Cherylin's "chop chop"

Finally collected Cherylin's 'chop chop' today. Arranged to meet my mum and cherylin at city hall today. Hence, i went to collect the stamp before heading down to town. When I handed over the stamp to her, Cherylin was very happy and immediately took the stamp out and posed for pictures :)

Day out on 29 Apr

Re: Chop Chop

YC was on leave yday. We took the kids out to town together with my mum. Had lunch at Zhou's restaurant before heading to Suntec. On the way to Suntec, Cherylin kept asking for her chop chop. She chose the design of the stamp and we selected the font for her english and chinese name. It'll take a week for the stamp to be ready.

Re: B&J Free Cone Day

We went to raffles city and joined in the fun for the free ice cream. The queue was rather long as there were lots of students in the afternoon. I was carrying Shawn while YC was pushing Cherylin in the stroller. Suddenly, one of the staff came up to me, gave me a signed brochure and told me to redeem the ice cream at the counter, no need to queue. Same case for YC. :)

As Cherylin was still coughing, we didn't let her eat too much ice cream. Shawn wanna eat too? Haha...wait till he's older then :P

Fever

Cherylin's fever came back again yday afternoon and in the nite. The fever subsided after I gave her medicine in the afternoon. But for the one that came in the nite, it simply refused to go away despite 3 doses of medicine being administered. Her whole body was so hot in throughout the nite . Poor girl. Must be very miserable for her. Later gg to bring her to see doctor again. YC went down to collect a queue number. It's gonna be another hour before it's her turn to see doctor. Hope she gets well soon. *Darling, mummy promised to get you your chop chop when you recover, k?*

Visit to PD

Brought Shawn to Kidslink at JE yday. YC had wanted his father/SIL to drive me to the clinic. I insist on travelling on my own via bus/MRT as the place is quite accessible. So no need to trouble others. I took a bus to the clinic and came back via MRT. I was just telling W & J during our dinner that there was once no one gave up seat to my mum who was carrying a sleeping Cherylin while on the MRT. J was saying next time can ask someone nicely to give up their seats. keke.. but i don't think i dare do so. Interestingly, when i dashed into the MRT with Shawn yday, a middle-aged man saw us and immediately asked me to go over to his side. Then he pointed at a young man and asked him to give up his seat. I was quite paiseh then. At the same time, was grateful to that man and kept thanking him. Hee.. should have more of such kind soul around mah. :P

Ok, let's talk about Shawn's visit to PD. Dr Heng examined him after I told him that bb is having cough. Feel good with the way Dr Heng carried out his examination. Feel that it's very thorough. He checked from his back to his front, check the ears, mouth, hands, legs, etc. Then told me his diagnosis: common cold. Dr Heng also commented that a kid gets infected by a sick mummy more easily than a sick daddy. I suppose cos mummy spend more time with the kid? Shawn was given cough and running nose medicine. His weight and height? 6.515kg and 62cm. No wonder my arms are getting tired faster nowadays.

W & I were complaining that most of the PD charges are v ex. The consultation charges itself can easily starts from $60. For yday's visit, Shawn's bill came up to $67.90 and I thot it's ok. Not too ex considering it's his first visit. :)

Sick

I had fever 2 days ago due to blocked milk ducts again (ya, the other time when i had fever, it was also due to blocked ducts). My fever went up to 39.5 degree. Felt really miserable then, having to fight the fever, pump, and take care of Shawn in the morning when my mum was not around. Luckily the fever went away yesterday. But the stubborn ducts are still blocked as I'm typing away...

Cherylin fell ill too. She had fever in the middle of last nite. Gave her a dose of paracetomol and she was ok in the afternoon. She didn't go for her playgroup as we didn't want her to infect the others (to play safe since HFMD is on the rise recently). While i was out for dinner with my friends, YC called me and told me Cherylin was having fever again. Brought her to see doctor and the temp was 40.9 degrees. Doctor said it's just viral infection, nothing serious. Gave her nurofen which is meant for fever that is more than 38.5 degree. Got to sponge her too during the nite.

As for Shawn, he's still coughing, and it doesn't seem to be getting any better. Notice he has slight blocked nose too Poor boy. Probably bring him to see PD later (even though won't be giving him medicine since he's so small).

Aiyo, why 3 out of 4 of us fall sick leh (if includes my mum whose having cough, will be 4 out of 5). Hmm.. Let's hope tomorrow will be better! :)

Cherylin & Playgroup

Ever since Cherylin started her playgroup this year, she's changed quite a lot:

1) more sociable - last time she'll pull me along with her when she wanna play with her cousins/aunties/uncles. Now she'll happily play with them on her own.
2) likes to sing - she sings everyday, even when outside, she'll hop and sing as we walk.
3) speaks more english - my MIL used to worry abt Cherylin not speaking english. but now Cherylin will speak in english automatically. sometimes we find it funny when she says something in english (probably cos we are so used to her conversing in mandarin)

Cough Cough

Last nite heard Shawn coughing away while sleeping. Poor boy. Wonder how come he kenna cough. Feel so sim tia to hear such a small baby cough. Hope his cough will go away soon.

EBM

I've been pouring away excess EBM as there's really no more space in my freezer. Have tried to use up the EBM I kept in the fridge (max can only store for 48 hours) by giving it to Cherylin. Still I ended up pouring away the EBM when the 48 hours are up. Sometimes I even pump and throw the EBM away if I had drank coffee earlier. Yesterday, YC drank up 240ml of my EBM so that it's not wasted (cos I told him I'll be throwing away). Yikes, I myself dare not drink leh. :P

Shawn's growth development

Better note down his growth development before I forget:

3 Mar 08 (4w4d) - 4.49kg, 56cm
17 Mar 08 (6w4d) - 5.35kg (didn't measure the ht then)

Currently his milk intake (if I were to feed him ebm) is about 120ml. Sometimes he only drinks 100ml.

外婆 home alone

My mum was alone with Cherylin and Shawn again last evening as YC and I went to attend my company's function. Shawn didn't want to sleep since afternoon. He wanted to be carried. When I left the house at 5.30pm, Cherylin had fell asleep. Luckily she slept cos it means that my mum only needed to take care of Shawn. We came back at 10.20pm and mum was still carrying Shawn in her arms. He didn't sleep much for the past few hours when I was out of the house. I immediately took over Shawn from my mum and asked her to go to bed. So for last night, Shawn slept with daddy and mummy (so that 外婆 can have a good nite sleep).

Must be due to the coffee I drank during the dinner, I couldn't sleep till almost 1.30am. By the time I wanted to fall asleep, Shawn woke up for his milk. In btw, he cried on and off. Very tired when I woke up this morning. Guess I have to 'tong' the tiredness till Monday afternoon when my mum is around to catch a nap.

Zhou's Restaurant

Brought my mum to Zhou's Restaurant at Far East Square for lunch yesterday. As we were approaching the entrance of the restaurant, Cherylin said "在这里吃团年饭". I was surprised that she actually remembered the place where we had our reunion dinner with YC's family. Kids nowadays sure have better memory than we had when we were young.

Bath by Mummy

Yesterday was the 1st time i bathed Shawn. I've never dared bathe a small bb. So when Cherylin was a baby, the task was handled by my mum and YC. I only started to bath Cherylin when she's much older. Why did I try bathing Shawn then? Cos the weather was hot and he was perspiring all over. If I were to bring him out (met my mum and Cherylin in town) in that state, he would feel very uncomfortable. Hence, I decided to give it a try and luckily everything turned out ok. :)

Family Day @ East Coast Park

We went to ECP to attend YC's company's family day. It was raining earlier the day. Luckily the sky had cleared when we reached. The weather was just right then. Only complaint was the muddy field. Our legs and shoes were all covered with mud. Cherylin was having fever the night before. Not sure if it's because she's just recovered, she did not seem interested in the ice cream that I offered her. Cherylin appeared bored too and was asking to go home at abt 4pm plus. YC brought her to the game stalls and they came back with little prizes comprising five stones, paper aeroplane - basically those toys that we used to play when we were young. Buffet dinner was provided. There were Cherylin's favourite food such as satays, longan desserts. Too bad she fell asleep while daddy went to get the food. :P We left at abt 6pm and headed home to freshen up before heading to YC's grandma's place.

Trip to Bollywood Veggies

Luckily I recovered just in time to join YC's family for a visit to Bollywood Veggies. There are many types of fruits, veggies, etc and the kids enjoyed roaming around the plantation. We had an early lunch at the cafe. Simple and tasty dishes. Cost $85 for 6 adults and 3 toddlers.

We proceeded to Hay Dairies Goat Farm where the kids, except Cherylin, had fun feeding the goats. This timid daughter of mine only dare to watch by the side while her cousins feed the goats.

Fever fever go away

Was down with fever yesterday. Temp went up to 39.1 degree at one point. Hence, I had to take paracetamol to lower the fever. I ever heard that it's safe to continue breastfeeding even when you have fever/taking paracetamol. But being ks, i dare not bf bb. Hence, bb was on fed ebm yesterday. I latched him on a couple of times (which was more than 6 hours after i last took my medicine). I continued to pump out the milk else supply may drop. As I dare not feed my bb with the ebm, in the end threw away more than 1 litre of ebm. So sim tia.

This morning found out from a fren that it's ok to continue bfdg even when taking paracetamol. She has been taking it as a pain reliever since giving birth. That sets my mind at ease. So, I'll continue to bf my bb and not waste the bm. :) Temp this morning ranges from 37.1 to 37.6 degree. Hope I'll get well soon.

Mummy's milk milk

My freezer has run out of space to store anymore ebm. Throwing away the ebm is such a waste. Hence, we've been adding my bm to Cherylin's milk lately. First time we added 60ml to 120ml. She didn't notice it. Second time, we added 120ml of bm to 60ml of fm. This time round, while drinking her milk, she commented to my mum: 有妈咪milk milk 味道。 Nevertheless she continued to finish her milk. keke.. :P

Posed like a model

Took a candid shot of Cherylin on her way back to my mum's place after her playgroup. Somehow, managed to capture the model-like pose :P

Mossie mossie everywhere

Ever since i gave birth to Shawn, my place seems to be swarmed by lots of mosquitoes. Previously we only encountered mosquitoes once in a while. Now, we are bugged by these irritating mosquitoes almost everyday. Yday, we killed more than 10 mosquitoes! Horrible right. I really wonder where these creatures came from. Have checked the possible breeding places in our house but didn't find clue. Poor Shawn, kenna badly bitten by the hateful mossie. And for me, i hadn't been having a good nite sleep cos I will be awake a few times in the middle of the nite to catch mosquitoes (not forgetting having to wake up to bf Shawn). :(

Full Month cum Birthday Celebration - Part II

PG couldn't deliver the cake to us at our preferred time slot. Hence we had to travel all the way down to AMK to collect the cake. We left the house at 830am. When we arrived at the shop, we were told that the cake will only be ready in 20mins' time. Due to the delay and the distance, it's already 10am plus when we were back home. Gotta rush to bathe the kids and get ready the stuff for the celebration in the afternoon. Haven't even decorate the function room when the first guest arrived. Anyway, we don't have much deco. Haha, just some simple wordings that I've spent 1 whole day making and balloons for the kids.

The caterer came on time to set up the buffet. However, when i saw the quantity provided, I had a shock of my life. It's so miserable (as compared to the caterers that I've used before). Well, there's nothing we could do then. Just hoping that there will be enough food for all the guests. (afternote: blame myself for being geh kiang and wanted to try something else. so had a tongue lashing from YC after the event :P)

It'll really be the first and last time we'll use this caterer. Not only is the qty and quality of food not up to standard (don't think our standard is too high cos the other caterers were really much better in both areas), there's also several hipcups:

i) the guy did not light up the warmer and wanted to leave the place
ii) he claimed he did not have lighter with him and wanted to borrow from us. We have none unfortunately and he had no choice but to get from his van
iii) he did not provide us with laddles and tongs!

Aiyo, the hipcups above shouldn't have happened as these things are not something exceptional for a buffet setup. I really blamed myself for choosing this caterer. humph.

Full Month cum 3rd Birthday Celebration - Part I

We decided to have a mini post birthday celebration for Cherylin when we hold Shawn's full month celebration. It's to make her happy too in case she wonders how come didi has so many presents, etc when she has none.

Birthday cake:
PG or SO? We can't decide which bakery to choose. One wins in terms of cake flavours while the other has nicer design especially for kids.

In the end, we decided to go for PG. Got a 3 kg cake for her with slight modification to the cake design which the cake shop has emailed to us. After gathering feedback on the more popular flavours, we went down to the shop and bought Lychee Martini and Triple Layer Choco to sample. YC, my mum, Cherylin and myself all voted for Lychee Martini for its refreshing taste (i suppose it's something unusual from the normal choco/vanilla cake that we have).

Buffet:
Wanted to use back our all time favourite caterer but i wanted to try another caterer. In the end, we chose YLS cos I heard of good feedback from pple who have used them. My MIL was not very keen to try a different caterer and kept commenting what if portion not enough, food not nice, etc. Knowing my character, YC went ahead with my preference :P

Cherylin's 3rd Birthday

It's Cherylin's birthday today. YC bought her a set of blocks as he saw her enjoying herself when she was at his friend's place during CNY. Cherylin was delighted when she saw the gift from daddy and immediately asked daddy to open it up for her to play. Nowadays, she'll keep her toys after she's finished playing. Not sure if it's due to her going to school or becos of an incident where YC threw his temper on Cherylin when she refused to keep her toys despite repeated reminders. Any way, we are glad that she's doing the right thing now.

I bought the Leapfrog Wordlaunch system for Cherylin as her birthday gift. Think she's still too young to play with the system now. Nevertheless, she enjoyed meddling with the alphabets. I shall figure out how the system works and play with her one of these days.

YC bought a cake to celebrate Cherylin's birthday. Thus, we sang a birthday song for her and let her cut the cake. She also distributed goodies pack to her classmate this morning when she went to school. This little darling of mine helped in the packing of the goodies bags. See how engrossed she was when doing so:

Sibling rivalry/jealousy?

Friends/relatives had been telling me to prepare Cherylin for the arrival of her didi. We did tell her that she'll have a didi soon before Shawn was borned. But I suppose no matter how much we prepare her (kids will be kids afterall), she will at some time be difficult to handle.

When she's in good mood, what will she do?

1) gently sayang didi
2) gently talk to him/wanna teach him to read ABCs/wanna him to play toys with her
3) help us when changing bb/bathing (e.g. she'll bring my tissue/handkerchief, bring towel to 外婆, etc)
4) tell us when didi cries (her fav phrase: 妈咪，弟弟哭了，快点去抱他)

When she's in bad mood/cranky (usually when she's sleepy/has lack of sleep)
1) purposely disturb/hit didi
2) wanna 外婆carry her instead of didi
3) says she doesn't like didi

Overall, I would say Cherylin has been quite a good gal since the arrival of didi. That day when YC's aunt visited us and jokingly said she'll bring didi home with her when she carried him, Cherylin was so worried and kept telling me to carry didi back. She's afraid that YC's aunt will really bring didi back. Haha...

Shawn is back home

Shawn had to stay in the nursery for phototherapy. He was sleeping soundly when we visited him before checking out of the hospital. So poor thing to see him stripped naked with only his diaper on. Was glad that he at least he wasn't crying else will be real sim tia.

During his stay in the nursery, we visited him twice a day. Each time, will breastfeed him as well as bring whatever ebm that I've managed to express out.

PD updated me on his development every morning. As the jaundice level had gone down and was stabilised, Shawn was able to go home on Day 6. Yippee! At least he can spend his CNY eve at home. :)

31 Jan 2008 - It's the DAY!

It's the first time at nite that I was woken up a few times since I got pregnant. Woken up not by bb's kicking but by contraction of my tummy. I thot it's false contraction hence just ignore it and went back to sleep.

Was given 2 days' MC hence not going to work today. Before YC left for work, told him my tummy is 'hardened' (meaning there's contraction). Shortly after, the tummy turned soft again. So I still thought it's false alarm and YC proceeded to go to work.

Shortly after he left, I woke up and had my usual morning shower. Took my breakfast and started to do some packing of bb clothes/my stuff. I experienced more and more regular contraction but kept brushing it off. It was only at around 9.50am that I decided to time the interval. I was having contraction at an interval of 10mins! Still trying to keep cool and think it's 'not time yet', I continued with doing my stuff. At 10.30am, I went to the toilet and realised I had show! It was then I finally came face to face with reality that it's really time to go to the hospital. Immediately called YC and told him that. He tried to rush home asap and informed his parents and brother in the meantime.

While waiting, my contraction got worse, the interval got shorter and I was perspiring all over (out of fear i think). I could feel that little baby is pushing down and had the feeling that he's coming out! Told baby to guai guai wait for daddy's return. Did some last min packing of my hospital bag and got myself changed.

My MIL and WR arrived at abt 11.10am. Told them I can't wait till YC's return. Hence we headed to hospital and informed YC to go there directly.

On the way to hospital, I called Jenny to inform her and that I could feel that bb's coming out anytime. Jenny said Kenneth is at the Woodlands Clinic and would call to inform him.

Reached Mt A. Put on wheel chair and was pushed to the deliver ward immediately. It's 11.42am then. I was already fully dilated but gotta wait for Kenneth's arrival. Hence, I had to 'dong' the intense contraction for another 20 mins. Kenneth reached at about 12.02pm. He broke the waterbag and I was asked to get ready to push when the next contraction comes. Finally, Bb came out at 12.06pm after one push and i was glad that everything was over.

YC and my mum commented that little bb looks exactly like Cherylin when she was born. :)

Checkup on 30 Jan

Went to see Kenneth today as scheduled. Kenneth exclaimed that I'm already 2.5-3cm dilated. Can be admitted on Thu or Fri for delivery! I don't quite believe him and wanted to drag till a later date. Hence, Kenneth suggested next Mon or Tue. Told YC and me to think about which date we prefer and let him know in the evening.

In the end, we decided on next Mon, 4 Feb (i.e. we will go to hospital on Sun midnite). I was thinking to myself, can I wait (or rather can bb wait) till 9 Feb instead? :P

When will bb come out?

Went for checkup on last Sat (26 Jan). Kenneth had been telling us that he will do a VE from week 37 onwards to check for dilation. As it's my second time, Kenneth is more cautious to make sure I'm admitted for delivery when my cervix is already dilated (since 2nd birth can be quite fast and he doesn't want me to garang garbo).

Bb is growing steadily and weigh 2.709kg at week 37. Kenneth checked my cervix and said that it's 1 cm dilated. So I may well pop next week! Gosh, I'm still not mentally prepared for the early arrival of my bb. Still thinking of enjoying CNY first before going on ML :P Will be seeing Kenneth again on Wed, 31 Jan. Believed by then will have a clearer picture of whether I really will pop later the week.

Visit to Alexandra Fire Station (19 Jan 08)

Thanks to Sandy who organized a visit to the fire station for the Feb 05 mummies. The session started at 10am and ended around 11.15am. It was a nice experience for everyone, from the kids to the daddies. YC, especially, enjoyed the visit very much from the way he participated in the activities: spraying of the water nozzle, taking the ride and going up the gondola. Cherylin on the other hand kept saying ‘怕怕’ and sat in her buggy for 90% of the time. She enjoyed watching daddy go up the gondola though. Every kid was given a key chain and a fireman hat as souvenir.

1st Day at Playgroup

YC and I took leave to accompany Cherylin to her playgroup session. Wanted to just 'dump' her there but realised it was impossible to do so as she kept clinging on to me! Hence, I was with her throughout the 2 hours. As there were other parents/caretakers around too, I don't feel that bad staying back with her. It's also an opportunity for me to know what goes on during the 2 hours that Cherylin is in class.

The kids started off with playing with blocks. They were then asked to sort the blocks in colours and put those of the same colour into a container. It's snack time at 10am and all the kids were asked to wash their hands. Cherylin went to the sink, washed her hands and came back to her seats. When all the kids are done, the teacher and assistant distributed the snack (they were having the Want Want Rice Cracker on that day). Cherylin had 3 pieces and wanted more. Told her she had enough for the day. The kids then drank from their water bottle before they were asked to place the water bottles back to the shelves.

Following next were songs and story telling sessions. Somehow, Cherylin preferred to observe from the back instead of participating. Knowing her character, I tried to encourage her to participate but didn't force her to do so. After the lesson had ended, the kids started to wear their own shoes. Cherylin happily put on her shoes, carry her backpack and got ready to go. They were lined up in a straight line before going off. Cherylin waved bye bye to the teacher as we left.

The afternoon was spent in Orchard Road with my mum. We had lunch at Grand Central Restaurant and went shopping thereafter at Robinsons and John Little. Took a break at Ah Mei at Paragon before heading home.

It's a well spent day with Cherylin. Luckily I heeded YC's advice to take a day's leave instead of just half day. :)

Swissotel the Stamford

Yippee! The day that I had been waiting for had finally arrived.

Went for gynae checkup early in the morning (29 Dec). Bb’s growing well and weight 2.137kg at 33 wks. J

We planned to take MRT to City Hall as the hotel doesn’t provide complimentary parking coupon. It would be too expensive if we were to drive there. Reached City Hall at 12.20pm and we proceeded to The Plaza Market Café for our buffet lunch cum hi-tea. The spread was quite good. Cherylin munched a little here and there as usual. We redeemed a wine using the Feed at Raffles voucher. Cherylin was talking about Christmas tree that she saw earlier. But I had no idea what she was referring too cos I don’t see any Christmas tree around (furthermore Christmas was over). YC took the miniature Santus Claus and Christmas tree for Cherylin from the new log cake that was being served at the buffet table. Only then I realized that Cherylin had earlier saw the Christmas tree on the log cake and was taken away by another kid. :P

At 2pm, YC brought our overnight bag and went to check into the room. After the meal we went to the room. It’s very spacious. The king sized bed was much bigger than ours, must be those super king sized type. Cherylin run around the room, enjoyed the scenery from the balcony. I was rather tired and took a nap. As I was half a sleep, I knew that Cherylin was jumping happily on the bed as I was napping. Gotta tell her constantly not to jump onto mummy. Hee..

We went out of the room in late evening. Went over to Suntec City. Yung Chih bought a grilled chicken from Carrefour for supper. I was still very full so didn’t had any. He and Cherylin shared the chicken. We stayed till quite late. I slept at about 1am while YC stayed on till 2am as he was watching a movie.

The next morning, we lazed around in the hotel room before heading down to the swimming pool for a walk. There were lots of people there and Cherylin enjoyed herself just by people watching. Wanted to stay on watching when we told her that we were leaving. Cherylin was very happy whenever she’s in the room. She can easily entertain herself by running/jumping here and there. Told me next time she wanna stay in hotel room again!

We checked out at 1pm and proceeded to Marina/Suntec. Had lunch at one of the restaurants at the fountain area. Wanted to arrange dinner with my mum and bro/SIL but YC said he’s tired and wanted to go home early to rest (sounded as if he really just came back from a holiday trip :P). Hence, I dropped the idea and we had my long awaited Milo Dinosaur at Coffee & Toast before heading home.

Xmas Day!

We went to Vivocity today as we were planning to visit Sentosa. Decided against the idea when we reached the Sentosa Visitor Centre. The queue for the monorail is so long and the weather looked as if it's gonna rain any time. Hence, we decided to just roam about in Vivocity. Brought Cherylin to Toy r Us to look for the Thomas the Train handphone which she had been asking for. YC bought it for her as a gift though she already had lots of handphones at home.

YC met with his family aXmas t the void deck of the relative's house at abt 6pm. We then proceeded to the venue. Soon after we arrived, Xmas carols were sang, prayers made and the feast then started. The food was good. I especially liked the walnut bread and the curry. Cherylin had her fill of honey baked ham and beehoon. She had a fun time at the playground playing with fireworks and the slides (YC accompanied her). Before we left the place, Cherylin was showered with little Xmas presents. She happily opened up all the present when we reached home before she got changed and went to bed.

Cherylin is beginning to enjoy the festive seasons more as she grows older. She loves the song "Jingle Bell Rock" and kept asking YC to play (repeatedly while in the car). Another few of her favourite xmas songs include: Santas Claus is coming to town and Jingle Bell. :)

Xmas Eve

Part 1

My dept had the Year End Party on Xmas Eve. Brought Cherylin to my office this morning to join in the party. As I had prepped her days before the event, she was ok when we woke her up and changed her (no fuss/resistance, phew!). Took the MRT to work and Cherylin guai guai sat on her buggy.

Cherylin saw the tray of chocolates when she entered my office. Angie kindly brought the tray down so that Cherylin could select the ones she likes. With Cherylin around, I could hardly work. Briefly went thru my emails and before I know, it's party time!

During the 2 hours of fun, Cherylin was rather obedient; sat quietly on the chair (as I've told her she can't speak loudly at the party. keke). She ate some food and got a big pooh bear from my colleague (she kept saying she wants the pooh bear when my colleague won the lucky draw prize and my colleague gladly gave it to her!). Lucky star must be shining on me that day (and of cos my little baby and Cherylin must have brought me luck too), I won the 6th prize in the lucky draw, it's a Siemen Digital Cordless Phone. Something which I had been been eyeing for.

Went to meet my mum after knocking off from work (it's half day today!). Cherylin slept while I pushed her to Suntec City in her buggy under the bright hot sun. She woke up upon reaching MacDonald's and had her favourite MacDonald's fries before we left for shopping at John Little.

Part 2
YC came to pick us from Holland after work. We had potluck and gift exchange at YC grandma's house. Cherylin feasted on the turkey slices and honey baked ham, and happily went around distributing candies to the kids in the house. We got ourselves a pooh bear tissue box holder, towel, milo, cup and plastic containers during the gift exchange.

BBQ

The weather had been wet of late. Were telling Cherylin to pray that it won't rain so that we could have a BBQ in the evening. The sky was great in the morning and early afternoon. However, it started to pour in the late evening. We arrived at my brother's place at 615pm. It was pouring then hence we waited in the house. The rain stopped after a while and we thought we could proceed with the BBQ. Who knows, it started to drizzle when the guys were starting to BBQ. The rain started and stopped several times and we ended up going to and froth the BBQ pits numerous time. Nevertheless, Cherylin enjoyed herself playing with the umbrella, sparkles, and running/playing with Jiu Jiu. Jiu Jiu and Jiu Mu bought her a Strawberry Shortcake Trolley bag as her Xmas gift. She already had one such bag previously when we went to Perth in May this year. When I asked "which one do you like?", she replied "Liang ge dou xi huan" :)

Feb 08 MTB Gathering

The Feb 08 MTBs had a gathering yesterday at Vil'age at Heeren. The turnout was good. There's a total of 19 mummies :) A pity I couldn't stay on to join in the group photo as I had to leave early. Nevermind, there'll be chance in future. Only managed to talk to mummies sitting nearby as the crowd was too big. Told YC about the gathering and he was shocked to learn of the big crowd as the last gathering I went to, there were less than 10 mummies. We had gift exchange during the gathering, and this is what I've got.
A very interesting toy. Cherylin happily played with it the moment we showed it to her.

Hotel Stay

I used to think it's a waste of $ to stay in a Singapore hotel. But i suddenly have this urge to have a weekend hotel stay. So YC went to book a room at Swissotel The Stamford during last week of Dec. I was thrilled when I learnt that booking has been made. Really look forward to it, and I'm sure Cherylin will enjoy running around in the hotel room too. At $100+++ for a Harbourview Room (we got a free upgrade to the next room category from the deluxe room), I think it's a steal. Based on check from Asiaroom.com, it costs more than $300 for a 1 night stay w/breakfast (okie, ours come without breakfast). Console myself that I only splurge once in a blue moon on such stuff. Treat it as a Xmas present for the family :P

Playgroup Orientation

We enrolled Cherylin for a 2-hour playgroup that will start from Jan 2008. Yesterday, we brought her to the centre for her 'orientation'. We prep her days before the orientation is going to take place and I think it helped. As usual, she dilly-dallied when we asked her to change her clothes. Thereafter, she happily followed wai po, daddy and mummy to the centre. It's a RC located at a block next to my mum's. When we arrived, Cherylin took off her slippers and followed us in. She found a chair and sat on it, observing the surrounding and other childrens that were around. She tried on the uniforms without any fuss (to our surprise). As the teacher briefed the parents on the details, she guai guai sat on the chair and didn't make any noise at all. After about 45 mins, we left the centre. To reward her for being a good girl, daddy brought her to the nearby playground which she demanded. :)

USA Trip (Day 10 & 11)

San Francisco to Singapore

Today’s is the day for shopping as it’s well known that stores would have very attractive discounts to celebrate the day after Thanksgiving. We woke up very early today and left the hotel at 5.30am. When we reached Civic Centre, the entire place was already filled with people who were there to pick up good bargains. We went to Old Navy store and were surprised that there were already a long queue at the cashier. YC got to know later from the cashier that people started to queue outside the store as early as 3am cos they were giving away MP3 players to the first 200 customers.

We proceeded to Macy’s thereafter. Me and my mum each bought a Liz Claiborne sunglass. The sunglasses were very worthwhile after all the discounts, mine cost less than USD11 while my mum’s cost less than USD9. We also bought lots of baby’s clothings, more for our little boy this time round.

Next we went to Disney outlet and YC bought Cherylin a Princess Go-to-Party set. She had wanted those miniature toy set but we dissuaded her as we knew all miniature stuff will go missing soon after she opens up the box. :P

As we were checking out of the hotel that day we rushed back to hotel at 11am plus to do a final packing. At 12pm, we checked out of our room and deposited our bag with the concierge before heading off for more shopping! Lunch today was at Carl’s Junior. Wanted to try the fries from In N Out burger but we couldn’t find any outlet in sight.

We basically walked around aimlessly (guess we’ve reached our peak for shopping then). Went back to Old Navy for second round (bought another pair of jeans for myself). My mum spotted a fleece jacket which she wanted to get when we were leaving Fisherman’s Wharf yesterday. Hence, I left YC with Cherylin (who was napping then) in a café and headed the Wharf with my mum. I didn’t expect the wait and ride on the Cable Car would take such a long time as compared to yesterday. Hence, the trip to and from took us almost 2 hours! There’s a small episode which caused YC to be hopping mad. Rather not talk about it anymore. :P

We headed back to the hotel at 7pm plus to wait for the driver who will be sending us to the airport. (Gideon flew back to Los Angeles this morning as he had a back-to-back tour group assigned to him. Hence we were left without our tour leader today L)

We left the hotel at 8.30pm. It took about 30 mins before we reached the airport. When I boarded the plane and was settling down, an air stewardess spotted that I was pregnant. I was pleasantly surprised when she offered to look for an empty row of seats after take off so that I can lie down to rest! She did come back to me, showing me where the empty seats were. I felt obliged to accept her offer. Went over with YC and sat for a while. Decided that it’s too embarrassing for me to lie down, I went back to my assigned seat (also becos I didn’t want to leave Cherylin alone with my mum) and left YC there.

The flight back was quite ok for Cherylin. As it’s a midnight flight, Cherylin fell asleep shortly after the take off. She woke up a few hours later and had some inflight meal. We had transit at HKIA. Took the opportunity to grab some HK goodies from Kee Wah shop located in the Airport :P

My brother, SIL and FIL were at the airport to fetch us. This ended our 11 days of fun!n

USA Trip (Day 9)

San Francisco

We had late breakfast today. Only need to gather at 10am. Went to this place called Dong Fang Xiao Chu. Had fried beehoon, porridge, pot sticker among other stuff. Cherylin ate quite a bit. Realised that we had not taken any picture with our tour leader, we had one taken outside the eatery. Proceeded to Civic Centre for the cable car ride and to roam around the place of interest: Lombard Street, Fisherman’s Wharff Chinatown, etc.

We had the famous Ghirardhelli Ice Cream at Fisherman’s Wharf. The queue started to form even before the store was open. Luckily it didn’t take long before it’s our turn. Yum, yum…

We roamed around the wharf area before heading back to Civic Centre. As it’s Thanksgiving Day, either the shops were not opened or closed early for the day. Hence, there’s nothing much for us to shop. Decided to venture into Chinatown. Came across a few Chinese bakery shops and my mum bought some bread, pastries. Had our dinner at a Chinese Restaurant. The set meal for 2 to 3 pax cost USD18 and included chicken, fish, soup and vege. With tax and miscellaneous charges, total bill came up to less than USD30. The servings were huge and we were all stuffed.

On our way back, we went to Walmart again to do some shopping. Can’t resist the Haagen Dazs ice cream promotion and we bought 2 pints again for supper. Keke…

USA Trip (Day 8)

LV to San Francisco

Gideon operated a mini factory this morning. As we had to leave the hotel early to catch our flight to SF, he had to wake up in the wee hours to buy our breakfast, pack them nicely and deliver to our rooms. We had sandwiches (freshly delivered to 7-eleven store on that day), packet juice, biscuits, sweetened fruit for breakfast.

Our flight to SF was at 9.30am so we reached the airport at around 7am plus. While waiting for the flight, my mum had her last round of jackpot at the airport. It took us 1 hour plus to reach SF from LV. Upon arrival, we proceeded with our city tour in SF. The coach took us to Pier 39 where we were left to wander about for about 3 hours +.

Can’t possibly go to SF without trying their Clam Chowder right? So we had ours at Boudin Bakery. Cherylin enjoyed the clam chowder a lot and had it with lots of bread. After lunch, we roam around the place, walked towards Pier 43 where I finally took picture with the Fisherman’s Wharf logo (keke..cos the last time I went to SF, I actually didn’t have any picture of the logo!)

Went over to Ghirardhelli Square, wanted to buy ice cream for Cherylin but she fell asleep. So we left without having any. Along the way back to Pier 39, we bought drinking water from Walmart. Cherylin woke up then and daddy bought her an ice cream lolly pop.

We proceeded to Golden Gate Bridge after gathering to board the Coach. The breeze was very strong and we had fun taking pictures. Gideon brought us to his so called ideal spot for photo taking. I like some of the shots taken there, especially the family photo of YC, myself and Cherylin.

Next we were brought to Coit Tower where we can overlook the entire of SF city. It was very cold there as we were up the hill top. My mum couldn’t take the cold and went back to the coach early, while we stayed on for photo taking. Can see that Cherylin was very cold too as her lips were turning pale.

As we depart, the sun was setting. Quite a nice view down the hill top. Dinner was at a small eatery called Dong Fang Xiao Chu. Chinese food with huge servings of meat, soup, vege. Gideon guided us to Civic Centre after dinner. Briefly told us where we could shop around that area. We left on our own to explore the place. Went to Walmart again and saw Haagen Dazs ice cream going at USD5 for 2 pints! It’s unbelievable cheap and we just grabbed 2 pints to have as supper at the hotel room. Bought the 3 day muni pass (at US$18 per pax) since we’ll be on our own for the next 2 days. Needless to say, we took a bus back to our hotel.

USA Trip (Day 7)

Las Vegas

This morning, we explored the strip and viewed the different hotels with different themes. The sun was very glaring and we had difficulties opening our eyes when taking pictures. At 11am plus, we proceeded to have a buffet lunch at the Treasure Islands (couldn’t decide on which buffet to go so went to this one in the end as recommended by one of the travel guides that I’ve read). At USD17 per pax (inclusive of tax), the spread was quite good. After we had our fill, it was shopping time again. We went to Macy’s and proceeded to the Las Vegas Premium Outlet (that can be reached via buses). We took the Deuce to explore the strip, experiencing its beauty at night. Went almost to the end of the strip before heading back to our hotel.

Had to rest earlier that night as we need to get up early the next day to catch our domestic flight to San Francisco.

USA Trip (Day 6)

Shopping cum en-route to Las Vegas!

We visited another 2 factory outlets (Tanger Factory Oultet & Primm Valley Factory Outlet) before heading down to Las Vegas. Must have overshopped yesterday. All of us seems to have been exhausted by the time we reached Primm Valley Factory Outlet. Before the time was up to meet the tour members, we went to get burger from Carl’s Jr.

Reached Las Vegas at around 7pm. After checking in to our room, we had a simple dinner of cup noodles and burger (yup, we brought cup noodles along in case we get sick of having western food everyday). Had a walk along the strip after our dinner. As Cherylin fell asleep half way through the walk and only wanted to be carried, we made our way back to the hotel instead of going further down the strip. Took the Deuce back to hotel (bought the 24-hour bus ticket at USD5 per pax).

YC had a ‘nap’ before heading down to the casino. He came back about an hour or so later while I was still packing the luggage. Ok, he won USD9. Very small amount but at least he didn’t lose $.

USA Trip (Day 5)

Shopping Day!

This morning, we checked out of Wyndham Park Hotel and proceeded to Desert Hills Premium Outlet. We arrived at 10am plus and had to gather at 5pm. The 6.5 hours of shopping time was definitely insufficient! Only managed to comb Coach, Gap, Timberland, CK, Samsonite, OshKosh and Levis’. Bought a duffle luggage bag at Samsonite since mine spoilt upon arrival in LA. Not exactly cheap but it definitely came in useful to hold our ‘loot’.

We headed for our accommodation at Miracle Hot Spring. Dinner was served western style where we had salad/soup, main course followed by dessert. Again, this mummy forgot to take pictures of our yummylicious food. Too hungry, haha :P

Back to the hotel room, we started to pack (or unpack) our shopping loots. The Samsonite bag I bought came in useful as I could dump all our stuff into it.

YC went to try the hot spring while my mum and Cherylin rested in the room. I followed him down to take a look at the place. There were a number of pools available and the place was rather deserted. Probably due to the cold weather, not many people were keen to visit the hot spring at night.

USA Trip (Day 4)

Disneyland!

This morning, we started off earlier as Disneyland opened at 8am. We left the hotel at 7.30am and joined the queue at the entrance upon arrival at Disneyland. Cherylin insisted on talking the picture of Gideon while we were in the queue. Funny gal. The crowd was quite ok on that day, according to Gideon. We were told that if we had arrived a week later, during the Thanksgiving week, the whole place will be floaded with people.

Gideon guided us to the ‘must try’ rides. YC and my mum went ahead with the Indiana Jones ride while Cherylin and I went to take the Jungle boat ride. We proceeded to other attractions on the recommendation of Gideon and went on free and easy at about 10.30am. Cherylin wanted popcorns so YC bought a huge bucket for her. Comes with a Disneyland Souvenir Bucket. We could see that Cherylin was munching away happily. After a short break, we went to the small small world for the ferry ride. It’s quite a long ride. Didn’t really time but I think it’s at least 30 mins. Cherylin enjoyed the ride as we saw her clapping to the ‘It’s a Small Small World’ song and other songs which I can’t recalled what they were.

We proceeded to Minitoon. Was queueing up to take picture with Minnie. Who knows when it’s our turn, Minnie was scheduled to go off. The adults were more disappointed than Cherylin as we were looking forward to take a picture of Cherylin with Minnie. This blur mummy didn’t even snap any picture of Minnie! Argghh…

At least we still managed to take picture with Mickey, no so bad ya? And YC took lots more picture with characters like goofy, chipmunks.

There’s a parade in the afternoon at 3.20pm. By then, Cherylin had already dozed off. She was still suffering from jetlag as no matter how hard we tried to wake her up, her eyes just couldn’t open. Hence, I took lots of pictures of the parade so that I can show them to her.

USA Trip (Day 3)

Universal Studio

Today is our trip to Universal Studio. After breakfast, we had a quick city tour at Hollywood Boulevard. Went to the Manns Chinese Theatre, visited some souvenir shops before we proceeded to Universal Studio. Gideon guided us to take some of the more recommended rides (Shreks, Universal Studio Tour, Waterworks, etc) before we went on free and easy. We had Turkey Leg (it’s really huge) and Grilled Chicken Sandwich for lunch. YC went on to try out some other rides while my mum and I took a rest. Cherylin had jetlag (btw, she woke up really early at 4am this morning to have milk, brush her teeth, etc) and was sleeping soundly on 外婆 shoulder. After YC had returned, we went to roam around. Spotted Spongebob Square Pants and Dora. Cherylin was so happy that she took photos with these characters.

Actually, there wasn’t much things for us to do at Universal Studio. Hence we exited and went to the nearby arcade for a walk before meeting the group at 5.30pm. We had dinner at a Chinese Restaurant. Cherylin was sleeping and was grouchy at dinner time. So she didn’t take much food.
We went back to hotel after dinner. YC and I left the hotel to go shopping again at Target. We saw an umbrella stroller and was contemplating if we should get it. Finally decided not to as we feared that Cherylin would not want to sit on it. It was a wrong move….

USA Trip (Day 1 & 2)

Today we woke up at 5am to get ready for our flight at 9.45am. As YC and I were getting change, etc, Cherylin was woken up by our conversation (usually she will just continue to sleep even if we talk loudly). Guess she must be excited about the trip too. She woke up without a fuss and went to her room (yes, my mum sleeps in Cherylin’s room while Cherylin sleeps with us) to wake 外婆up: 外婆, 起来去飞机场了. Haha…so cute.

As usual, I always have last min packing, usual stuff like toiletries, last check to see if all necessary stuff had been packed. YC’s father arrived at 6.30am as planned. We uploaded 3 luggages and proceeded to the airport. On the way, Cherylin fell asleep. She quickly woken up when we arrived at the airport. We went to the check-in counter to look for our tour leader, Gideon. After a brief by him, we proceeded to do our own check-in. Cherylin talked to 舅舅 over the phone, looked at the aeroplanes and had lots of sweets that were taken from the immigration counter. Shortly after, we boarded the plane and Cherylin guai guai sat on the seat and buckled up. I was pleased with her behaviour. The air stewardess then gave her an activity pack to keep her occupied. The take off was ok, no unbearable air pressure and hence no fuss from my princess. She took peanuts and were rather full when meal was served. Hence, her food went down to the stomachs of my mum, YC and mine. Cherylin took 2-3 hours of nap before we touched down at Norita airport after 6.5hours of flight for our transit to Los Angeles (transit time is about 1 to 1.5hours)

While waiting for our next plane, we roamed around the gift/snack shops near the check-in counters. There’s a huge Ice Cream display which Cherylin happily hugged and took picture with. I was admiring at the snacks sold at one of the shops. So beautifully packed that I wish I had some Jap Yen to buy those snacks.

The flight from Japan to Los Angeles took about 10 hours. Cherylin slept again during the flight but only for a short while I think. She fussed a little as she couldn’t sleep comfortably. Overall, I was quite relieved that she ‘survived’ the flight. We arrived at LA at around 9 – 10am. Waited awhile at the airport for 2 tour mates who were questioned by the immigration officer. It was then that my mum discovered that my luggage zipper was ripped off! Oh no, the TSA lock which my colleague kindly lent to me was gone as well. Thanks goodness the luggage was still in tact. No sign of it being opened at all.

We reached Wyndham Park Hotel in the early afternoon. After checking in, we went to roam around the vicinity. YC tried the famous In N Out Cheeseburger while Cherylin, my mum and I helped ourselves with the hand-cut French fries (yummy, very nice compared to the usual fries we eat at fast food outlet). We proceeded to shop around and bought some cheap and nice clothings at a discount store.

The sky turned dark when it’s barely 5pm. It’s so dark that it looked as if it’s 7pm – 8pm in Singapore. We then went to Target, a hypermarket found in LA, for our shopping trip. Was advised by my colleague to get our chocolates there as it’s cheaper than elsewhere.

Cherylin must had been tired as she’s crying non-stop when it’s about 7pm. We had our dinner at a outlet selling Maui food and YC managed to pacify her by buying her a huge cup of raspberry tea softdrink. The servings were huge and we were so filled even though we ordered only 2 items: 1 hawaiian chicken bowl and 1 BBQ chicken set (too busy eating/checking Cherylin out that I forgot to take picture).

Brought Cherylin and my mum back to the hotel for an early rest before YC and I left the hotel to continue with our shopping. Keke.

USA Trip!

We went for a 11 days trip to the West Coast of USA from 15 Nov to 25 Nov. It was an enjoyable trip for us (including my mum). Stay tune for the updates on our trip. Coming to you soon....

Diaperless at night?

Cherylin is now very comfortable with going diaperless during the day (including nap time). She seems to be able to hold quite well (like mummy) and can easily go without the need to visit the toilet for 3 – 4 hours in a stretch. Actually, I heard that it’s not good for children to hold their urine for so long. Hence me and my mum always ask her if she wants to go to the toilet when we realized that she has not visited mum for the last 2 hours.

At times when I was preparing Cherylin for bed, she will tell me that she doesn’t want to wear diaper as she knows when/how to go to toilet for poo/pee. However, I usually talk her out of it cos I’m not confident that she will not pee on bed (mummy more kan cheong about the mattress being dirtied :P). Last night, she’s very insistent and promised that she’ll not pee on bed. So I let her be and pray hard that no accident would happen.

Cherylin woke up in the morning at 9am plus and came looking for me while holding on to her ‘bao bei’. She wanted to watch Tom & Jerry so I switched on the TV and played the VCD for her. This kan cheong mummy then asked if she needed to pee and the answer was no. It was only 30 mins later that she wanted to pee. I praised her for the well done job. Looks like she’s progressing well and will soon not be dependant on diaper.

We lazed around at home today as we have a first month celebration in the evening. Hence, didn’t go to town like what we always do on a Sat. We had lunch at a Food Court in Gek Poh Shopping Centre and after lunch, passed by video shop. YC saw some children VCD there and we found a series of Tom & Jerry’s VCDs (one of Cherylin’s favourite cartoons). Cherylin selected one serial and happily carried the VCD home.

She demanded to view Tom & Jerry the moment we reached home. Cherylin usually doesn’t like to watch TV, nor can any TV programmes entice her to sit still for even 15 mins. She must really like Tom & Jerry a lot that she can sit still and finished both disks at one go. Hmm… I suppose it’s good news for me cos it means that next time I can just switch on the TV for her and do my own stuff while she watches it. ;)