RaeAnne nodding off

RaeAnne slept very well from 9+pm to 530am today before having her milk feed and continue to zzz to 9.15am. I was very happy but in the end she refused to take her afternoon nap. I coaxed her from 1+pm to 3pm but she just refused to sleep. In the end, I gave up and let her play. Then guess what when I was feeding her dinner at 530pm (decided to bring forward dinner so that she can sleep earlier), she started nodding off at her high chair and throwing tantrums, screaming and crying. Refused to eat. My mum was here to help today and she told me the battle is lost. Let her sleep lar. So bo bian lor, carry her back to bed and she napped until nearly 7pm. :P Then fed her the rest of her dinner, then she poo poo so hubby showered her. At 8+pm, he brought her over to ILs and they are still not back though her bedtime is supposed to be 9+pm. :P

P.S. Yesterday was a lucky day, so was today. But it's too early to say more now. :)

Hives attack

Poor RaeAnne kenna 'hives' yesterday, brought her to see pd this morning cos eyes and mouth still a bit red & swollen. PD said it's an allergy, ask me if I gave her any new foods but I didn't leh. Unless it was that small crumb of cheese cake that I gave her when hubby was having his breakfast. I have been controlling her diet all this while, no outside food, hardly any jar food, cook porridge fresh twice a day, never add salt, soy sauce etc.

PD said it can also be indirect contact with something she was allergic to eg. physical environment like dust, grass, etc. So really not sure what causes the hives. Now, got to force her to take med liao. Sianz :P

'Claypot' Chicken Rice

Yesterday was Friday, my self declared 'off' day. Actually wanted to have lunch with my ex colleagues but they were not free so I stoned at home and went to Tampines Mall to meet hubby for dinner. We had Seoul garden, my choice cos I was so hungry, only had 2 slices of light cheese cake (bought from Giant) for lunch. Friday is like date night for us, my favourite day of the week cos I get a break to have a leisurely dinner without rushing like mad. :)

Walked past Bee Cheng Hiang and they were having promotion for its lap cheong, $9.95 for 4 so decided to buy that and some chicken fillet from NTUC and cook claypot rice today. Have a pack of claypot rice mix which I bought a few months ago. After buying the ingredients, we went to ILs place to pick up RaeAnne. When MIL heard that I am going to cook claypot rice, she offered me a lot of ingredients ie. shitake mushroom, garlic, onion and spinach (she has no 'cai xin'), chilli sauce. She said she will stir fly the ingredients with garlic, onion before putting into the rice cooker. Her recipe is plain rice though then use dark soy sauce to stir through. So, I followed the recipe behind the Asian Home Gourmet Spice Paste pack but modified some steps.

Hubby gave it a 8.5 out of 10 cos he said the spinach was a bit soft. If we use caixin, it will be more crunchy. Wish I had some salted fish crumbs and garnishing to put on top of the rice. Overall, I was happy with the results because the chicken was tender and the rice was not too salty. I will definitely cook this one dish meal one day so better put the recipe here. :)

In order to cook it faster today, I started preparing the ingredients last night
1)soak and slice the shitake mushroom
2)cut chicken breast into bite size and marinate the chicken with oyster sauce, sesame oil, dark soy sauce and cornstarch,
3) peel and chop the garlic and onions
4) soak the lap cheong, remove the skin and slice into thin slices

Today around 1030am, I started cooking the rice in a rice cooker. 1.5 cup of rice, 1 and 3/4 cup of water and the spice pack.
Then I started fry the garlic and onion in medium fire on non stick pan
Then add the mushrooms, lap cheong and chicken.
I didn't fry the chicken for very long cos I scared chicken fillet will be too tough (in fact, I hate chicken breast because of that but too lazy to buy chicken thigh meat and debone so make do with chicken breast cos it's more convenient. Healthier too lar)

Finally when rice is almost done, can see the holes in the rice. Add all the ingredients on top of rice. Then add the spinach last on top. The rice was ready by 11.05am, perfect timing so we could take turns to eat while feeding RaeAnne porridge. :)

No leapfrog toys for RaeAnne.... :(

Called Friso just now and they said the free Leapfrog toy is only for purchases at Guardian and their home delivery service. Cheh, Guardian's Friso OOS very fast. That time, we bought 2 tins at $17.90 then no more liao when we went back within the week. As for Friso's home delivery, the price per tin is more expensive than NTUC or Giant. Thought I can get some free Leapfrog toy for RaeAnne cos I've been eyeing the fridge magnet. Should have bought during Isetan Private Sale then. Sianz... :(

More than $250 on formula milk

RaeAnne's Friso3 is running low so asked hubby to go Giant today to stock up. Left RaeAnne at ILs place close to 8pm after feeding her and showering her in the evening. We bought 900g at $17.50 just last week during the school holidays. But today when we went, the price is $19 but the 1.8kg tin is selling at $32.45. Since it works out to be just $16.25 per 900g, decided to stock up though I prefer smaller tins cos fresher. But she's finishing her FM so fast and sometimes after we made the milk, she doesn't want to drink, we end up throwing away exp FM. Will be less heart pain if we bought it at cheap price.

Ok, 1 tin is $32.45 so how many tins did we buy? DRUM ROLL PLEASE.... The answer is 8tins and the limit is 4 tins per transaction so we had to pay for the FM separately using 2 receipts. I estimate 1 big tin will last her about 4 weeks. It was already close to 930pm when we left and our poor gal was so sleepy, she tried to sleep on my lap in the short drive from ILs place to our home. Quickly made milk and she drank all 210ml, that's when I knew, we made the right decision to stock up. There's Friso promotion for Leapfrog toys now. Very sad that I misplaced a few receipts that I have been keeping aside. Hubby joked that it's ok, we can always buy more tomorrow. Haha, let's see if we are crazy enough. ;P

Mummy's first day alone

Mummy was feeling adventurous (or was it suicidal?) and decided to look after RaeAnne on my own even though Waipo is not here today. The day began as a shock for Mummy because when I woke up, RaeAnne was on the floor and playing with winnie the pooh (her barrier) which was also on the floor. Since she didn't cry, I guess she didn't fall down. She must have woken earlier and decided to climb down the bed.

After that, I carried her to the bed to coax her unsuccesfully to sleep somemore. She was curious about all the thing on my bedside ledge (magazines, tissue paper, wet wipes, water bottle, table lamp) but most of the stuff are out of bounds. She also knows how to flip up Daddy's pillow and find the alarm clocks which we have been hiding from her because it has small parts and batteries which she may accidentally swallow. Brought her to the living room at 9+am when she started whining when she got tired of the things I let her play and wanted things which I won't let her play.

Didn't know what breakfast to feed her. She likes bread but it's a mess, she will drops crumbs all over the floor and it attract the ants. So, I tried Quaker instant oats today. Bought a tin to add a spoonful of oats into her porridge (taught by FIL to make the porrige more smooth). Sad to say, she doesn't like it. She only took a few small spoonfuls when I ate along with her. So, had to resort to feeding her bread from my nutella and peanut butter sandwich. Thought it won't be filling enough so also gave her a small korean strawberry. It was already 10+ by then. Didn't want her to eat too much or else she won't have appetite for her porridge at 11am. She saw the 'Wheels of the Bus' VCD and wanted to watch it. Keep making 'uh uh uh' sounds and pointing to the tv. But I'm already feeling guilty enough that I need to let her watch VCD when eating so didn't want to let her watch. Played megablocks and stickers with her instead.

Oh ya, let her try out the First Few Years Potty seat, the fit is not so good cos nearly knocked it off when I tried to put her down. But once she settled on it, she seemed quite happy, not scared of it at all. Maybe it's because she has seen us using the toilet before. I made all the shh shh and gng gng sounds but she didn't poo nor pee. But she did give me a 'concentrating' look then she farted. Happy enough with the result, at least she knows what she is supposed to be doing. Think I can start buying some training pants and potty train her soon. :)

Cooked porridge with carrot and baby corn. She ate most of it which is good. After showering her, made 180ml of milk and she only drank 100ml this time. Too full from the porridge? She didn't knock out after drinking the milk though, keep trying to eat the Forever Friends fridge magnet and biting her Mickey mouse sticker. wanting to climb down from the bed to take items. Had to keep carrying her back to bed, lifting her is not easy nowadays. She finally slept at 130pm so I quickly went to fix a quick lunch of fried luncheon meat and dried instant noodles. Cooked and ate in 30 minutes, spent the longest time opening the Tulip luncheon meat cos it comes with a key but it couldn't open cos the etching on the tin was not done properly. Had to use a can opener and my knife to saw open the rectangular tin.

Then quickly wiped the floor with magiclean dry mop. Was hot and sweaty by then so I had a microshower (just rinse off the perspiration) cos I was so afraid she may wake up and fall off the bed. Then took out the pork/threadfin and cut the cauliflower and carrot to prepare for her next meal. By the time, I sat down on the floor to switch on my laptop thinking I can check SMF for a while. She woke up liao, she only napped for 1 hr. :( She drank the remaining milk and gestured for more so I made another 120ml. WRONG MOVE! She refused to drink. Arghh!!! Had to throw away the milk. we are already running out of Friso 3 at home. Need to go Giant to stock up liao.

So, at 4pm, not knowing what else to 'play' with her and with the porridge cooking away in the slow cooker. I decided to be a risk taker and bring her to Tampines Mall cos I needed to exchange the fitted cot sheet that I bought from Aussino on Monday (wrong size). I brought the baby bjorn cos can't manager the maclaren stroller, the allerhand diaper bag and her on the bus. It was tough carrying her and my shoulders ached. But at least I could set her down at Aussino to walk about. She kept taking the bedsheets sets and pushing them down and taking things of the basket and throwing away though. I had to keep doing 'damage control'. She saw some cute soft toys (macaw and bear) at Aussino and kept pointing at them but kept telling her it's not ours. It's aunties' so cannot take home. ;P

Decided to change to a set of winnie the pooh fitted sheet set so that I don't need to top up too much. Brought her to her favourite Big Bear kiddyride (Mummy remembers my promise) but it was spoilt, the coin keeps coming out. Then she started pointing to Precious moments which had a lot of soft toys on the glass display. Ended up buying a small bear soft toy for her cos she put the bear's face into her mouth and it was badly stained with her saliva. Luckily, it only costs $11.90. :P

Shoulder really aching liao so decided to head home. Checked with hubby and he's not free so can't pick us up. Took a shuttle bus back and since it was shuttle bus that goes to ILs place, decided to pop by. Ended up leaving her there and going back to get her porridge cos FIL asked me to have dinner there. So, today Mummy is a responsible FT SAHM cos I worked from 8+am to 5pm. WoW! Definitely more tiring than working. :P

P.S. Weighed her at ILs place, she is 9.3 kg now. No wonder my shoulders is still aching now... :P FINALLY, FINALLY, managed to upload the macdonalds You tube video clip onto blog with advice and patience from Feb08 mummies, Tubao and Tute. See 18 Mar 09 post but it's already 1 week late. Better late than never? :P

RaeAnne is 14 months old today! :)

It's 22nd of the month again and our gal is now 14 months old. The big difference between now and last month is that she can now walk. She still has a tendency to fall on her bum sometimes but she seldom crawls nowadays. She has finally graduated from crawler to a toddler. :) Mummy was busy cooking porridge and gave Daddy the honours to take a photo of RaeAnne as per tradition but Daddy is such a perfectionist or minimalist that he only took a few photos so there's not many photos to choose from. ;P

Mummy can't find a detailed development milestone for 14 months old so I'll rehash the 12 mth chart to see what are the new skills you have accomplished over the last 2months. :)

Social and Emotional

Shy or anxious with strangers - Still Yes, even with relatives. Gu gu is very hurt when you refuse to let him carry you.
Cries when mother or father leaves - Yes
Enjoys imitating people in his play - No
Shows specific preferences for certain people and toys - Yes
Tests parental responses to his actions during feedings - Er, not sure. Does grabbing bowl and spoon count?
Tests parental responses to his behavior - Yes, will deliberate go close to the power switch even though I've warned her that I'll beat her backside if she touches it.
May be fearful in some situations - yes
Prefers mother and/or regular caregiver over all others - yes
Repeats sounds or gestures for attention - yes
Finger-feeds himself - yes for biscuits (12mths), now yes for food/fruits eg. bread, fruits such as apple, kiwi etc.
Extends arm or leg to help when being dressed - Yes, most of the times. Responds especially well to the mosquito repellent lotion. Will hold her leg in the air for a long time until we apply it for her.

Cognitive
Explores objects in many different ways (shaking, banging, throwing, dropping) - yes especially flipping to explore the back
Finds hidden objects easily - yes
Looks at correct picture when the image is named - yes
Imitates gestures - yes, bye bye, exercise, french kiss, gong xi gong xi
Begins to use objects correctly (drinking from cup, brushing hair, dialing phone, listening to receiver) - yes

Language
Pays increasing attention to speech - yes
Responds to simple verbal requests - yes eg. tries to give but will not release fingers on object
Responds to “no” - yes, by whining or crying
Uses simple gestures, such as shaking head for “no” - Yes, very good at shaking her head now, will even wag her little finger to emphasize 'no'. Will also nod head vigorously to emphasize that she wants something after we said no.
Babbles with inflection (changes in tone) - yes, how I wish I know what you are talking about. ;)
Says “dada” and “mama” - baba and mama are forgotten except in times of desperation when we are ignoring her especially when she is throwing a tantrum. She knows how to say 'an nah' or 'an an' for remote control or when she sees a button. Said 'bear' recently too. :)Uses exclamations, such as “Oh-oh!” - Not yet
Tries to imitate words - sometimes

Movement
Reaches sitting position without assistance - yes
Crawls forward on belly - yes
Assumes hands-and-knees position - yes, often and head too as if you are going to do a somersault. ;)
Creeps on hands and knees - what's that?
Gets from sitting to crawling or prone (lying on stomach) position - yes
Pulls self up to stand - Yes
Walks holding on to furniture - yes, but no longer need to hold onto it.
Stands momentarily without support - yes, especially on bed or bumper mat.
May walk two or three steps without support - Yes, walking without support though she still falls sometimes.

Hand and Finger Skills
Uses pincer grasp - yes
Bangs two objects together - yes
Puts objects into container - yes, especially sweets into crevices
Takes objects out of container - yes
Lets objects go voluntarily - Yes, most of the time, especially when Mummy demonstrates by putting things into the toy box.
Pokes with index finger - yes
Tries to imitate scribbling - Yes, able to scribble on magna doodle pad.

14 months (Ok, here'are the more challenging parts)
• Eats with fingers - Yes but she puts in way too much. Keep putting food into her mouth even though there's still food inside. :P
• Empties containers of contents - Yes
• Imitates others - Yes, people playing soccer or dog dog peeing with 1 leg. ;P
• Toddles well - Yes
• Initiates games - No
• Points to one body part when asked - Yes, she can point to her hair, nose, leg, hand, ears
• Responds to instructions (e.g., "give me a kiss") - Yes, she will look up when Mummy says 'up' so that I can to wash her neck. Will 'sayang' soft toy when Mummy tells her to sayang bear bear.
• Uses a spoon or fork - Yes, but the aim is not very accurate yet.
• Matches lids with appropriate containers - Not quite yet, cannot match the different shapes to the containers either.
• Pushes and pulls toys while walking Yes, she loves to push the NTUC trolley and her bicycle and the footstool while walking. :)

Not signing up for Little Neuro Tree

Today is the last class for LNT Trial. It was Chinese lesson and Mummy asked Daddy to attend so that he can evaluate and decide whether to let RaeAnne sign up. Daddy said there were a lot packed into the lesson but RaeAnne was distracted. Kept looking around and not focusing on the teacher. Not sure if she was looking for Mummy. Anyway, after the class, it was time to make the decision whether to continue. Godsent and Lyn have decided to sign their kids up. We couldn't decide on the spot because RaeAnne refused to drink her milk after class and her last meal (porridge) was 1130am. No choice but to call ILs to cook her porridge while we rushed back from Parkway. During the car ride, Daddy and Mummy discussed and decided not to sign up for LNT because

1) Daddy is busy for the whole of April on Sat so Mummy will have to take a cab to bring RaeAnne to and fro class. The lesson even with promotion is already $37.50, if plus return cabfare, it'll be at least $20 more, very ex leh.

2) Daddy feels that RaeAnne is not focused so she's not 'benefitting' from the 1 hr class. Mummy feels that the classroom exposure is good to help her focus but agree that $40 to $50 per hour to help her stay focused is a bit steep.

3) There will be a LNT centre opening up at CPF building Tampines. Mummy much rather put RaeAnne there because even if Daddy is not free, Mummy can take a shuttle bus or cab down.

However, the 50% off second term offer is only valid for PP outlet so if we were to sign RaeAnne up at PP, she must finish Apr to Oct 09 before she can transfer to Tampines if we want to make use of the promotion price. Without the promotion, each term is $600 ie. $50 per lesson since there are 12 lessons in 3 months. Not worth it. :P

4) Mummy has not confirmed whether to send RaeAnne for 2 hr playgroup in 2009 after July ie. if I can find a suitable one. So, if we have LNT plus playgroup, it may be an overkill. :P

5) Since I'm a SAHM, I got more time with RaeAnne so by right I should be able to teach her more on a daily basis than relying on a 1-hr class every Sat. Of course, there is no social interaction but maybe that's something that can be overcome if we bring her for other adhoc classes?

6) Daddy asked Mummy if there is any other options than LNT, told him we tried most except GUG and tumbletots. Those that are too far from Tampines, we won't be keen anyway. So, unless Daddy wants to try tumble tots at Tampines stadium. That one is so near that we can walk over but the review has not been good. We'll see...

Oh ya, forgot to mention, the loot from Isetan Private Sale arrived today, 2 big boxes. Mummy was trying to catch up on sleep when the delivery man came so Daddy waited for Mummy to 'kai mu dian li'. Can tell that RaeAnne is excited too, she pointed at the 2 boxes and made her 'ooh ooh ooh' sounds to attract my attention. Father and daughter are happily examining their toys but there are no 'toys' for Mummy, only some household items. So sad. But look at their excited and happy expressions made it worth it lar. ;)

P.S. During LNT class today, Mummy noticed a lot of Colettee shoes on the shoe rack so can't resist being kay poh and checking out the shoe sizes. Aiyoh, most shoe sizes are 15, one was 13, only our dear gal was 17. Although her correct shoe size should be 16 but that still makes her the biggest feet than the rest of the toddlers. When I told Nai Nai, she told 'who ask you to give birth to a baby with such big feet?' Duh, my shoe size is 5.5 to 6 leh, for someone who is almost 1.6m (1.58 to be exact), it's not considered 'toa kah soh' right? Why blame me for the genes? I haven't even started blaming the bad family genes from hubby's side for her flat button nose hor. ;P

Off day for Daddy and Mummy

Today is Daddy and Mummy's off day from RaeAnne cos Daddy's going back to school while Mummy is meeting my ex manager for lunch. So, Daddy brought RaeAnne to yeye & nai nai house at 10+am after feeding her cereal and bread. Ok, more like 1 spoonful of cereal and a lot of bread cos RaeAnne is still rejecting cereals. Looks like I got to sell my Happy Bellies cereal liao if this trend persists. Think I still got 1 can of oatmeal, 1 can of multigrain and 1 can of brown rice. :P

Quickly changed bedsheets and washed them so that hubby can hang them out to dry. Tonight still need to wash clothes so that PT cleaner can iron them on Sunday. Then Mummy went to Tampines Mall for lunch at 'din tai fung'. Decided to go to Roxy square for my first IPL underarm hair removal treatment because they have no slots on Sat (so I can't go during RaeAnne's LNT trial tomorrow as planned). Zap zap, it was more painful than plucking but at least it's fast and hopefully will be permanent hair removal after some more sessions. :)

Crossed over to Parkway to shop around while waiting for Daddy to finish at school and bought a black tote bag for my mum and some drawer child safety locks and a UV umbrella so that I can shelter RaeAnne on sunny days. :)

Then daddy and mummy went to Botak Jones at Bedok North Ave 2. It's Daddy's first time at Botak Jones but Mummy had gone there before with colleagues. The bbq wings taste as fantastic as I remember it. But the Cajun chicken burger was a bit dry, so was my Pollack fish fillet. But generally still good. My fish took a while to come, by the time it came, I attacked it immediately and forgot to take a photo. :P

Dinner

Cooked stew and steamed cod fish for hubby and my dinner too. Using leftover ingredients for RaeAnne's porridge (carrot, brocolli, peas) and leftover hot dog from lunch the other day. Hubby said the stew with bread is yummy but I think he's trying to be nice cos it's too salty.

Bought the stew pack from NTUC the other night but is in Japanese so I can't understand most of the instructions. Probably it's meant to be servings for 4 people, that's why they ask to add 800ml of water, 200ml of milk. But if I follow the instructions, really too much for both of us so I cut down the water but added more milk. Still had a lot of sauce left so had to throw away. At least, it's a refreshing change from the 'ta pow' food and FIL's cooking. Hee.

RaeAnne finished nearly all of her porridge today, hubby fed her on the high chair while we ate at the living room table so that she can watch 'wheels of the bus' at the same time. Once she can start eating more 'adult' food, it's time to cook something for all of us and we can all sit down as a family and eat together. But in the meantime, Mummy need to brush up on cooking repertoire, so far, whatever I've cooked are 'one hit wonders' with the exception of spagetti and soupy stuff. :)

P.S. oh ya, been wanting to blog about this since last week but keep forgetting. RaeAnne can help to take out her shirt by pulling it over her head and stepping out of her pants for a while. Read that it's a milestone for toddlers to do that. But the funniest thing (to hubby and I) is that whenever hubby opens the cap of the J&J mosquite repellent lotion to apply on her, there'll be a 'click' sound. Once she hears the 'click', she'll extend her left leg to us. Hubby experimented many times and it works without fail everytime. Today, after shower, we are trying to put her to nap. She refused and kept pointing at my dresser (where the mosquito repellent lotion is). Hubby was so tickled cos he said it's as if she knows that after her shower, all her protection washed away liao, got to reapply again. Haha.

Video of RaeAnne eating hot cakes

'Suaku' Mummy finally figured out how to upload video clips (from handphone, saved under mp4) to Youtube so that I can add to blog. Somehow, mp4 format is not recognised by my computer so I can't view the video, let alone upload to blog. Don't have any problems uploading videos taken using our handycam though. I still don't know how to edit and cut the video shorter though using you tube. Daddy is not a techie or webbie so he's even more suaku than me. :P Anyone who knows how to 1) view mp4 videos on laptop or 2) edit and shorten mp4 video on youtube? Please help. Thanks. :)

It's MY Macdonalds... :)

Introduced RaeAnne to the Golden Arches today. She woke up extra early at 7+am even though last night, she woke up at 2+am, 4+am. Daddy and Mummy both very tired but we couldn't persuade her to go back to sleep so I convinced hubby to got to Macdonalds for breakfast since we are all up anyway. Mummy has been eyeing the sausage mcmuffin meal weekday promotion at $2.50 for a long long time. Hee.

We went to Mac at Tampines Mall. Ordered a hot cakes happy meal for RaeAnne but the toy was disappointing, a black Spider man, RaeAnne hardly looked at it. She was more interested in the 'cold cold' apple juice tetra pak. At Mac, we passed her a fork with small pieces of hot cake, she could feed herself and us. Not bad. Next challenge is to let her pick up the food with a fork herself. :)

After breakfast, we brought her to try the different kiddy rides. Only paid for the Barney ride, the rest just pose and take photos. Hehe, Mummy & Daddy cheapskate.


Her favourite kiddy ride is the one with a Giant bear. She kept pointing and playing with it, refused to pose for a photo. Next time, must let her ride on that one. ;) Then we went to Toy R Us. Didn't buy any toys for her since Isetan delivery is this coming Sat. Was telling hubby we need to clear out some space for her new toys. :P

After that, we brought her to Collete to buy a pair of shoes. My dear gal has big feet (13cm and growing) so it's hard to buy shoes when she's not with us. Mummy chose a pair of pink closed toes shoes on offer ($19.90)so that it will look nicer with dresses compared to her 'My Little Pony' open toe pink sandals. :P We bought 1 size bigger (size 17!?!) so that it can last her longer and a pair of pink socks ($6.90). Daddy complained that the socks are expensive. Told him it's because of the balls (see pix). Our gal is less than 14 months and she already has 2 pairs of shoes. I'm sure her shoe collection will grow linearly or exponentially as she grows up, Daddy has many, many years of complaining to go. Haha. ;)

She knocked out at 11+am in hubby's arms (must be because she woke up too early) before we reached TS. Hubby wanted to browse through DVDs while I went to NTUC to buy 8 pieces yong tau foo to cook. Ended up buying some Korean strawberries too cos RaeAnne likes them. Reached home at 12noon, tried to put her on my bed but she woke up. Fed porridge, bathed her but she didn't want to go back to sleep. So I prepared quick lunch for me and hubby instead of yong tau foo as planned. Hot dog bun with cheese melt and mustard/chilli.

She ended up napping at 3pm only when I forced her to sleep. She napped till 5pm, woke up once at 4pm but managed to pat her back to sleep. Woke up at 5pm with her so started to prepare her porridge. It'll only be ready around 6pm so hubby fed her apple. Told hubby let's try to eat with her at our dining table on the high chair so I started cooking our yong tau foo plus sliced pork, mushroom and broccoli. Decided to cook 'mee sua' instead of bee hoon so that RaeAnne can have a bite if she wants.

She was quite well behaved though she resisted the high chair initially. Gave her a bowl with diced strawberries/apple with a small fork and she ate her porridge quite quickly. Though she didn't finish all the porridge, it was better than the last 2 days.

After that, showered her and brought her to ILs cos hubby felt ye ye and nai nai missed her. Also wanted to show off her new shoes and bring some strawberries to Nai Nai. Came back close to 9pm, I quickly showered. Fed RaeAnne 180ml FM at 9+pm, she finished everything, and looked like she wanted more. Asked hubby to make another 60ml but she don't want to take liao, hubby said cos momentum broken. Poke and poke my tummy, and she fell asleep around 10pm. Wonder what time she'll wake up tonight.

P.S. She woke up and cry at 1050pm before I could even finish attaching the pixs. Had to make her sleep again so my poor belly button suffer again. :P

Mum not cooking tonight, err I mean every night :P

One of the Jan mummies ask me if I cook dinner for my hubby daily now that I'm a SAHM. But I don't, can't even find time to cook lunch for my own leh, let alone dinner. Another SAHM said she got time to cook for her hubby, she shared her schedule while I shared mine.

Grumpus's schedule
just to share with you how i manage to cook dinner when hubby is in town. usually i will cook one meat, one fish/veg and one soup.

first of all, i plan in advance what dishes i want to cook for the next wk, then i submit a list to my mum to do marketing for me.
my mum will buy the food, wash/slice/chop etc and pack into individual pkts for me. i then dump everything into the freezer.

every morning i decide what to cook for dinner and take out the pkts from the freezer to defrost. then i settle my girl's bath, lunch etc.

when she is having her afternoon nap, i'll season the food and set the soup to boil, cos soup need the longest to cook. that takes me abt half hr. after that i can do my own things or nap with my girl.

when she wakes i settle her, play with her etc until abt 5pm. At 5pm, i will cook rice and cook the fish/veg and meat. just those simple stir fry type and cook my girl's dinner. my girl will play by herself for awhile.

at 6pm i will feed my girl her dinner and me and hb dinner is ready already. when my girl is done with her dinner, hb and i will eat ours.

after dinner, hb will wash up and i will settle my girl's wash up bedtime routine etc. if my girl woke up late from her nap, then i'll wash up first before doing her bedtime routine.

My routine:
8+-9+am - RaeAnne wakes up, I'll laze in bed for a while and see if I can make her sleep some more. But she'll usually insist that I carry her out to the living room.
Put her on her bumper mat to play with her toys while I make her cereal.
9+-10am - feed her cereal while watching "Wheels of the bus" VCD. Take out her porridge ingredients to defrost.
Around 10am - Wash rice and prepare ingredients to cook her porridge in slow cooker (usually pork/yin yu/threadfin/cod fish plus carrot or broccoli or sweet potato or corn
10am - 11+am play with her, brush her teeth, put her on potty, change diaper, (find time to sneak away to brush my teeth, wash face, go toilet, eat bread)
11+am - feed porridge
12 - Let her rest a while I wash up
12+pm - shower her
12+-1+pm - make her sleep after giving her some milk
1+pm - 3pm She naps from 30 mins to 2 hours, depending on my luck. (during this time, I clear the bathroom, throw rubbish/soiled diapers, have lunch usually instant noodles/bread or try to cook my lunch if I'm feeling lucky. Usually if I nap with her, I don't get to eat. If I eat, I don't get to nap. :P)
3+pm After she wakes up, feed milk or cereal or fruits. After that, Start preparing to cook her evening porridge in slow cooker again
4+pm -5+pm Play with her (though I'm very tired by then)
5+-6pm Feed porridge again
6+pm Hubby comes back, he'll tapow dinner back if we are not eating at ILs.
6+ - 7pm Shower RaeAnne then try and grab our dinner. One of us has to distract or watch over her cos she walks around touching forbidden items (electric switches, drawers, trash can in kitchen or dirt on floor). If she sees us eating, she wants our food but I don't feed her our food cos it's full of sodium or msg.
8+pm I shower
9pm Give her milk in bottle and try to make her sleep
9+-10pm She falls asleep
10+ - 12 midnight She'll wake up again, then we feed more milk or we dream feed her around midnight. Transfer her to her cot.
2-4+am - She'll wake up again, hopefully can make her go back to sleep with just water. Depending on timing, may leave her on the our bed to sleep.
6am - Wake up and we'll give more FM. Try and make her sleep again until 9am.

In between schedule, will wash and sterilize her milk bottles, pots, bowls, spoons, wash clothes and fold her clothes, keep her toys, rinse those that she 'gum'.

She also poos 2-4 times a day so changing her diapers, washing her bum in the toilet, changing her out of her clothes, also takes quite a bit of time/struggling cos she loves playing with water even when it's already contaminated with her poop. Eek! :P

When she's awake, she'll only play on her own for 5 minutes before she'll come and look for me. When I'm busy in the kitchen and hug my legs from behind me then I can't move cos I worry she'll fall backward and hit her head. When I carry her away to the living room, she'll cry so sometimes I just leave her to roam/play while keeping half an eye on her from the kitchen.

Don't know where to squeeze in time to cook for dinner leh. Maybe I'm a lousy/inefficient cook so I take longer to prepare/cook so I don't bother to cook dinner. Frankly after staying at home the whole day, I prefer to eat out with hubby to enjoy 'er ren shi jie' if possible instead of slaving over the stove. If no tapow also very convenient, no need to cook and no need to wash up. Hee. :P

Giant Tampines

Went to Giant Tampines yesterday evening with hubby, RaeAnne and MIL. Bought Friso 3 at $17.50 (offer price), even cheaper than the promotion at Guardian which ended ($17.90) and NTUC ($19). Still don't like the texture of Friso3 cos find it very hard to dissolve but no guts to let RaeAnne try new FM again after her stomach flu episode. :P Bought Johnson and Johnson baby shampoo too but just heard from the forum mummies that there was a news report that J&J products contain contaminants and have been removed from the shelves in Taiwan. Sian, I still have a lot of J&J products at home, thought J&J should be good cos 'lau zi hao' mah. :/

After nearly 1 month of FM, RaeAnne seemed to have put on some flesh. Her weight didn't gain much but she feels more 'ba ba' but I noticed that the flesh is the soft soft type. Compared to her previously, when it was firm to touch. Two days ago when I was rushing to change to go out, and she was grouchy so hubby put her on the bed where she can see me. She caught sight of her best bosom friends (they have been hidden from her view since I weaned her off to avoid 'tempting' her). Hubby asked me do you think she still remembers but I told him no lar, so long already, she forgot liao.

But guess what, she saw my boobs, she started to point and smile, then she approached me and start touching them, and nearly wanted to suckle again but I stopped her gently and told her no more milk liao, darling. Then she stopped and looked at me and smile again but a bit in an 'embarrassed' way.

Phew! Was so worried she'll start crying then I'll feel very heart pained and guilty. But she didn't. Looks like she still had good memories of BF though I weaned her off against her will. Told hubby, it was worth it, BF her for 1 year, in the end, she still remembers and smiles at the memory. Very 'gan dong'. :)

But maybe that's why she still likes to rub her face in my tummy and use her fingers to feel my belly and belly button when she sleeps. She likes to 'Chong2 wen1' that skin to skin feeling. So now Evil mummy now trying to introduce her to Daddy's belly button. Bigger and deeper, nicer to dig, I told her, ho ho ho. ;)

She woke up at 2am

Sigh, so much about sleeping through. She woke up at 2am just when I was going to sleep. She had so little dinner that I didn't dare to feed her water. Decided to give 150ml of milk and she left 30ml behind. Hubby applied cream on arm so can't carry her. Got to find a way to put her back in the cot without lowering the cot side and without waking her. Stressed... :P

A long day...

Last night, RaeAnne drank milk at 9+pm, slept at 10+ and this morning, I suddenly woke up, checked the alarm clock and realised it's already 530am and I didn't hear her cry for so long. Lay there on the bed and started to worry more and more. SIDS only happens to infant below 6 months right? Or is it? Alamak! In the end, I tiptoed into her room to check on her. She was sleeping on her side, I waited and observe and there was hardly any movement. Was debating whether to go and check her breathing when she moved her fingers.

Phew! All is fine. What a neurotic and kiasi mummy I am I thought as I walked back to my room. Hubby was sound asleep, oblivious to everything. Went to the toilet but didn't dare to flush in case I wake her. Just as I stretched out on my still warm bed and pulled up the blanket, she started crying. Waited for a while then took a peek, she'll standing at her cotside, crying liao. No hope, got to go get her. Was it telepathy (could she sense Mummy?) or could she really hear the slight sounds from my room toilet? Guess I'll never know. And if RaeAnne finally sleeping through the night? I'm definitely keeping my fingers and toes crossed. ;)

Made milk and fed her but the lousy bottle leaked, thought the diaper leaked at first cos my pants were all wet and so was one side of RaeAnne's shirt and pants. Only when I rinsed her shirt and pants and mine and the water turned all cloudy that I realised that it was milk not urine. Must be the new Avent teats that I bought from isetan. Duh. Don't know why I use orginal Avent teats and it leaked whereas I've been using Pigeon teats for so long and they have never leaked. Washed her stuff and my stuff, by the time, I got to bed again, the sky was lightening so around 7am liao. :P

Today, the lady from Rent That Toy came to collect the Haenim Play yard, I've been trawling through the SMF Want to Sell and Want to Buy threads to get a second hand but they are scarce and always snapped up before I can even post my interest. Cheong Choon which is selling it for $140 is also out of stock. Kiddy palace has stock but it's $149 and need to cash and carry, which is inconvenient. Hubby is still not fully convinced that we need it. So, decided not to renew the lease since we have been renting for 2 months already. Took one last photo of her at the play yard and asked hubby to take a video of RaeAnne later to see if she has any reaction to 'Aunty Elaine' taking away her 'house'. She had a very bochap expression when Elaine was dismantling and keeping her play yard. Wa, thought my daughter was very cool and surprisingly unpossessive about a stranger coming to take away her stuff.

I WAS WRONG! The moment the door closed, she started complaining, making a lot of noise and pointing to the door. Ended up carrying her to the door but she still pointed so I opened the gate and walked to the lift. Luckily, Elaine had left. Hubby so cute, saw her reaction then said looks like have to buy one from Kiddy Palace. But after she seemed pacified/distracted with another toy, he changed his mind again. It's useful to keep her safe when I need to do things, go toilet or wash up. But she's too used to her freedom and nowadays I do leave her playing on the living room floor outside her play yard for short while. And she's usually fine for the first 5 minutes or so. Well, the jury is still out on whether we will decide eventually to buy a play yard.

Today is also LNT trial, hubby thought it is Mandarin class but it turned out to be Japanese. Anyway, I have already said I will accompany so that hubby can take some time to mark his scripts. He has lots to mark for this 1 week school hols. There were many activities in this LNT class. RaeAnne was very shy as usual, she was the only kid who refused to sit on the chair. She kept standing up and wanted me to carry her even though I was seated directly behind her.

But guess what, she warmed up and even crawled to the table towards the middle of the class though. Why? Cos Reiko Sensei was showing RaeAnne's favourite bottles (stacking 3 empty bottles and push), containers (to show full-ippai and empty-karappo) and of course 'um um' (food), RaeAnne got to smell and taste yakult and honey water today. The honey water was too sweet, I still wouldn't let her take it at home but just a taste for knowledge is fine. ;) RaeAnne is still not good at recognising orders, she reversed the colour and position of what sensei showed again. But at least this time, she eventually chose the right pink egg-tamago which sensei put into her pocket, it was funny to see her pick out the brighter green egg first then hesitating and taking the pink one. Haha.

During this lesson, teacher also taught about shapes (circle-maru, triangle-sankaku, square-shikaku). RaeAnne was supposed to sort and match the shape of the 'biscuit' to the shape of the container. eg. round biscuit to round container but she was happy to pick them up and reluctant to put them in. Happens at home too when I ask her to keep her toys. She'll start putting them in when I hand them to her then hesitate when it comes to her favourite toys, she continue to hold onto them and 'pretend' to put in. I can imagine her thinking "but why am I keeping this toy? I still want to play with it." ;P

She also learnt to count from 1-10 in Japanese and the difference between tall-takai and short-hikui and the different vehicles (car, bus, motorcycle, train, aeroplane, ship). There were a lot of Japanese songs too but mummy's memory of the Basic Module in Japanese I took at NTU more than 10 years ago is too lousy so don't understand the lyrics. Sensei noticed that I understand Japanese though cos I could say 1-10 in Japanese and understand what is ippai before teacher explained. Hee hee, paiseh.

After the lesson, Daddy and Mummy got smarter, straightaway changed her diaper and made milk using the hot water provided. The bottle leaked again but luckily we brought another 125ml bottle for her water so we could switch teats/parts. After we switched, both bottles are fine, never leaked. So strange. She only drank 100ml out of 180ml though. Too distracted by the cute blue elephant in the room. Actually all the kids love the elephant, especially Rayden (Kelyn's boy). Look at her big difference in her expression in the classroom when she has to study versus playing with the elephant. ;)

After the class, we went to Isetan straight as Mummy wanted to trade in the Avent bottles since there is a promotion and get new ones at 30% off. Her 125ml bottles were used fully during the last year as I was Breastfeeding, used them to store EBM so they were sterilised very frequently. Don't want to keep for no. 2. Made use of the promotion to get 4 new 125ml bottles and 2 260ml bottles. Asked hubby what if things don't go as planned and we don't have no. 2, he said sell the bottles lor. Cheh, men! All I wanted was some comfort and reassurance that we will have no. 2, always so practical!

By the time, we left Isetan, it was already 5+pm so we decided to check if ILs are free to cook RaeAnne's dinner (they tried feeding soupy rice yesterday cos she is rejecting porridge nowadays, sigh) They said they could so hubby and I had the famous mee rebus and mee siam at the food court. Aiyoh, the serving was so much, plus hubby ordered 2 bowls of 'chin chow'. We could hardly finish the food. RaeAnne had nothing to eat so kept pestering us for biscuits even though we already preempted by buying a cute heart shape balloon (50 cents only) for her before going to the food court.

Anyway, RaeAnne's rice dinner was a disaster. She rejected the soupy rice, kept hitting on the spoon, so she fed the floor 3 times, twice in the living room and once in yeye's room. MIL and I took turns to feed her and the soup kept going cold cos FIL kept it in a small bowl instead of a thermos container. :P That dinner took 30 minutes and I really don't know how much rice went in. Hubby blissfully slept through the whole agonizing dinner. At 730pm, when she knocked the spoon the 3rd time, I told FIL, forget it, she needs to drink milk at 9pm anyway, we'll just give her more milk tonight. True enough, she finished her 180ml milk at 9+pm just now. Normally, she'll leave at least 40ml behind. Let's see how long that can last her.

Friday the 13th!

Poor hubby attended a school run today involving an Olympic torch and ended up with a big patch of his right arm burnt and lots of blisters. Even RaeAnne noticed the patch and kept pointing at it. Ouch ouch! But brave hubby said it wasn't painful, just feels very hot. He and a colleague who also got burnt went to polyclinic for treatment. He was given antiseptic cream and antibiotics to prevent infection. The doctor told Daddy that he will heal in 1 week's time. Mummy is upset with the poor organisation, obviously the organiser did not do a dry run and ensure safety, didn't made sure that the fuel would not leak from the torch. Ya, an olympic torch is impressive but it's not worth it when you have more than 2 staff suffering 1st and 2nd degree burns! Also, who in the right mind will hold a major event at 5+am in the morning of Friday the 13th!?! Duh...

Now, hubby will spend his 1 week school holidays recuperating from his wound. He can't even carry RaeAnne with his right arm now if not he may burst the blisters. Sian, Mummy was so looking forward to this school hols cos now I'm a SAHM so don't need to take leave from work. Was hoping to spend some quality family time, eg. bring RaeAnne to the zoo, botanic gardens etc. Sigh. :P

P.S. Added new video clips of RaeAnne at LNT, not of the lessons though but of me trying unsucessfully to make her walk towards me. Some of the other Jan08 babies made a cameo appearance too. :)

Spree at Isetan Private Sale

Today Mummy is busy at Isetan Private Sale grabbing toys and clothes for RaeAnne, Daddy didn't accompany Mummy so transport was a problem so Mummy had to make sure I bought enough to qualify for free delivery. Excuse to shop hee hee.

I went at 10+am. I must say the queue is really not as long as previous IPS I went even though I still ended up paying around lunch time. Don't know if it's because they reorganised the queues or really because economy is bad. Mummy was like an unglam 'siao' woman, lugging two big plastic bag worth of stuff, borrowing the calculator to calculate the total price of items cos must hit $300 to qualify for free delivery, shuffling the plastic bags with my feet when I had to move along in the queue, the bags were reall too heavy. Daddy asked Mummy what I bought (he hasn't seen most of the loot cos earliest delivery is next Sat) so I thought I should blog about this too. Haha.

I bought mostly toys and some clothes for RaeAnne, rompers at $3 each and the expensive toys that I've been postponing buying eg. Megablocks cos I know Isetan private sale always have 30% off. Had lunch at TCC cafe at Isetan level 2 after that. Then go to Wheelock place for hair treatment. Only for today, feel like a tai tai. Mummy looks forward to the day when both of us can go shopping hand in hand. :)

So what did Mummy buy for RaeAnne? Drum roll... :)

Toys
1) Megablocks in carrier bag ($49.95 less 30%)
2) VRTech Learn and Grow Laptop ($59.90 less 30%)
3) FisherPrice Stack n Ring ($14.90 less 30 %)
4) Scrabble 60th anniversary edition ($69.90 less 30%) ok ok, this is more for Daddy & Mummy and most of all, Daddy's students when they visit Daddy. Or else, there are no board games for them to play. But RaeAnne can join in the fun once you are older. :)
5) Nerf Machine gun ($39.90 less 30%) Please ask Daddy why we bought this. Mummy has no comment. ;P
Clothes
1) 3 rompers at $3 each
2) 1 pair of pink striped pants at $3
3) 1 set of pyjamas (short sleeve t shirt and long pants) - $9.90 less 15%
More RaeAnne stuff
1) Kippotamus Car seat Trio Totes organiser ($50.90 less 20%)
2) Safety First Potty seat ($24.90 less 30%)
3) Avent teats (stage 4) ($6.60 less 20%)
4) Konfidence baby sunblock spray ($16 less 15%)
5) Combi training chopsticks comes in plastic case ($10.90 less 25%)
6) Red minnie mouse mini tote bag ($3)
7) 1 Winnie the Pooh Pink bath towel ($10)
8) 1 Winnie the Pooh Pink face towel ($3)
9) Goldbug toddler's safety harness cum backpack ($29.90 less 30%) Daddy was eyeing the cow design which we saw at Kiddy Palace but Isetan only has frog, sheep, koala or giraffe. Practical mummy thinks 30% discount is too good to miss so grabbed the giraffe in the end cos felt it was the most unisex design.
Here's a pix :) http://www.amazon.com/Goldbug-53875-Giraffe-Buddy-Harness/dp/B001AXAD3K)

P.S. Finally uploaded a video of RaeAnne walking or rather running (like a drunkard, Daddy's words not mine hor). ;) The video clip is added to last night's post.

ABC pasta, fruits and walking ;)

Cooked ABC pasta for RaeAnne using stock (corn, pork, dried scallops, wolfberry) then added fish and egg. But she doesn't like it. Only took half of her usual portion compared to porridge, keep making 'puking' sounds. Think it was the threadfin and egg combination, too fishy smell and the bits of egg stuck onto the ABC pasta made it not easy to swallow. :P

I tried to teach her blue and yellow colour yesterday (part of LNT homework) but she's barely interested. But managed to point to the right colour card but today when I asked her again, totally forget, anyhow point. Godsent (evangeline's mummy) said her gal can articulate blue and yellow after she taught her after the LNT class. Amazing! RaeAnne only babbles but I don't know what she's talking about. She still hasn't said any words other than 'an' (press in mandarin) recently. Even mama and baba is forgotten. :/

Today, I decided to teach her fruits instead cos I cooked corn for her soup stock. Showed her the uncooked corn, let her smell the corn, touch the corn, taste the cooked corn kernel, then reinforce with the flashcard again and again. Finally when I asked her where's the corn, she could point at the right card. Showed her what is persimmon and kiwi too cos we have them in the fridge. But then, I won't be surprised if she forgets it all over again tomorrow. ;P

What she's really developing everyday is her temper. She just cried and throw tantrum for a full 10 minutes cos she refused to sleep after her last milk feed. Hubby came out of his shower and asked me what happened. Not sure if it's because she paid a visit to ye ye & nai nai house just now and spent 1 hour playing there. Hubby went there to get her baby sebamed face cream to apply on that 'persistent' mosquito bite mark that has been around for weeks. She kept pulling my shirt and crying so that I can carry her out of the room. Refused to give in if not she'll think she can cry and whine her way out of everything. :P

Always joked with hubby that if we don't have no. 2, RaeAnne will become a 'xiao ba wang' with 2 sets of grandparents, uncles and us doting on her. As it is, now my ILs and mum let her 'bite' them without punishing her. I've never witnessed it though but they sometimes complain to me that she bite them. But if they don't teach her from right to wrong and let her bite, then she'll think it's nothing wrong and continue to bite. What can I do? ;P

Today, finally managed to capture RaeAnne walking but she was walking towards Daddy, not me, and she didn't walk especially for the camera. Never mind lar. Better than nothing. 'Mai hiam'. :)

RaeAnne's featured in Mar issue of Motherhood Monthly!

Forgot to blog about this last week, too busy with RaeAnne's stomach flu episode. RaeAnne is featured in Mar issue of Motherhood Monthly again. Seems a bit 'kay long' huh that she is featured twice in 2 months? No lar, the editor was very nice to do a 'service recovery' and offered to feature RaeAnne again in March cos she misspelt RaeAnne's name in the Feb issue. Hee hee. She's featured on pg 20, http://motherhoodmonthly.com/currentissue.

Little Neuro Tree Trial at PP

Brought RaeAnne to LNT trial at Parkway Parade today, some Jan 08 SMF mummies have already tried it at POMO (old Paradiz Centre) branch but I found it too far from Tampines so I didn't join them. Glad to know that PP branch also offers the trial cos it's much more convenient for us to go. But RaeAnne refused to nap at her usual 12+/1p

m timing and only fell asleep at 2:15pm when we needed to leave the house at 2:45pm. I was quite cross with her, end up got to cook instant noodles for lunch cos no time liao, as usual, we were late for class. Sigh, what's new? :P Dressed RaeAnne in the preppy style today, she looks extra cute today. She allowed me to put on her hair clip but still not 'gu niang' enough to let Mummy wear her socks and shoes. Sigh, she's still not a lady from head to toes, and check out that 'chor lor' pose. :) LNT only allowed 1 parent to be present in the class so I attended the first half then left to run an errand so that hubby can attend the second half. He's the Finance Minister now, so it's better to let him try out the class and decide if it's worthwhile to sign RaeAnne up for LNT after the 3 trial lessons.

Today's lesson is in English which is a great start. Quite a few more Jan SMF mummies were in this class (Icy, Evangeline, blessedbaby, Lyn78 and me), such a coincidence. It's very difficult to get all the kids to pose for camera, believe me, we tried many times. End up, we could only get a good shot of RaeAnne and Evangeline. :)

RaeAnne's not a great student, hee. Eg. she learnt about order & colour (red leaf vs green leaf - wrong order), identifying and picking out the right fruit (carrot in teacher's pocket - she took the brinjal), smell (mustard, ketchup & butter), fine motor skills (no problem taking out the flower stalks, even 2 at a time but has problem putting the stalks back into the straws), sing 'head and shoulders, knee and toes' song (a very familiar song for her but she didn't try to dance unlike at home), daddy's part: diffentiating blue and yellow colour (half right, half wrong), long vs short (neither right nor wrong, cos she grabbed both straws :P), Count 1-10 (group activity).

LNT, www.littleneurotree.com, is having a promotion now, first term ($600), second term (half price, ie. $300). Each term is 3 months - 12 lessons. Which means each 1hr weekend class is $37.50, not cheap. In comparison, playgroup for 18mths & above at my nearby block costs only $130 excl course materials, uniform, deposit etc. Anyway, let's see how after attending the Chinese and Japanese class. :)

RaeAnne can walk

RaeAnne is starting to walk upon request now. If we stretch out our arms and stand a short distance away, she'll walk towards us. But she walks very very fast, it's as if she's afraid she'll lose her balance if she walks slowly. Quite funny to see her do that. I've been trying to capture her on video cam so many times but whenever I whip out the video cam, she crawls towards me instead. Performance stress? Maybe. Will have to continue trying. ;)

Yesterday, my mum came over to help and I was able to keep RaeAnne at home. Even cooked porridge twice with the ingredients she bought including fresh 'threadfin'. Waipo nagged me to do that cos the porridge is fresher if cook twice then to keep the morning portion for evening. Obliged cos there's an extra pair of hands to look after her so I can cook in peace. RaeAnne napped from 1pm to 145pm then woke up but i was able to coax her back to sleep from 2pm to 3pm. Heng ah! :)

I'm still having a itchy throat and dry cough. Given up hope on the non drowsy cough syrup that GP gave, switching back to my faithful drowsy but effective promedyl. Only problem is, I can't look after RaeAnne when I'm half asleep. So left her at ILs place in late morning, came back home and knocked from 1pm to 5pm, slept through lunch. :P

It's been a long week...

My mum came to visit on Tues morning and I left RaeAnne at ILs place around noon to get lunch and going to NTUC at interchange to stock up the fridge. Then FIL called me at home and told me that RaeAnne's fever has hit 39 deg, and she pooped 3 times between 12+pm - 4pm, so he asked me to get hubby home earlier to bring her to see the dr. Checked with FIL, they didn't feed any fever medicine since I left, even though MIL told me they will monitor and give the medicine if she still has fever. :P

Her regular PD at round market is not open on Tues evening but it was too late to rush her to the street 81 one so we decided to bring her to Kidslink at Bedok North Ave 3. Even took a stool sample along. The PD said it was stomach flu, gave medicine for fever, colic and good bacteria sachets. We were also told to give FM in half strength. Hubby and I had a hard time that night cos she had such fitful sleep and we had to give her fever med regularly. The next morning, she woke at 650am and wouldn't go back to sleep. We didn't move her to the cot until very late cos she's having fitful sleep, woke up 3 times since 10+pm. Tried to take her temperature just now and she jumped then have to make her fall asleep again.

At 9am, MIL came over as she has bought some vegetarian bee hoon and brought it over. She didn't know how bad RaeAnne was as hubby had not called her since we came back from PD. In fact, she was asking me to quickly eat cos she wants to go back to sort out the vegetables she just bought from the market. Was very tired, so told her I'll bring RaeAnne over while I catch up on sleep. Left ILs place close to 10am, with instructions to take her temperature as her last dose of med was 6+am.

When I return at 12+pm, I wanted to cook ABC pasta soup for my lunch and let RaeAnne try some to whet her appetite. RaeAnne was sleeping and FIl said she has just slept about half an hour ago. Asked FIl about her temperature and he said 'he had no time to take'. Was pissed because MIL had told me that they went through a lot of lengths to make her sleep including pushing her downstairs in a stroller but both of them had 'no time' to take her temperature using a ear thermometer. I mean come on, how much time does that take!?! Got time to bring her downstairs on stroller to make her sleep but no time to use a ear thermometer to check her temperature.

When I found out that she didn't have milk (and medicine added to milk) since I left and the medicine timing has past. I wanted to take her temperature but he insisted that I cannot disturb her cos she only slept for half an hour. End up, by the time she woke up at 1.40pm, her fever already hit 38.5 lor. Also, there was a thunderstorm and FIL insist that I switch off the Leapfrog learning drum that I was playing with RaeAnne. I told him it runs on batteries, it's not a lightning hazard. If anything that run on batteries are a hazard, how about the lights, fridge, remote control, that are still switched on in the house? Duh... I know they love her lots and I don't understand why he's so concern about her safety (lightning strike in the house?) but so bo chap about her having fever, letting her fever spike up again and again. Making her sleep is more important to him.

I know they love her lots and I do appreciate their help in looking after her so that I have some 'me' time. But I'm glad I became a SAHM, from her bout of HFMD and now stomach flu, my conclusion is that I can't leave ILs to look after a sick child as they either don't believe in seeing dr and taking med or they believe that sleep cures everything. This is one of the things that I will never agree with them. That's also why if I put RaeAnne there at their house, I don't want to stay to help cos I don't agree with things and I'm not the sort who can't hide my reaction or act blur. :P

Went back to see her regular PD on Fri evening because she still had loose green stools plus she developed rashes on her trunk, legs and neck. PD changed her medicine and advised us to stick to just 1 type of FM. I started switching her to Gain IQ upon Waipo's suggestion last week because a few of my cousins are giving it to their kids and because I weaned off RaeAnne, felt guilty that I can no longer provide her with brain food and since Gain IQ is one of the most expensive FM around, thought it must be good. After this episode, hubby said to stick to Friso since she had no problems on Friso.

Didn't manage to go to Fidgets nor go to the My Gym Open house cos RaeAnne was sick. Today, she pooped on the potty when I brought her for her usual morning wee. It looked very watery but after I emptied the contents into the toilet bowl, could see that soft and defined shapes so hubby and I were relieved. She had napped from 12 to 145pm and happily eating porridge after she woke up. Had wanted to bring her to my friend's place so that I can return the Medela PIS but her daughter is sick so we ended up postponing the visit. But, thought it's a perfect timing to bring her out so decided to bring her to 2nd aunt's place to return my cousin's winter jacket. RaeAnne was fine there, happily eating on chopped strawberry, biscuit, kueh bulu and her favourite Gerber star biscuits though she was still very shy.

There was a thunderstorm and we were waiting for hubby to come back from meeting his friend. By the time, we left close to 6pm, our gal was grouchy and started crying and screaming non stop from the car all the way to Waipo house and continued even when she was there. She only calmed down after we tried to feed some milk and porridge at Waipo house so we guessed she must be either hungry or sleepy or both. Poor Darling. Next time, we must stand by milk bottle and let her eat more before bringing her out. :P

P.S. My mum noticed that RaeAnne has another bottom tooth erupting soon cos the gum on her left side is whitish and swollen. Initially, we thought that may have caused the fever. But PD doesn't think so, cos fever for teething is low grade, plus there should not be diarrhoea if it's teething. Strange, her right side front tooth is still not fully erupted and her bottom tooth is erupting too?