Hello… just a quick note. I’m ok. My skin’s all blotchy due to suspected eczema. My brother’s been very naughty and getting a fair bit of disciplining. My mum’s busy rushing Christmas / custom / sale orders and my daddy’s busy with a couple of projects on hand. That said, I get to go out with mum because she still hasn’t gotten rid of her milkbar status. I’m very persistent at resisting the bottle you see. My brother gets to go out with grandpa and grandma so it does seem fair. No?

They said today’s a public holiday which means we’d get to go out together and have fun. But right now, we’re alll paying our sleep debt. I don’t know about the rest but I got a lot of work to do too and its tiring.

Anyway, we are all fine… just overwhelmed. Well, at least the adults are. I’m counting down to when my brother starts pre-nursery. I heard its in January. That’s like… hmm, way too many more days to go! *sigh* And all for a miserly 3 hours. Oh well, I guess its better than nothing.

This week, I decided to change my routine! I thought it would be a cool idea to wake at 9plus, or maybe 10am, give or take, nap for an hour or two at 2pm and then call it a day at 10.30pm after sending the house into utter chaos playing the day away. It was a pretty good routine. Everyone agreed.

Then it became a little too good so I decided, I’d change it again. I’m experimenting kicking up a big fuss and refusing to sleep till 12.30am… then allow myself to be cuddled to sleep. I just started today after returning from my grandparents (and playing with Eva). Of course, I had a 10 minute power nap on the way home. I’d update again next week on which routine I prefer.

… there is a certain purple dinosaur that escaped extinction and is driving us nuts over here. He is ruling the tv and the dvd player right this moment. And is irreplaceable. He is already 20 years old, but still can capture the kid’s hearts.  Even Pooh lost to him.

Sigh.

So we (reluctantly) got another two more Barney discs to add to our miserable one disc collection. Mainly because I have watched it with Jayden SO many times I can practically do the voice-overs for all the characters. No script needed.

Yes, I use only Johnson’s baby lotions. Nothing else comes quite close. They have a variety of scents too. My favourite is the bedtime lotion. Oh yes, they come in handy sizes too! Like this one… Good to go. Easy enough for me to grab and go. See? Light, easy to carry. Oh and even easy to open for small hands. I vote for Johnson’s anyday!

The real reason behind that less than glamorous shot of the boy. And no, he was NOT doing any interview. We were at a nearby coffeeshop for a quick bite before church when erhmm, young Master Ng decides his companion of the day shall be the trusty baby lotion bottle. It is almost empty but he holds it like its some treasure. And no, he did not lose it. Both boy and bottle came home safe and sound.

Playing musical chairs furniture right now on the large scale and Jayden has gotten into the swing of things. He shifted his own chair, aligned the plastic storage box and got a small makeshift table and chair set for himself.

When the music finally stops, we would have a proper bed, table and chair set for him. In his own room. I personally think IKEA is great for kids. It is rather affordable and well, it would be time to change the furniture by the time he outgrows them. They are not known for being durable but the ingenuity is pretty awesome.

Like this bed! We saw three different set ups. One at the as-is corner, without any frills. Just the bed set up for you to browse (and hopefully buy). Then in the mockup sets, there was one with the bed in the ‘upright’ position with loft bed in place and area underneath turned into another sleeping area with bed laid on the floor. And then flipped over, with the bed shielded with a starry sky canopy.

And to top it all off, I love this idea of turning the sides into a blackboard. Submitted to IKEA Hacker.

You really got to make room for ideas.

I had a HORRID Friday but I’d leave that for another day. I’d just count the blessings from Thursday first. And then post about Friday when I can conjure up a post of that day’s event without wanting to host interviews for a new kid. A replacement that is.

Most weekdays, we’d go for walks. Nothing ‘planned’. Just go with the flow, ie, where / when / what / how all depends on weather and what time the little master wakes. Occasionally we’d go to the neighbouring park. He loves the exercise station even though everything is way too advanced for the small framed him.

He’d point his way ahead, walking towards it with intent. Sometimes you’d find him raising his hand towards you. That is his signal for “I need help. Come along and help me here”… and then he’d get to the next stage and amble along again.

He has a silly habit of squatting down when I try and take pictures. I prefer to take at his view, so I bend… and he squats. He’d just stop dead in his tracks and squat, turn to look at you and grin.

with one foot forward, the other foot back. bring it to front and so on and so forth … I’d cover the distance and make my way across the big world, one step at a time.

Yes, I bite.

1. the stroller is a necessary evil when we go out for long trips. It is a pain in the ass to carry up and down the bus, a horror to wheel out of Orchard MRT station and super irritating to navigate the never-ending construction.
2. the able bodied people who insist on taking the lift and try their best to avoid my gaze as they refuse to lift a finger to keep the door open when I reach just as the doors shut. *say is that a dandruff I see on your hair?“
3. more able bodied people whose eyes are glued to their handheld games and refuse to move their legs. Nevermind when said person is sitting. Even when said person is sitting in the ‘privileged’ seats. Just move your FEET. (Oh, nevermind, I’d just roll over your feet…)
4. idiots who insist on rushing into the train as I try and alight with bulky stroller. “Now, I really do not want to go down another stop!!! Let me out!” or even for the ‘wheelchair’ access gates. Really why do you need such a big walkway? Scared your precious monogrammed bag gets caught on something?
5. money grubbing kopitiam drink stall owners who insist on asking for 20cents for some water. So atas. But wait, Paragon has a lovely water dispenser for mummies on the go (although it is utilised by cleaners on a break… you can hear metal spoons clanging as they stir their kopi).
6. every Tom, Dick or Harry that turns into the world’s expert paed when a child is sick “chicken pox! too hot lah! measles! rash!” (when Jayden was experiencing the roseola fever rash).
7. having to navigate a shopping trolley filled with groceries, a folded stroller and a fussy kid who insists on being carried. Multiply irritation when kid has soiled diaper.
8. diaper changing by myself. All hell breaks loose. Oh yes, why do some inconsiderate parents allow their kids to pee into the washbasin?!
9. other inconsiderate people who insist on rushing past me to board the (empty) bus. Can help carry stroller? The bus driver will still have to wait for me to be done
10. shopping malls with no mummy friendly washrooms (Compasspoint, for example, only has diaper change stop right on the top floor…!), lots of steps (WISMA!!!) and just plain unfriendly staff who eyeball you when you push the stroller around.

K, gripes aside, I have met some really lovely people who stop to help. Like the bus driver eons back (service 105) who actually got down to help me with the stroller. The kind man, a fellow commuter who helped on the shuttle service between Mt Alvernia and Novena MRT. The nice passengers who gave up seats for us so that we could feed the boy on the way home. The really friendly cab driver who dropped us at Plaza Singapura who got out of his cab to help me with the stroller and tried to entertain the boy enroute. There is hope yet…

but meantime, I bite.

Judith tries out Silver Boxes for the day …

Had lunch with Judith yesterday, and brought the lil boy along. He nimbled on bread, biscuits, potatoes and decided he was done. Got bored and so towards the end of the meal, Judith turned Silver Boxes leader and tried to capture his attention.

Somewhat successful for a bit as she caught his eye with her drawing. Or maybe he was thinking “that’s not me! I’m way cuter!”

All in all, a nice lunch with good food and even better company.

“Drink up. Hold your own bottle so that mummy can go pack up to go out k?”

Immediately the little hands flew up to hold the milk bottle and he sucked eagerly in anticipation. His eyes darted around as he watched me pack the bags to go out to visit his grandparents up in Yishun. He emptied the bottle and pulled it out of his mouth.

He stood up and raised his hands obediently when he saw the change of clothes. Sat quietly on my lap as we wore the socks.

“Left foot first, now the right. Clever boy. Now come the shoes.”

That settled he carried his little Mickey Mouse backpack, picked up “Baby’s First Words” book and walked to the door all on his own accord.

We crossed the road, him and I. I carried him and let him down on the five foot pavement. We walked to the bus stop together. Up the chair he went. The bright orange-y colour of the seat made for an eye catching photo.

We waited. Him more patiently than me. He took in the sights, fresh and new. Me, I wondered why the bus was so long. (I even went to check the board to make sure the route had not changed!!!) Daddy called. He would be waiting to pick us up at the interchange.

The bus came along. Finally. Was quite empty. So we each settled into our seats. He was propped up with bags and he was comfortable leaning on them. The bus inched along. He played peek-a-boo with another passenger. A kind hearted woman in her mid sixties who entertained him no end. When she got down, he wanted to stand and wave goodbye. Even get down. His little mind thinking, we too had reached.

But no. We were about half way through.

Perhaps I should call ahead. He picked up the mobile and pretended to talk through it to the waiting grandparents. “Yes yes I am coming. The bus is moving a little slowly. Wait for me.” All the time nodding his head intently.

We reached Yishun around 1.30pm. Met daddy and played the day away with grandma. A curious fellow who explored every nook and cranny possible. Sleep was of no importance. Neither was food.

Give me play all day! And my curiosity would be satiated. That would be enough.

The night when Jayden tells a girl she isn’t pretty…!

We were having dinner with a korean family at Manna (101 Telok Ayer Road) when the niece asked, ‘Am I pretty?’ and the lil boy goes and shakes his head! Hmmph.

He was trying to babel throughout dinner, got tired of being restrained in the high chair whilst we were still eating korean bbq, ended crawling and walking around the whole room. He went home with dirty feet. And into the bath.