THE END of Year 2009

Today is the last day of year 2009. While I am typing this, another 15 hours will bring us to a new year of 2010. A lot of things have happened in my life in the year of 2009. Both our career is sailing smoothly. Sam changed to a new company and face new challenges. I am still working with the same company which I need to travel about an hour from home. Initially, I thought that I would only work for a year in this firm due to long journey. Year comes to year, I have been working here for 3.5 years. It's never come into my mind that the management decided to shift to another building. Hence, when I started to work I was situated in very old building, old desk, old and torn chair, Now, I sit in the entirely new workstation and newly decoration. I can't believe that my boss will fork $$ for the new look of office. As a result of this, we are also wondering where is our half bonus which has not been distributed this year. I myself have learned more thorough out this year.

We have been quarrelling in the mid of this year. I hope that that was the last quarrel in our whole life. If such quarrel did happen again in my life, I would prefer to walk in my own way.I also understand that quarrel is quite frequent in every marriage. This may happen to every married couple. A wife will feel that the husband is not able to help her. A husband is egoist, unable to multi task, never heard what woman says, forgetful, irrational, need to be pampered. A husband will feel that the wife never understand that he is busy, need to concentrate to work, burden with office politics, wife is not gentle, caring to him. It is just a matter of how both husband and wife to balance out their life to each other.

I also have changed maid 3 times within half year. After my teenager maid left, I was down with luck of choosing maids. The previous 2 maids which I used got attitude problem. Hence, we decided to get another nationality of maid. We use Fili maid now. She seems to be care to Josh much. Hope that she can finish her contract. I am planning to use maid till Josh go to P1. that will be another 5 – 6 years.

In this year, there is the first time we travel with Mom and Dad and Inlaws to China. All of us enjoy the moment we travel together very much.

Last but not the least, my resolution for next year is as follows:

1. Shed off another 2-5 kgs. It seems impossible to shed off 5 kgs though. :)

2. Take up some photography course.

3. Enough of studying my professional course.

4. Bring parents go for holidays.

5. Sign up swimming lesson for Derick.

Joshua Has Weaned Off Bottle

Josh can't drink from straw cup yet. But he dislike his milk bottle now. He only drink 2oz of milk from milk bottle. Contrary, if we pour the milk in sippy cup; he can finish 180 ml within 2 minutes. I guess he has weaned off from his milk bottle. Last time, Derick also weaned off from bottle when he can use sippy/straw cup. I don't buy the larger teat for bottle again since he can use the sippy cup at 8 months.

Office Shifting

After such a long leave (1.5 month), finally today I returned back to work. Our office has shifted to another building. This morning I came to office, the feeling is like first day to new company. I sit at my workstation (already choose the place where to sit before I took leave) and everything is new including the desk, chair, phone, carpet and even air-con is freezing cold. Can you feel the feeling of everything new? If you can't, just imagine using new toilet bowl. Bwah..ha..ha…

My birthday

It's my 31st birthday today. Derick remembered my birthday and demand me to bring him to Fidgets. He has such a glib tongue by saying that I can eat cake at Fidgets. I plan to bring kids there in the next few weeks.

Derick also keep saying that we can eat birthday cake today. In the end, I am the one who ordered a cake for myself and asked the bakering to put the wordings on it. Hm...I told Derick that he should be the one who order for Mommy in the next few years. Forget about Sam who remembered my birthday but never give me any gifts. We don't practice to give each other gifts after marriage.

Derick's Primary Uniform

Time flies, Derick will be going P1 next year.

Derick's Kindergarten Graduation and Concert

Derick's has been graduated from Kindergarten. How time flies. Sometimes in my mind, I am still day dreaming that I was holding his hand and step by step we walk together to the playground. How I share moments with him for three years. (Oh..my Stay At Home Mother "SAHM" time). How was he crying while walking toward the childcare's main door. He peeped at me (face turning back a little) but still walking in.

Few days ago, I brought him to the primary school for orientation. I remembered myself when I was on my first day at P1. My mom visited me alone whereas my friend's mom carried my friend's younger brother visited her. Once I reached home, I told my mom that I want another younger brother or sister. My mom agreed and smiled. My mom bluffed me, in fact, I am the youngest in my family. Maybe that is the wise answer by answering yes and smiling at me who was only 5 years old.

Der...I will bring Josh to the school to visit you on your 1st day at P1. You sure will be very delighted.

I want to update Der's graduation and concert picture here, but it needs time. By the time I am uploading the photo, Josh would have wake up from his dream. Oh...I have to end my post here. I will try to update the photos within these few weeks.

Updated as at 20 Nov 09 (as promised earlier :)

Shanghai-Suzhou-Hangzhou Nov 09 Trip

We went to Shanghai last weekend during the entire week. My parents were tagging along with us. We visited Suzhou and Hangzhou as well. This is a very memorable holiday for us. A very rare occasion where parents meet inlaws and went for Suzhou and Hangzhou together. We took train to Hangzhou.

Xi Hu, Hangzhou. I thought that I can see reddish leaf at Xi Hu. Who knows that the weather is still too warm for the leaves to turn red.

Dinner at one restaurat at Shanghai.

Photo with Gong gong, Po Po, Ye Ye, Nai Nai and Mommy.

Josh is very happy maybe due to mommy's companion for 24 hours during the trip.

Family Photo at Ou Yuan Garden, Suzhou.

There were some hic cups during the trip such as Josh's ticket which was not issued by the travel agency, no sitting trains tickets only standing tickets are available to Hangzhou. However, we managed to get the full refund for Josh's ticket from travel agency and sitting train tickets at restaurant and bed decker train tickets.

I have many photos which have not uploaded here. I will upload at other site and update here when I have more free time.

Updated as at 19 Nov 09.

Please visit my facebook for more photos. For more details photo, I will update in Dec 09.

Update on Derick

Derick has grown up. He is weighing at 29 kg. I almost can't believe my own eyes when I look at the weighing scale. I hug him and put my head on his stomach. I feel likes resting on a comfy sofa. "So comfy" I commented. Der responded that I can make him as a pillow and hug the pillow in my dream land.

Der likes to play with Josh. He likes to push the tricycle while Josh is sitting in it. But Josh doesn't like to sit in the tricycle; therefore, Der has to beg Josh to sit in.

Sam's Birthday

Last Saturday, 3rd October 2009 was Sam's birthday. Look at the candles...so many...He commented that one candle is enough for him to blow. Derick insisted we have to buy the cake on that day since tomorrow will not be Daddy's birthday anymore. I sensed the real reason in his brain is I want to eat the cake today.

By the way, I used my old Canon Ixus 55 self-timer mode to capture this photo. I can't rely with my previous helper's hand to snap picture for us since I notice that her hands are not able to hold things steadily.

I throw away my breast milk

I pump the milk and will be go to the drain within 5 minutes. I feel so heartpain to throw but the milk is full of antibotics smell. I have to throw away.

I am Sick

I have been sick for alternate week in this month (September 09). Mastitis attacked me twice and I was being prescribed Augmentin. Now, I am sick due to flu and throat infection. I have recovered from flu but then the bacteria in my throat has not died yet. I have been immuned with the antibiotics. After taking the antibiotic for 2 days and I still have fever, I quickly go to see GP again and explained to her that I have been taking Augmentin in the last week. This lady GP's face is so sweet. But the way she treated her patient is so rude, 'chiak' will be more suitable to describe her attitude. She gave me a very strong antibiotic injection on my right buttock. Oh...i can't breastfeeding Josh for a week. I have to throw away my breast milk. Josh wake up at least thrice every night for breastfeeding. This may be the main cause that my immunity is so weak now.

Mastitis Again

Oh no...I got mastitis last week and now again on another side. This is the 4th or 5th time I got mastitis. Hope, it was the last time in my life.

Derick's Spelling

Since K2 - Term 3, Derick's got spelling in Chinese and English for both, once a week. I have to revise his spelling every nite. I also try to build his own self-awareness to revise his spelling in the morning before going to school. I notice that he did revise himself this morning. I am quite happy that he revised it. Eventough, he will not score full mark later, but I am contented already.

Josh First Step

After long waiting, finally, Josh has his first step on 8th Sept 2009 nite when all of us in Der's room. He tried to stand independently, laughing and moved forward his foot. So cute.

Mastitis Attacked Me Again

Mastitis attacked me again for the 4th time. I have been breastfeeding for 14 months. I can't believe it. I was down with high fever 38.5C. I kept massaging the lump but it seemed that the lump was still stuck there.

Derick's Creative Writing

Last week when I came home, Der greet me at dooar and said "Mommy, my writing got published in the Term-end book." I caught no ball what he was referring to. After dinner, I flipped the Term-end book which covering the news/updates for one term. Normally, I will flip and flip to search for his face which is normally I can see his head, back not the full picture of him.

Suddenly, under creative writing topic I saw this.

You can try to click of the photo for a closer look.

Anyway, I share with you here for the details of his writing:

I love grasshopper because it can jump.

I love bee because it can make honey.

I love ladybug because it has spots.

I do not like cockroach because it can climb on my nose.

I asked him how he knew to spell the wordings. He said that if he is not sure of the spelling, he asked the teacher and the teacher will write on a piece of paper for every word he asked.

Joshua at 14 months

Joshua sitting in Giant's Shopping Cart.

Joshua at Fidgets, Turf City.

Josh....you have reached 14 months.
You are still crusing around.
You are so different with your 'xiao ge' who has started walking at 11 months.
You can do many things which your 'xiao ge' never done at your age.
You can't do many things which your 'xiao ge' able to do at your age.
Both of you are really different.
You are fussy eater unlike your 'xiao ge'.
You are so playful.
Mommy notice that you prefer to use left hand. Are you a left handed?
You are pro-active.
You will approach kids around your age yourself.
You start to call your 'xiao ge'
One day you called ge...ge...Your 'xiao ge' is so delighted and asked spontaneously to you. "JH, are you calling ge ge?"

Story Behind Shifting to CCK

As I have promised you to share the story when I came back to Singapore in my previous post, I will start now.

Five years ago, when Derick was about 1 year plus, we signed him up to join Baby Show at Yew Tee. At that time, we were only curious about how the baby show will be performed. Der didn't win the show but we came across that the size of flat near the Yew Tee Community Club is big. The environment is quite clean and kids friendly. Once our old flat at West Coast hitted 1 year mark, we looked for another place to shift. We did not visit many flat at Yew Tee. I recalled that we only visited not more than 3 flats before making final decision on which flat to be selected.

When we decided to move to CCK, I asked mommy from forum about the kindergarten at that area. You may call me 'kiasu' or 'well-prepared'. Immediately, I visited a church kindergarten and went to register Der for the Nursery class next year. The registration was over (eventhough it is only April) and no vacancy for the morning session. But then, I passed the message to the Principal that I prefered morning class and please put Der in the waiting list. I did the registration in April and in Sept/Oct, the Principal called me to inform that there was somebody withdrawn her child out and asked me wheter I would like to take that slot. Surely, I answered "YES" I praised God that He has heard my pray.

When we moved to this flat, we also engaged a Foreign Domestic Worker ("FDW") for the first time. Der just reached his 3 year old when we moved to CCK.

I started to visit the church where Der would be starting his Nursery too. Right now, I am a member of the church. I happened to know a few friends from there too.

Primary School

My stress is finally over. Derick will be going to De La Salle Primary School next year. Der has been balloted in at 68th out of 103th. I am so happy for him. Some of his kindergarten classmates will be going to the same school. I asked Sam to print out the name list registered to that Primary School and asked Der to tick which name he recognised.

We love to stay at Yew Tee. There is actually a story behind it why we can shift to this district. I believe everything has been planned by God. I will try to write the story soon since I am still rushing to finish my work here in KL. I will be back to Singapore tomorrow.

Stressed Over Primary Registration

We have registered Der into nearby primary school under phase 2C and historically this school requires balloting even within 1 km. It is really stressful to register at primary school in Singapore. I heard a lot of others' experience about primary registration but only know how stressful it is after I face it myself. If I have known about this earlier, I could have make other preparation to be eligible to register under phase 2B and move nearer to the school. Distance from school to home is also my main concern if we successful to register Der under phase 2B.

Hope that Der can get in into the suitable school and God always lead him in HIS own way.

Josh Went to Gymboree

Derick last time followed 1 term of Gymboree lesson. We thought that we should let Josh has a trial lesson too.

From the pictures below, you could notice that Der is more enjoy the lesson than Josh. My $40 is well paid for 2 kids. The lesson is about 45 minutes but then we only follow for 30 minutes due to late arrival.

Weekend Outing

Last Sunday, we went to Fidgets.

Daddy and the boys.
Josh is quite amazed to see so many colorful balls.
Josh is smiling happily and never tired of playing so many new stuffs for him.

Sam's Company Gathering at Singapore Zoo

There was Family day last weekend held by Sam's company at Singapore Zoo. This photo is not taken by me. It's taken by Sam's colleague using Nikon D200.

We won the 5th Lucky Draw Prize, Otto Hand Massager.


I took this photo out new D90 kit lens (15-55mm).


However, I am not satisfied with the result and took out the 55-200mm lens and snap again.




Pardon my poor technique of snapping pictures. I still need to learn more.

Josh's First Shoe

I have not start walking yet. Mommy said brother has start walking at 11 months. But I still like to cruise. Finally, Mommy also bought me a pair of shoe since I like to cruise even I am outside.

Joshua's first shoe.

Mommy chose this pair of shoe for me because of its ventilation. Mommy afraid I will be having a smelly foot if the shoe is too covered up.

Once, I wore the shoe, I can't keep quiet. I want to take out the shoe. My first outing wearing shoe was going to NTUC to buy grocery on Saturday morning with Mommy, Daddy, brother and Kakak.

Josh's 1st Birthday

We celebrated Josh 1st birthday on 27th June 2009 (Saturday) at Mac Donald, Limbang Shopping Centre. Some pictures to share.

Family picture, Josh is busy staring at the cake. Josh: Never seen such a big and colorful cake. before. Derick: hmm....today is my birthday.

Kids are busy eating their meals.

Derick: Daddy, what are you doing? I am waiting to open the presents. Josh: Brother, why do you look so impatient? I am so happy, I got to see such a colorful box in front of me.

"Thanks aunties, uncles, sisters and brothers for coming to my birthday party. I had a great time and hope that you had a great time too. I love the presents that you gave me very much. Hope that mommy and daddy will celebrate my birthday again next year and you can join again."

Got my Nikon D90, Yay...

Remember my older post? I finally got it last weekend. I also bought the 55-200 mm lens. Sam paid over 2k for this.

Updates on Derick and Josh

Der dropped his first milk tooth at his 6-years-old. Fast? He got his first milk tooth at 4 months. Since his teeth erupted early then dropped early too.

Two of his adult teeth has erupted behind the other 2 milk teeth. His adult teeth appeared mis-aligned with others lower milk teeth. Hopefully, the rest will be aligned.

Josh got his second haircut this afternoon. His first haircut was 11 months ago (he was 1 month old). Josh is quite different with Derick. Derick will cry till the whole building can hear his cry while the hair-cutting process, but Josh seems quite enjoys it. Josh kept looking with the clipper and how the hairdresser cutting his hair. When he felt insecure, he hugged me tighter then continue looking every corner.

Stop Pumping at Office

Since yesterday I stopped pumping at office. Actually, I still want to pump but then I have to be at this client's place for two weeks. Their working environment is open space. They got no fridge, only 1 cubicle in the toilet. I tried not to pump yesterday and quickly pump once I reached home. Today, I will try not to pump and see whether I will have bad engorgement. Hopefully, everything goes smoothly. I am tired to lug the ice bricks and pump to/from office every day.

Josh maybe in growth spurt. Hubby just realised yesterday that Josh wake up every hour at nite. Indeed, most of the time Josh wake up every two hours at nite. I can say I have adapted well to his sleeping pattern. Hopefully that he will sleep through the nite soon.

Letter to Josh

Josh...

You will be turning 1 year old in few weeks time.
You are still crawling on tummy.
You like cruising.
You still wake up twice every nite.
You can show to us what you want in simple way. Eg. When you want milk, you will say eh..eh...and looking for mommy to carry you. If mommy not walking to the bedroom, you will continue eh...eh...You will look at the bed where mommy used to nurse you. You will looking at mommy and showing the expression, Mommy, why you don't lie down? I want to nurse.
You are a socialise boy.
You have tried chawanmushi when you are 11 months old. And you like it. You almost finished half bowl of it. Actually, you still can't eat white egg, but Mommy has give up what to feed you, you are indeed a fussy eater.
This is the photo when you eat chawanmushi at Shintokyo, Yew Tee Point. Your caring caregiver was holding you.

My Maid Has Gone Back

I should have a lot of things to write, but I have no mood to blog. My maid has back to her hometown. I cried buckets. This was the first time I sent maid to airport bringing Der and Josh together and cope alone in the taxi to take the new maid. Oh...I missed my old maid a lot. Der cried on the nite before the maid home. After the maid home, he smelt maid's bag and I asked new maid to wash. After cleaning, he kept on the maid's bed. I kept it in his wardrobe with the reason that new maid will be sleeping on the bed. Now, I can feel the sadness of losing a gem.

I just celebrated her 21 birthday on the nite before she went home. How good is she?

• She helps me do my confinement. Cooked and brew the herbal soup.
• Apply jamu on my tummy during confinement and put on the wrapper.
• Carry Josh from the day 3. The day he was back from Thomson Medical Centre ("TMC").
• Wash all my pumping equipment.
• Store my Express Breast Milk ("EBM") neatly in the fridge.
• Simple alter and mend our clothes.
• Fixing some small things for us.
• Brought her to Jakarta with us.
• Oh...lots of things that she helps us within this 15 months.

Pray that everything goes well to her and if we have 'yuan fen' we shall meet again.

Early Birthday Celebration for Derick

Derick's birthday always falls on school holiday, therefore, I decided to celebrate this year birthday earlier at school. Initially, I planned to throw a big birthday party for him, but after some considerations I decided to pull off. Lucky, I didn't arrange big birthday party for him, many things has happened to me recently until my fridge also almost broke down and I have to ask neighbour to let me keep my frozen EBM inside their fridge. Josh also fall sick and hope that he will fully recover by tomorrow.

Derick chose this birthday cake his own. I ordered online from Primadeli website.

Birthday boy, Derick with me. Do we look alike?
Some short video of blowing candle and Happy Birthday song.

Josh is a fussy eater

Whilst Der eats everything, Josh is one fussy eater. He doesn't want to eat porridge. Since he has been 11 months old, I asked my helper to let him try some rice. On the first two days, he ate rice happily. On the third day, he screamed and cried.

Coincidentally, the nurse at pediatrician clinic which I visited last month gave us some samples of cereal. My helper fed him Ne*tle Brown Rice Cereal, before the spoon reach his mouth, he has already opened his mouth widely.

I realise that Josh only like to eat different meal everyday. Since I was at home today, I cooked mee soa for lunch and scoop some for Josh. He finished it within 5 minutes. I am getting headache of Josh's meal.

I Need Hugs :)

Something has happened to me recently. I am feeling so sad and down. I am actually prepare myself for my last sitting of exam. But I hardly can concentrate. God...please give me more strength. How capable I am, I am still a weak human being. I believe that You want me to learn something, You want me to be closer to You. I feel too hard. I am too emotional, keep crying day and nite.

I am so sorry my Readers, I am not able to declare to you what has happened to me. I certainly need hugs and pray from you.

Update as at 27 May 2009

I thank you for all have send me hugs through comments column, sms and facebook. I am getting much much better now.

I was sick and Josh refused to drink water

This week, I only worked for 1.5 days. Why? I was sick for almost a week. I had seen General Practitioner ("GP") twice and today is still recovering. The first GP commented that my throat was not swollen, just very mild. (very mild infected? I don't know what he means). He only prescribed me Danzen. I took Danzen for 2 days and have not recovered. Hence, I visited another GP and this GP prescribed me antibiotic straight away. I informed him that I have been falling sick for 4 days. He was quite surprised. 4 days? Eventually, I went to office today.

Update about Josh

Josh refused to drink water. Sam asked maid to put sugar in his water bottle. Maid doesn't dare to put. She is fully aware that if I know about it, I will scold her. I bought Rosehip syrup and told maid that if Josh refused to drink water, she can add 1 teaspoon of this syrup into his water bottle.

In between, I checked Josh's mouth and discovered whitish thingy inside his mouth. I quickly used a clean white cloth to clean his mouth and tongue. After the cleaning process, he finally drink water.

Kindermusik Trial Lesson

I brought Josh for a trial lesson at Kindermusik with other mommies from SMH Forum. Every kids are enjoying the lesson except Josh. He was so cranky. He may be sleepy or afraid with strangers. Oh...I really have to bring him out to mingle with other kids more.

My Wish List

I never have a wish list for so long. This time, I can have a wish list to motivate myself to work harder. At least, to motivate myself to work. If not, I really feel that I am a ROBOT to get up early and go to work every Monday to Friday.

My wish list for this year:
1. Nikon SLR 90
2. Sony Laptop

Or maybe a bundle package Sony DSLR-A900 + laptop VGN-AW17Gu. It will cost $9,999 as per Jan 2009. I am wondering whether the price has dropped.

Josh First Visit to Paediatrician

Maybe this is called mother instinct, I was feel very uneasy to go work this morning. Before I left home, asked maid to take Josh's temperature. Once I reached office, I called home to check. 36.8C maid told me so. I asked whether she took the temperature when Josh just finished his bath. She said "Yes" Then I asked her to re-take the temperature. 37 plus C.

I quickly applied for half day leave and rushed home to bring Josh to see paediatrician ("PD").

Reached PD, Josh's temperature was 38.2C. I try to ask as many questions as I want to know. PD subscribe medicine for fever, running nose, cough and lotion for his sensitive skin.

While blogging this, I realise that my half day leave is quite worth to take.

Josh is down with flu

Josh first time down with flu at 9 months. I feel so heart pain when I hear him coughing and see his watery nose. I am considering to bring him to paediatrician ("PD") tomorrow. I pray that he will recover soon.

Derick's Performance On Easter Day At Church

This is the second time Derick performed on the stage after his last performance (3yo) when he was still at Kinderland.
I and Sam purposely sit on the 2nd row to take this video. :)Both of us have been waiting for this day for so long.

Bottle Tree Park

Last Sunday, we made a trip to Bottle Tree Park. It is somewhere located at Yishun.

For more photos, please visit my facebook.

Warren Country Club

We went to Warren Country Club this afternoon. I want to snap some pictures of Josh sitting on the grass but he never look into the camera.

Derick will be 6 years old soon. Time flies so fast.

Video: Josh Crawling @ 9 months

As promised in my previous post, please click here to view the video on Josh Crawling.

Josh Can Crawl at 8 months

Josh crawls. All of us are so happy for him. Sam commented that Josh crawls likes a lizard. His hands, tummy, kneel are moving very fast to move forward.

I will try to capture his crawling movement with my digicam this weekend.

Update: Josh at 8 months

Some update about Josh.

Josh, you are almost 9 month.
You haven't called 'Mama' yet.
You are still learning to crawl.
You like standing supported.
You like to be carried.
You still wake up at least once every nite.
You like to bite.
You are socializise.
You like to notice your brother.
You believe trust your caregiver.
Overall, you are quite different with your brother.
We don't want to compare both of you and believe that both of you have your own characters and different milestones.

Here is the latest photo of my second apple, Josh.

You like to stick out tongue.

I bake Pandan Chiffon Cake

If you have been my readers for many years, you may be thought that you read the tittle wrongly. No...Your eyes are not playing with you. I really bake, since Der asked me to bake. Der said he likes to eat what I bake.

It is not difficult to bake. I did try for 4 times to get the batter and egg white blend equally. The key of baking this cake successfully is on how to fold the egg white into batter. I don't know how to fold egg white after I watched this video. It's very informative. Thanks for the person who sharing this video. Also, thanks to XL to share how to bake this cake.

Updates on Derick

It has been a while since my last post about Derick. The below is his latest Chinese writing. He can write his own Chinese name neater than last year.

Recently, I set up a timetable for him. He is such a nice boy. He follows the timetable accordingly. There is a valid reason why I set a timetable for him. A few weeks ago, while I accompanied him in one of his Junior Music Course ("JMC") lessons, I realised that he was lack of practice on his keyboard. While everybody can play without major errors, he still try to find where is the key 'la' or 'ti'. I was so mad and scolded him until his tears started dropping. Nevertheless, I still persuade him to hold his tears. (I will be quite shy if he cries during the lesson). On the next day, I set up a roster for him. After he follows the timetable for a week, he become a different person. He can play the keyboard very well and when I am home, he has finished all his homework.