independence at an early age?

yesterday before snoozing off, the husband suddenly asked me if at the age of 24 mths, yz is already exhibiting signs of independence too early for his age?
i thought about the idea long and hard and i was actually sad to say yes.

1) he is already sleeping alone in his own room. i actually did that only at the age of 9 when my baby brother came out.
2) once in childcare, he was finishing a slice of cake when i was picking him up from after work. he told me:" i go wash hand." and ran like a wind to the toilet. following him, i saw him entered the toilet, stepped on a small stool in front of the basin, pressed the tap himself and proceeded to wash his hands. @_@
im so proud and saddened by that single act.
my baby boy seems to have grown up overnight without me noticing.
3) the fact that he attends childcare, being apart from us for a good 9hours at 1 stretch during the weekdays. i was never apart from my mum for that long till secondary school?

sigh.
think my hormones are making me more emo nowadays.
whatever the case, i hope yz grows up healthy and happy.
the 2 most important H's i can hope for my children! :)

foodie evening + 2012

after a long week of taking care of the son by ourselves (gosh, we sounded so spoilt), the husband and i are badly in need of some couple time to ourselves.
so after lunch at the in-laws house on saturday (yes, after the son's PTC & hep A jab), we went to my mum's place to deposit the little terror.
no wonder i'm so tired at night, 赶四，五个场 ok?!

we left mum's place ard 5+pm and search the east side for goody food.
settled for aston's @ east coast road in the end. its my 2nd time eating aston for the week!
eeks, feel like a fatty bom bom but i really LOVE their baked potatoes so very muchie!

after dinner, hubbi and me took a slow stroll along east coast road and feasted on rojak for dessert.
then we drove back to tiong bahru to try our luck at 2012. lousy seats so we settled for another mini tea break at toastbox (!!!).
how not to get fat, you tell me lah.

2012
the husband was bent on catching this show and for once im like totally not keen for a blockbuster.
accomodated him to rush for a 12noon time slot on sunday on the behalf of another home-cooked brekkie by him.
i could have sleep longer! :P

anyway, the movie was as expected - fantastic on the effects and so-so on the character development and plot.
still, i teared at various (ok, make it many) scenes.
maybe im a mummy now, but i cant help thinking abt my sons and wondering what i will do if likewise (the end is here!) happens in my time.
its really not a cliche that parents will sacrifice themselves in order to let their offspring have a chance at survival. sigh.

aiyah, i hate depressing movies.

ok, movie list for the end of the year:
1) ninja assassin
2) sherlock holmes
3) Avatar
3) new moon?

Hep A jab on 21.11.09

2nd stop: we brought him to the PD for his 2nd dose of Hep A vaccine finally.
this is supposed to be the last jab for him till he turns 5 or 7 years old..
well, actually not that "last" jab for him as im considering to let him take the normal flu jab next year before we go on a trip together. :)

anyway, the brave boy didnt shed a tear but just complained that its "pain pain".
and he weighs ard 13.8kg at 25m old. didnt manage to take his height though.
should be around 93cm?

oh, the nurse reminded me to drop by soon with his health booklet so she can issue me the vaccination cert for his P1 registration.
wah, so scary. P1 registration seems so far away leh.
but having said so, i DO start to recce for primary schools for him liao. LOL. :P

PTC on 21.11.09

as usual, my saturday was choked full of activities.
wonder how much longer can i keep up with this given my dipping energy level. :[

the ng family woke up bright and early at around 7+am (no thanks to the son) and a mad rush to bath and preparing for the day out.
1st stop is to yz's childcare.
nope, we are not leaving him there for the saturday morning (well, maybe we should start doing so to have some time alone. hiaks. ok, just kidding.).
we were due to meet up with his teachers for his first ever PTC (parent teacher connection/conference?) at 9am!

it was a good short 20mins session with the teachers and we both found out more about yz's behaviours at home and in school.
yes, he does behave differently in school and at home!
and so i shared my concerns with the teacher mainly in the areas of hoping yz will interact more with his peers and get a better grasp on his command of english.
i noticed that he tend to interact better with the older kids as compared to his peers (*scratch head*) and though he can understand what we said in english, he still have the tendency to converse in mandarin.
think its mainly due to his main caretakers (meaning his mammy, pappy, por por and gong gong ALL conversing in mandarin back at home, heh.).

some of the feedbacks from teachers include:
- they notice that he is more of an observor and when the other toddlers start to get more rowdy (like shouting/jumping/running around), he will leave them and start to play with other things. he does not like to engage in snatching with his peers.
- he likes to play with other kids as he has a neat way of playing with toys and older kids are able to accomodate to his way of playing. (haha, i found this funny).
- teachers call him 小大人 cos he's always like a quiet boy who observe people from the side and wearing a serious look. LOL.
- he is definitely opening up after abt 5mths in cc, and he will initiate conversations with teachers and peers alike now more often. hope he will keep up the good job!
- he likes to read and will always take a book from reading corner and sit down to read alone, muttering some words to himself at times. good! look like my reading to him does pay-off in some way!
- still not very ready for toilet-training. :(
- more independent in self-feeding but can be improved with more practice at home. will try to work on this for at home, we tend to feed him as its faster this way..

most of these feedbacks are quite refreshing to me as i seldom get to see yz interacting with other toddlers most of the time. Also, he does seem to be wary and shy around strangers and i really hope he can improve in this area.
i also told the teachers the "tales" that yz brought home like which kids get assigned to the notti corners, which teachers help him to bath/pat him to sleep etc and we all had a good laugh at how he actually try to narrate what goes on in school to me. :)

the most interesting part is we got to bring home his personal file which consist of all his artworks and some photographs of him in action during school. :)
though we've to return back the file on monday(we can only keep the contents upon him graduating or withdrawing from the cc), it serves as a really fun file for us and the grandparents to flip through and see snippets of his activities in school. :)

is really good to see that yz seems to be settling well into school routine and enjoying his time there so far.
will be another year for him in this childcare before we shift him to a 3hrs a day nursery (2011) back in the east side.
hope he will have a good time in this childcare and continue to do so in the new nursery environment 1-2 years down the road. (",)

retail therapy rocks!

been ages since i last bought a couple of things in a single day. heh.
even the husband is ok with me doing so.
i must be very guai for the past few months. heh.

reached office in the morning to be greeted by SALE! news from colls.
getting geared up and at lunch, we cheong to suntec convention for sephora sale!
got myself mineral powder foundation, mineral loose powder and mascara from bare minerals.
they are a steal at almost half price from usual price. :)

after work, before heading to arab street to get my car, i popped by soonlee shop as it is having sale for the weekend!
"http://ishopsoonlee.blogspot.com/"
what excites me are the 50% off for the irregular choice shoes they are carrying!
"http://shop.irregularchoice.com/womens/view_all/"
been eyeing an interesting pair for the longest time and finally got my hands on it today! yay!


cute anot. haha like pegasus wings!

very happy with the purchase lah.
picked up the husband and we went to fetch the son from childcare.
headed to town for dinner as i wanted to check out more sales. teehee.
hubbi is in the dark and kept on asking me what sale is on..hiaks.

anyway, xmas decor is up and yz really like them. got so excited seeing all the lights and decor around him. :)


cant take his eyes off the facade decorations around isetan scotts!

yup, i went to isetan scotts to check out marc by marc jacobs! hehe.
club 21 having sale and UOB card member will have additional 10% for this weekend!
*sweet*
found a bag which design i really love.
and so i got it. haha.

i really like the gather-like design at the bottom of the bag.

and it doubles up as a clutch too! :)

my 1st cream color bag anyway.

lalalala. shopping is really a happy activity.

more to come for the month of december! goody good!

terrible terrible twos!

the son is really in his terrible twos FULL SWING nowadays!
taking care of him is getting more and more exhausting for me as i get heavier and bigger. :(
a typical day:
fetching him home from his childcare is a tedious chore now.
as i cant carry him for long now, i can only hold him by the hand and guide him to the car, put him in the car seat, drive home, and take him home from the carpark by hand again.
easier said than done!
the little rascal will at times walk very slowly, attempting to break from my grip and running anywhere but the direction i want him to go!
with patience running low, im normally a frustrated woman by the time we reach home.

upon reaching home, its a mad rush to get his dinner cooked.
of cos, the son has to wail pittfully for my attention and demands that i step out of the kitchen and forget about his porridge.
how convenient.
or up to snippets of mischief while i busied myself in the kitchen. like climbing on sofa, throwing toys all over the living room, spilling water onto the floor from his water bottle etc...
gosh, the list goes on.

and so i shout! and so i beat him at times! and so he crys! and the cycle can repeat itself n times in 1 short evening until pappy comes home ard 7pm. @_@
then, i'll throw everything to him.
BUT, yz's terrible antics dont end here of cos!
when its time for bed, he will wail that he doesnt want to go to sleep.
he will run away like a wind when you ask him to do simple things like changing into his PJs, brushing his teeth or just drinking his last milk feed.
then i'll shout and he'll guai guai come and do what he's required to do.
wah, but the shouting really tire me out.

and then by 9+pm, he will be sound asleep in his room.
and i will walk in, look at his sleeping face, kiss and smell his face.
AND then feel those waves of guilt coming over me for shouting at him earlier on.
SIGH.
really wanted to spend some good quality time with him before #2 arrives but its really hard to do so in reality.
wonder if its just a normal terrible 2's phase he's in or as the old folks said, he is getting more difficult just because he "senses" #2 arrival soon.

whatever.
really hope that he will revert back to his good boy phase again soon.
and time passes fast so i can go back to agile (ha!) me and able to take care of him better.
really, you need bundle of energy to keep up with a toddler boy lor.

ok, enough of ranting.
though having compain so much, this evening was actually a good one.
not much trouble/fussiness from him and i was able to prepare his dinner while he played quietly by himself in the living room.
dinner was gobbled up fairly fast by him and we spent some time playing some puzzles before the husband got home.
and he guai guai prepared for bedtime before knocking out in 15mins time. heh.
let's hope such good evenings continue!

been a really hectic weekend for me! but good lah, have more activities before i get heavier. @_@

13.11.2009:
went to pick up the husband after work and made our way to vivo for dinner since the lil' terror was away at my mum's place.
wanted to catch a movie initially but nothing catches our fancy.
was there for only about an hr or so before i started to get really uncomfy.
feeling tummy cramps and even walking seems to take its toll on me after dinner.
unsure of the reason and so decided to head home to rest to play safe.

14.11.2009:
went to pick up the son from mum's place around lunch time and the poor tired boy fell asleep in the car on our way home.
when we reached our house, he woke up and refused to go back to nap!
so he slept <1hr>

GS was bringing her daughter to our house for a playdate and PCY and PP joined in too! :)
been sometimes since i last saw them. :)
told yz about mei mei coming and he was decidedly excited and kept on asking me "where is mei mei?".
anyway the kiddos seem to have fun and yz was quite willing to share his toys with her. goody good!
they stayed from 3+ to ard 6pm and we went for dinner near our house. mei mei was sooo tired out that she fell asleep in the baby chair right after her dinner! LOL.

i left for candice's house for her housewarming cum sisters' discussion later in the evening. yes, shes got married the next day! *wee*
was a lil' worried abt hubbi unable to handle a cranky yz from lack of sleep.
BUT, apparantly yz was also so tired out by the playdate that he dozed off while having his last milk feed and dozed off in seconds by 8+pm once hubbi placed him in his bed. hehe.

anyway, the gathering at candice's house was fun (as usual)! the gang all turned up, including gb who cant make it for the wedding dinner the next day due to work commitments.
we had so much laughter discussing on the details of gatecrashing for the next day.
how i wish i can be one of the sisters. oh well, im really too big and heavy for this role now. heh.

went home after that and spent some quiet moments with the husband.
we were both wondering if we have such chances when #2 comes along. tsk tsk.

15.11.2009:
highlight of the day was definitely candice's wedding dinner at grand shanghai! :)
reached the restaurant @ around 6+pm and went up to the bridal suite at corpthorne to see the bride getting made-up.
so happy for her! all the kakis busied themselves in their respective roles be it emcees, reception table etc.
me? i stayed with the bride till its time for her to go down and mingle with the guests. heh.
dinner was smooth and food was great.
great time chatting with the gang as usual and glad to see that hubbi enjoying himself and the food too. :)

really happy for one of my best friends getting hitched to the man of her life. :)

anyway, both hubbi and me were dead beat when we finally reached home at 11+... lucky the son was away at the mum's place (like again!). hiaks.
and we were indeed best friends, all of us took leave today just... because. LOVL.

16.11.2009:
so now im at my mum's place, slacking the day away before fetching the husband from his work after yz's dinner here.
hubbi took AM leave and so we went recce for yz's future nursery in 1 year + time in the east.
talk about being kiasu. geez.
well, its never too early to plan lah.

ok, gotta go entertain my 宝贝儿子 liao...

2010.....

this may sound a little premature at this point of time.
but i really hope 2010 will turn out smoothly.
at least the events will turn out according to what hubbi and i have planned.
luck, i need tons.
and oh of course, money. hehe.

the move back to the east.
let it all fall in place nicely, pls!
*fingers and smelly toes crossed tight tight*

little moments with the husband

home-cooked brekkie by hubbi
the husband decided to have a go at attempting english breakfast for us!
so we made a trip down to liang court after work last week(when yz is at my mum's place, keke) to buy the necessary stuff for him to prepare brekkie!
so last saturday morning, he busied himself in the kitchen and in half an hour time, breakfast was ready!

the scramble egg and bacon were good! but the waffles can be more crispy i guess.
oh well, thumbs up for the efforts i guess!

little gem @ arab
wanted to go explore orchard central after work on wed with the husband since the son was at my mum's place again.
but alas, closing stuff held me back at work till 7pm. @_@
in the end asked hubbi to come to my workplace to wait for me instead.
afterwards, we decided to explore arab street and chanced upon this little cafe which serves some really good food. :)


this drink tastes like sarsi! nice!

we had fungi ham pizza. really tasty!

anyway arab street and haji lane at night is really quite lively.

cant wait to come back and properly shop after i pop. hehe.

photos taken with fi's camera....

when we met for dinner last thursday @ raffles city.
as usual, yz took a long time to warm up to zy and her.
by then, its already near his sleeping time and he was really cranky. @_@