second visit, and we remember it being not-too-bad the last time we were there for my sister's birthday last year, so we thought, why not?

All of us ended up ordering ramen. LV had her kiddy portion that came with a tempura ebi, a couple of pieces of chicken karaage and chips.


KM and I basically had the house specialty - some kind of pork ramen, except mine was in spicy soup stock.


And we attempted to share a serving of soft shell crab,

and kakiage.

And here's why the restaurant ended up being a "not" for us. Too oily. Can you imagine oily Japanese food? I could not, until last night. Like "urgh!" The ramen soup stock had oil globules in them, and the soft shell crab batter felt like it had soaked up all the oil in the pot. I think we felt quite ill after the ramen. KM even refused to eat the soft shell crab after the first bite. We never even got to the kakiage (which cost $16!) and got it packed home. My nephew had it for lunch today - baked, and probably came out a bit better after it got zapped in the oven - and liked it. And oh yes, I must not forget to add that it was salty! Ick. Oily, salty, Japanese food. *gag* All in all, a nice evening, but the food scored a 3 out of 10 for me.

And while I'm still being rather random here, look what my ingeneous hubby has decided to use his seat belt guard thingamajig (what do you call these things??) for:
Not only do the cables now look neat, we'll never lose our controllers again. Brilliant.

Sleeping amidst a bed of kitties

Every weekend, LV gets to sleep in our bed with us. I say it's a treat for her, but really, I think I look forward to cuddling with her more than she does with me. I remember when she first started sleeping on her own, I couldn't fall asleep!

Tonight, once again, she gets to sleep on our bed. With her ever-growing kitty collection. No thanks in great part to me, of course. But oh, what fun it is, to go to bed with so much cuteness!

I need to keep a record before I soon forget

She's growing so quickly, I can't keep up with my updates and records on how much she's changing and learning each day. My scrapbooking of her is totally not caught up, and I'm just blogging in the hopes (and plans) of putting them into her album one day. I just don't want to forget all her milestones and achievements. So for my own record, here are all the things she has managed that I don't want to forget. Ever. As it is, memories are beginning to fade...

1. LV made her first flip when she was 4 months old. I remember this quite distinctly because I had just returned to work and my dad was watching her at that time. When he messaged me that Lauren had made her first flip, I was in school, and in tears.

2. She was able to sit upright on her own quite steadily at about 6 months. Very shortly after that she started crawling and by 7 months, was able to haul herself up to a standing position. Her first tooth also started to appear round about this time.

3. LV ate her first real adult food at about 9 months - crispy roti prata with fish curry!

4. By 9 months, she was cruising (i.e. walking as she held on to support structures) and at 10 months, she was able to take short walks in the evenings with us while holding my hand.

5. At 11 months, she was able to walk independently and was running by her first birthday.

6. She started signing independently around 9 months when she first asked for milk! By about 11 months, she was combining words to make 2-word sign sentences. Today, at 16 months, she can her sign vocabulary consists of:
verbs: want, eat, play, can, sleep, potty (as in, "to go to the toilet")
adverb: please, sorry, yes
adjective: good, thank you, happy
nouns (nature/environment): flower, tree, sun, star, moon, light, butterfly, spider
nouns (food): cake, cereal, milk
nouns (fruit): apple, orange, watermelon, grapes, strawberries
nouns (things to wear): hat, diaper

7. She can say most of the mono- and bisyllabic words she can sign, and her longest 3-word sentence to date is "Where Daddy going?". She can also say, "Mummy", "Ah-ti" ("Aunty" in Tagalog), "please", "bear", "kitty", "Kit-kat" (the name she, just today, gave the stray cat that visits our house), "nana" (for "banana"), "cookie", and a host of other things. Just too many to record. Her first word, for the record, was "Kitty!"

8. She still breastfeeds at 16 months, and in order that she might not be demanding for milk just for comfort, she's been taught to ask for milk when she wants some instead of tugging on my blouse. She will patiently repeat word for word in sign and voice, "Mummy, can I have some milk please?"

9. Just 2 nights ago, she developed an allergic reaction to lavender oil and broke out in rashes on her left arm. At the doctor's, she was able to respond (with prompting) to the question, "What's wrong?" with "I have rashes."

10. She loves Hello Kitty for some bizarre reason. My friend puts it down as the "kitty-DNA" which I presumably passed to her. But truly, while I like Hello Kitty lots, I could not have been the one who influenced her into liking the mouthless cat, 'cos KM was adamant that there be no Hello Kitty items in the house. Any Kitty item I owned had to be inconspicuous and inobtrusive. It is only now that because LV has an obvious love for the Sanrio icon, that I finally am filling the home with Kitty plushes. All because of LV. But of course. *grin*

11. Her pre-molars started to show at about 14 months and seems to be taking a long time to make their full-appearance.

Surely there will be more to come of her achievements, and indeed there is more to note even now, like how she's beginning to show a strong love for dance and has learned how to tip-toe as she boogies and hops across the floor. Or how she's not afraid of cats and has bitten Cobalt on his tail before when she was about 10 to 11 months old and trying to relief herself of teething itches. And she has finally learnt what it means to kiss someone! She gives a nice, cute peck now when asked for a kiss!

I don't ever want to forget, and I'm so afraid I will.

Shopping in Style

Lauren loves flowers. And it would seem, pink bags too. We took her down for a walk this evening after dinner as we sometimes do when time permits. This evening, she picked her pink bag from Nai-nai to carry with her, and put in it the Strawberry kitty which KGB gave her for Christmas. Then off we went for our walk. We stopped by the florist to get her a long-promised flower - she picked a yellow gerbera that matched her outfit, and paid the florist a dollar for it. All by herself. Armed with her flower and pink bag, she wasted no time in checking out the shops that were still open. What a girl she is!

Silly Nursing Room Designs

It must have been a male who designed this. Or more likely, a non-parent. For sure. Just look at where the soap dispenser is. In between the changing bed and the seat for breastfeeding mums. And where is the sink? Out of the frame to the far right. Because parents must have arms as long as Mr Tickle's that can reach some 1m away for the tap. And this is not the only silly nursing room layout at Vivo City. Another one has no changing bed, but a diaper bin right next to the chair for nursing mums. Imagine nursing your baby next to a diaper bin! This on top of the fact that the supposed Parents-cum-nursing room is within the ladies' washroom because men can't be parents taking their kids out, and in need of a place to change their babies' diapers. No wonder Singaporeans aren't having babies. The basic support structure isn't even there.

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

Isn't life just meant to be taken easy? Ah... To be a baby, enjoying Sunday afternoon cartoons on Mummy and Daddy's bed. Nice.

So tired!

My little sweetheart was so tired this afternoon, she fell asleep sitting in the shopping cart! Poor little cutie patootie.

Serial Stalking of Cereal Stock

Went to Cold Storage at HV last Saturday to get some avocado and crab sticks to make california rolls for lunch, and decided to walk down the cereal aisle just to check on the cereal stock as I always do. As you know, because of the cereal conspiracy going on, the walk down the aisle has been a disappointing affair for the last many months. But that day, I SAW FRUITY PEBBLES ON THE SHELF! YES! I quickly helped myself to 3 boxes. I wanted to take the remaining 2 boxes after the 3 I removed revealed them hiding at the back of the shelf, but KM said that that was what cereal conspiracies were made up of - cereal stockers. Humph. Well. I didn't think that was a valid argument, but I left the remaining boxes behind for the other Fruity Pebbles fans out there. Thank me.

KM thought it was crazy having 7 boxes of cereal at home - 1 Apple Cinnamon Cheerios (LV's favourite), 3 Honey Bunches of Oats (KM's favourite and under threat by cereal conspiricists at the Cold Storage chain of supermarkets; we've been getting ours from NTUC) and 3 boxes of my Fruity Pebbles (which LV rather enjoys too). That was some 5 days ago now. We're already down to 4 boxes of cereal. We do go through them very quickly. Time to stalk the shelves again.

First Photo of 2009

Dad bought us a table at the Civil Service Club's New Year's Eve Dinner and Dance, and as much as I would have preferred staying in on New Year's Eve (being the New Year Grinch that I am), I was indeed counting down to 2009 at the Fairmont with a crowd of horn tooting, mask wearing, conga line dancing people I did not know. And this was the first photo of 2009 that I have to document the madness of a countdown which I shall forever never comprehend, but took part in anyway.

Happy New Year to all.

More Hello Kitties!

Just about everyone's started to feed LV's love for Kitty. Grandma bought her the kitty foil balloon, and KGB got her the other tiny ("original Japanese ah!") kitty doll for Christmas which she loves so much! She's been carrying it around with her since KGB gave it to her last night. Lucky baby!

Growing vocabulary

It's just amazing to watch a baby grow and learn, and at an amazing rate too.

This morning, LV signed (and said!) "dirty" (I was telling her to stop biting the CD case cos it was "dirty"). Just yesterday, she learned the Sign for "scared/afraid". And also just yesterday, she learned how to say her own name! Her diction is also getting better for "Grandpa" (or "Papa"), "Grandma" (or "Mama").

I hope to be able to find the time to start scrapping these bits of memories soon! So much to document!

My Baby won't stop growing up!

I *really* wish time would stand still. This morning, KM commented while watching her sleep, that she's such a big girl now - she's actually started hugging her little teddy bear to sleep. She's certainly a lot more fun now, but oh I wish I could go back to when she first started babbling and saying her signature "yoikoyoikoyoikoyoi!" Now, she can say

Daddy (so clearly too!)
Mummy (though her "m" is more nasal than it should be, sounding almost like "Mah-bee" at times)
NooOooOOooo!!! (very clearly!)
Yeaaaaah!!!

She can also sign

Yes
No
More
Want
Milk
Strawberry
Where

And she has started to string words together to make simple 2-word sentences, like "want more".

So proud of my baby and all she's achieving, but I so do wish time would stand still too. Just for a little while - I haven't had enough of each stage of her life yet!

Every child needs a teddy bear

I've always loved stuffed toys. Having LV just gave me the excuse to accumulate them all over again. In the past year, friends and family have also contributed to LV's small collection. But to think of all the nice, pretty and carefully thought through teddy bears that were bought for her, she's taken to this little one that came in a hamper! Every child needs a favorite bear. Looks like LV might have found hers.

Would I get a KidSAFE line?

OK. Day 3 of testing kidSAFE by M1.

As I said in my previous post, the features of the phone aren't much to shout about, but then KM pointed out to me that it's really not that bad, especially if you consider the following:

1. The phone is only $48. *really* For a pretty fine looking phone, $48 really is a steal.

2. The phone is light. Really light. It's 9.9mm thick (just 0.1mm shy of a cm! Heheheh...) and weighs just 95g. With enough things in a kid's bag and pockets to weigh them down, having something light and small is good. I've always been partial to anything light and small anyway, so another tick in the reasons-to-get-it list.

3. The service is free. Nothing's free these days, ya? But this one is. I just checked it out. If you're an existing customer with M1 which I am, whee! You pay $0 for the SIM card (which is needed 'cos the service is tied to the SIM), $0 to activate the service, and $0 for the monthly service. It's expensive enough bringing up children these days. Anything that's fee has my stamp of approval.

4. More cost savings. If I limit my kid's calls to only 40 numbers, I'm also limiting the number of calls (and to where) she can make. Better yet. Calls to me and from me? FREE! I'm liking this more and more. *grin*

So who should get this phone?

Parents? Duh. I hate asking questions just to get a duh response to it. While that may seem the most obvious answer, surely parents aren't the only ones who'd find a use for it. So here's my suggestion:

a. People who want a clear distinction between weekday calls and weekend peace. As with my earlier post, I think this could do for a weekend phone when only your top 40 favourite people are allowed to have access to you and your weekend life. Why not?

b. Teachers, or any other person that wants to get a phone only for work and another to shut the rest of the world out but whose company won't pay for. I'm just thinking here. You don't need to give all 500 of your students your number. Neither would you need to keep an unlimited store of their numbers once they've graduated. Truth is, only a small handful remain friends, yet there are times students would really need your contact, eg. at a camp, on a hike, when exams draw near, times like these. I know some of us really don't mind that our students (or their parents) have our contact number. But I also know and respect colleagues who want to keep a clear distinction between their private and professional lives, and we all have heard of students who pass our numbers around without permission, and then privacy goes down the drain. Not so nice when that happens. KidSAFE takes on another meaning for those of us in this profession then. Heh heh heh... and 40 numbers - just nice to list all the kids in your form class ya?

c. Your new domestic helper. Not that you would see a need to control her calls. Whatever for? She's an adult. But I feel bad whenever I have to call my helper on the mobile, cos phone lines really aren't cheap, and I'm just eating into her phone bill. Having such a phone is then kinda... convenient, and cheap. Besides, if you ever intend to fully provide for your helper's mobile phone line and *if* you *are* paranoid enough about the people she's in touch with, then yeah, well, I guess this is the phone for you too?

d. Schools! Well, actually parents. BUT! If we could make this a school standard, like electronic calculators and school uniforms, it would cut down on unnecessary SMS'g and calls by students while in school. And I honestly feel it keeps them safe from unneccessary MMS advertisements and whatnots that I'm quite sure target students. Besides, having a limit to 40 numbers forces you to be selective about the people you put on your call list and that in itself is a discipline kids (and anyone for that matter) could learn to exercise.

So, would I get it? Yeah. I think I would? LV's not old enough to use a mobile phone yet. But I can see other conveniences connected to this service, and I'm ready to consider it now, if for nothing else, to shut off from the rest of the world I don't want to hear from when the weekend comes. And then, when LV's ready to use a phone, I'll let her have it. She looks like she could be ready to use it in no time though. *grin*

After thought: How about having it as an army phone? But then the phone has a camera. Hmmm...I can foresee many mums wanting one for their son when they enlist though... no? Oh well...

KidSAFE, TelemarketeerSAFE, bothersomephonecallSAFE

OK... So I've been fiddling with the Samsung SGH-E200, which is supposedly the only KidSAFE compatible phone in Singapore (or anywhere else for that matter methinks). I can't say I'm liking the features much at the moment. LV's only 13 months old at the mo', so truly, I'm not looking to get her a mobile phone, though I must say she looks awfully cute running around with one, speaking to imaginary friends. I'm therefore really testing this phone with me in mind, and right now, I'm thinking, this phone is not exactly gonna score high on intuitive use. Here's what's wrong with it:

1. Too many steps to take just to send out one SMS. I have to click on menu, then
> go to "Messages"
> choose "create new message"
> choose "1. text message"
> type message (on a keypad that seems to have very delayed reaction)
> click "options"
> click "send only" or "save and send"
> click on the "to" dialogue box
> choose "phonebook"
> scroll to find number
> tick the checkbox next to the name I want to send the message to
> click "options"
> click "select"
> click "options" again, THEN
> click "send"

I think the sun would have set and risen again by the time any message gets sent out. So if the intention is to discourage kids from SMSg, they sure got it.

2. This darn phone locks when there's like about 7 seconds of inactivity. So, no, you cannot pause to think too long about the composition of your message or the next course of action on your phone before which it you out. Neither can you start on something and put it down for a short while to do something else before coming back to it, so in my books, not a very convenient multi-tasking companion. And it takes about 2-3 seconds to respond to the unlocking function. So far, this phone might just drive me crazy on these 2 functions alone.

3. As with point #1, any navigation through its functions to alter/amend/customise would drive you nuts with the numerous steps which are so counter productive in a day and age where speed is imperative. We're trying to keep communications here kid-safe, not impede it.

4. The phonebook, which is tied to the kidSAFE function, makes no sense at all. Phone numbers can be saved either to the phone memory or SIM card. Only numbers in the SIM card are given access for use to call out or receive calls from. That's all well and good. Presumably then, kids (or whoever else) who might want to save numbers from whoever for later approval could just key the info and save it to the phone memory for transfer into the SIM when approval is given. Right? Wrong. This silly phone, unlike other phones I've used before, does not let you transfer numbers between the phone memory and SIM. So to get the number approved, I have to re-enter the information into the phone and save it (again!), this time into the SIM. Tedious, tedious.

I suppose I *could* get used to using such a feature-intuitiveless phone; its good looks are definitely on its side if you can stand the dumb-blondness of its features. But to heck with the phone for now. I'm more interested in the filtering feature of this service. Seriously, for an adult, if I had to pick only 40 phone numbers to allow calls from (and to, since this goes both ways), who would I add to the line? I'm already trying to filter my 100+ long name list on my other mobile. In today's state of hyperconnectivity, I sometimes (actually frequently so) resent the fact that I can be so easily reached. Sometimes, other than filtering out nuisance calls from random telemarketeers, you just want undisturbed, protected family time. KidSAFE features in this regard, are looking *really* attractive to me at this point as an adult user. I'd seriously consider getting a second "weekendSAFE" phone attached to the same mobile number I usually use, but with this 40-number restriction. Whaddya think, M1?

I got me a new gadget!

Well... I *sorta* got me a new gadget. I was actually lucky enough to get the opportunity to trial M1s new Kidsafe service, a mobile service with parent controls. Basically, with this service, parents can determine up to 40 numbers their kid can make and receive calls and SMSes from. I haven't actually started fiddling around with it much yet, but I'm already thinking maybe it's a good phone for me - no more irritating calls from telemarketers! MUAHAHAHAH!!! Not too bad an idea ah? Or for the hubs - no more irritating phone calls from clients who don't know what it means to stop calling at insane hours of the night and waking the entire household up! Good ah? *grin* Doesn't hurt that the phone (which is tied to the service) looks rather slim and pretty. We'll see how this trial will turn out. I'm serious about using it to restrict irritating calls that I don't want to pick up. Why not, ya?

My daughter's first Hello Kitty doll

For some reason, LV has suddenly taken a real liking to Hello Kitty. I swear, it's not me. Really. I *do* own Hello Kitty things, but it's not like I throw it in her face, 'cos the Hello Kitty items I own are really unobtrusive, like my key ring (which is always in my bag), my bento boxes (which I pack and take to work way before she wakes up), or my Hello Kitty handkerchief from when I was 5 years old, which is folded and kept away in the tie drawer. So why she loves Hello Kitty this much, I do not know. It's cute nevertheless, to see her go, "Kitty! Kitty!" when she sees the cute mouthless cat, and I finally decided after much consideration, to get her her very own Hello Kitty doll. KM reckons this will be her only Hello Kitty doll, because he's quite certain he does not want her room to be filled with nothing but Hello Kitty dolls of different sizes and colours. Well, that's what he thinks now anyway. We'll see. *grin*

She changes everyday

My little angel is growing so quickly! I wish time would just stand still, yet it's so exciting to see all the changes as they come each day.

Her language skills are improving everyday. She understands more Mandarin with each week she spends with her grandparents on daddy's side of the family. She's also beginning to sign a bit more, showing sure evidence that she's been absorbing the language and understanding it better than I thought she would. She's now about to sign "more" during meal times when she's not had enough to eat. Just this evening, she was also signed "no" for the first time when asked if she wanted to continue with her meal! And a couple of nights ago, she signed "yes" when asked if she wanted to go down for an evening walk with us.

She is also learning how to be gentle with the cats, petting them instead of yanking at their fur. And she loves Hello Kitty! No influence from me, I swear! She just does! Seems like her first, repeated word is "Kitty"! Oh my!

Cereal conspiracy

I swear, there's a cereal conspiracy going on at Cold Storage outlets and Cold Storage-linked supermarkets. Each time we find a Post (or any other brand) cereal we like, it goes off the shelf! It has been months since we've seen Fruity Pebbles. Then the Honey Bunches of Oats series disappeared. And now, my Apple Cinnamon Cheerios! Instead, more "First Choice" (Cold Storage housebrand) cereals of similar flavours have been taking their spaces on the shelves at not just Cold Storage outlets, but at Giant and Market Place too! ARGH! "First Choice" certainly ain't my choice and I think I just might have to start shopping at NTUC or Sheng Siong from now to find my cereals. I want my Fruity Pebbles!