Echinacea drops

Went to buy childlife echinacea n childlife liquid vit c from gnc today cos raeanne was sneezing the whole day n we finished all her echinacea sweets. More exp than spree but at least got 20% member discount. But she insisted on drinking a lot of water after taking the liquid vit c, maybe cos too sweet. End up she cough n puke out her milk feed plus dinner n the echinacea was mixed with the milk. :( waste my money, she refused to drink any more milk after that so I have no choice but to give her ribena instead so that I can add another 10 drops of echinacea. :p

Mei Mei finally pooed!

Haha, I sound like an obsessive compulsive mummy. But she hasn't pooed in 3 days so I'm really glad when she had a big poo job at Ah Mah's house tonight. :) 姐妹情深, RaeAnne also pooed at the same time so the two sisters got to take turns cos there is only 1 changing mat/bed for Ah Mah's house for diaper changing. Haha. ;)

Gingerbread man

Today, her PG teacher was surprised that she can say 'gingerbread man' cos they did a Gingerbread boy hanging mobile for arts and craft. Explained to them that she has been eating gingerbread boy biscuits since Xmas time. Today I dug out her old Xmas tree paper mobile (done at PG too) and she started singing Jingle bells, jingle bells. Which means she remembers the association with Xmas.

Nowadays, I try to spend at least 30 mins with RaeAnne doing or playing intellectual activities eg. read stories to her, do her kumon books, or do jigsaw puzzles, or teach her to count. Not a lot but better than nothing at all cos at ILs place, she gets 'free play' all the time.

Today, I cajoled and nagged until she said sorry to me for wetting my bed with my water bottle. She opened the cover for me to drink water (cos she saw that I'm pumping) but she can never close the cover properly. When I told her to say sorry, she gave me hubby's alarm clock instead. When I told her I don't want the clock, I want her to say sorry. She threw the clock onto the floor. :P I think it's very sweet of her to do things for me but I wanted her to be responsible for her actions too.

Mei Mei has been making all kinds of sounds recently. But haven't gotten a chance to record it. Everytime I whip out the video cam, she gets distracted and keeps quiet. Spoke to her PD today, her rotarix vaccine is safe (cos old batch) but will hold off until the future batches are fully tested. Asked TMC LC and the PD about her milk strike and why she is more keen to suck her fingers too. LC said she may be teething and to feed when she is less fussy. PD said it's a mouthing instinct and to monitor, if the weight gain is poor, some parents start cereals early. Hubby, me and RaeAnne went to Kyushu fair at TM at 830pm. When we came back at 10pm, Mei Mei was hungry (drank 30ml of EBM) and latched on both sides. She haven't drank so earnestly for 2 days. Hope she poos tomorrow cos she hasn't pooed for 2 days. :P

Wall Decals

Oh yes, wanted to post photos of the Korean wall decals that I bought from BP to decorate the wall. Fed up with RaeAnne tearing up the paper height chart that we pasted on the wall so convinced hubby to invest on wall decals. I think they look pretty good.

Will definitely get more to decorate the girls' room when they get older. :)

Jan08 mummies gathering

Let RaeAnne 'ponten' today and joined the mummies gathering at Sol Cafe, Turf City http://www.solplaygroundcafe.com/AboutUs.aspx. I missed the last one in Dec 09 as I was having confinement then. Turf City is quite a ulu place for an Easterner like me but I was curious about Turf City and the indoor play facilities provided by Sol Cafe. Haha. Plus Fennie aka mylife offered me a lift so I decided to make an effort and go. Did not bring Raelynn and the maid in the end. Thought Mei Mei is doing well drinking EBM.

Left the house at 945am, and waited at the bus stop for Fennie. We reached Turf City at 1045am as she dropped her mum off at Clementi before going to Turf City. RaeAnne did well considering it was a 45mins car ride for her. I was impressed by Rylee (mylife's daughter) who was so well behaved in her car seat. Took the chance to tell RaeAnne that Rylee cheh cheh did not cry nor need her Mummy to hold her leg in the car. Hope it'll help her behave better in the car next time. ;)

When we reached, let RaeAnne roam free and join the other kids at the outdoor (with shelter) playground and play house but she soon started crying. I didn't see what happened as I was chatting with my mummy friends. But she cried again after that. My guess is she loves the playhouse and the cooking set inside but did not want to 'share' with the other kids. Duh... :P

Ordered brunch for RaeAnne and myself and ate early at 11.15am. Waffles with sausage and scrambled eggs ($9) and a ala carte order of smile potatoes ($5). Good choice cos RaeAnne was self feeding the finger food. She loves the hot dog (one was not enough) and the smile potatoes and guess what - ketchup!?!. She was dipping the ketchup with her fork and eating it or licking it off the potatoes and hot dog. ;P

After a few group photos, we left early at 1230pm in a taxi cos I wanted to be back to pump/latch cos I didn't bring my pump. But RaeAnne woke up at 845am (she vomitted her milk at 6+am so had to put her back to sleep again after that) so I wanted to start her nap routine by 145pm latest (5 hrs later).

But I let her return to the toys area and the playhouse before leaving. And she was much happier putting the toys into the box, opening and closing the door/windows of the playhouse cos no other kids were around. I had wanted to rent a playhouse for her but it was too big and rental is only for 2 weeks. Very exp. It was a pity that I had to rush back, was so tempted to hang around longer and enjoy a Lavazza coffee ($3) and hot chocolate with marshmallow ($6). Maybe can come back with hubby, maid and Raelynn next time. ;)

Good thing I came back early cos the maid told me Mei Mei only drank 10ml of EBM. :P So, quickly latched Mei Mei then pump and put RaeAnne to bed. She napped at 215pm in the end. :)

P.S. RaeAnne just woke up crying though I put her at bed around 10pm. Sigh, I'm trying to wean off her dependence on touching me before she falls asleep (she will touch my belly button or hug my arm to sleep). But it's easier said than done, if I insist on not sleeping with her and sitting by her bed. She will start whining and crying. If I don't allow her to touch me, she will start biting her fingernails and touching her own belly button. Don't know which is worse. :P

RaeAnne is 26 months today

Okie, I know I told myself that I'll stop tracking her development monthly. But still I remembered that it's 22nd today. ;)

The naughty gal kenna smacked by me on her hand today cos she pushed down my lap table and laptop accidentally while she was trying to reach for my box of wet tissue. It's not the first time she has done it. The last time she did that, the DVD drive of my laptop came loose and I have not even had time to send it for repair. :P

My hubby's colleague came back from BKK and helped me to buy 6 boxes of Boots milk bags for $30.80. So 1 box is slightly more than $5. So much cheaper compared to Lansinoh at $17 each. :/ Now, I got 4 boxes of Lansinoh and 6 boxes of Boots milk bags. Should be enough milk bags until I wean off my baby. Haha. :)

Oh yes, RaeAnne woke me up at 520am today by barging into the room. Held out her hand and ask me to lead her back to her bed. :P Surprisingly Mei Mei did not wake up after sleeping at 1030pm but can hear her sucking her fingers loudly. After I fed RaeAnne milk, her sucking got louder n louder but she didn't cry much. Still, I cannot ignore the sucking sounds cos RaeAnne cannot go back to sleep cos too noisy. Gave up n woke hubby to put RaeAnne back to sleep while I carry n feed Mei Mei. Had to pump at 6+am cos right side is slightly blocked for 4-5 days liao. :(

My Bumbo Throne :)

Raelynn in Cheh Cheh's Purple Bumbo seat. RaeAnne was having her afternoon nap so we quickly took the photo. Cos she is quite possesive of her Bumbo and didn't want Mei Mei to sit on it. Found a photo of RaeAnne sitting on the Bumbo at almost 4 months old. Do they look alike? :)

RaeAnne doing a catwalk wearing her new Minnie Mouse t-shirt which I ordered from overseas spree. Can really see how much she has grown since the bumbo photo. haha. But there is a small hole on the back of the t shirt and it's a brand new!?! So cheesed off. I even ordered the same design for both me and Raelynn to match. Shucks, cheat my $$$. :/

Lawry's and Expo Baby Fair

Went with hubby to Lawry's on Thurs night without the kids cos we have a $50 voucher (min $100 spending) from the Valentine's day Far East Flora bouquet promotion. We ordered the chef's special, surf and turf and mushroom sizzler. Ambience was nice and cosy at Lawry's though hubby prefers Jack's place for the steak. He's never a fan of fine dining. Told hubby I could almost forget that I am a mother of two and the two gals are waiting for me at home. Haha. The ramen restaurant beside Lawry's (ippudo) was super popular though. Such a long queue formed at 6+pm. Next time, must try.

Managed to squeeze in a post natal massage at Rustic Nirvana before going for dinner too. Very happy cos I haven't utilised any of my post natal massage spa sessions yet. The masseur recommended that I come every week cos after 6 months post delivery, not very effective to use massage to get rid of wind liao. :P My weight at the spa was just 44.4kg. Faint! I am already back to pre preggie weight and less than 45kg. Sian! I wanted to stay at 45-47 kg but minus the existing spare tyre please. :P Booked another appt on 17 Apr at 4pm again, hope I get to go. :)

Went to Expo baby fair to stock up on Pureen products and another set of Mumsfairy supershields. Bought 2 long sleeve tops for Raelynn and a pair of covered up pants. Bought long sleeve cos realised that with Raelynn, we do go to air con places quite often (aka shopping centres) cos we want to bring RaeAnne out. Whereas when we had RaeAnne, we tend to stay home more often cos we had no maid so bringing a baby out was a hassle. :P

But we went to Expo at the wrong time and it was raining when we reached Expo. By the time, we wanted to go PP, it was practically pouring. With no rain shelter, not keen to expose both kids to the elements so ended eating dinner at Expo food fair instead. :P So no chance to try the Koi bubble tea that the Jan mummies have been raving about for so long. :( Huggies pull up pants are cheap there, 2 for $28. But I didn't buy in the end cos it was raining and we have 3 umbrellas, 2 bags and 2 toddlers to carry plus 2 bags of pureen stuff. :P

Brought RaeAnne to see GP today for her cough. It has been 3-4 days, tried manuka honey with lemon, nan bei xing, chuan bei mu apple soup but still she is coughing. And she vomitted twice due to coughing liao. Sian... GP bill only $19 but bad news is she hates the black cough syrup. Had to force it down the throat with 3 adults holding and feeding cos she cleverly spit out the 2.5ml which we syringe down. If her cough doesn't get better by Monday, I'm going to have a hard time feeding her med. :(

Mattel Toys Warehouse Sale :)

We sneaked out during RaeAnne's naptime to go to Mattel Toys Warehouse Sale. Hubby was reluctant but bad Mummy was too gian to shop and reassured him that RaeAnne will be fine. It was a long drive to Lok Yang Way but luckily we had our GPS to guide the way. But still we mistook Blk 1, Lok Yang Way to be the place of the sale. Didn't know it's the factory by the side of the raod where we parked the car. ;P

Anyway, the place is warm and dusty like many forum mummies shared so I'm glad we didn't bring RaeAnne. I thought only the big items were worth it eg. bouncer, learning home, jumperoo, playgym etc.

Managed to grab a cheap and working bouncer for Raelynn at just $30. It was actually $40 but the cashier consulted a staff and he said charge us cheaper, just $30. Yeah! Condition of bouncer was quite good cos it is wrapped up in plastic n material was not faded. But still got the maid to wash it once we came back. Best of all, when we came back and tested, the vibration works! :)

Also bought the Barney Stereo set for RaeAnne at just $5. It plays 7 tunes and is handy enough to carry around. The FP Learning Home was an impulse buy at $150. It was either that or the TMX Laughing Elmo at just $20. But hubby felt the laughing Elmo won't hold RaeAnne's attention for very long so we bought the FP Learning Home in the end. Hopefully, both gals will enjoy playing with it one day. :)

Where aeroplane?

RaeAnne always asks me "Where Aeroplane?" when she hears the roar of the aeroplane at home. By the time, we walk over to the balcony, the aeroplane is nowhere to be found. It doesn't help that we only stay on the 6th floor and our unit is partially blocked. So asked hubby to bring us to the airport since there is crocs sale at T3. Brought RaeAnne to the viewing gallery and she is very happy to see the aeroplanes flying off. Finally, they are big enough for her to see. We counted 3 flying off and 6 parked ones. Asked her if she wants to go and sit in the aeroplane and she said yes. Wanted to tell her that we'll be sitting in aeroplane in June (going to Penang) but Filamie is within ear shot so decided to withhold the news. Not sure if we will be bringing her. But we do need an extra pair of hands for the trip. :P

We ate at Swenson but servings were small and food was not fantastic. RaeAnne didn't eat much of her kiddie meal. Mostly finished by hubby. :P T2 has nursing room opposite Row 7 (under the escalator). I fed Raelynn there instead before taking the sky train to T3.

The crocs sale was disappointing. A lot of Disney Minnie Mary Jane sandals but RaeAnne already has 1 pair and she is in between sizes so can't buy. Wanted to buy a pair for Raelynn but size C4/5 very limited designs and colours.

Maid tried NUK teat this morning, bb drank 40 out of 60ml so it's an improvement. But this afternoon when she tried to feed FBM, then baby rejected. Think must mix FBM with fresh EBM liao. :P

P.S. Not sure when should I start correcting RaeAnne's broken english and teach her about grammar. Not where aeroplane, but 'Where is the aeroplane?" :P

Side effects from jabs

I've asked a few mummies about pneumoccocal jab and they said their kiddos did not have fever after that. Asked PD yesterday and she said may have. Well, turns out my friends are right cos RaeAnne didn't have fever. But poor Raelynn suffered. Her temp has been hovering at 37.6 - 37.7 whole day. Luckily paractemol helps to bring the fever down. See her so kelian and fretful though, can't sleep well too. Too bad breast milk can't help 'resist' the side effects of vaccinations. :(

Raelynn's 2nd 6-in-1 jab

Brought the two gals to see PD this evening cos Raelynn has a 'stye' looking bump on her upper inner eyelid. Also, RaeAnne's pneumoccocal jab is overdue since she is already past 2 years old. Didn't realise that Mei Mei's 2nd 6-in-1 jab is due on 13 Mar but hubby may not be free this Sat as he is on standby to report to army camp. So in the end, we went tonight. Raeanne did not cry when she was jab in the arm but she cried for the thigh jab (Pneumo and Hep B). Raelynn cried when given rotavirus as well as 6-in-1 jab. The downside of taking the jabs at the usual PD is that it's cash terms only and cannot claim CDA nor medisave. Total damage for hubby: $394. :P

I went to shower once we came back so that I can BF Mei Mei then make milk for RaeAnne then put her to sleep. Then after I came out of the shower, I had to give RaeAnne her paractemol cos she refused to take it when hubby tried feeding, only Mei Mei guai guai took hers. Hubby and maid were so busy settling the two gals that they forgot to give Mei Mei the eye cream to apply. Sigh, sometimes I wish I can clone two or three of me. :P

Oh yes, according to PD clinic nurse, Raelynn is 6.3kg (75th percentile) and 58cm long whereas RaeAnne is 11.7kg and 86cm tall. :)

8 Mar 2010

It's been 7 years since me and hubby's first date. 七年之痒? Went out after dinner tonight for a short walk at TM with RaeAnne. Guess it was a bad decision cos it was already 8pm when we left and we came back at 930pm. Had to BF Mei Mei, then feed RaeAnne milk but she was 'overstimulated' and didn't want to sleep until 11pm. Both me and hubby must be around and take turns to carry her. In the end, hubby had to carry her out in the corridor before she KO. :P

Raelynn's neck is stronger and she is able to lift her head from the ground. Remember that RaeAnne was able to do this 'superman' pose only when she was 4 months old so seems like Raelynn is faster. This photo was taken yesterday at Nai Nai's house. :)

Freezer

I've finally done it. Hesitated a few times but I finally bought a vertical freezer for EBM. Got no choice cos the freezer of my 3 door Mitsubishi fridge is already full of EBM and I'm running out of space for fresh produce. If I cook for RaeAnne everyday, I need to store 1 week's worth of fresh produce cos there is no market near my house, only a small NTUC that is not good for buying fresh meat, chicken, fish. :P

Was so happy transferring the packets of EBM then I realised that the new Faralla second hand freezer I bought had 4 drawers and it is almost full. So got no choice but to leave some older packets of EBM in the old fridge/freezer compartment. And leave 1 empty drawer for incoming new EBM stock. Hubby thinks I got more than 100 packets of EBM. I don't think so, must go count. But never mind, at least it's a happy problem. Cos I can give EBM to both RaeAnne and Raelynn. :)

TGIF! A good day :)

Finally tahan until Friday n it was a good day. Raeanne woke up at 4+am crying for daddy to carry her. Not bad considering she slept at 10pm though I was secretly hoping that she will sleep through when I finished bfing Mei mei at 4am. Then for lunch, raeanne ate quite a lot of fried macaroni (definitely her favourite). I read the book on loan from pg while she ate n she was patient enough to let me finish it though there were about 20 pages. Although she vomited her milk when she coughed during nap time, she managed to fall asleep In 5 mins n slept from 135pm to 330pm. She vomitted because she dropped the coins given by the garang guni uncle when I was feeding milk on her bed. She strained her neck in an awkward position n started to cough with the teat still in her mouth initially. I thought better to let her cough first before continuing to feed but she vomitted instead n out came half a bottle of milk. :p when she woke up, she was in good mood n pulled me to lie on the bed to 赖床 with her. I thought it was so sweet. I got to enjoy a cup of iced coffee while we shared a slice of bread with jam. Lastly hubby decided to give me a break so we ate out at cafe cartel so I got to eat yummy ribs, chicken chop, fish fillet and no need to cook dinner. :)

Duh, she just walked into our room at 505am. Got to find a way to stop these nocturnal visits. :p

Little red dots...

Not sure why but Raelynn developed some red dots on her skin. It looks like Roseola but strange thing is that she had no fever. I get Roseola dots from time to time too but usually after an illness. The dots appear on her arms and a few on her face and near her ear. The ones on her right arm were most peculiar, hubby calls it the Orion cos it looks like the Orion constellation with the Orion belt. Anyway, will monitor since they don't look painful. :P

Update on RaeAnne, she didn't like the chak pa lang porridge that I put together for lunch (use dried gan bei stock, and added mixed peas, sliced hot dog, with pan fried threadfin fillet. Had no choice cos not enough fresh produce in the house). She ate so little that Filamie had to have it for both lunch and dinner. Then she slept from 145pm - 3pm only. I rushed out to stock up at nearby NTUC at 2pm and rushed back to feed Mei Mei. Just as I finished feeding Mei Mei, RaeAnne woke up liao. Tried to make sure go back to sleep but failed. She asked for milk and we made 180ml but she did not touch it at all. Such a waste.

Then I tried to give her pao, muffin, egg tart, as a tea time snack at 4pm but she declined everything. Then when hubby came back at 5+pm, she wanted to eat. So in the end, she didn't eat much dinner. We popped by at our Malay neighbour house, surprised that she wanted to go and visit the cheh cheh. Gave her milk at 9pm and she finally slept in her room on her bed at 10pm. Considered good liao I guess. ;P

RaeAnne's sleepless nights...

Was just about to blog and said RaeAnne slept at 1030pm today and she woke up crying. Faint! :P Actually she seemed tired after her milk feed at 930pm. She was happily lying on her toddler bed with me lying next to her. But Mei Mei is on growth spurt today, drinking milk every 2 hrs. So Mei Mei started crying in the living room for milk. Hubby and maid were outside but they didn't know that I wanted them to feed EBM. End up Mei Mei's cries got louder and louder until we couldn't ignore it anymore. Had to resort to BF mei mei in the baby's room on her bed as she didn't want me to leaver her and BF mei mei.

It went downhill from there. With the break in momentum, RaeAnne was confused and difficult to put to sleep. She didn't know what she wanted. And we tried everything from me lying with her on the bed, to hubby carrying her in the room, to me carrying her in the room, to drinking water, to her lying on the floor with hubby to hubby carrying her outside in the living room before she KO. :P Sigh, one step forward, 2 steps back in sleep training. Patience, patience. Rome was not built in 1 night... :(

Raelynn is 3 months old!

RaeAnne is 3 months old today. She is about 6kg now. I said about 6kg cos we weighed her 3 times with different people standing on the weighing scale (maid, hubby then me) and her weight ranged from 5.7kg, 5.9kg and 6kg. :P She is also 60cm long. Measured twice with a measuring tape cos I couldn't believe she grew by so much from 51.5cm (last PD visit). No wonder it is so difficult to feed her using football hold position on my nursing pillow nowadays. :P

Just checked the old posts. Cheh cheh was only trying to flip at 3 months old but Raelynn can already flip. Shows that she is a faster learner than Cheh Cheh. Or maybe it was because ILs were quite protective towards RaeAnne. FIL in particular told us not to let her flip cos 'her bones were too soft'. ;P Filamie got her chuckling when she spun the cot mobile above her. :) Got the video, but can hear Filamie laughing even louder than Raelynn in the background. :P


RaeAnne has been asking us to take out her diapers and doesn't even want training pants when she is going to bed. Finally put her to nap after 2 hrs at 3pm and 330pm, she woke up screaming, don't want don't want. And insist for me to take out her diapers. I had to carry her barebottom. So worried that she will pee on me. But in the end, she still ask me to put back the mamy poko diapers. So frustrating.

Tonight tried new method. When she said take out take out, I immediately took off the diaper without arguing. After just 5 mins, she said 'wear, wear' again. Luckily we have already put on the waterproof mattress protector in case she really falls asleep not wearing the diapers. But still she slept at 1130pm though we fed milk at 930pm. Sigh. When will she ever sleep early? :P

P.S. Wanted to mention that I was surprised to hear RaeAnne singing my bonnie and clementine over the weekend. I didn't even know she knows those songs though I sang to her before during bedtime. Must ask the PG teachers if they have been teaching these songs. :)

Bringing RaeAnne home from PG

It's been one week since I brought RaeAnne home from PG. MIL has been doing the honours the whole of last week. But after the frozen EBM incident, decided to cut down the dependence on ILs and relieve their burden a bit. But I feel better already, not so upset cos yesterday hubby thaw the frozen ebm when we went over to ils place n mix with ebm to give to RaeAnne. Also we finally started yoga class at nearby cc yesterday. Finally some 'couple' time though it's in a class of 17 students. haha.

So I started bringing Raeanne home today. Started toilet training too. Bo bian cos she keeps asking us to take out her diaper at night before sleeping. She napped on her own without crying at 2pm, 1 hr after her milk feed cos she peed n pooed after that. :p The magic toilet training stickers that I bought from BP recently was very useful. She was very excited to pee on the potty so that the tiger appears. The sticker is special cos the colours of the tiger only appear upon contact with pee or water. :) I know it's a bit gross to show photo of pee but I know some mummies will be keen to know how the sticker looks like. But still she wet two training pants. Only succeeded 3 times to pee in potty once during bath time and twice after that. Never mind, one step at a time. :)

Raeanne woke up early at 305pm just now but luckily hubby came back early today at 430pm. Record time. He brought Raeanne out to walk to tampines mall Ntuc to expend her energy. so I can finally reward myself with a cup of coffee n wait to bf Mei Mei. Haha, managed to capture Raelynn flipping on video just now. Can even see her trying to crawl or 'tunnel' as hubby put it. Will wait till the gals sleep before uploading it. Got to take a shower before hubby and RaeAnne comes back. :)