happy new year-2009!

Singapore has entered into the year of 2009 just an hour ago, soon it will be our turn here.
Wishing all my cyber-friends a great and blessed 2009!

21 dec 2008 - Heavy snow

DR, I guess you are right in saying that coming from a tropical country, most of us really do get excited when we see snow.

I reckon its also because most of the time we see snow is when we are on a vacation, naturally, when you are on a holiday, your mood is pretty, so the snow is really beautiful from that perspective.

However when one lives in the actual snow condition, its no joke, driving condition can be really hazardous, have to shovel the snow in the cold, and when the snow melt, thats the ugliest, dirtiest and messiest part of it all!

1st Snow Play - 2008

Snow fall, kids favourite.
Pictures taken outside the house.

下雪了

还记得，两年前，我们刚搬到温哥华，当时下雪了，我们的心情非常兴奋。

几天前，又开始下雪了。这冬天，估计会比以往来得更冷。
这次，反而，觉得很麻烦，因为我还得接送姐姐上下课，又要带着妹妹在身旁。
出个门，很费时，要包头包脚，怕妹妹的botak head着凉。

不过，还是要懂得珍惜这自然的美景。所以决定了，把心情调整一下，享受来临的 WHITE CHRISTMAS！

Home Sick - (I)

Day break - view from kid's room. Taken in 2005
I am not in Singapore.
I am still in Canada.
Yes, I am home sick. Miss my home, relatives, friends, in Singapore.

1st 测验

When I read about Hailey's report card....then I remember to blog about this...Not sure if every kid gets 100% like Hailey's class ... it doesn't matter lah, and Muahahaha too!

Last Saturday, she came home, telling me that she needs my signature for some Chinese worksheet she had done in school. I didn't quite know what she meant and asked her:
"Simi(hokkien) signature?"

Till she handed me the paper. She doesn't really understand the concept of 测验 I suppose...its after all her 1st 测验 in her life.

I didn't remember that she had a test (honestly, I don't know when did the test occur also). The school did give us a schedule, but I forgot to take note....

Hubby and I were simply elated that she came back with this good score. I am not sure if this appear to be somewhat simple in Singapore's education system for her age. But who cares for now?! She only gets to attend Chinese lesson every Saturday as opposed to her daily exposure in S'pore's school.

I am just glad that she doesn't grumble and does look forward to attend the Sat class.
In an "angmo" country like this, we are just glad that our kid gets the exposure to Mandarin.

Bon Appetite

Found this on my desk few days ago, so this conversation happened between me and my nearly 5yo kiddo.


Kiddo: "Mommy, what would you like for dinner?"
Me: "Chicken rice looks good and not expensive. Wow, ice-kachang! Eh, how come free one?"
Kiddo: "Oh, yah, free lor, and got atap-chee, daddy likes it, you remember just like the one we had in Singapore."

Apparently, this dessert must have left very great impression on her to be included in her menu lor....

And her pricing on the menu for the other items, I must say, I am pretty impressed that it does make sense (besides the free dessert lah!)

Try this, try that....

This is what my bathroom's vanity top look like......no place for any beauthy/cosmetic products seriously.

What to do when 60% of the family members have/had eczema...?!

Piano Recital - June 08

Kiddo did her 1st piano recital...

Meant to blog about it, but too busy with all the summer fun...

Baby crawling

Baby timbits is 7.5mo now.

Weighing at 8.5kg

Her milestones so far...

5mo: Able to sit with support. Leopard crawling on her tummy.

6mo: Able to sit fully without support.

Able to crawl on all 4s, thus gaining her mobilty and losing her baby fats.

Able to hold on to furnitures and stand up.

7mo: Able to cruise along while holding onto furnitures. Understand the meaning of NO, HOT and BEAT.

中秋节快乐

床前明月光，疑是地上霜。

举头望明月，低头思故乡

祝：

中秋节快乐

Aunty Irene's Bumbo

Aunty Irene, thank you for lending me this bumbo, and all the other fantastic stuff to my mum.

As you can see, this bumbo can no longer restrain me (*hiak hiak*), and I heard from mummy that you will pretty soon need these stuff back eh? Heard my mummy saying that you are very efficient and productive, she is very happy for you leh! We will come by soon and see your round round belly ok? And yes, I cry when strangers carry me....mommy say I am like a velcro to her :(

If my granny is still alive, she would call me "peh leh koh"-(sticky caramel candy) or postage stamp or sticker to my mommy!

Kindergarten here and there

Kindergarten in Canada (taken on Sep 08)

Kindergarten Yr 1 in Singapore (taken on Jan 08)

New school year just started. In North America, new school year starts from September instead of January. She started Kindergarten. They only do one year of kindy here and she will be in Grade 1 by next Sept.

Can't believe......how time flies...

deja vu

Don't know if your kids do this to you...

Mine did...

Must they all go thru' this phase?

Agghh...nitemare....

car-seat training....once again.

got so "chum" meh?

top: 妹妹-Sep 08

bottom: 姐姐-May 04

Fun times....flies.

Space talk
On the way to pick raspberries 2 weeks ago, this conversation occured:
Kiddo :"Daddy, I don't think I have ever seen the solar system"
Dad :"Oh, you will need maybe 1 million dollar to take the space shuttle to the outer space"
Kiddo :"No la, I think I just need a telescope"
Daddy :"......"

Summer Fun
Summer is almost over, so is all the fun. We had our first visitors from Singapore for the past 3 weeks. The couple were here with their 20mo girl. They were our friends since Uni days. It was certainly good to have friends staying over, chit chatting till wee hours after the kids were asleep, played Mah-jong, doing all the touristsy stuff, cooked chai tow kway, long tong, mee hoon kway....., just like what we did in uni.

They went back to Singapore today. The house has returned to its quiet state.....we are already missing their company....feeling a little 落寞..... detest such feelings....
Anybody coming soon?

Baby & Eczema

Baby timbits has eczema here....and its ALL OVER HER BODY and FACE.....Agggghhh!!!

I have tried EVERYTHING once again.

She was OK in Singapore!! God, what am i suppose to do man?!

Injectionssssss

I think this would freak any Singaporean mom out...

I did freak out...

Here in Canada, when the baby/kid go for immunization, they get like 3-4 shots at ONE GO!

Look at baby's chubby thigh.....I didn't have the heart to hold her or even looked at the process....daddy did the job. What a lousy mom I am :`(

Once the last jab went in, I took the baby away immediately to pacify her. She fell asleep within 1 min as she was already very sleepy before the jabs.

Then the big sister, as they grow older, it gets harder to give them immunization man! She struggled and wailed and whined for a good 10mins!

Baby still lack of one jab (she was not feeling well sometime back, thats why the "backlog")

And big sister, is still short of one jab.....

They will go back to doctor in July....that is very soon.................again.....

Thank God that despite having multiple shots, they didn't have any fever...

Extra pair of hands?

With 2 kids, many a times, I pray for extra time, extra pair of hands....just to relieve me so that I can take a breather. But after watching this short video last Sunday in church....
Visit this website for more details

I may not have in-laws nor parents nor maid to help me out BUT
I am thankful for what I have...
I have a wonderful and very hands-on husband who will always help me in all aspects be it kids or household chores.
I have a brother who will help out in most household chores, gladly take over my kids when I am cooking, or even when I just need a little breather.
I have a 5yo who is not out of control.
I have a baby who is all smiley and cheery.
Hence I can maintain my sanity....

Thank God.

Recovered

I know I was whining just a few weeks ago about baby's flu.

A little update here. Indeed, she recovered from her flu within 3 days, without medication...

I think the air quality here somewhat allow that to happen.

Anyway, I also did the following during that few days, not sure if it helped directly/indirectly.

1.Took Irene's advice, used Vicks' vaporiser (the one that emit hot steam instead of cool air)

2.Applied Vicks on baby's sole and put on socks.

3. Drank XANGO juice and thot indirectly passed the "potent healing" elements to baby thru' breastfeeding. This is something new to us, and so far the whole family is drinking it daily. Seem like a good and effective product. Its sold via MLM, I am not selling it, but if you are keen to try, drop me a note....I can hook you up and get it delivered to your door step (be it in SG or Canada)

We are almost done with the minor reno for the house. Hope to post some pix later on.

Baby Flu....

Baby is down with a flu, probably caught it from Daddy.
Brought her to the family doctor today. In Canada, no medication will be given to baby under 12mo for a normal flu bug. Only Tylenol was given in case of fever.

They believe in letting the body fight the virus naturally and hence building up the defence systems. As good as it sounds, I am getting very paranoid. It hurts to see her all runny and teary, coughing etc. By Monday, if she doesn't get better, then she will be referred to a paediatrician. Sigh, very different system here, I am getting a little frustrated on one hand....

Smiley

I bought a Nikon Coolpix during the return trip to SG. Above picture was taken with my new camera. Not too bad for a point and shoot cam, i must say...

At least, I don't have to lug around my hubby's Nikon SLR anymore.

No time ah...

Not much chance and time to get online.
Timbits is now 2.5 mo, weighing 6.2kg
and yes, my arms are aching........ *ouch*

Full Month Celebration

These were the glorious and yummy food Aunty Corinne prepared for Baby's full month on 23 Jan.

Nope, she is not a caterer, she is a financial controller, but her cooking skills will put any professional caterer to shame. And again, I am so thankful for her effort, she returned from her business trip on friday (22 Jan) evening. And the very next day, she woke up at 6am to prepare the feast for our relatives.

Back "Home"

Have been back in Canada for more than a week already.

It was good to be re-united with my brother once again...

We are still jet lagging...Kiddo is equally confused, she'd wake up from her sleep asking is it day or night time? Whether she should go back to sleep or eat dinner....But its getting better these past 2 days. We are sleeping and waking up at the more "correct" hour liao...

As for D24, we decide to call her Timbits for now till she loses her baby fats, she "officially" slept thru' on 14 March, which is approximately 7 weeks old. I am so grateful and thankful that both my babies sleep thru' at such early stage.

We didn't have a baby bath tub when we first arrived, so we resorted to giving her shower, which she absolutely love it.

The house is still in a mess, with no furnitures, clothes are still in the luggages. Just matresses. We bought a double deck-bed from Ikea for the kids though. It will take some time before its in proper living condition.

I was feeling a little "hangover" from Singapore....

So...I tune in to this bi-lingual radio station to feel the vibrancy of Singapore....

Hangover from the hustle bustle, the festive CNY, relatives, friends, heartland malls....

I wanna say a HUGE thankyou to my uncle Walter (my mum's bro), aunty Corinne and cousin Jo who hosted us for the past 3 months. I was treated like their very own daughter, I am so thankful that I have not felt such family warmth ever since my parents broke up....If I had strong support from family as such, perhaps, the thought of immigrating would not have been that strong.

Now I am back to this quiet, peaceful life which we have chosen for now.

Leaving on a jet plane......

D24 is 1month and 1 week old now. Just had her 1 mo jab yesterday at TMC. Weighing at 5.08kg, her weight gain is 1kg since the last checkup, which is very good, says Dr. EK Ong.
She is in good shape to take the flight.

We are heading 'home' to Canada tomorrow.....the mixed feeling of leaving SG has re-surfaced.
While feeling reluctant to leave behind our family and friends, we are also looking forward to the cooler weather and our new home.

Daddy and kiddo's eczema has reached its full blown state. Back to the days where I would wake up to find their bedsheet stained with blood spots (due to excessive scratching while asleep). Even kiddo's ear lobe is bleeding, I guess its really time to leave SG and again, its a clear reminder why we immigrated.

Good bye sunny island. We will be back in 3-5 years time I suppose.....?

Coping with Eczema

Thought I will just write briefly how we cope with this eczema thinggy since returning....
specially dedicated to Alternative mom.....

I am not sure how severe your daughter's eczema is. But my hubby has lived with it for the past 30 plus years, during his days in SG, he gets comments/stares/advises from strangers, and he usually have open wounds due to the scratching....

And one of the NSC specialists even suggested that he immigrate to a cold country many years ago..... (so we did take his advise seriously, heh heh!)

Its tiring when people will suggest all kinds of cream, methods, doctors to you, even though they meant well....we sincerely appreciate their well intentions.

Anyway, hope this help.

Kiddo only gets to go out in the morning and late evening
She is usually home or indoor by 11am-12pm.

When I find her school in Sg, it has to be air-conditioned. Her former childcare centre and her current kindergarten are air-conditioned. The downside is of course, more prone to flu bugs etc. And of course more costly too.

On days when she has outdoor play, I wrote a memo to school to inform the teacher that after the outdoor play, she needs to clean up, and apply her body oil. And we make it a point to apply oil on her body about 6-8 times a day. With the large amount of oil that is applied on her daily, I have been using organic brands like Lavera and Gaia, try to avoid those with paraben or petro-chemical.

In her school/everyday bag, there is always a damp towel, a bottle of organic body oil, a bottle of Zyrtec (anti-histamine) in case of peanut allergies and severe rashes on standby. I hardly bring her out to hawker centre, its a case of impossibility and frustration. Since returning, we do have to meet up with friends, we make it a point to meet at air-conditioned eatery place. Most of them understand and has no issue as they have known my husband's conditions all these years.

At home, I don't really switch on air-condition all the time. The air-con is only switched on when she is about to nap/sleep. Once she falls deep asleep, I will turn off the air-con and turn on the fan.

I will make sure she will always have fan "directing" at her, be it TV, or meal times. I also remind her that once she feels the heat and itch, go cool herself down infront of a fan.

There is a playground just right outside where we stay now, but she can only watch the other kids play, she only gets to go to the playground on a very very windy and cooling evening.

Of course, there are days when her rashes are full blown, I will just have to sucumb to Elomet (a controlled steroid), telling myself this is only temporal....she will be fine once she return to Canada.

And for perculiar reason, she is also getting rashes whenever she eats egg here in Sg.

These are no expert advises, just little things we do to make her feel more comfortable.

Everyone including my MIL is so suprised at how normal her own son looked with his rashes-free skin since returning from Canada. But it didn't last beyond 2 weeks, hubby's rashes are also appearing since then.

1st week liao....

It's been a week since I popped...

The 1st night when we came home with bb2....
It was pure disaster. We totally forgot what it means to be parents again to a newborn.

Kiddo slept thru' at 6 weeks old, meaning to say, we have been sleeping thru' at night for these past 4 years plus.....We were totally caught un-prepared that first night....We were passing the baby to each other, didn't know what was she fretting. Was she hungry? Was her diaper wet?
And finally when day break, the 2 of us had OBK (Orr Bak Kak!) It was so bad that we had to get the domestic helper to bring the kiddo to school instead of us. We simply knocked out the following day. By 2nd night, we had a strategy......to take turns and be on shift duty. As days passes by, bb2 is also adjusting to this world, she is waking up more in the day. And only one night feed for now. We have no plans to switch her from the hay-wired body clock, since we will be returning to Canada in another 4 weeks time, this opposite body clock may work to our advantage...In any case, we will let nature take its course for this baby, unlike for kiddo, I tried very hard to train her to sleep thru' before my pathetic 8 weeks of maternity leave was over back then.

Ok, time for me to catch some sleep....

Popped finally!!!

Finally......presenting D24
(photo taken 2 hrs after delivery)

Carmaine
Date: 27 Jan 2008
Time: 0244hr
Weight: 3.785kg (approx 8.4 pound)

After 11hours of labour.
With epidural, vacuum assisted.

Had fever during the labour. Was given antibiotics there and then.
I nearly gave up and opted for C-section.

Thank God for His provision of strength during the last burst.

aROUND

Yes, I am still aROUND.
Baby engaged since last week, BUT still no sign of labour.

Hubby arrived for 4 days into SG, jet lagging and had mild sorethroat. His eczema hasn't acted up yet.

Felt the great relief that we are reunited once again, for he has greater patience than me, when handling the endless questions that kiddo have. I was losing my cool very easily with kiddo last week as I didn't have the strength to go out much, so was feeling a little cooped up.

Now, emotionally, I am pretty much back to normal. Just waiting for THE DAY.

When can i offload/download baby no2? When? When? When?

The last lap

29 Jan 08: EDD
21 Jan 08: Hubby arriving into SG
09 Jan 08: Ate D24 durians, hoping to boost more weight gain to the baby....
*lame excuse hor??*

Don't know what to blog.

With the help of a domestic helper here, I basically just eat, sleep, and nurse the bodyaches.
Better enjoy this luxury before I return to Canada and take on the role of a domestic helper once again....

Weather has been cooling mostly, but kiddo still gets the eczema outbreak. Its the humidity I reckon....She started K1 on 3 Jan. Not that I kiasu, but at leat she gets entertained in school for that 3hrs everyday...

If all goes well, we should be returning by March/April, just in time to enjoy flowers blooming during the Spring season.

Ironically, I do miss Canada. I am pretty amazed by this fact too.

Till I pop........

God bless :)