Happy 39mths old to baby Si and happy 17 mths old to baby Skye!!!

Happy 39mths old to baby Si and happy 17 mths old to baby Skye!!!

(previous month's post <~ if u missed it!)

Here's our monthly family tradition of taking Polaroid pics.
Hopefully baby Si n baby skye pics will cheer up ur day!!!
It did cheer us up when snapping these pics... :)

Milestones reached:

.baby Skye walking backwards on his own
.baby Skye running...well more like jogging on slow mode. He "runs" with both hands stretched out as if trying to balance....cute!!!
.baby Skye insists on self feeding n drinking by himself. He would climb the stool n grab a spoon or fork when food is ready. He would rather not eat if I feed him. So i let him self feed, then I secretly feed him in between while he gets messy n distracted with food!!!
.baby Skye has a fascination with spoons...not just any spoon but must be stainless steel. He walks around holding his spoon. To the point he grips it to sleep as well. He now knows to climb the stool n takes the spoon by himself...sometimes a pen will do. Patti (Mr.hubby mom) joked that he might have been born with a silver spoon...
.baby Skye knows to throw tantrum!!! He is very persistent to the point that he will cry n whine n lay down on the floor...oh boyyyy!!!!
Sienna only did that once she turned 3!!!
.Plays peekaboo
Now that he knows how to walk, he will follow jie jie sienna n hide behind the wall pillars downstairs! He shrieks when I find him! N then runs away when I try to catch him n proceeds to hide again...
Jie jie sienna loves playing as well...just imagine the screams
.weight 9.3kg, 78cm (during his check up on 18 June)
.meeting his half Korean cousin ha min for the 1st time
.meeting "tatta" n "Patti" <-- grandfather and grandmother in Tamil ( Mr.hubby parents) for the 1st time

.baby Si finally is 12kg. For the longest time (more than a year?) she was at 11kg static...
.baby SI at 90cm...time to get a MRT card for the not so little one!!! But kids still travel FREE up till age 7
.baby Si no longer able to watch movies at the cinemas for free once she is above 90cm!

.baby Si n Skye first time to India!!! (Will blog about this soon...hopefully)

Click here ->>> Throwback baby Si's 17mths!
If u click the link, it will take you to the milestone of baby Si where she self weaned herself from (.)(.) at 17 months old...
Glad this time, we don't have to worry about weaning baby Skye from (.)(.) breastfeeding as this momma's has officially "close shop" aka "factory shutdown"!!!
Will "jia you" and continue breastfeeding as long as I can or as long as Baby Skye wants...it's a "love-hate" relationship I have with breastfeeding, (as he's still waking up ever so often n using me as a pacifier) but I keep telling myself, since this will be my last breastfeeding kid, I will "jia you" aka "add oil"!!!
To all breastfeeding mommies out there, lets "Gambahteh" together!!!

Pic below: (before India trip)... packing Chinese kids with yummy snacks!!!

Pic below: (after India trip) unpacking Indian kids with their new toys and new Indian outfits!!! Thanks to mr. Hubby's relatives :)

Terrariums??? What is it...hint: not a dinosaur species!!!

I have to admit that I have actually never heard of Terrariums until just a few months back when I just happened to click thru it...tks to instagram feeds!!!

But to actually make my own terrarium??? Even better!!! Well, to be honest, I didn't make one as I was busy having my hands full making sure baby skyler wasn't putting sand n rocks in his mouth n making sure he didn't fall down from his chair... thank God he didn't!!! He was keeping himself busy mixing sands and playing "masak masak" and copying jie jie sienna!!! "Monkey see, monkey do!!!"

But jie jie sienna did make her own terrarium thanks to the guidance of the wonderful people at the plant story
and Actualyse!!!
Don't worry too much of ur 3 year old breaking the glass or throwing sand into the air...its part n parcel of learning hands-on n having fun while at it... this mummy was all tense n my OCD was on high alert when I saw sienna mixing the colored sands together!!! NOOooooo...****gasps***
I just took a deep breath n let her do her own thing!!! ***breath in, breath out***
(Side note: this is the reason why her playdough given to sienna by her friend for her 3 yr BDAY is still sitting nicely in the box)

Sienna's terrarium turned out pretty terrific...its perfect for Singapore (minimal living space and having a non existent garden), terranium is the perfect solution! Mini garden in our own home!!! Sienna calls it our pretend garden...   

It's nice to see her get excited over every process of making it. She nurtures it everyday... sings n talks to it!!! She even reminds me "check" n to "water" it...           (Reminder: that keeping Terrariums is low maintenance n watering is not really needed)

This act of "love" shown by sienna reminds me of myself, being a parent...the act of nurturing my 2 babies!!!

This is also in line with one of actualyse core values "Nurturing Diversity"

"We believe that everyone is different and all have talents. We are committed to providing the support they need to grow these talents" - www.actualyse.com

Special Thanks to Atualyse for teaching my kids and I about nature (& nurture) and how hands-on naturalistic learning can be so much FUN...
Do pop over to Actualyse webpage for information on parenting! And while u are at it, don't forget to take their Multi-Intelligence Quiz to find out U n ur kids MI score...It serves as a self-awareness tool and provides an indication of your Multiple Intelligence make-up; what you are stronger in or inclined towards and what you may need improvements on.

The Plant Story
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThePlantStoryPage
Instagram: @ThePlantStory
Address: HortPark, 33 Hyderabad Road #01-01 (Beside the Lawn)
Telephone: +65 9722 0438
Email: ihaveaquestion@theplantstory.com
Opening Hours: 10am – 7pm, Closed on Wednesday and major PH

Actualyze
Web: http://www.actualyse.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/actualyse
Instagram: @actualyse

Multiple Intelligence quiz: Click Here

Ashley Mak photography: http://www.ashleymak.com/

Disclaimer: This is a Media invite. All opinions are solely ours.

Photo credit: Ashley Mak

Photo credit: Ashley Mak

Photo credit: Ashley Mak

Meeting my celebrity crush VB :)

This mummy had the privilege to meet my celebrity crush, Victoria Beckham in PERSON!!!

VB launched her new nail polish line called Nails Inc at sephora, Ion Orchard.

Looking back at the pictures we took, I realised that her outfit she wore matched the colors n design of sephora!!! How apt??? Or coincidental? Or maybe VB stylist was just too good...

While circling around the crowd in sephora to get a closer View of VB, I passed backstage and guess who I spotted??? KEN paves (used to be Jessica Simpson's bff and personal hairstylist) *** guess who's been watching wayyy too much reality shows??? Pre-kids of course!!!  ***

Now he's VB current bff n personal hairstylist...

Since it was an all girls event invite, mr. Hubby couldn't go on behalf of me!

But he was nice enough to accompany me and babysat the kids outside...he also had the privilege to see her walked in and walked out. What shocked us all was the spontaneity that VB showed to the crowd waiting outside by asking if they wanted a quick group picture :) Just imagine the crowd went wild...

Well, there wasn't much of a crowd since it was not a publicized event and more of a closed event!

Not only did I get to meet an international sensation but a local one as well...Onn Shu An! Been following her and watching her "Tried n Tested" YouTubes... She's one hot spicy bubbly local celebrity... Would term her as a "chilli padi" - tiny but fiery!!!

Great once in lifetime opportunity, n I'm glad I got to witness it!!!

Hats off to this super hot momma for being such an inspiration to all mummies...a hands on mummy, entrepreneur,globe trotter,fashionista,etc...of coz she has many hands helping her!!! But in order to wear so many hats at once n being able to switch on n off is a tough job (mentally) as physically...kudos!!!

Pic below: selfie wt my celebrity crush...

p/s: I looked like a stalker

By the way no cameras were allowed but who could resist??? EVERYBODY was clicking away...

More pics on Mr. Hubby FB:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10103196558932329.1073741875.25805776&type=1&l=2a3825942a

Happy 38mths old to baby Si and happy 16 mths old to baby Skye!!!

Happy 38mths old to baby Si and happy 16 mths old to baby Skye!!!

(previous month's post <~ if u missed it!)

Here's our monthly family tradition of taking Polaroid pics.
Hopefully baby Si n baby skye pics will cheer up ur day!!!
It did cheer us up when snapping these pics... :)

Milestones reached:

.baby Skye helping to take out clothes from the washing machine! I remember baby Si used to love doing it...now she just lets di di do it and rather play with her toys!

.baby Skye knows to "sayang" but in a rough way - need a little more practicing to be gentler

.baby Skye knows to "muttu muttu" aka headbutt in Tamil

.baby Skye knows to kiss when asked to...but he needs to learn to kiss with his mouth CLOSE!!! 

***gentleman a bit can or not???***

.baby Skye 2 top teeth sprouting...he finally has more than just 2 bottom teeth :) ***No biting mummy, plz***

.baby Skye can finally WALK!!! Stable....this mummy is "over the moon" HAPPY coz we are heading to India soon. Throwback to when we bought the airplane tickets, we thought for sure he will be walking WAAAYYYY before our trip!!! 

***time for this mummy to go shopping for baby Skye first proper shoes ;) ***

.baby Si knows to differentiate between English, Tamil, mandarin and Korean! 

Yes Korean....one day I flipped to a Korean channel, and baby Si said what they talking....Korean!!!

Must be from hanging out with her half Korean cousin and Korean aunty

She is also asking lots of qs like "what's this word in chinese?", putting this banana mummy into cold sweats! Thank God for Google translate....hehehhe

And she also knows to switch language conversation...talking to mummy in chinese then all of a sudden English to daddy!!!

Click here ->>> Throwback baby Si's 16mths! <- realized that baby Si and baby Skye started doing laundry at the same age!!! Finallly the same milestone ;)

Polaroid pic below: was trying to use the Pom Pom as a prop and getting the kiddos to put it on as wigs.... Guess who got scared of those "icky" long strands??? He was avoiding and running away from jie jie and tried to give it to mummy (2nd pic)!!! ***HELLLLLPPPPppp****

(Side note: this mummy used to be a cheerleader aka dancer on the dance team back in university days in USA ... How can my son be scared of Pom Pom??? What more Pom Pom girls aka baby Si?)

Cebu, Philippines

Cebu (20-23 March 2015)

So a few days after our sydney trip (click here), we were off to our first COMPLETE family trip to Cebu, Philippines!!! (This time we brought Sienna along with us, OF COURSE!!!)...

It was our very 1st time to step foot in Philippines...

We did not do any research before hand about Cebu (before purchasing our flight tickets!!!)

Yes, call us crazy!!! Hahaha... We thought, why not? We haven't been to Philippines yet...LOLs...

We wanted to initially go to Boracay as we heard lots of things about it....but the journey there takes about a whole day as it involves flight+bus+boat+foot!!! (We aren't THAT adventurous)

Cebu it was...

This blog post entry will be a short one as we did absolutely NOTHING other than EATING, SLEEPING, SWIMMING POOL...x 4 days!!! Hahahaha....

It is very unlike us as we DID NOT even LEAVE the hotel compound...not because we didn't want to but because there was ABSOLUTELY NOTHING within walking distance!!!

Initially, I had plan to go to Cebu city for a visit by taxi but after hearing from a few friends that the traffic is horrendous (peak or off peak), we forgo the plan! 

Thankfully we brought all the essentials needed for the trip (water, fruits, lots of snacks, chilli, etc) yes, u heard me right, I brought along a bottle of SPICY CHILLI as I was being fore warned that Phillipine cuisine is REALLY BLAND ...

But ended up, the hotel food was pretty tasty...maybe cause we ordered all sorts of cuisines???

The beach at our hotel front was nothing to shout about...it was man made! Basically they dumped lotsa sand and called it a "beach"!!!

Please don't get me wrong....Cebu has lots of pretty beaches and outdoor actitivities...

Just that all these places are at least a few hours drive away!!!

We decided to stay at the nearest beach from the airport which was Mactan area...

It was a nice, TOO relaxing vacation that we felt lethargic after the trip...try sleeping n eating all day long!!! But the kids enjoyed it SOOO much...especially being in the pool...

It was baby Skye 1st time being in the swimming pool...initially cried a little, but after that he was just floating away happily for hours and days without any complaint!

It was baby Skye 1st time being on a beach too... Caught him red handed eating sand while mummy was taking a "wefie" with him!!!

P/s: we wanted to try the famous "Balut" aka embryo duck egg (yes, I will try everything once!!!)

But we didn't find any (of coz)... Till the next time, perhaps???

Mummy tips:

Mactan area-Not stroller friendly at all... U can leave ur strollers at home! 

Lucky us, We only brought 1 stroller as to "ferry" baby Skye in the airport...

Note to self: research before hand...no more spontaneous crazy impulsive decisions especially now that we have 2 kiddos :p

More pics on mr. Hubby Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10103149912272609.1073741871.25805776&type=1&l=c2f7b878d4

Happy Mother's Day!!!

If you are a Singaporean or living in Singapore, you would know it's a BAD thing to appear on STOMP!!! <- unless you are craving for bad publicity :p

And mr. Hubby gave me a heart attack when he sent me an email titled "look who's famous!!!???'

And puts a link to STOMP...OOOO'oooooooohhhhh

http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/singaporeseen/top-mum-awards-2015/top-mum-i-never-knew-the-sacrifices-she-made-until-i-became-a-mother-myself

Thank you STOMP for finally putting HAPPY NEWS :)

I would like to say happy Mother's Day to my mama...

Thank you for ALL you do...

I seldom say "I LOVE YOU" but know that I do :)

http://youtu.be/FyDUfD5LbIM

HAPPY MOTHER's DAY!!!

All mommies are awesome! Give a pat to urself!!!

Let me end the post with pictures of my happy pills...

Last pic: Sienna helped decorate my Mother's Day cake :) and we ate them all...YUMMY!!!

Can't wait for our 1st STAYCATION weekend to begin...

See you sydney!!!

(P/s: same repeated outer wear for all of us...as we didn't expect it to be still cold)... 

12-17 March 2015

Caution: this is a very LONG post... If u like, u can just skip it and scroll down straight to the "mummy tips" or to the pics ;)

Sorry for the delayed blog post... Mr. Hubby finally transferred pics from the camera to his FB!!! 

***blame it on the hubs*** LOLs...

It's been 2 months now since our trip and my post pregnancy brains is kinda rusty now, so forgive me if this blog post seems vague! U can still ask me questions though :) 

This was quite a last minute trip as mr. Hubby was being sent to sydney for 1 day business trip but we decided to make full use of it and turned it into our vacation + mr. Hubby early bday celebration!!!

Too bad baby Si had to be left behind as this mummy wanted a more "relaxing" trip with just the hubs n baby skye :) no playing favouritism here as baby Skye goes wherever the "milk factory" goes!!! LOLs..

Plus we were ALL gonna go to our FIRST family vacation (just the 4 of us) to Cebu, Philippines a few days after our Sydney trip... ***lessens this mummy's guilt***

Plus we know that she won't be missing us as Po po n gong gong is in the house!!! (Imported them from Malaysia) <~ and no she did not miss us that much as she was having way to much fun!!!

This was baby skye 2nd LONG HAUL flight...read all about his 1st long haul flight to the land of sushi

Click link here!

Places we covered in summary:

1st day: (Friday) arrived noon - mr. Hubby headed straight to work...mummy and baby Skye checked in to hotel, queen Victoria building, n walked around city centre - shopping time!!! (George st, Pitt st mall, WestFields, Strand arcade)...met up mr. Hubby for dinner n dessert

2nd day: free walking tour (3 hrs) which covered CBD, the rocks, circular quay, opera house, sydney harbour bridge, etc

3 hrs flew by quickly as it was an interesting tour even for non historic person like me ;)

We have used the same free walking tour in Amsterdam not once but twice and it was awesome! I suggest you do it on ur first day as it gives u a general idea of where things are and if u like the particular place, you have the rest of days to go back :) please tip generously at the end of the tour if u like it as the tour guides are all volunteers!!!

The Rocks weekend market...

pancakes on the rocks for their awesome pancakes - plz order "THE ULTIMATE"!!! Thanks to a friend for the suggestion ;) wanted to stop by "The Guylian Belgian Chocolate Cafe" but our stomachs were full ...

Evening- Hillsong Church service, chinatown for late dinner at noodle house, darling harbour for fireworks (every Saturday)

3rd day: Sunday is CHEAP PUBLIC TRANSPORT DAY... $2.50 flat fee TOTAL for anywhere and everywhere!!!

So off we went to MANLY beach by ferry, fish n chips, and then headed by bus to BONDI BEACH... Wanted to do the scenic walk along the coastline (congee walk) but it rained heavily! 

Fish n chips for dinner again :)

4th day: daddy headed to work half day!

Mummy n baby Skye headed to sydney fish market (yummy oysters), maritime museum, steak for lunch...

Checkout hotel and moved to an airport hotel as next day was a morning flight.

Dinner in hotel restaurant- burger (best burger ever) and pizza!

5th day: bye bye sydney

We left out blue mountain as it required at least half day to 1 day tour as we didn't have enough time and it wasn't on our top to do list!

Don't get me wrong from our itinerary, but there's loads of activity for KIDS (since Sydney is a family oriented place to be) but since Sienna wasn't with us + baby Skye is wayyy too young to know what's going on, we decided to skip! So koalas, kangaroos, etc, we will be back :) 

(P/s: I've seen koalas n kangaroos few times before as I've been to Australia many times during my childhood days + when I had my wings on as a flight attendant!)

Things to note:

-Expensive city!!! I felt that things were more pricy than even in Japan...one meal can cost minimum AUD20 and above! Of coz u can get food court meal for AUD10 (fried rice, kebabs, etc)

-There's a Free bus that goes up n down George street (Main Street)...awesome for when your feet gets tired at the end of the day from walking!!! Just take the bus back up :) 

-Stay in city centre especially if u have kids- saves u time n hassle! N sneak in power nap...

Overall, mr. Hubby and I both agreed that this was indeed a very nice and chilaxing holiday as the itinerary was just nice...! Not too packed and not too bare...

Do note that in Sydney, most shops close early around 5-6pm...(excluding chinatown and pubs/restaurants)! Actually sydney n Melbourne is not as bad as the rest of Australia....

So we switched gears and ended our days early and rose early in the morning!!!

Mummy tips:
~ be sure to book a bassinet before hand when taking airasiaX.

~ baby Skye did not have any ear pressure problem this time! (THANK GOD)

It helped that the flight was a red eye flight, so all of us got to SLEEP and we were out and about the next day we arrived!

~ public transport is SUPER BABY FRIENDLY! Even on the BUS... 

The bus driver even tells everyone to make way as baby is on board! Feels like a VIP as oppose to a hermit crab coz here in spore everyone stares at u coming in with a stroller + baby + toddler + diaper bag + groceries!!!

(Dear SBS transit Singapore: plz take note of this...stroller need NOT be folded on the bus and baby can still be left in stroller...so hassle free!!! Plz adopt this practice here in Singapore :) I have signed the petition for it...) 

~ taxi is a NO NO - Just like in JAPAN, never ever step foot into a TAXI...we made a mistake and took the taxi from the airport to the hotel (as mr. Hubby had to dash off to work right away)... The meter ran like water!!! My heart just skipped and my jaw dropped! AUD100 for a 20 mins ride...

This I have to give credit to Singapore as taxis here are cheap and reasonable...

~ no issues using a stroller as EVERYWHERE we went had escalators and lift! 

I never once remembered carrying/folding the stroller or carrying baby Skye out...

But I did realized that Aussie mummies/daddies do not use strollers on escalators...and I was given imaginary stares when going on/off the escalator with baby skye!

~baby hair chair is found in all restaurants

~no hot or room temperature water in diaper changing rooms (Baby Skye didn't need any hot water but this breastfeeding mummy needed to fill my water bottle) But since cafes are found everywhere, u can just stop into any one and ask for hot water :)

~we did not use much of the baby changing or nursing rooms as our hotel was right smack in the middle of the city centre...since we started our days bright n early, we would pop by our hotel for a quick power nap + breastfeed + diaper change! Also baby Skye usually goes poo poo once he wakes up in the morning :) TMI

Note: there's a baby changing room in Myer departmental store and basement level of QVB!!!

~by now baby Skye is on SOLID FOOD (unlike purée during our JAPAN trip)... So this trip, since Australia has lots of fruit produce, we stocked up on lots of fruits + yogurt + bread + etc

Do note that seasonal fruits are really cheap!!! 3 containers of strawberries for AUD5, 1 container of pear for AUD 1.99!

~7eleven can be found quite easily if needed but can be a tad pricy! Better to stock up at the supermarkets... But let me tell u 7eleven has the BEST CHOCOLATE MUFFIN and cheapest coffee in town!!! AUD1 for a cappuccino and add AUD1 for the muffin...we "tapao" back the muffins coz of my daily sometime twice daily caffeine fix...

Cafes are everywhere in Sydney but a cup of cappuccino will set u back AUD3.50-5! Tried a few different cafes but For me, the taste of 7eleven was good enough ;) 

Sydney pics (on mr. Hubby's FB)

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10103144835711079.1073741870.25805776&type=1&l=2fc359ec28

Sydney goodies... Half gone in our tummies N some given to po po n gong gong before this pic was taken! 

Note to self: the chai latte Woolworth brand is not worth buying...was looking for the tetley brand but they ran out...those FRENCH twist are yummy! But the best are the shortbread n scotch fingers (made from pure butter)... I'm addicted to those butter biscuits now :) hope it's just a phase!!!

And yes, that's the chocolate muffin (n cookies) I was telling u about ;)

hint to those travelling to Australia...hehehehe...