Bad Ace Day

Ever had a bad hair day before?

You know, it is one of those days where no matter what you did to your hair, your hair just looks like shit.

Well, good things didnt last... While Mozart was useful for a good hour or so... the day ended up as a BAD ACE DAY because I almost went into tears taking care of Ace that night.

Starting from 6.30 pm onwards, Ace decided that whatever he was feeling , it would be best soothed by mummy's breast and so, from then onwards, he was permanently latched on to my breast. Whenever I took out my breast from his mouth, he would go into a blood-curdling wail!

By 9.30pm., my patience was running thin. I havent been sleeping well for the past few nights and am already very tired by then. I was also running out of milk for him to suck and my nipples were VERY SORE from all the non stop sucking. I was tired and I was hungry too.

Max was not home that day and since there was no one to eat dinner with me, I suggested to Max that I make do with cornflakes and he buy some stuff back home when he comes back. But I was STILL HUNGRY. And as they say, a hungry mummy is an angry mummy...

I then decided to protect my poor nipples and pulled Ace out. He cried and cried and no matter what I did, he just would not stop.

By 10.30pm, i was ready to burst into tears. I called hubby but he was still in a meeting. "I'll call you back, I am doing translation.." he said.

I decided to try to soothe Ace by patting him to sleep. It worked. For about 5 minutes and then he woke and cried loudly again.

I tried 101 ways to make him stop and he just wouldn't stop. He cried so hard and so loud till his face turned red, tears were streaming down and he was almost hoarse from all the shouting.

I understood then why mummies suffering from post natal blues and depression will throw their collicky babies down from their HDB flats...

At one point, I was so upset I wanted to cry at him. I tried to control my emotions and I asked Ace, "What do you want mummy to do? Like this also cannot, like that also cannot... Do you want mummy to go crazy???"

And my son just continued to wail.

I read somewhere that the emotions of the parent will be passed down to the baby so I decided to take matters into my own hand, calm myself down and then carry him and walk around the house.

It worked! He became quiet!

But alas, it was tough work.
You walk too slow, he cries...
You stop, he cries...
You dare sit down, he cries...
You dun carry him upright, he cries...

I was faint from all the walking around in circles and was starting to see stars already.. but he refused to let me stop.

12 midnite, I decided that it was bedtime for us both. I was really too tired. I put Ace in his cot and he whimpered for a while, I switched on the hanging mobile so that it turned and music came out of it. I repeated the lullably again and again.... and again.... and again.... and again.... and again.... and again.... and again.... and again.... and again.... and again.... hoping that the monotonous repeitition will actually bore him to sleep.

Alas, he was at best quiet.

Then Max came home and when he saw my m shaped mouth (now we know where he learnt that expression from:P), he kissed me and said he would take over from there.

I think our neighbours must have hated us that day. Cos at precisely 1am, Ace started to cry out very very loudly again. No matter what Max did, he just wouldn't stop.

"Dun like that leh, 不要害我leh... you like that cry, mummy don't want to give birth to anymore babies liao. Don't you want a little brother or sister to play with?"

I guess it made sense to Ace and he quieten down for a short while only to roar into a big cry again 10 minutes later! Max was so at lost wat to do that he said, "Why don't you chant with him!?"

At this time, I carried him and walked him around the house and then prayed hard that he will stop and finally... sleep and peace...

I must say that is the worst day I had alone with Ace and I sincerely hope it will stay the worst day... ;)

After The 3 Mth Jab

Ace just had his 3 month jab.

I was told that some children will have fever when they get the jab.

Ace was really a very couragous baby. When the nurse administered the jab to him, he only cried for 2 seconds. And that was it. End of story.

I guess it helped that I already told him early in the morning that we would be going for his injection today. I told him that the injection might be a little stingy and that he is a brave baby and it is nothing to him.

So Ace took it like a man.

Alas, I think he doesn't feel very well after the injection. Right after, he started to sleep and sleep and sleep... in between intervals, he will wake up and cry. Even when i carried him, he cried for a short while. He usually cries when I don't carry him.

While he is sleeping or half asleep, he would also make lots of noises. That kind that those people make when they are in pain or uncomfortable. It's similar to the kind of noise that those cancer patient makes when they are in pain and morphine is not enough for them.

My friend who recovered from brain cancer (ask me how at angelpeng@richnyang.com) told me that they cannot help but make those noises. "It is a natural sound lor. I really cannot control cos I felt so painful and uncomfortable.." he told me. I feel a stab of pain for my baby...

The poor baby can't express himself and so he keeps making strange noises. And then he also has those noise that sound as if he is trying to 'kek sai'.

In the evening, we brought him out for dinner and he slept throughout. When we came home and I put him on his favourite blue bouncer, he woke up and refused to sleep.

Since he was not crying, I did not do anything and watched to see what he would do. He just stared into space with his M shaped mouth look. Nothing you said or did could make him smile. He doesn't even care if peopel talk to him (his favourite hobby is to talk to people!) and he just continued the m shape mouth look...

After doing that for 30 min, he got tired enough to start groaning and whining himself to sleep...

But luckily, so far no fever yet. I hope he will sleep through tomorrow and be the healthy happy Ace he is soon.

But alas when Ace woke me at 6.30am this morning, he was slightly feverish and then he started suckling on my breast and refused to stop... all the way till 10.30am.. whenever i took out the breast, he would cry...

Today, bathing was a nightmare.. he usually enjoys bathing.. but today.. it was a struggle... Ace cried and cried once he touched the water and would only quieten down when I dressed him and carrried him while I walked around the house..

After that, he just refused to sleep and would make little whiny noises.

And then just at this point, Jez mama who had telepathy with me smsed me! It was a message from Tashi and Oracle (her daughters) to Ace. They asked Ace to jia you and told him that since he is such a healthy baby, this is but chicken feet for him.

Strangely, after I read the sms to him, he smiled ;)

Then I tried to force feed him water (mummy havent even got time to brush teeth, much less eat breakfast.. so where got milk??). I fed him Kinertec water to help his tummy detox. And how did I force feed him? While he cries, i just squeeze the nipple of the milk bottle and squirt water into his mouth.

Heng i make him drink kinertec water. Just a mere 5 minutes later, he POOPED. And his shit looks very strange... unlike the usual ones he has.. it is very watery.. and there are alot of black black stuff.. dunno wat is that.. eeee..

But if he is detoxing, I am sure he felt better after it come out.

Mummy and Daddy came and Ace start his grumpy noises again. I called Aunty Jenny up and asked her wat to do. She said to feed him the fever medication. But I don't want to feed him too much medication.. so i used the method she taught me.. crushed some VP, put into spooon, add water and force feed him..

He cried.. but not that loudly lah.. and then i give him breast milk to reward him.

So finally he happy and kum wan to sleep.

But after a short while, he wake up and cry and whine again.. My sister had a stroke of genius and asked me to play him the music from the elephant toy. He finally SMILED! I quickly played the MOzart CD that Belinda burnt for me!

Peace at last! WHen i tried to take picture of him, he even smiled! Mozart is my NEW IDOL!!!

Keep your fingers crossed for me, will you?

Ace’s 3 Month Report

View month 2 here

Name: Chua Yen Feng, Ace
New Nicknames: 小锋, Boy Boy, 宝贝
Gender: Still Male and still Straight (has preference for pretty women and old men)

Weight: Approx 6.8kg
Height: 62.5cm
Circumference of Head: 42cm

Remark: Took his 3rd mth injection like a MAN ;) Only cried for two seconds.

Also, on this special day, his BC number 7316 opened leh! The top prize for this week's 4D is 3716! Tiao Ji.. Bang head for father-in-law cos he 4got to buy this number... I called him to tell him and he said, "Wah, if chuan da, then ho say liao!" (If I bought all permuations, then I will surely win!)

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENTS:

Cradle Cap Gone: so sad, now nothing to pick at. But in the middle of the month, he suddenly had an increase in cradle cap on his head. Had lots of fun playing with it. That was probably the last bout of it.- More Hair Loss: Ace is losing more hair. Whenever I use towel to wipe him, he will drop more hair and it will end up on his cheek, his shirt, everywhere!

Starts Making More Sounds: Ace now has many different sounds that represent different things. He can cry for ‘milk’ and he can also heave sighs of relieve. He has learnt to SCREAM and I am trying to teach him that louder doesn’t mean winner. He will also talk back at people in a larger variety of sounds when they talk to him.

Increase Size of Torso, Arms and Legs: Well, where did you think his 1kg weight increase went? It went to his cheeks, his double chin as well as his arm and legs. Many have commented that he is a chubby baby. Most importantly, the chubby legs and arms are very kiat and not the loose loose flabby kind. His 0-6 months clothes are mostly too tight. Some are just nice. He is growing into 6-9 month clothes liao!

Toughened Neck Muscles: Ace can now sit upright without much support on his neck with little support on his back. He can sit up at the bath tub and can sit upright with his neck upright and can even turn his neck around when he is upright. (We discovered this when we tried to cover his face so that he cannot watch TV)

Increased muscle movement and control: Ace can now grab light things like my shirt, my bra (darn, almost made me走光 a few times) and he can hold his little toys too. He usually grabs hold of the fabric of my shirt when feeding and sometimes when he wants to feed,he would grab my t shirt and do the movement of trying to lift it to show that he is hungry.

His grip is now tight and when he grabs hold of big things like people’s arms, he merely grabs the skin and leaves nail marks on the skin. He also likes to grab things using his toes. His favourite hobby is to grab Max’s nipples using his toes. Hahaha…

Ace can also stand up for longer periods (about 5-10 seconds) if you support him at his armpits.

Teething: Ace is growing teeth. He is salivating a lot and starting to like to suck his whole fist. He started sucking his fist as if he was sucking milk from my breast and then graduated to licking and trying to put the whole fist into his mouth. If you look into his mouth, you can see white little buds on his lower gums.

Power Legs: Can lift his whole buttock up using his leg and can push himself forward and backwards using his legs.


BEHAVIORAL DEVELOPMENTS:

Learns to imitate voices and expressions. When Max stuck out his tongue at Ace, Ace will follow and stick his tongue out. When we tell him he is clever for doing that, he seems to understand and smiles.

Starts to make louder sounds in bid to get attention.

Knows the difference between being in private and in public. In private when there is only mummy and him or when at home, he does not hesitate to break out into a cry when he is hungry. However, when in public, he will watch himself and give little hints like sucking his hand and making small cries.

Sway slightly to music and in rhythm with music

Can express happiness by smiling and unhappiness with his M shape mouth.

Knows how to shake his head at things he dun want or dun like (sometimes)


Top Pictures of the Month:
Here are top pics chosen by me.. comment and vote for the best picture.. ;)

Why can't Ace be vegeterian?!

My mum has many friends. But she only has a few whom we deem 'best friends'.

One of them is Aunty Qingling who migrated to Vancouver about 15 years ago. She is mummy's confidante.. kind of like me and my best friend Karen. Only they only knew each other when they were in their thirties.

The other one is this lady called Aunty Jenny. A true friend, who came and help out during my grandfather's funeral because my mum was the only child. She and hubby left their children at home sleeping, came over and sat overnight with us and bought us breakfast... I am forever grateful to them for that...

Well, Aunty Qingling is back in Singapore for a short visit and she wanted to meet Ace. So today, at last minute notice, they all arranged to meet at mum's place to visit Ace.

When Aunty Qingling saw Ace, she started praising him and saying that he is very cute.

The one I do dread seeing a little is Aunty Jenny. She is very straight forward, very loud and to a certain extend, very naggy to me. I will just say that she is a very loving but SCARY mummy... hahahah... she has very strict rules about things and likes things to be very very clean...

When Aunty Jenny arrived, she started with saying she wants to hit people. I thought she meant Ace but in the end, she walked to me and hit me on my thigh 5 times! Wah.. if she not my mummy's friend and if not for my forever gratefulness, I think I would have kicked her...

I know she meant it in a joking manner. Just that she hit me so hard there were red marks lor. And please lor. Me is 28, not 8 years old. If not for my mum, I sure kick back ah!

But anyway, Aunty Jenny is a professional Nanny. She was invaluable in offering advice about how to take care of Ace and how to get rid of his nappy rash on Ace's anus.

But the nightmare began when Aunty Qingling asked me, "Aiyoh, Joo, you took vegeterian food only even during confinement?"

Then she and Aunty Jenny started to take turns to say why vegeterian food is not good:
- because it is not good for the baby
- your baby will react slower cos not enough nutrients
- your baby may look plump and healthy but actually lack nutrients
- your baby will learn things slower
- you dun take fish, you won't have enough milk

To which I said:
- I eat diff kinds of vege so i get the same vitamins and nutrients
- I also take supplements that are 100% natural to supplement me
- There are lots of babies who take fish and meat who are also STUPID
- My friends' children who are vegeterian are all healthy and cute and they are growing fine. They also learn things very fast.
- The last i heard, taking soup and beans also will increase milk supply

After that, I decided that they win lah... since they are aunty, i let them win. So I do the smile non commitedly act. As long as I know I am right and I am free to do what I want, they can say what they like.

But I really don't understand my mother's friends. So what if I eat differently from them. They ALL (QL and Jenny are not the only ones) say I shouldnt do this and do that and that I shouldnt take vegeterian.

But hello, my baby is CUTE, INTELLIGENT, HUGE (for his age) and HEALTHY lor. So what is wrong with being vegeterian?!

Anothony Robbins, world famous motivational speaker is vegeterian!
Lucy Stephens, a tri-athlete is vegeterian!
Xie Shaoguang, king of Mediacorp is vegeterian...
Albert Einstein, the world's greatest inventor and scientist is also vegeterian!
And the list goes on!!!

Anywayz, after they leave, I tell Ace to forget all that they have said and explained to him again why it is healthy to take more vegetables and to stay vegeterian like Daddy and Mummy.

Whose dietary habits is better? Who will be healthier? Who will look younger? Hehehe.. time will tell ;)

Go Vegeterian!
http://www.vegetarian-society.org/
http://www.vegsoc.org/
http://www.vegblog.org/

Ace Learns To SHIT!

At least one good thing came out of Ace being away from us for 3 days. Under the teachings of my sis and mum, Ace has learnt to SHIT. Hahaha..

My mum taught Ace that if she put a diaper under him and said, “Mmm mmm..” then he will shit. She repeated it and then he has learnt how to do it so well that when my sister was making fun of him by saying, “Mmm mmm..”

He really squeezed one piece of shit out! Such a clever baby, isn't he?

Postscript: I wrote these some days ago. Today, I 'mmm' him for 5 min but no 'action', so i bathed him. Grandma came and 'mmm' him for another 5 min but no action, so grandma changed diapers for him. Within 10 min, he pursed his lips into an M shape and started becoming very quiet and looking very guilty.. Tada! Shit! Sigh....

Will babies miss their parents?

Well, now that the saga about Ace and his polka dots are over, I can blog in peace about happier and funnier stuff.

Anyway, in case you wonder if babies know how to miss their parents, the answer is: they do.

According to my sister, she says that Ace had the unhappy look even before the Hives hit him. “So we tried to play the elephant toy with music for him over and over again.. we played it so much the whole weekend I had the music in my mind..”

“So did it help make him happy?” I asked.

“No leh.. but at least he didn’t look as unhappy… at least he tried to wave to the music...”

Indeed, these few days, Ace has got this expression where he scrunges his mouth into an M shape and look slightly unhappy.

Today is the first day in many where he smiles more and plays with me non stop for an hour or so… Max says tat’s his way of revenge.. we were away for 3 days, so he purposely make us worried for 3 days…

Sigh… even though I was having fun, I also miss him leh.. I saw his cute little face everywhere I go and every direction I turned and on the first night in HK, I missed him so much that I dreamt that he was crying and woke up. I wondered then if he was really crying and it was telepathy or his way of sending a message to me.

But I am proud that I am not so sticky to my baby that I had to call home once every 30min like a fren I know. Hahahah….

Polka Dot Ace

When we touched down on 0005 at 19th Sept, we were in for a horrific shock.

Ace had turned into a polka dotted baby!

It seems that while we were away, Ace had to drink 6-8 times of Isomil and only got to drink 2 times of breast milk which I had stored for him. The sudden change in diet was too much for his body because Isomil is much thicker and breastmilk is quite thin (I can vouch for that after drinking my own milk for the past few days) and as a result, whenever he drank milk, especially Isomil, the skin on his body will break out into red patches.

The red patches were all over his body. His arms, his legs, his back, his tummy, his neck and even his face. There was one time a red patch appeared on his eyes and he ended up with swollen eyes!

The patches were red and they were puffy. They emitted heat and in some places, they would be raised little bumps like islands in maps. And they were all over Ace! They got worse especially when he moved around a lot or was feeling very warm.

It is so bad I really cant bear to take pictures even though I usually love to take strange pictures of him (and get scolded by my friends for being a strange mummy).

My mum was so worried she had actually wanted us to take an earlier flight back.

Luckily, the doctor said it was nothing much. He was probably allergic to the fact that Isomil is too solid for him. Just take him off Isomil and he will be ok. If he is not crying, he shouldn’t be feeling too uncomfortable. Such a happy is Ace that he even smiled at the Doctor when he said that! (Sis and mum told me this cos they were the ones who brought him to the doc)

Max was so guilt stricken and so sad. He kept asking me if Ace would have been like that if we did not go to Hong Kong and he would say things like, “Pass your red spots to daddy ok, I bear them for you..”

On my part, I try my best not to be alarmed but I felt sad that he had to go through that. Dunno whether he feels itchy or not. Dunno whether is he feeling very uncomfortable. I wanted so bad to hug him and carry him and sooth him but alas, I was afraid that he would register in his mind that being sick is good. So I talked to him while putting him on the bouncer but when I do carry him, I hug him a little tighter.

I guess he does feel ok because he still smiles when we tickle him or say certain things. But not as much and not as bright though.

For the first day, Max was rather upset because he said that Ace perpetually had the ‘m shaped mouth’ look and looked as if he did not recognize Max. He was so happy that when he bathed Ace, Ace started to smile again.

“There! That’s my son! I know you would recognize me…”

“Don’t wriggle.. see, wriggle liao become red and then you wouldn’t be handsome..” I told Ace and he flashed his familiar killer toothless grin at me.

I heave a sigh of relief. If he shits, eats, plays, sleeps and smiles, I think he must be doing okay ;)

I went online to check and found that this condition is called Hives. It is nothing serious and is not contagious. Phew…

My fren Jez asked me if I told Ace I was going overseas. I told her I did and I even told him how long I was going and that I would love him even he doesn’t see me around.

She then said, “Is like that one lah.. Children like to try out new patterns especially when you go overseas and test your reaction when you come back. If it works, they will try it again, dun get too affected…”

Anyway, Ace is getting better now. Hong Kong here we come again next year March/April!!! Anyone wants to join me?:)

Hong Kong Trip Day 3

Our day 3 plan was to go to the swimming pool in the morning, come back, pack and be on the go again.

But when we went to the hotel swimming pool in the morning (the agent said it was how nice how nice..) we were sorely disappointed. Firstly by the fact that it was not as nice as I thought it would be and secondly by the fact that it was open air and that the weather was on Signal 1 standby.

HK has lots of signals from 1-10. Signal 1 means storms are coming and it is windy.. signal 7 would already be a full blown hurricane. The few days we were there, it was signal one.. a signboard in Tsim Sha Shui dropped and hit someone.. and The Peak was all cloudy.. so in a way, I guess we were glad we didn’t really go to those places.. even though it felt that the HK tour is not complete cos of this.

Anywayz, the nice and handsome lifeguard at the swimming pool chatted with us and gave us more reasons why we shouldn’t visit HK Disneyland now.. it is too small and too many things were not working..

And then we decided not to waste time.. we went back, packed and then went back to take a train to Tsim Sha Shui.

I then realized that Mongkok is really like Chinatown in Singapore and Tsim Sha Shui is more like Orchard Road. There are many nice and more upmarket shops there. We walked around as the veg restaurant we wanted to go to was not open for biz yet.

We discovered a Wholesale Shop that sold lots of stuff and I also bought a Chinese style Chinese collar top for new year.

Then we had lunch and decided to walk around. We finally found a nice Egg Tart shop while shopping around and bought 2 boxes of it after trying.. it was absolutely delicious cos it was piping hot!! We even saw a roti prata stall there.. hahaha

We also saw a Giodarno there! So unfair.. their clothes all nicer than the range in SG.. even the Disney collection also nicer.. next time must go gio HK to buy stuff.. hahaha.

When the time was up, we went back to the hotel to check out first.

We then proceeded to M Garden and the head waiter was happy to see us there. We had a meal there and sit down to wait for time to pass. The head waiter came chatting again and attempted to tell our fortunes. He said tat Max is very clever and filial and that his life partner is very lucky because he gives in to her a lot.. hahaha ;) how true!

We then went for a last see see look look around Seibu and then back to the hotel we go. I went to the toilet to pump milk again. Alas, I was too tired and fell asleep while pumping only to be rudely woken up by an aunty who PUSHED EACH AND EVERY DOOR IN THE LOO!

“Sorry, sorry.. “ she said to me when she saw me with my one breast exposed and pumping halfway.

Silly aunty.

I then poured my milk away. Kind of got sick of drinking my milk everyday. I wondered how Ace can take it and drink the same thing EVERY SINGLE DAY and love it so much. Hahaha…Maybe it is because it is very sweet. But it is kind of gross when I think about the fact that I was drinking my milk everyday because it felt as if I was recycling my milk or something.

I pump, I drink. 3 hours later, I pump and the same white liquid comes out again. Yew…

Finally, the bus came and I slept on the way to the airport. But alas at the airport after we checked in, we had a little quarrel. Darn, spoil the trip…

Well, our fren had asked us to buy Hua Qi sponge cakes. Max said to look around for it and I told him it was opp Burger King and asked him if there was one in Burger King. He then suggested that we go into transit area and so I asked him if there is Xu Liu Shan there.. I wanted to eat it again before I left HK..

He thought I asked him to find out if there was Hua Qi and then he got angry.. all the way till we were eating the dessert and I asked him what was wrong. I was really quite angry when he told me the reason even though it was a miscomm.

He said, “I tot you wanted me to do everything and even find out where the shop is…”

I told him, “Hiya, of cos not lah.. anyway, the cake is nevermind one mah.. we can find then we buy lor..” Anyway, I to the might know better if there was a Burger King in the transit area or not mah… he is the one who has been there n times...

”You everything also nevermind..”

Wah.. I dam angry liao lor.. quarrel because of buying things for other people! So not worth it.. I am on holiday leh.. not marketing trip..

I try my best to find CSI for KP but dun have season 4 &5 that she want, I try to find for Linda her necklace but cannot find a nice one at the price she wants. I also try to find for YL her sponge cake but Max was the one who didn’t want to buy when we saw the shop in Langham Place mah.. and now it is my fault cos I everything also NEVERMIND???

I mean, my frens also say buy if convenient.. never buy also like tat.. and I did ask around everytime I see something suspiciously like what I was told to buy mah..

Anywayz, we were ok in the end ;) hahaha.. so we went to the transit area to look at all the branded stuff so that in Max’s words, “we can be better prepared the next time we look at the imitation stuff..” hahahaha…

Anyway, we plan to go back to HK and Shenzhen next year! Woo hoo! Must save up now and then can go buy lots of things.. I have decided to lose weight FASTER! Hahahaa…

Happy Mooncake Festival!

Hong Kong Trip Day 2

Sat morning, as according to our plan, we woke up bright and early to make our way towards Shenzhen for more food and more shopping!

We took MTR to Kowloon and then we changed to a train. The train was already fairly crowded though it was 9am in the morning. On the train, there were all sorts of people.. Hongkies who were going to Shenzhen for outings, people who were there for biz.. Chinese who were returning to China...

I was told this place is dangerous and Max said that I should raise my situational awareness. However, I felt that the place is not as tensed as Geneva where you can really smell the tension. Shenzhen, however, is very fast paced.. a lot faster than even Singapore!

We reached Luo Hu City.. the biggest shopping area and most crowded one in Shenzhen and we went to have this nice pancake. After which we kept walking round and round the building.

I was starting to feel tired and grouchy. I came to Shenzhen with only one goal in mind.. to buy more LV stuff.. and then because the man that Max knew was not around, we walked round and round.

Max wanted me to do pedicure and manicure but because I was not wearing the right shoes and because I think is a waste of money, I didn’t want to and he was angry tat I everything also dun buy, everything also dun want.. hahaha.. got pple like tat..unhappy when his wife dun want to spend money???

Because I always get grouchy when we walk around aimlessly, Max decided to bring me somewhere else.. 华强北!

That place is a shopping paradise!

We first went to Children’s World where there were so many children stuff. There, we bought our two proudest purchases- Tigger and Pooh ORANGE (Max’s fav colour) jacket and little bear romper for Ace! :)

Then we went to women’s world and boy, I think my sisters will all love to shop here.

At the basement level, it is all the clips and accessories. Too bad I am not an accessories person. And then they have children’s clothes, aunty clothes, suits and many many more!!! If I weren’t fat, I think I can spend one whole day in this mall also not enough! Next time must save $ n come.. come n no $ to spend also tak shiok…

Then we got hungry and then the challenge came. I was hungry and tired from all the walking and there didn’t seem to be much food around. Worst, there didn’t see to be much vegetarian food around. All we could find were the fast food Chinese restaurants. They were really like Mac Donalds, only that they sold Chinese food.

Finally, Max found this place tat sold noodles and rice. We ordered 桶饭 without meat and it turned out to be quite tasty!:) We then contemplated bringing the idea of economical rice to China because people here only eat rice plus one single side dish… hhehehe

After that, Max decided to bring me to this club he went before for massage. Alas, he couldn’t remember the name of it. Luckily our cab passed by it and so we alighted halfway. It is called CARNIVAL CLUB.

嘉年华会 is a beautiful and big place! They have a few storeys dedicated to diff things like massage, bathing and sauna + jacuzzi, leg massage, pedicur n manicure, hair cut.. etc.

It is also very high tech cos the lockers they give you operate by an electronic key they give you.

Once you step into the changing room, someone comes up to you, helps you put your things into the locker and gives you a bath towel and show you to your way to the bathroom where you can find very nice shower facilities and quite good skin and hair products (unlike those offered in SG and hotels that will spoil ur hair). You name it, they have it.. conditioner, face wash, shampoo, bath foam, styling lotion, gel, toner.. etc etc..

I pumped milk, took a bath and went to the second storey where max was waiting for me.

There you have rows of sofas where you lie down and each had a flat screen attached to it. You can watch any channel you like and the sound comes out from the sofa you are lying on. They even have a channel dedicate to slimming products! You can choose to lounge, sleep, have a drink, enjoy feet massage there…

After lazing around for a while. We decided to go for our massage. It was quite good but initially it was very painful. It was quite hilarious though cos later we started talking to the masseur and found out that the reason why she was very quiet initially was because she saw max’s botak head and tot that he was a gangster!

After the good rest, I pumped out more milk and we decided to go for dinner. When the bill came, it was only $70+ for the two of us! Cos it was raining and diff to get a cab, they even used the company van to send us to our next venue!

Deng Pin, our next stop, was a pretty nice vegetarian restaurant. As it was near mid autumn, they hung a lot of riddles for people to guess. If you got it right, you got a free gift. I decided to concentrate on eating since I so not so smart and the sushi roll was dam nice!

After filling our stomachs, we took a cab back to luo hu and we spent the next hour and the half looking at LV n Gucci stuff. The resulting purchase? 2 LV sling bag, 1 LV wallet, one LV namecard holder, one mont blanc belt… All for less than S$150!

We then took the train back to Mongkok and maybe it is cause Max looks like a gangster, he got stuck at the customs longer than I did. Well, actually it is cos the customs had problem finding his name cos our Singaporean passports showed both our dialect and hanyu pinyin names. Haha ;)

We took a leisurely walk back to hotel and bought some snacks and drinks on our way back.. we then showered, tried to give Ace a baby sister/brother and went to bed ;)

Hong Kong Trip Day 1

I just came back from Hong Kong. It was a treat from hubby to reward me for giving birth to Ace. He says it is tough to give birth… actually, I think it is not easier for him to work so hard for the family and to take care of Queen Angel before, during and after birth of Ace. Now lagi must take care of Prince Ace too ;)

But who would say no to a trip right? Especially when I have not been to Hong Kong before. I just wanted to go there and take a a look and experience ‘买东西，吃东西，买东西，吃东西…” just like the tour HK ad…

And GOSH! I have never walked so much in a long long time…

Well, on the early morning of 16 Sept, we woke up and sent Ace to my mum’s place and then made our way to the air port.

Upon arrival, we started to relax at Mac Donalds and go into holiday mood. The plane ride was ok, we watched The Longest Yard on board and had a so so breakfast.. and then by around 2 pm, we were at Langham Hotel in HK, Mongkok (where we were to spend the next two nights)..



As the rooms were not ready, we decided to have a meal cos we were so hungry. I went to the concierge and asked about vegeterian restaurants nearby. Heng ah! There is one called M Garden nearby. I then went to hotel toilet to pump milk… gee, the people must be wondering what’s the noise and wat am I doing inside my cubicle.. hahah..

吃东西…
After milk pumping, we walked there for dim sum. HK on a Friday afternoon did not seem as crowded.. but indoors, there were a lot of taitais having dim sum tea.

We found the place with not much difficulty and boy, was it yummy! The head waiter was so amazed by Singapore and kept talking to us about how nice Singapore is when he hasn’t even visited Singapore before.

After dim sum, we went back to hotel, pumped some more milk, had a short nap (I only slept 3 hours the nite before) and then proceeded to the various roads like Flower Street, Tung Choi Street (Ladies Market) to do SHOPPING!

买东西…
Basically, it was like a big pasar malam.. we walked and walked and walked… along the way, we bought 1 Chinese style double side top for Max, one orange top for me (it was $32 when I saw in Far East Sqaure, I bought only at $10!

Along the way, we met people who scold us when we bargain and walk off.. but we also met Top Sales like the lady who sold the top for Max. No hard push to buy.. just push to try and hope you like it once you see yourself in the mirror.. What a great sales tactic!

I found out that Max is much better at bargaining than me. I always heart soft and want to give in but realize that when I walk away, it works wonders.. the thing can from $199 become $50 ok!
Anywayz, the said thing is that I am still FAT:S That is why cannot buy much.. but anyway, the things they sell all the same one… clothes, shoes, cute stuff, underwear, imitation branded bags, shirts…

Still, there were so many things to see.. there was a whole street with food (there was smelly toufu, and all the fried squids, this and that) Max was sad.. we are vegetarians and cant try all those. In the past, he would surely whack.. and then we also found xu liu shan and had mango dessert there..

We also walked through an electrical street and also a street that sells all sorts of pets like fish, frogs, turtles, cats, dogs.. so cute!!!

And then we walked all the way from Mongkok MTR.. to Argyle street, to Flower street to Prince Edward street just to look for egg tarts. But alas, we can’t find it and I got really grumpy cos we were walking for so long that my breasts were full, and painful, I was tired.. legs were painful and I had a back ache…

And cos Max was anxious to find the egg tart shop, he did not notice when I wanted to look at some things and I got more grumpy by the second. Alas when we finally found the shop, it did not sell egg tarts because it was MOON CAKE FESTIVAL! They only made mooncakes! Sigh.. :S Max was so disappointed cos he said it is the best egg tarts in the world and wanted me to try it too…

吃东西…
Anywayz, it is easy to find a vegetarian restaurant there.. we just anyhow walk and came to this place that sold lots of vegetarian food we never see before.. we ordered a white sauce udon noodle (looks like a mix between Japanese udon and Italian white sauce sphagheti) and deep fried toufu tat tasted like KFC! No shit!

买东西…
We had dinner and tried to walk back.. we found a very nice mickey mouse t shirt and bought a pair.. heheh only $40HK my god.. tat’s like $8 for two pieces.. so cheap!!Then we decided to try to pretend to want to buy imitation bags and I finally got a chance to go to the backend warehouses to take a look at the imitation stuff. SO exciting! And most important, so many things to see! I also dunno what to buy!!!

Finally, we decided to head back to the hotel and because we were dead tired by then, I requested that we go nearby for our night plan of clubbing the night away. We tried to find a decent disco at Seibu (right next to hotel we stay) and climbed up to the tallest storey (so scarey when you look down cos got glass and no railings) but we couldn’t find any..

we went back to the hotel, left our things, pumped milk and tried to ask the hotel stuff but alas, the nearest nightspot is ome distance away and was closing in like an hour’s time. Gee, I tot HK was very happening.. sigh…

So we decided to go to 7 Eleven to buy some drinks and drink in our room.

Mongkok after 12 midnight is a different world…

The normal business signs were switched on and all around, you see pictures of women in half clad lingerie pictures around. You see a lot of men hanging around the streets just like geylang and you see ver few SINGLE LADIES walking around liao..

Even the newspaper stores take out the porno VCDs and DVDs to sell liao.. the illegal hawkers will also come out and start selling things. We bought some peanuts and some drinks from 7 Eleven and quickly walked back to our hotel cos it was starting to rain.

Finally, after one year, I get to drink BEER! Hahaha.. cos I was breastfeeding, I cant drink in case the alcohol goes into my milk. Boy does it feel good man.

All the walk made me feel heaty and the beer certainly soothed me.

We took a bath ad then I was so tired I just knocked out.

Maybe it is cos it sit the first night Ace is not around me. I felt strange and kept waking up. Also dreamt of Ace crying and that woke me up in a frenzy. Darn, dun have to b/feed at nite also cannot sleep well..:(

New Tellytubby- Ace

Did My Milk Go Bad?

I always breastfeed baby Ace whenever possible. I do it exclusively whenever possible. (Isomil very expensive leh.. if not how to make one can last 2 months??:P)

Recently though, it seems that my breast milk did not go down well with him. Firstly, Ace has been farting alot. He has also been shitting alot (3-4 times a day and the shit is watery most of the time) and in addition, he has gotten slightly grumpy.

He might be happily sleeping and suddenly, he would cry out loud.

Since he can't communicate what is wrong with him, I could only venture a guess. Based on the limited knowledge I have about babies, I came to a conclusion that he is suffering from diarroahe.

Alas, how is that possible!? Did my milk turn bad while waiting for its release???

Thankfully, I could seek advice from the experienced Jez Mama. She said that Ace is probably just growing teeth.

Phew...

He has been showing all the signs.. i just never thought it possible since babies are only suppose to start teething from 4 months onwards. Ace is barely 3 months! But matter of fact is, he has:

- white little buds showing on his lower gum

- been eating his hands and sucking them (mum says his gums are itchy from growing teeth. we had to put his hands into the elastic of his pants as shown in picture to stop him.. hehehe...)

- been biting hard at my nipple just before releasing it (again, leveraging on my nipples to sooth his gums.. sigh..)

- shitting alot and the shit is watery with lots of little bits and pieces (hua hua)

- been grumpy. He would wake suddenly and purse his lips into an M shape and suddenly cry as if I bullied him.

Anyway, I just hope that he won't bite my nipples during feeding when his teeth do come out. OUCH!

Housewife

"Hello, can I speak to Angel please?"

An unfamiliar voice was on the other line when I picked up the phone the other day. My friend had referred this person to call and ask me about whether I could help her with a survey.

As I had just woken up from a short nap, I didn’t really feel like talking to her.

“Edmund (friend who referred her to me) tells me you are a housewife…”

HOUSEWIFE

She did not exactly spit out those words with disdain but for some unknown reason, the word conjured a picture of someone with messy hair, unwashed pots and pans and many children running around in my mind.

At that moment, I felt very offended. Bloody hell, I am an entrepreneur, not a housewife you silly woman! And even if I were, it is none of your bloody business why I am one.

Not realizing that she was offending me, she went on to ask, “May I inquire why you are a housewife?”

“Because I am RICH and can afford to stay at home!” I tell her.

Bah. You didn’t think I was such a rude person, did you? Hahaha.. That was just the thought I had privately in my mind cos I was pissed. In the end, I told her about my son and agreed to meet.

I distinctly remembered being very proud of being a housewife when I talked about how I battled the day (read Battlefield Day 1 and Battlefield Day 2) and its daily tasks. I wonder what made me feel different.

I wonder why I felt as if I ‘despised’ the term housewife being used on me.

Do not get me wrong. I have utmost respect for women who stay at home and devote their lives to their family. I just get upset when people see me as such and ONLY such.

In my friend's words when I complained to her about the above episode, "Don't be offended by people calling you "housewife" la. That is the most honourable lifelong career in the whole world lei. Haha... "

But I am no mere housewife! I am SUPERMUM! SUPERWIFE! SUPER WOMAN! I can hold the pan as well as the pen!

I guess giving birth and taking care of Ace has given me a chance to stay at home and do nothing for too long. I sometimes feel very out of touch with the real world. And it is the somewhat lack of confidence that is really biting me.

I can’t wear the clothes I used to, I can’t wear my favourite power suits (still can't fit) and high heels (for the safety of Ace) and am perpetually in jeans and track shoes.

As hubby takes charge and takes over most of the business aspect, I find myself feeling a little lost and sometimes even redundant. I find that on Saturdays and Sundays, I often ask, “Dear, what’s our schedule today?” only to be informed on the very day that we have certain business appointments.

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” I asked hubby.

“But isn’t all your appointment same as mine?” he asked me.

I can’t even attend a meeting without bringing Ace along. Half the time, I can’t even concentrate and give suggestions like I always do. It’s like I can’t even think properly as I am thinking about whether Ace is ok and how to feed him if he gets hungry.

When I go back to office, I find that I don’t have much to do except carry Ace around and feed him (which takes up most of the time).

But on the other hand, where to find a JOB like that? Don’t have to do much.. walk here walk there and I still get a decent income. Meeting also can bring son along. I know I will fit into my suits sooner or later..

I guess I am happy to be a housewife entrepreneur. Haha!

fACE off!

We had so much fun playing with Ace the other day.

I suspect however, that me and Max were the one having fun and Ace just felt very helpless. Hahaha...

Well, we took off his shirt cos it was quite hot and then started pinching his fats on his belly.

He looked so cute!

In fact, his body kind of looks like a face.. his breasts will be the eyes and his belly button the mouth.. hahaha

Maybe Ace can be a dancer when he grows up and dance those belly face dances...

What’s Important To You?

Everyone holds different things as being the most important. I learnt this when I attended this course called SCS and my firm belief and understanding in this, I feel, is responsible for the way me and Max maintain our happy marriage.

Just like when it comes to Ace, everyone holds something different as being the most important.

For most of the part, Max is usually most concerned with whether Ace was smiling and whether he was a happy baby. I guess this is why he likes to bath Ace because Ace is most happy during that time.

On my part, I was most concerned about whether he had enough milk and got enough sleep. I spend most of my time feeding him and hoping that he will sleep so that I can get some rest and free time too.

My mum, however, was most concerned about whether he is clean (she changes the diaper once he pees and he pees like 10 000 times a day….) and whether he is feeling hot.

She is perpetually complaining that the clothes I bring along when I bring Ace to her house is not thin enough even when it is the flimsiest piece I can find at home. (I finally found a singlet he can wear and when she put it on for him, he sneezed.. two times within 30 seconds.. hahahaha)

When I stayed overnight at her place about two weeks ago (because Max was sailing), she asked me why didn’t I pull Ace over to my side of the bed when I fed him where there was this bamboo sheet that helped keep the bed cool cos it was so hot.

And yet, few days ago when I stayed overnight again, she asked me why didn’t I move myself over to his side when I fed him because the bamboos were hot.

You just can’t win mothers, can you? ;)

(Anyway, my mum is like that. When you buy her Coffeebean cheesecake, she say not nice... you buy her cartel one..she say why never buy coffeebean... coffeebean is nicer...)

My maternal grandma has strange concerns. She always looks out for things I would never even think of. Eg, she always looks out for whether the anklet that Ace is wearing is too tight. Something I didn’t think about till she mentioned it.

And then she is worried about how Ace, with his flailing arms, is always hitting himself on his tummy. “He does it so hard it makes a ‘thwack thwack thwack’ sound..” she says. Funny… I didn’t notice that he did that until she mentioned it.

All other members of the family, Max’s or mine, seem to share similar concerns about whether Ace was happy and whether he would smile when they carry him. I guess it is because they don’t see him that often.

As for Ace, he only cares about whether he is being fed and whether anyone is willing to talk to him (he’s one talkative baby!).

You see my point?

But I found that most people don’t really know or are aware about what is important in their lives and I guess this is why they are sometimes unhappy and not aware of why. (That is why I spend alot of time being agony aunty to my friends.. hiaks)

So do you know what is important to you in your life? If someone had different priorities in life, do you know how to communicate with them or live with them?:) Alot of my friends contemplate whether to have a lifve together and whether to break up because they do not understand this...

Well, you can learn how to.. just attend SCS like me lah :) Hahhaaha..

PS: On a more serious note, if you really wanted to learn how to do tat at SCS, email me at angelpeng@richnyang.com :)

Can Ace Hear Me?

I am a little worried.

My mum is a child care teacher and works with children a lot. She told me about a month ago that Ace seems to respond very slowly to sound.

It’s true. Even though babies are not suppose to see clearly before 6 months and can only see you if you are within 19 inches of them, he will follow the shapes and shadows moving around him very quickly. His gaze often follows me as I walk around the room and sometime even though I am very far, he still can ‘see’ me.

While he is supposed to be very reliant on his sense of sound and his gut feel now, he doesn’t really respond when we call his name. He also doesnt like it when we clean his ears (see picture).

Dunno whether ears suffering from infection...

I went to babycenter.com to check and the doctors in the website said that babies will only recognize their names after they are about 4 months old. The website also said that if my baby were to be startled out of sleep by sound, he should be ok.

I observed him and found him to be okay. Taking comfort that his hearing test at birth gave an okay reading, I didn’t think much about it after.

Then the other day, mum told me that they tried an experiment while I was away. She and dad positioned themselves in the left and right side of Ace respectively. They were out of his sight range and no matter how they called him, he just did not respond.

I tried the same thing but instead of calling his name. I tried clapping and found that he responded when I was on his right side but he doesn’t bother to turn when I tried to do so from the left.

I then quickly logged in to babycentre.com to read up again and they said that I should clap behind his head. “If your baby startles, he is fine..” they say.

I tried the test but Ace was oblivious to any form of clapping I had.

Heck! How the hell am I suppose to know if he was startled when I am standing behind him and I can’t see him at all!

While I was playing with him the other day though.. clapping in the left and right side of him startled him.

And then I recalled how he was soundly asleep when I brought him into a roomful of people dancing to loud music. (But he is used to those sounds cos it is something he hears often while in my tummy. Maybe that is why it will soothe him to sleep!)

I recall how he doesn’t wait when I ask him to do so. (Heck, he is 2.5 months old! How can I expect him to understand ‘WAIT’. Besides, he may be too hungry!)

I recall how he doesn’t respond when I call his name. (Siao ah, he can only do that at 4 months onwards, the doctors say so…)

And I am thrown into panic.

I try to calm myself and remind myself that:

- Ace likes to talk and response when people are talking to him (maybe he is responding to the facial expressions and actions leh???)

- Ace likes music and his favourite song is twinkle twinkle little star (oh no, no wonder. The other songs dun have actions. He can only ‘see’ this song cos I do the twinkle twinkle action when I sing this song. But why does he cry when his favourite Mozart for Babies CD stops?)

- Ace refused to sleep when he heard my voice outside the training room and only proceeded to do so when Zhenyuan brought him far away so that he couldn’t hear me while I gave a talk in the room. (maybe his hearing was ok during that time? Maybe he is only partially hearing impaired? Maybe only one ear is working?)

Darn. I brought Ace to a roomful of crazy dancing people with loud music on several occasions. But I was careful to stuff his ears. If that were to be the cause, I would feel sooooooooooo guilty for life! What is a handsome little boy without a sense of hearing going to do? What kind of life will he lead?

I am keeping my fingers crossed and will continue to observe him. I think I better talk to the doctor at his third month appointment for injections. :S

Funny Vs Angry

I haven’t written any funny pieces in a while.

That’s because I haven’t gotten angry about things for quite some time. Life has been pretty good to me so nothing much to bitch about.

Hubby is good to me, in laws are starting to acknowledge my presence again (hahah.. no longer juz ah gong zhong good cos now they say things like “baby is a smiley handsome baby.. look just like mummy..”
And I am getting better at handling my parents or in laws saying strange things. Maybe I got used to it. Maybe things really did get better.

I noticed that I usually have a brilliant piece of writing when I am angry or upset about something. I guess this is the reason why the pieces that most people find entertaining are things I bitch about.

I guess this explains why I am Complain Queen. I specialize in complain letters and have so far managed to get companies to acknowledge my complain and send me vouchers to pacify me.

My sis writes well when she gets upset and angry too. Just check out her blog at clatzz.blogspot.com.

Then I thought about this. Do I want people to find me funny and be angry all the time or do I want to be happy and not have things to bitch about? Which would YOU prefer?

I guess I would rather be happy.

So till I start bitching about things again, do continue to read my blog, will you? I really dunno when another brilliant piece of writing might hit me again.

Kung Fu Legs 2

Have you always wondered how stay-at-home mums handle everything alone with their baby?

Before I had to take care of Ace, I did.

It is dangerous to leave a baby alone, right? So I have always wondered how come these mums don’t need to eat, pee or bath? How is it that they can take care of the baby for the whole day?

I still do not know how the other mothers cope.. but I did with the help of my KUNG FU LEGS (now you know where Ace gets his kung fu legs.. like mother like son..) and my trusty bright blue bouncer.

A typical day of mine goes like this:

Wake, lie in bed, feed, bath Ace, feed again.

By this time, my parents will be here and they will play with him while I have my lunch.

By the time they go, Ace is hungry again. I feed him a little and proceed to do work, blog, check email at my PC.

So what happens to Ace? I put Ace in the blue bouncer right beside me and secretly hope that the sound of typing will put him to sleep. Alas my wish doesn’t come true.

When he is not fussy, he is happy to play by himself. But when he starts to get fussy.. I will use my kung fu legs to rock the bouncer while I continue to type my stuff and sooner or later he goes to sleep. Whenever he wakes, the kung fu legs start moving till he is asleep again.

If I am going out that day, it gets a little tougher. While he sleeps, I will quickly go and bath (keeping my fingers crossed that he doesn’t wake up cos if he does, he will cry all the way till I finish bathing and pick him up and by that time, tears will be streaming down his face and he will be coughing).

Then I have to prepare the things to bring when I go out, dress him..

The most difficult part comes when he is hungry and I am in a hurry. I simply do not have the luxury of sitting down to feed him till he is happy and what do I do?

I bring him to my room, put the bouncer beside me and use my legs to rock him while I put on make up! As I haven’t quite perfected the art of drawing brows while moving my kung fu legs at the same time, there have been quite a number of times I went out with crooked eyebrows because of this. (sigh..)

And because I am so afraid he will grow up thinking that make up is a part of life, I keep telling him that Mummy is putting on make up to look mei mei. Only WOMEN need to put on make up. He is a boy and dun need to put on make up. He just needs to admire it. Hahaha…

But babies truly are strange creatures.

He might admire my make up for a while but he would start crying again the moment he gets out of that blue bouncer while I try to change his clothes and change his diapers. No matter how hard I try to pacify him, he just wouldn’t stop and would just continue to cry as if I haven’t fed him in a hundred years!

But the minute I step out of the house, he becomes quiet and falls asleep all the way till I am in the taxi and he wakes to look at me expectantly for feeding!

Once and again proven. Got food no love. Hahaha..

PS: I read somewhere that crying in the afternoon or evenings is normal for babies sometimes because the baby is just letting off steam.

Happy Birthday Max Papa!

Baby Ace is ecstatic today.

It is after all his father's birthday.

Today, he woke up at around 9am in the morning and started his baby talk. He was in a good mood and was talking VERY LOUDLY to himself (just like he did the other day at 3am in the night!)

He suddenly paused for a while and then as he got louder and louder by 9.30am, i sensed that there was something wrong.

Silence usually means POOP. Just take yesterday night when we brought him to the library for example. He was unusually quiet and he kept having that very guilty look on his face. And when daddy smelled his 'durian'... "Bah, mummy, I think he pooped!"

We ended up having to change his diapers at the back of the car under dim light emitting from Daddy's handphone. (I think I am quite good at changing diapers now.. when i checked under normal lighting later, i found that I did quite a good job of cleaning his ass! hahahah...)

Anywayz, he did poop again. He always smiles when he poops and I think he associates this to happiness. Hahaha.. I guess he is in a good mood cause last night, his ah gong and ah ma played with him merrily when we went home for supper cum birthday celebration for the two of us.

I then put him on the rubber mat and told him that I was going to bath him. I went about with preparing the water while he talked to himself on the mat and when I came back 5 minutes later, he had managed to turn himself 90 degrees to the left!

Maybe that is his birthday celebration for daddy.

Happy birthday, daddy!

Max Papa’s BD Celebration

Nothing will go as planned. I think life is very much like that.

Just take my hubby's birthday celebration for example.

We had wanted to celebrate his birthday with him and me and a group of friends secretly planned a surprise party for him.

But nothing went as planned.

Firstly, Max was suppose to go play soccer in the morning. But he didn't. He ended up staying at home and asking me N times why we are not going out yet becuase I told him I was going to bring him to secret place for a secret celebration. Sigh.. and then he said I was not sincere cos I kept delaying.

And then he happily put on our family outfit (as you can see, the theme was blue) and prepared to go out. Max was wearing blue shirt and bermudas. Me was wearing bikini and sarong.. Ace was wearing blue romper.. BUT we were not dressed right for the weather cos it was raining cats and dogs! The worst thing was that it was tat kind of rain that wouldnt stop...

In the end, we reached Sentosa and just hang around and do nothing while we waited for Jez to reach home so that we could adjourn to her house instead.

Beach party ended up as a gathering at Jez's place. Heng they didnt suggest my place cos I havent packed my house in like a hundred years! Hahaha...

Well, we did finally surprise Max a little when they suggested he go change Ace's diapers and when he is done, all came with the birthday cake and started singing the birthday song for him.

All in all, Max was pretty happy with his celebration and the ORANGE TIE present from Jez though i think he was slightly disappointed tat it wasnt a romantic day out with him alone tat i planned). Ace was more than happy to have loads of beautiful aunties to talk to and play with him (especailly aunty sharon who dotes on him).

I guess life never really goes the way you want to.. but that shouldnt stop us from making the best of it!

Once and again, thanks guys for making the celebration kind of a success! Hahaha.. Anyway, lesson learnt: ALWAYS HAVE A PLAN B. WHAT'S YOUR PLAN B???

Kung Fu Legs

Once upon a time, there was a little girl named little red riding hood.

One day, she went to visit her favourite baby called Ace.
When she saw Ace, she was really surprised. She only met him like a month ago but it seemed that he had already grown so much.

“Baby Ace, what big, strong legs and big feet you have!” exclaimed Little Red Riding Hood (LRRH).

“Well the better to kick you…” said Ace with a smile and a wink…

”Just joking lah.. I have been practicing the kung fu of kicking at things for the past one month.. that is why my legs have grown big. In fact, they now look so juicy that mummy says she has huge urge to bite into it even though she is vegetarian.”

“But why do you need such strong, kung fu legs for?” asked LRRH.

“Well, firstly, I used my legs to indicate my hunger. The higher they go, the more hungry I am…”
“And because I am such a hungry baby, I am in constant need for more milk. My legs are also useful for kicking mummy’s breast so that I can massage them and increase milk supply..”

“And when mummy holds me under my armpits, I can now stand up for like 3 seconds before squatting down. Ain’t I a clever 2.5 month-old?” Ace positively beamed.

“Oh yes you certainly are!” exclaimed LRRH. “So what other stunts can you do with your legs?”she asked.

“Well, my legs are also important for the fulfillment of my current life mission: to kick away my blanket when daddy and mummy wrap it around me whenever I am in the stroller.”

“My highest record is 2 minutes for the blanket to drop completely to the floor!” says Ace proudly.

"Wah, you wanna go Hollywood and fight with Jackie Chan for his ricebowl?" asked LRRH.

"Well, been there, done that!" replied Ace.

"Well, you certainly are a very outstanding baby.." commented LRRH with utmost admiration shimmering in her eyes...

"Of course, my ah gong's zhong (seed)very good ok!"

The Pram-Peeping Syndrome

Before I was a parent, I never noticed this.

But as I push Ace along when I go out, I noticed that most people would have the Pram-Peeping Syndrome and it goes like this:

1) Blatant stare at the parents
2) Quick peep into the pram to look at the baby
3) Quick look at the parents
4) Look away quickly

Why do people do that?

I know I do that now because I am trying to see if other people’s babies are cuter than Ace. And I am proud to say that I have so far not seen any other baby who is even cuter or more handsome than MY baby Ace.

So why do other people do that?

My friend says she does it to:
a) check out if the baby is cute
b) check out if the baby looks like parents

Sometimes, she sees a very ‘sad-looking’ (not that the baby looks sad.. rather we feel sad for the baby for the way he/she looks) with pleasant looking parents and at other times vice versas. Whichever way it happens, we feel a stab of sympathy for both parent and baby.

I guess I am glad I look ok. As most beautiful mum-to-be 2005, I know I at least dun look as if a truck has rammed into my face.

And if what everyone tells me is true, I am also lucky that Ace is a very handsome little baby. (I am trying to make up for not being very humble just now.. hahaha...)

With regards to Ace being handsome, I think Ace agrees too because he would absolutely BEAM at anyone who says that he is handsome or calls him a ‘handsome boy’.

However, I still haven’t met many strangers outside of my office who would come up to me and say, “What a cute little baby… hiya, the mummy so pretty and the daddy so handsome.. no wonder baby so cute…”

You would be surprised but the people in my office are always lavish with praise. I hear this everytime I bring him to office and I hear it numerous times from different people.

Now you know why I like to bring Ace to office. Hahahaha….

Are You Reading My Blog?

Are you reading my blog? If you are, kindly add a comment somewhere and let me know.

My blogs are usually painstakingly written when baby Ace is asleep or typed out using one hand while I feed him with the other.

And after so much effort, it seems like no one is reading.

So far, I only know that Clari (my sister) and Power are reading my blog on a regular basis. (Thanks, girls for your undying support!) They read it so regularly that they complain to me if I do not blog for more than 2 days.

Some others who read my blog now and then are Joven (who keeps telling me about how much he enjoyed the peice about "zhong"), hubby Max, Geok Hui, Linda, Christine and Soo May. But maybe they are shy, you won’t see traces of them anywhere ;)

I was told by someone that I made motherhood sound so fun that she wanted to rush out and have her own baby. Someone else even suggested that the Singapore government give pay me to write more pro-baby blogs in addition to giving out baby bonus to encourage Singaporean women to give birth to more babies! Haha...

Yet, mostly, it seems like no one is appreciating my efforts.

Hubby often scolds me for spending too much time blogging. I have to justify it somehow right? ;)

But how can I justify when my counter only shows like 12 views a day.. out of which I think one quarter of them are the result of me checking on my blog?

Anyway, I have just submitted my blog to various blog directories in secret hope that someone will fine arces of diamonds in the little pieces of my life that I write about .

Keepings my fingers crossed that I will see more people viewing my blog….

So if you are reading, drop me a line. All forms of suggestions, encouragement are welcomed ;)

Ace’s New Trick

Ace learnt another new trick again.

When I woke up, he was just lying on bed and playing with himself. Then suddenly, he started to cry. But at that exact moment, I also wanted to pee!

So what could mummy do?

Mummy asked Ace to wait and then rushed to the loo.

When mummy came back, he was still crying. So mummy asked him, “What is it? What do you want?”

Miracles of miracles! Ace raised his hand and touched mummy’s breast! He even paused and looked meaningfully into my eyes as if to say, “I want milk lor, mummy!”

And to ensure that I get the message, he continued crying again! And when he cried, he went, "m..i..l..k.... m..i..l..k...."

Wow! My son just communicated to me in SIGN LANGUAGE LEH!

I can’t wait for when he can talk!

But me and hubby suspect that the first thing he will say is not ‘Mama’ or ‘Papa’.. but “MILK!” Hahahaha…

What Marks True Financial Freedom

On Monday (my birthday), hubby brought me out shopping. We went to Takashimaya and since we had nothing better to do, we decided to just walk around aimlessly.

As it was a Monday, there were not many people walking around.It seemed to me that we seem to be the only ones with strollers and it feels good to be the odd one out.

As the afternoon got later, we started to see quite a few strollers around. The strollers were strolling in and out of Taka and all the branded shops like LV, Gucci, Fendi alongside the beautifully made up taitai mummies and their maids (who were of course the ones pushing the strollers and carrying the baby bags.)

I was suddenly hit with a realization that if I were rich, this would be the kind of life I would be leading.

“Wah… that’s life man!” most people would exclaim.

But I don’t want to be rich! I want to be financially free! (Why do you think I got into the network marketing business in the first place??)

Should me and hubby be financially free, walking around in shopping malls with our baby on a weekday would be something we can do EVERY SINGLE DAY IF WE FELT LIKE IT.

For a moment, I felt superior to the rich taitais because so what if they have maid to carry things and babies around? I have hubby to do that for me and with me. Isn’t that even better?!

I aspire to work harder in my biz and achieve financial freedom faster man!

PS: For concerned friends who want to know how I am doing in my business, thank you very much. We are doing fine ;) As an expansion of our network marketing business (as part of the multi-dimensional marketing platform offered by our company), our own café will be starting soon at Niel Road. Do come and support support when we start operations. ;)

Ace Learns To Sayang Mummy

Today when I breastfed Ace in the morning, I noticed a new phenomenon.

As a newborn, whenever I fed him, his hands will be clenched and by his sides or resting on his tummy.

Then as he grew up, he started to change his behavior.

I read somewhere that newborns do not think of their legs and hands as part of themselves. Only when they grow up do the gradually realize that their hands and legs are part of their body, afte which they will try to make use of it.

By the time he was 1.5 months old, he started to rest his hand on my breast or the ‘ridge’ between my breasts. (Haha, once and again confirming that he is not GAY!!)

Now at almost 2.5 months, he has started a new stunt.

Since the morning feeding, he has taken to moving his hands and roving his hands all over my breasts. It was as if he was using his hands to mark his territory.

“Hey, this is mine!”says Ace.

Daddy claims otherwise though.

“Hey, little buddy, this is MINE! If not, you wouldn't be born!”

Hiaks.