childcare saga

as some of you would have known by now, yz is attending childcare starting from this week!
we've arranged for him to attend a childcare near our house for 3 days a week (mon-wed).
dont have the heart to send him for full 5 days so he will continue to go my mum's place every thurs & fri.
so this week is the first week!
i took 3 days off just to 陪太子读书!
together, we attended the childcare for 3 half-day this week.
started with half-days to ease him into the routine...

day 1 (mon):
ah long and we both joined him at class. with us around, he was at his best.
he greeted the teachers, was at ease with all the kiddos around him.
he was mad with joy with all the new toys around him and the indoor playground made available to him.
oh, and he got to watch 30mins of barney. a luxury to him! heh.
until its time for us to head home at 1230pm, he said no(!).
what a good start.


looking at the pet fish with interest in the toddlers' section


playing with the many toys there.

Day 2:
i decided to start to "disappear". of cos, doing it the right way.
after his breakfast at 845pm, i told him that mummy is going to work.
will he be guai guai and stay in school till i come and fetch him later?
he said yes, and i started to walk away to the playground area.
within ear shot but out of his sight.
within 3 minutes, he realised im not around, he dashed out of his toddler's area shouting, "mammy!'. the teacher in charge quickly carried him back.
thats when he started crying on-off. teacher came and asked me what is his comfy object so i asked them to give him his pillow n beanie which we brough to school for him.

and guess what, he started lying on the floor while cradling his beanie.
sobbing quietly for me.
when the teachers tried to get him off the floor or carried him, he will shout,"不要!" very loudly and proceeded to cry hysterically.
so they left him be, hoping he will come out of his state soon.
but NO! the stubborne boy really lied around the floor from then till 11+am! crying now and then for me!
so damn heartpain.
the teachers asked me to go back in at 1130am as they cant make him finish his lunch cos he kept on wanting to lie on the floor!
gosh, wonder where did he learn this trick!?

when i walked upon him, he was lying on the floor on a drenched (with his tears) pillow and looking perfectly pitiful.
when i called out to him, he started to pout and cried while scrambling up to hug me.
sigh. i wonder if i made the wrong choice of sending him to cc so soon. :(

i fed him lunch and with me around, he allowed teacher to bath him and after his milk feed, he seemed perfectly alrighty again (albeit the puffy eyes).
and we left for home with a heavy heart for me.
how i dreaded tomorrow!



sob sob. where is mummy? i dont want you to feed me!

Day 3:
likewise, i said goodbye to him after his breakfast. and being smarter now, he started saying no no! but i told him firmly and gently that im leaving for work but will be back after his lunch and bath to bring him out.
then i walked out and i can hear him starting to cry again! :(
teacher came by at 9+am and said he is still crying and lying on the floor again.
so she was going to bring them to the music room for barney video and some dancing exercises to distract him.
i saw her picked up a struggling, screaming yz and herded the rest of the class into the music rm at 10am. so sad.

i waited anxiously till 11+pm when the teacher finally came to the cafeteria (where i was waiting outside the class) to update me that since the music class, he has stopped crying (!) and started to mingle with the rest of toddlers.
though at times, he'll still remember me and got upset and proceeded to lie on the floor for awhile, he'll get up soon and start roaming the place, playing.
im so glad to hear that!
so i made my re-entry at 12+pm to find an OK yz walking around rambling in his baby words to another gor gor. ha.
really hope he can adjust and adapt soon by next week! *fingers crossed*


recovered by music class. eyes abit puffy.

all the above photos was taken by the teachers and emailed to me on a daily basis to keep me updated on how is yz's progress.

im really appreciative of that.

hope to see more happy shots for the next few weeks to come!

i have done alot of things alone in my life.
i have eaten lunch alone like a million times.
i have gone to movies alone like a dozen times.
i have travelled alone like one time.
i have slept alone in my house like 2 times max (ha).

and yesterday, i did another thing alone for the first time.

i...... attended a wedding dinner alone!!
*gulp* in a table of 10, i know NO ONE!
haha.

still, even though the groom was very nice to check again with me if i will still go (as our only other common friend was unable to make it), i said yes.
it just doesnt seem right to reject based on the reason that i know no one there.
my presence is supposed to celebrate the special night for the couple, no?

anyway, alone i went.
and it aint as bad as i thought. i manged to kick up a conversation with the 2 people next to me.
and the food and ambience are quite nice. im in fullerton anyway.
:)

what an experience. @_@

oct babies lunch gathering

its been so long since yz and me have joined the oct mummies & babies for any outings.
the last was during the bday bash which was a good half year back?
last saturday, 20+ babies met again at the coffee club branch @ clarke quay!
i didnt manage to eat much for the lunch for i attended the outing with yz alone. still, so glad to see him having fun with toddlers his age. :)
forgot to bring camera so below are some photos from mummies who took them!
thanks to mummies hippo, tiffy & ponponta!

adri giving yz a tight hug!

me telling him,"must hug back ok!"



look at his expression haha

can you spot us?

work karma bites back

going through the 2nd peak period for the year.
the 1st peak period for 2009 was in Jan when the auditor dropped by for the audit.
it was over in 1.5 weeks.

now it's time for us to make sure that the financial statements get released by this mth!
gosh. coupled with my month-end closing last week, work life is almost unbearable.
bleh.
still, i managed to go off work about the same time as before.
BUT, the outstanding list really bothers me.
i dun like to have too many stuff yet to be resolved.
oh, and my manager on maternity leave. sob.

oh well, im treating it as payback time for all the early evenings i enjoyed for the past 1 year. :P
jia you!

before i know it, we are now in the month of june!
time is passing by too fast.
in 2 weeks time, yz will be attending childcare.
really getting anxious.
worried that he will fall sick, though that is quite inevitable.
worried that he will not eat enough there since he's not really that good with self-feeding yet.
worried that he will have a hard time adapting to the new environment and be unhappy.
can only keep my fingers crossed that everything will be just fine.

been doing nothing much these few weekends.
here's some photos for the weekend.


happy baby

it seems like 2009 has not been a good year so far.
im attending the 2nd funeral for the year this week.
4 weeks back, its my maternal grandmother who passed away.
this thursday, its my paternal grandmother.
im very close to my mum's family, hence i was really upset last month at my m. grandmum's funeral.
the funeral lasted 5 days and was really draining for me for i was down at the funeral every day till late.
there was alot of rituals and praying as well.
and of cos the emotional heaviness that stays with me throughout.

this time round, its different.
im distant from my dad's family and the being there was awkward at best.
still, the departure saddens me.
its never good to see ur loved ones sad. in this case, my dad.
sigh. i just hope the second half of the year will be better.

baby and me enjoying a waffles @ anderson's ice cream
this is his new way of smiling

there have to be more exciting things to do!

ah long and me has to be the most boring couple around.
ok, my fault lah. given my love for movie.
every week, yz will be at my mum's place for 2 nights.
the 1st night doesnt really count for coupletime for we will stay there for dinner and play with baby until he's asleep before going home.
so, how do we spend the 2nd evening normally?

well, we go for movies!

in fact, we have been watching movies for the past 4 weeks! gosh.
terminator salvation yesterday.
angels and demons last week.
star trek last last week.
wolverine origin last last last week.

so to break out of the boring routine, yz is staying one more night at mum's place for tonight!
and we!?
we are going to catch a performance by Jeremy Monteiro & T'ang Quartet tonight at the esplanade! :)
my treat to the husband.
it's more my cup of tea lah. but really glad that hubbi is willing to accompany me.
hope it will be a great evening + night ahead!

update:

taken during the intermission of the performance

the performance aint bad. but i thought it will be better if tang quartat had performed more. they were missing for about an hr!
anyway, music really heals your soul. the jazz pieces were really good. :)

crocs sale!

had a slow and lazy weekend. just felt very tired to go out and so stayed home we did!
ok, not really. for me to stay home all day would be near to IMPOSSIBLE.

we brought yz for his booster jab on sat morning.
he has grown 200g + 2cm over the past mth! weighing 12.1kg now and standing at 88cm tall now. :)
for this jab, he aint as cool. think he remembers the last visit.
so no amount of cajoling or toys could not make him turn away from the needle and the doc.
so he saw the needle poke into his thigh and co-related first hand the pain to the action.
*ouch* not a pretty sight.
yz's face crumpled all but 2s then he was pacified by the doc's offer of a biscuit.
ha, brave boy.

we went home and napped most of the day away. went to great world and had kenny rogers for dinner.
yumyum, i forgotten how tasty their side dishes are!
and yz's dinner was same as us - ang-moh styled.
whipped potato, chicken, muffin and macroroni cheese! heh.

went to crocs sales at expo last evening. should have gone on the very first day!
mostly left with one size one pattern. bleh.
still, managed to get myself and yz a pair.
both @ $15 each! what a slash from the usual $50+.
next year will cheong the sale for sure. hehe.
im now a crocs fanatic. soo comfy to wear!

cheeky baby ransacking my bag

摆 pose waiting for neighbour 姐姐 to come out

his new table and chair!

arturo chiang + EQ:IQ

its a good thing that the cookie monster seldom pop by to read my blog anymore.
if not cookie monster will turn into oscar the grouch.

EQ:IQ shop in raffles city is having a FANTASTIC moving out sale!
and surprisingly they carry a good range of shoe brands like EQ:IQ, arturo chiang, JLo and some others. :)
all very comfy.
all very pretty.
all normally out of my range.

BUT, i managed to get not one, but TWO fantastic buys from there these 2 days!
yes, 2 days cos i bought 1 pair yesterday and went back for another pair just now.
HIAKS!
1 is arturo chiang going at $90 (before: $240!)
2nd one is EQ:IQ going at $110 (before $280!).
what a steal! *gleeful me*

ok, ive to admit im a shoe addict.
and i've to hide the 2nd pair from the cookie moster for the time being... again. :P

side story
was very gleeful with my purchase yesterday so when i reached home, i took them out of the box and showed yz saying, “ma mee you xin xue!"
then i quickly put the new shoes on the shoe rack with the rest of our shoes, hoping the husband wont notice it like normal.
and put the shoe box in an inconspicuous corner to be disposed tomorrow.
guess what!?

the 1st thing yz did when hubbi stepped into the house was to walk up to the shoe rack, pointed out my new shoes to his pappy and said "xin xue, xin xue!"
faint.
kena exposed by my own flesh & blood. :(

黄勇智小朋友

TYZ will be turning 19months old next tuesday!
nowadays he's really a handful as well as joy to be with.
some of the developments/actions of him recently:

1) words and phrases are stumbling out of his mouth more often nowadays. though they are mostly in chinese!
这是什麽，吃什麽， 葡萄皮（we feed him grapes by removing the skin), 自己吃 （he's into self-feeding nowadays), 喜欢妈咪，I love you (漏风 version), "溜溜晓" (whenever he sees pappy topless or when i changing clothes.hehe. yesterday he was flipping i-mag and came across this model topless jumping for a watch advert, he said," uncle 溜溜晓！" so funny!), 下来走走(when we are carrying him and he wants to come down to walk), RTT (for MRT, he cant pronounce the M), ok, lets go (no kidding, he always say this when im done with putting on his shoes and opening the door), 想妈咪（to my mum when im at work), 不要不要！（when being difficult) etc

2) he can recognize and say the following characters: "elmo, zoe, big bird, cookie monster, mickey mouse, donald duck, 小叮当."

3）he knows how to make the sounds for the following animals. he will go woof woof for dog, quack quack for duck, moo for cow, meow for cat, oink oink for pig, baa baa for sheep. still trying to teach him neigh for horse, squeak for mouse and coo coo for chicken.

4) he can recognize most of the shapes like circle, square, rectangle, triangle, star etc.
he can complete the shape sorter with around 10 shapes all by himself (with a bit of patience).

5) he still cant distinguish colors though despite me trying to teach him. sometimes he point out the red and blue correctly when i asked him but mostly wrong answers. abit worried that he maybe colorblind. hmm..

6) one of his favourite words now is crocodile (in fact he really like crocodile which is my most-feared animal of all times! blech. when we ask him who is baby crocodile, he will point to himself and make a roaring sound).

7) he likes to hug my head and pull my face close to kiss. :)

he is really the love of my life. :)

well done and the buys.

met up with dan, jx and zm for dinner @ bras brasah's jack's place last friday evening.
been sometime since the 4 of us met up for any decent banter.
really really glad to make it though the husband was kinda sulking at home, baby-sitting the baby home alone.
we had so much laughter that night that i think i can go on 1 week without laughing. hehe.
and im so craving steak now!! jack's place's butter steak is to die for!
yumyum.
but well done for me thank you. i cant stand any red or blood at all. bleh.

we adjourned for milo & toast at a small cafe in citylink after that.
discussed some really interesting topics and i really think i gained more insight on how differently mars and venus think.

made up to hubbi over the weekend. tried to minimise as much shopping as i can.
and arranged a lunch at the in-laws house. think that perks him up. heh.

still, cannot dont buy things lah.
somemore i got some vouchers on hand, how to resist.
so.. i got myself:
1) Lancome Maquiliquide UV Perfect Everlasting Liquid Foundation
its a new foundation by lancome which is water-based and supposed to be very sheer and lightweight. something i really want in a foundation. hope to try it out soon.
my Shu Uemura Water Perfect Smoothing Water In Fluid Foundation down to its last few pumps, so its time to try new stuff!
but i still have a more than 1/2 full rmk creamy foundation sitting ard. bleh.
2) maybelline gel eyeliner.
3) Eclipse: who is after Bella's life?? WHO WHO WHO?!
the suspense is killing me.
got to finish the book fast.

Gaudi - Part 4

i know i am very slow in updating on my mar trip.
almost 2 mths since im back and im still at barcelona.
but i still want to write about this even when you guys are no longer interested.
cos i really really like barcelona and all its sights!
its really the most interesting city i've ever visited, on par with paris and rome! :)

barcelona's people is really fortunate to have this park to go to.


park guell!

so many interesting details about this awesome park. the huge platform/rooftop of the place is one of the highlight. you got a good view of the surroundings.
you can take in the sun and wind. performances/concerts can be held there easily.

best of all are the seats twined round the perimeter of it.

they are unbelievably comfy to sit on! no kidding.

gaudi is one guy big on ergonomics! most of his creations are aesthetics meet functionality.

so pretty to see, so good to sit on! :)

we are below the rooftop now. beautiful ceiling.

one of the entrance to the park itself. and of cos hot tourist spot for photo-taking!

even the gift shop looks like something from a fairy tale.

the park is really worth the hassle of getting to it.

im missing barcelona already. :(

was on leave earlier during the week. so went to pick up the husband from his work with baby in the evening.
took him to try a new japanese restaurant which i thought was delicious.
as usual the spoilsport behaved like an ingrate!
"wah.. ERP so expensive."
"why you park here? the parking so ex."
"here like not very baby-friendly.
"wah, quite expensive hor."

in short, the dinner was so-so for him only. chey.
somemore my treat! bugged him to refund me after that but he pretend-pretend. bleh.


still, baby and me enjoyed the food tons! :)

the frame is done up for our dali's poster so we swinged by my mum's place to get it.
will post up a photo soon.
the finished product looks awesome. almost like the real thing.
ok, maybe not.

went to tampines after that for i wanted to get table and chair for yongzhi.
we found the perfect one at kiddy palace (in century square) and there is 15% discount storewide.
just in time. :)


gleeful me

g

im defintiely not a vulcan, nor a vampire

i consumed twilight and new moon with a fervour that scares myself.
but its very hard to resist to find out more on Edward and Bella's fates.
hiaks. i feel so teeny boppy!!
anyway new moon is abit of a let-down.
not much of a climax and more questions raised again! *argh*
but im not buying it. will wait awhile before i go get Eclipse.
also, seriously a little tired out by meyer's style of writing.
too flowery and, how do i put it, too 浅白.

oh! star trek is very good!
i think its funny, touching and packed full of action sequences!
and very easy to follow despite i know nuts abt the show.
and i cant be a vulcan lor.
so hard to suppress my emotions!

ok, enuff of rambling again. pls go catch star trek!
i cant wait for the sequel!!

talking about sequels, anyone still remember Eragon?
i guess no one wants to catch its sequel..

it was a quiet mother's day for me yesterday.
morning until late afternoon was spent at my gramp's wake and @ mandai crematorium.
a rather sad event. but im abit relieved that my mum's reaction was better than i had expected.
sigh. gramps will be missed by all of us.

hubbi and me took turns to nap when back home.
when i woke up from mine, saw that the husband and baby had drawn me this! :)
ok, its more of ah long holding yongzhi's hand to trace the below, but im still very touched and glad.



we left for a simple dinner @ tiong bahru and it was really a fantastic great evening for me.


we took the train for we were simply too tired to go get our car from the carpark.
ha, yes THAT tired.

came home and settled baby to sleep by 9+pm and for the 1st time for the past week, hubbi and i spent a quiet moment talking to each other, watching the tube and snacking.

wanted to share this very cute photo. think we went out for breakfast few days back and yz insisted on bringing his toy along.
so all the way from our hse to our brekkie place, he was diligently carrying this basket with his "buy" - a fish- haha.

grandma has passed away mid this week.
she was admitted into hospital on monday due to breathlessness and i was not informed.
mummy conveniently didnt do so as this was not the first time grandma got hospitalised in the last 2 mths.
when i got the news on tue noon, i asked ah long to accompany me to visit her after work.
apart from being on the oxygen mask, she was pretty much herself.
able to acknowledge our presence and move her hands feebly around.
i really thought she was going to be discharged in few days time.
a distraughted mum called me on wed morn and said grandma's heartbeat has fallen low and the doc asked them to be mentally prepared.
so her 8 children (my uncles, big auntie and mum) took turn to visit her ward (due to the limit on visitors per ward cos of the swine flu scare) asking her to go peacefully. that she has nothing to worry for them.
i think she was blessed in a way that most of her loved ones were with her during her last moments.
it was ard 1pm when she left us.

i was just shocked when i first heard the news over the phone from my mum.
no tears. just a sense of heaviness around my heart.

ah long and me went straight from our house to the wake on wed night after settling baby.
upon reaching, my mum brought me to see my gramps in her coffin. i thought gramps looked absolutely peaceful.
thats when i started sobbing.
i've no idea why.
im not really sure if i cried because the death has finally settled in or my griefing mum.

that night when i was helping out with folding the incence paper, i realised my uncles, auntie and especially my own mum seem to age alot overnight.
the white t-shirt seems to hang on her thin frame and the skin on her forearms seem really wrinkled.
and her eyes. her eyes are no longer opaque black.
old people's eyes normally take on a translucent hue, if you have not noticed by now.
i felt like crying again. i was so scared of losing her that moment.

sigh. it is so cliche that we always start to realise the importance of our loved ones in the face of death.

on thursday night, my mum was up to her bad habits. skipping meals.
and after crying real bad during the last praying ritual, she fainted.
i was more pissed than sympathising.
why cant she take better care of herself?!
but i know she has to grief her way out of this episode.
so i can only call her again and again to make sure she eats a little here and there.

gramps will be incinerated this sunday morning. it still feel very surreal to me.
still cant really reconcile the fact that she is like really.. gone.
and not waiting around at circuit road for me to bring baby along to visit her on sundays.

sigh. i know life goes on and death is inevitable.
just trying my best to take all this in my stride as best as i can.
im only worried about my mum now.
hope she can cope better this time round as compared to my grandpa's death back then.
i really hope so.

so bad its good!

*yippee* its a long weekend again. though it'll be another 3m+ before the next public holiday (apart from vesak day which falls on a saturday.. boo!)!
whatever, enjoy while it last!

the ng family wanted to go somewhere east along the line of east coast or downtown east initially. but the weather yesterday gave us second thoughts. so hot!
so we changed the venue to.. botanic garden since i think even i've never been there! ha.
and should be more cooling with the shade provided by the trees, right?
WRONG lor. i think no more outdoors for us this mth. too darn hot!

i just got my (pathetic) bonus so i told the husband that expenses will be all paid by me for a change. just meals and nothing much but im glad it made his day! :)

oh, sidetrack abit, i think shiseido eyelash curler and majolica mascara work best for my S&S (short & sparse) eyelashes! been trying out many different combi - shu uemura, make up store eyelash curler, estee lauder, loreal, maybelline, fasio mascara etc, all cannot make it.


this may not be much but its really the best for my S&S lashes. ha.
oh, pardon my 斗鸡眼。

ok, back to our semi-long day yesterday.


yz loves twirling my necklaces whenever i wear them.

i love his great smile. umm, i mean baby and not hubbi.

we made our way to ben & jerry's @ dempsey hill for breakfast! actually its more from the CA California restaurant next to it. wanted to eat B&J's waffles for the husband's sweet tooth but we were so full from the american breakfast that we cant eat anymore.

yz's 嘟嘟嘴 is so cute!

with mammy!

wholesome american breakfast! i think their scrambled eggs is great!

after brekkie, we drove to botanic garden which is nearby, just opp. dempsey hill.
destination: jacob ballas children garden for yz to play with water.

how to go: clueless.

and so we (very clever us) just parked at the first available public car park, only to realised when we were like 200m from the car that we were at the other side of the garden (= FAR from the children garden lor.) @_@

nevertheless, the part where we were at - ginger garden - is very picturesque and we enjoyed a brisk walk around that area.

but the sun melted part of me there lor. try not to step on me the next time you are there.

yz is actually quite scared of this mini waterfall. kept on turning back to watch his back when taking this shot. ha.

walking around like a big shot.

quite scenic hor?

we managed to find the children garden after sometimes and its near noon by then. which means VERY HOT lor.
but yz still have fun playing with water lah.

taken by the husband. yes, this 二十四孝（笑） mum was following the baby around with an umbrella non-stop! ALL the while. LOL.

we left the place ard 1+pm after yz had his lunch for vivo. hubbi and me grabbed our own (late)lunch @ cedele. must say the chicken tofu sandwich is really nice, though the portion very small lah.

we went for some shopping and left for home around 4+pm. very tired ng family by then. ha.


went home and tried baby's crocs on him . still oversized. sigh. and stingy hb didnt want to get him another pair @ vivo! *grr*

crushed in my 怀抱！

this is my pressie to yz! magnetic cum chalk cum whiteboard for him.
attached recycled paper on it and let him play with his existing marker pens.
the results after a mere 15 mins!

oh, why the post title?!
cos i brought my 1st pair of crocs. dont really like crocs design cos like very chunky and big.

but till i saw its latest addition, i know ive to get it.

and get it, i did. :)

seriously, who can resist animal prints? not me!

im coming out of the closet....

i totally HEART zac enfron! :)
17 again is warm and gives me a nice fuzzy feeling.
thumbs up to zac enfron. he really carry the role well and gives some good naunces on behaving like a middle-aged man. hehe.

and boy, can he dance and dunk!
oh, and totally totally good-looking lor.