RA's first Yamaha concert

Today, RA just had her yamaha class concert, she's a bit distracted cos so many pp in her classroom (even Nai Nai came to lend her support) but at least she did not have stage fright. Compared to the first time she performed a dance with her playgroup classmates at 2 yrs old, must say she really grew up. Too bad, she is still not ready for unaccompanied enrichment classes though. -_-

Brought her for ballet trial at Crestar, Abacus Plaza but she did not want me to leave the room. How to sign up like that? Anyway, we decided to start private swimming lessons on Sunday morning at Tampines swimming pool. I think $300 for 2 tots is quite steep but hubby said we just go for it. The gals have been having cough and cold nearly every month, we spend a lot of $ bringing them to see dr anyway. Since, swimming supposed to strengthen the lungs, we will try it out and see if it improves their health.

Next yr, she is starting on Yamaha's Junior Musician class so we need to get an instrument for her to practise but I'm not sure which instrument to buy. The full height piano costs $5-8k. If I buy a piano at $3k plus (supposed to last for 10 yrs), will she lose interest? If I buy a digital piano at $1k plus, will I end up having to top up more if she does have the interest. Dilemma.

Happy anniversary!

So fast, we have said 'I do' 7 years ago. 七年之痒? I definitely think it is up to us to make our marriage work forever, hope never to lose that loving feeling even though we are so busy looking after the kids without a maid for the last 6 months and harassed by our 2 night birds gals who sleep between 11-12 midnight daily and shuttle in our busy daily routines. Especially hard on hubby who gets only average of 5 hrs of sleep everyday cos his working hours are super long as a teacher.

Happy anniversary Dada! 辛苦你了! :)

Raelynn scissorhands

Last week, I took my eyes off RL for 3 mins while she was cutting paper with a tiny pair of scissors at ILs place cos I went to the toilet. When I came back, I was surprised to see thin strips of black paper on the floor. Was wondering to myself how could her fine motor skills be so advanced to cut paper so accurately. Then I had a rude shock, the stuff on the floor was not paper, it was her hair! This naughty gal had tried to imitate Nai nai and cut chunks of her hair from both side off. Although there was no obvious ugly hole at the back, but her hairstyle was definitely disproportionately layered so Nai Nai had to remedy the damage. So she trimmed her hair very short and now she looks like 'ah dude' with coconut head hair. There goes my hope of taking a family photo in dec since I signed up with Pic perfect at Suntec in July when taking my ERA photos.

Today, she wanted to cut paper so I took out RA's Kumon workbook for her and tried to teach her to cut. She only managed the first cut so had no patience cutting lines. Then when I tried to help her cut out a pineapple shape, I turned around and saw that she did it again. She cut a tiny chunk of hair off again. I beat her hands and scolded her this time but she didn't even bian zui nor cry. Not repentant at all. Grr... no more real scissors for Mei Mei, only plastic scissors from now on.

Evidence of her holding strands of hair in her fingers and proudly admiring her masterpiece... Maybe, she wants to be a hairstylist in future? :P

RaeAnne's first concert at Elfa :)

Her dance piece was I like to move it move it by Madagascar. She is sick with flu but managed to perform with the help of panadol. But I went to backstage and brought her home shortly after her performance though the concert has not ended so that she can rest more at home. :)

Happy 2nd Birthday to RaeLynn!

Our little Mei Mei (RaeLynn) is 2 years old. She is 82cm tall and 11.5kg. Just 500g more than RA when she was two yrs old. RA was taller at 85/86cm though. :P

In terms of speech development, she can say short sentences. Some of them very well eg. I want 这个. Me, me, Mine. I want Mummy 抱抱. 找奶奶, 找Mummy. I want take/throw/jump, I want 穿裙,I want 穿鞋, I want cheese. 姐姐打. Oops! :P

Physical development - she can climb very well much to ye ye and Nai Nai's constant worries. She will dance and move to the music. She can take aim and throw a ball. She can walk with alternate foot on the staircase if someone holds her hand. Her favourite part is jumping off at the last step. :)

Social development - strangely, she is not as sociable as before. Eg. she will say hi five to certain close family, but no longer does it with school teachers and admin. She will still wave bye bye to everyone she doesn't know though. :)

We had her school bd party early yesterday cos today is RaeAnne's Elfa CC year end concert. Strangely, Mei Mei refused to eat her birthday cake though it was strawberry flavour Elmo cake from Polar. Previous yrs, we always ordered from Prima Deli cos it was the nearest bakery from our home. She did blow out the candle on cue though. :)


Bought 2 presents for her, one Elmo toy guitar that costs $36.90 (b4 30% discount) and a Elmo colouring pencil set that costs just $3 from Toy R Us Warehouse sale. She took only a few glances at the toy guitar but instead both gals clamoured over the $3colouring set. When we brought her to Toy R Us, she picked a pink cow potty seat and refused to let go of it so we bought it for her as bd present from the grandparents since they gave her ang pows. She went around holding her potty seat in her hands using it as her hat or trying to sit on it like a rocking horse. Quite a sight at Tampines Mall and hubby was quite embarassed. Moral of the story, it doesn't take much to satisfy a kid's imagination. ;)

But she stopped using it as a hat after her head got stuck in the potty seat ring when she was playing with it at home. :P

Stayacation at Resorts World

Back from our stayacation with the gals and MIL at Festive Hotel. Checked in on Thurs and made use of the Mastercards promotion 3d2n with 2 free Universal studio tics and 2 free Voyage De La Vie tics at $590. I had to rush out 1 hr after checking in to see the Bedok Residences showflat on Thurs at 430pm.

Came back to Resorts World at 7+pm, gobbled down Pu tien fried bee hoon and fried rice which hubby tapowed earlier. Then booked a spa treatment last minute and enjoyed a green tea scrub and aroma massage at Spa Republic on Thurs night so that hubby and MIL can bring the kids to Voyage De la Vie. Only 2 tickets anyway. They left the show shortly after cos hubby said the show too quiet and the kids were too noisy. Luckily, I didn't join them. Keke.


Next morning, had bread from Breadtalk. Then we went to USS at 10am on Fri. Not that much crowd but still need to queue 5 mins for entry. RA went for 6 rides (boat ride and merry go round at Madagascar, Shrek 4d & Donkey Live show, Dragon kids roller coaster and Mini Ferris Wheel at Far Far away. RL only managed the first two rides but she didn't enjoy them nor does she like taking photos with the characters. She kept crying. Maybe she's too young or she was hungry. I was surprised by RA cos she said she wanted to go for the Dragon ride but I dun think she realised what a roller coaster was. Even I closed my eyes throughout cos I am always freaked out by roller coasters. She had a blank dazed look after the 3 mins 'hell ride' but I am really proud that she did not cry or scream during the ride. After I told her she's so brave, she said "I want mummy 抱抱." kekeke.

RL ko at the park at 3+pm, so we came back. But after we reached hotel room, she woke up cos hubby put her down on the baby cot too suddenly. So, MIL was the only one who managed to catch a siesta while we entertain the gals. Decided to go for international buffet dinner at Hard Rock hotel with MIL since we seldom get the chance to dine out with her. Per pax was $68++ but luckily got 10% discount for Masters card. The kids dine free since below 4 yrs old. Phew! Food was ok, not the best buffet we had. Couldn't load our plates with the sashimi and oyster and other seafood cos MIL didn't like us eating cold, raw food. hehe.

Then at 8+pm, we slowly walked back to USS for the fireworks show. We were just in time, cos it started at 9pm instead of 930pm which we were told by the hotel reception. The fireworks were beautiful, RA enjoyed it but RL was a bit frightened by the loud sounds. Came back at 9+pm and had an early night at 11+pm.

All in all, quite a good experience. Both gals enjoyed climbing up and down the loft bed which freaked MIL out. RA had her fill of her favourite bubble baths at the bathtub. RA had 3 bubble baths in 3 days. Didn't let them go swimming since both were dripping mucus and coughing.

Only comment was there there is not enough food variety at USS and the hotels. In the morning, the one and only Toast box had a long queue cos there was nowhere else for bf. At the huge USS foodcourt, there were only 4 types of food, laksa, wanton mee, chicken rice or kids nuggets meal. For dinner, variety outside was ok but hotels, it was sad. Imagine there was no restaurants serving buffet at our own Festive hotel so we had to walk over to Hard Rock Hotel. :P

First play

Brought the gals to their first play at Esplanade today. It's one of their playtime programmes called 'What a Noisy Zoo'. It was their first experience sitting on the floor with a raised stage in front of them, people dressed up in costumes dressed as zookeeper or animals. Due to the floor seating, their view was blocked by taller kids in front who couldn't see cos they were blocked by the kids in front of them. Not an ideal situation for tots aged 2-4 yrs old cos they are already shorter than other pp in the first place.

But at least the play was interactive so lots of kids are shouting, singing and dancing. Not mine though, Mei Mei pooed in her diapers when we first went in and there was no time to change her unless we miss the 40 mins play so we let her be. RL didn't understand much anyway and she was too short to see anything so Daddy carried her to the back where there was 1 row of chairs. RaeAnne joined Daddy and Mei Mei at the back half the time.

But I think she did enjoy the play cos after she came back, she kept telling me that she went to the zoo, even told Nai Nai. And she said the monkeys are very naughty cos they took the zookeeper's keys and ran out of the zoo. She even asked me which animals in the zoo fell asleep (the segment she missed cos she went to look for daddy) but I had no idea either cos I was busy chatting with the other Feb mummies. kekeke. :P

4 tickets cost $50 so each ticket was just $12.50, slightly more than a movie ticket so I won't complain even though both kids weren't very enthusiastic. I was glad we didn't have to waste the tickets cos the gals, hubby and me took turns to succumb to stomach flu. Mei Mei brought back the bug on Fri, then it quickly spread to RA, ILs and us. Luckily, we recovered enough to go for the play though I'm still feeling queasy due to my gastric problem triggered again by this bad bout of stomach flu. RA did complain that she missed her music class a few times though so I told her next time if Mummy brings her for a play, I will make sure it won't clash with her music class. :P

Anal fissure & separate bedtime

Raelynn gave me a shock last night when i changed her diaper for her. She told me ng ng after she stood beside her cot bed for a while so I knew she pooed. What I didn't expect was the huge amount of sticky blood on the poo. It wasn't a bit, it was a lot. Took a pic before wrapping up the diaper cos thought may need to consult PD or GP.

Problem with Raelynn is that she doesn't like to eat fruits nor vegetables (not even evergreen favourites like strawberries or golden kiwi or apples, papaya or watermelon which RaeAnne loves. So, she has hard stools once in a while. But the strange thing is that last night's poo in her diapers wasn't hard. It was quite soft actually. Hubby googled and think it's an anal fissure. Possible, cos I've seen a slight crack before but that was a long time ago. Maybe it got worse. Asked MIL to give her more fruit juice but she suggested yakult. Don't think that will help with her cough. But don't know which is the lesser of two evils now. :P

Tried a new strategy in order to make the gals sleep earlier. Got hubby to bring RL into the bedroom to sleep since she refused her bedtime milk feed (as usual). I kept RA with me as I hang the clothes (Had to do laundry cos RL's mamy poko diaper leaked again last night, too loose? :P). While I showered, I made RaeAnne do colouring in my bedroom so that she won't go and disturb Mei Mei. By the time I finished shower at 10pm, hubby was successful and Mei Mei had slept.

Was feeling good when I brought RA into their bedroom to sleep at 10pm. She talked non stop but in hushed tones cos I told her not to wake Mei Mei up. She finally fell asleep close to 11pm. But who knows, I saw Mei Mei sucking her thumb and pull it out, she hardly does it nowadays unless she is hungry in her sleep. She started to fidget, scratch herself all over and in the end, she woke up. Arghh!!! Think she was probably hungry so I made 200ml of milk and she drank all. After I left to wash the milk bottles, she didn't go back to sleep, and started to call 'Mummy... Mummy...' from the bedroom. Bo bian had to ask hubby to go back and settle her cos I need to do work tonight.

Morale of the story. Next time, must ask hubby to dreamfeed after putting her to sleep... -_-


WARNING!!! Don't scroll down if you don't want to see any gross pic ...

Height charts

Haven't measured the gals for a long time ever since I stopped taking monthly photos for RL, just too busy after Maid left. RA is now 99cm tall, while RL is 81cm. :)

RL's birthday is just 2 months away. We will be having a party at her school and it's time to think about birthday cake designs. She really loves Elmo, loves her red Elmo socks (it's cute to see her wearing t shirt and diapers plus elmo socks), loves her Elmo music player book, and Elmo sticker book. I already bought party packs fillers 2-3 months ago from the party shops outside Bugis Junction so I am not going to change that. But at least I can find an Elmo cake for her, luckily Polar Cakes has sesame street theme so that's not difficult. Need to collect cake early in the morning though. :P

Brought the gals to Bedok Point for the first time cos suaku Mummy never been there before. We ate at Kungfu Paradise and the gals enjoyed the Mui Fan and esp Mushroom soup. RL started a runny nose, while RA started a slight cough, even Hubby. Sigh, think I'm the guilty one passing the bug cos I have been sick again since Monday. After 2 rounds of antibiotics for the previous 2 weeks, usual GP didn't want to give me any more antibiotics. But the runny nose, sneezing progressed to blocked nose and coughing after 5 days. Think I need to see dr again tom. Sigh. When will we stop cross infecting one another?

Sisterly love or not?

Sometimes, I wonder if RA loves her little sister. Because she always wants to take away the toy that Mei Mei is holding. A few times, she did give the toy that she snatched back to Mei Mei but need constant reminder or bribes for other things before she will do it. I will exaggerate my praises for her when she does it so that she feels appreciated. :P

Her Mei Mei is like a little puppy, will fetch RA's shoes for her, fetch toothbrush, water bottle for her but Cheh Cheh 不领情. Sometimes, RA will deliberately refused to take from Mei Mei or even take and throw away to spite Mei Mei. When RA cries, she will offer her own toy to Cheh Cheh, or even goes to sayang her hair or stroke her back.

RaeAnne gets her own time with us cos we pick her up after CC then go for dinner usually to Tampines Mall. Sometimes, we let her buy small stuff eg. stickers. I will always remind her that she gets to go out with us, eat her favourite foods, see fish/toys, buy stickers etc but poor Mei Mei is at MIL house, so she must be nice to Mei Mei and give in to her. Sometimes, when we pick her up from CC, she will ask us where is Mei Mei. And when we are outside, she will ask us to buy something for Mei Mei (usually things that she wants for herself ;P), but at least I guess it means she remembers Mei Mei.

But come bedtime, they are best friends. Play and hug and sing and tickle each other. Don't want to sleep till 1-2 hrs later. If I try to separate them, eg. ask hubby to bring Mei Mei to living room to sleep. RA will run out to rescue Mei Mei or whine and plead with me to let Mei Mei come back to the room while Mei Mei will be in the living room, crying 'Mamee Come, Mamee come, Mamee come'. Then I will get soft hearted and let hubby bring her back to the room. End up both of them sleep very late, 11+pm. -_-

Backdated posts - Aug & Sept 11

Whenever, both hubby and I didn't need to work on weekends, I will ask him to bring the gals out. Partly cos I feel guilty that I am spending so little time with them in the day, no quantity time so make up with quality time. And also because I didn't want them to become mountain tortoises cos Daddy and Mummy are busy. Poor hubby is always busy on weekends with markings and tuition and laundry so he is even more stressed nowadays.

Here are the backdated posts. Took me over 1 hour just to transfer and organise the old pics from camera to laptop. :P

8 Aug 11


RaeAnne's finally drew her first stick figure. Noticed that the stick man has no waist, looks a bit like an insect to me initially. But heard that it's normal for young kids to draw this way. Haha.

9 Aug 11

We had our first picnic at Pasir Ris Park. Both RA and RL didn't dare to step on the sand. But they polished off all the food that I brought, hard boiled egg, sushi and chrysanthenum tea. :)

8 Sept 11

We visited the Pasir Ris farm on 8 Sept during the schools holidays. It was the first time for me and RL, second time for Daddy and RA who visited the farm in Dec 09 during the PG year end outing after I had just given birth to RL. How time flies. Mei Mei was enchanted by the ducks while Cheh Cheh loves us to catch longkang fish for her. We got a total of 18 fish but only bought a fish tank 2 days later. By then, more than half of the fish had died. Then of the 5 fish in the fish tank, only 2 remained. :(

24 Sept
On Sat morning, cos hubby had to go back to school, I was alone with RA. We didn't bring RL back from MIL on Fri night because of that. I asked RA how to spell her name. And for the first time, she got it right. After R-A-E, she paused for a long time, then she said A-N-N-E. Yippee! I know it's nothing to shout about, considering some other Dec07/Jan08 mummies already know how to spell or write and even do K2 worksheets. But I never trained RA how to write, nor how to spell. The only thing we do every night is to read 2 bedtime stories to RA and sometimes 1 more for RL, so I'm proud of RA because she is able to do this on her own, without me coaching or rote learning. :)

25 Sept 11


It was supposed to be a playdate with 2 Feb08 mummies but the gals woke up late and hubby had tuition at 1pm so we need to leave at 11am. So, decided to go straight to Carpark C for Gallop Stables instead of meeting them at Carpark E & F for the playgrounds. The gals finally had their up close encounter with the ponies at Gallop Stables. RL sadly is the real 'gu niang'. After feeding the pony with hay for the first time with her outstretched hand, she was so freaked out with the slobbering tongue against her palm, that she cried and refused to feed anymore. She also refused to ride the pony, though we paid $10 for her ticket too. Luckily, a kind chinese family bought the ticket from us for their boy who wanted to ride one more time.

RA enjoyed herself feeding the pony. Proud of her, always thought she will be more 'gu niang'. She didn't enjoy her pony ride as much because her helmet was way too big (the indian/bangladeshi horse handler did not advise us at all on the size to pick and how to wear for her) and dropped off 4-5 times during the short 10 mins horse ride.

Crazy days

It has been crazy days since the maid left and I started work. My blog has not been updated for 2 months. Many times, I wanted to blog about the places we brought the kids but either end up KO with them at 11+pm (sigh, this is their new bedtime) or I am just too tired after catching up on SMH posts and doing prop research at night.

Sigh, this morning, RL's diaper leaked onto her bed and RA merlioned her whole milk feed all over the bumper mat and floor cos she coughed. Hubby also late for work cos helping me to clean up. Everyday is a morning rush. Brought RA to school but forgot that it's RA's CC year end photo taking, so forgot to bring white socks. Got to walk back home to take and deliver to CC again.

This morning, just washing clothes, bedsheets, mopping floor, hang out the clothes, I'm all hot & sweaty till I got to shower at noon. All clean, lazy to go out for lunch and sweat again plus I want to sun the clothes till they dry, so decided to order pizza in. Will eat that for dinner also since tonight got to work.

Really thinking of throwing in the towel and hire another maid sometimes. But hearing all the Jan08 mummies maids' woes, reminds me of all the inconveniences I have to put up with. Sigh, 3 months plus of maidless life and counting. Tahan, tahan, tahan...

I will do a backdated summary of posts now while waiting for pizza or I'll never get to it. :P

FTWM

It's been more than 2.5 years since I quit my full time job. The last few weeks I have finally transitioned back to being a FTWM. It have been crazy after I join the project teams for 2 condo projects. One is Arc@Tampines, an Exec Condo and the other is The Luxurie at Sengkang. Burned so many weekends and weekday nights camping outside the site or outside MRT station giving away flyers and explaining to passerbys on the condos. RaeAnne thinks my full time job is a flyer distributor. When she saw Arc@Tampines flyers on the floor in our estate, she told me: "Mummy, your flyer". Had to tell her that that one is not Mummy's face so it's not my flyer. haha.

Today, was selected to join the team to serve walk in customers at The Luxurie. Very lucky to get the chance since I'm not experienced like the rest of the old timers. It's a good experience serving walk in clients especially when I was one of those visiting Baywater showflat long long time ago.

Finally closed my first deal for rental today. Record price of $2700 for a 4rm unit in Tampines. But most importantly, I got the tenant profile that my landlord wants after answering more than 40 calls, shortlisting only 9 tenants for viewing and he only liked 2 tenant profiles. Finally, signed the tenancy agreement with the one who was renting at the next block. Talk about fate. haha.

Feel guilty towards hubby and especially the gals cos I really hardly have time with them since I started doing projects. Mei Mei gets it worse cos she will be at MIL place whole day from 11am till 9+pm. At least, for RA, we spend the evening with her after picking her up from CC at 6pm. Still working hard to find work life balance cos I have just started out on this career so got to be more 'piah' to expand my network. :P

Happy birthday to Maa Mee

Last night, while at ILs house, RaeAnne was calling me, then I heard a lower, muffled Mummy. Wondered why RaeAnne's voice sounded so low, and turned around, then I heard it again. It was Raelynn calling Maa Mee. The first time since last year when I heard her call Mummy... Before this we have been trying for months, but when either Hubby or I ask her to call Mummy, she will point to me instead to indicate that I am her Mummy but she has never opened her golden mouth to call me. :P Asked her to call Mummy again last night and this morning, she said Maa Mee, Maa Mee repeatedly. Music to my ears. And it is really a timely birthday present for me. :)


My birthday morning started early at 5+am, with RaeAnne peeing on her bed but hubby helped to wash and hang the bedsheets after I rinsed it. But she did redeemed herself, by doing a flower artwork for me as present. It was actually supposed to be homework for her show & tell tomorrow. But since it's a flower, asked her to do it for me as my birthday present. Glad to say that she did it all by herself, from colouring to cutting and pasting, with a little bit of help from Mei Mei, who helped her to colour the shortest flower.


In the late morning, hubby brought the gals to ILs house. Hubby and I had a peaceful buffet lunch at Carousel, Royal Scotts on Plaza. Hubby even arranged for them to surprise me with a birthday cupcake. :) We had Curry fish head dinner at the CC foodcourt for dinner cos needed to buy a cake at Prima Deli and bring to ILs place. Bought a cake and brought it to ILs place for cake cutting with the gals cos we had forgotten about MIL's birthday last week on 31 July. Asked RA to sing a happy birthday song for Nai Nai first. Both RA and RL loved the cake though it was chocolate mint, keke. A relaxing and rewarding birthday indeed. :)

On course

First day on course at ERA, delayed by 1 month. The course was enjoyable, learnt more tips from the trainers. :) Bad thing is that I need to take cab and rush there after sending RA to class and lock the door after MIL brings RL so taxi to and fro costs almost $30. :(

Good thing though is that ILs did well for the first day, MIL picked up RL at 11am then RA at 530-6pm. Both gals napped well (thanks to the cold/cough med ;P) and they had eaten and showered by 7pm. MIL has to leave for her karaoke lesson at 730pm so hubby and I went early after quick dinner at coffee shop to pick up the gals. We were home by 8pm so had ample time to shower and put the gals to sleep. Both of them slept before 10pm for once. :)

RaeAnne is 3.5 years old

RaeAnne is 3.5 years officially today. Sigh, yesterday she refused to sleep after 1 hr. she slept on mei Mei's cot bed though I told her that Mei Mei will be coming back to sleep on it later. She moved back to her own place but was defiant, tried beating me or beating the bed beside me. When I tried to leave her since she wants to beat her, she fake cry and whine. Then she started to cough and vomited 1 small mouthful by the side of the bed, kept telling me never mind. I ask her to wipe herself so that she realise that someone has to clean up the mess she created. But she wipe the floor then wiped her mouth with the dirty wet wipe. So I hit her leg, how dirty can you be? She started to cry again. Told her to hush and drink water. Went back to sleep again, still sniffling, coughed again and this time she vomitted all over on the bed, dirtying the bedsheets again. Lost my temper at her and grabbed her from the bed roughly so that she won't vomit again on the bed. Feel guilty now. Sorry, darling. Mummy was feeling tired and grouchy but couldn't sleep cos you refused to sleep.

Actually, RA's been quite guai recently, even ILs said she was more guai than Mei Mei. Yesterday evening, she kept all the books and toys on the bumper mat (anyhow stuffed in though) cos I told her she needs to keep all the books, if not we are not bringing her to Ikea. Ikea's her fav place now. Every night, she wants to go to Ikea play area. But after we checked her in, she stays in for less than 10 mins. She would cry when I'm out of sight or not paying attention to her even though I am just outside the glass walls. Think the Ikea aunties must be getting impatient with us.

Sigh, I think what adds to the stress is not having a maid. But having a maid is a problem cos the gals become so reliant on the maid to do everything for them, the maid gives into everything they want too. Managing the maid is a different set of problems all together, can be different drama on air everyday. But not having a maid is also a problem, PT cleaners can't come everday, we can't afford them everyday anyway. End up the sofa, kids' toys and bumper mats are pertually dusty. I get tired of the endless wiping and cleaning up everyday esp when they are sick and vomitting.

Oh well, let's see how things progress after next Tues when I start my course and work 'full time'. Maybe if the kids and I are not in the house, once a week cleaning by the PT cleaner will be sufficient. :P

Belated post

Long time no post. Busy looking after RL and running errands on my off days. Every Fri, I try to go for tuina cos my backache is really bad after 1 long day of looking after the kids and cooking.

Passed my exams and got my CEA license. I am already a full fledged real estate agent but still need to go for the internal ERA course from 26 July to 29 July.

RaeAnne caught a cold and runny last Wed after sleeping too near the fan. Brought her to see dr this Wed after she developed a cough. She vomitted on the bed twice this week due to coughing after drinking milk. When we had to change and wash her queen sized bed bedsheet, mattress protector, mattress cover for the 2nd time at 5am in the same week, I wished Filamie was still around. :P

Anyway, I also caught the cold bug from her, started a runny nose and sneezing 3 days ago. Didn't accompany hubby to town today cos think I need more rest. Tom got to start cooking and looking after RL again. :P

Wonder when I should hands off and let MIL bring RL back everyday after school. by right, I should start on 26 July but my team leaders seem much more eager than me. So, we'll see. Maybe I should start easing MIL in this coming week since I'm sick. Not keen to pass the cold bug to RL so it makes sense to let her handle RL more. :P

Raelynn is 19 months old! ;)

Just realised that Mei Mei is 19 months old today. She is 10.6 kg n 79cm tall. The biggest change for this month is that we started sending her to PG at the The Learning Train PG at blk 702 since mid June. She is getting better and better, just cry a bit when she reaches school and when we start to take out her shoes and before I leave her to the teachers. When I pick her up at 11am, she is usually smiley and not crying. But, yesterday we have a setback cos her fav teacher Chris (also RA's fav Teacher) has just resigned. I spoke to her and found out the reason. Dun blame her for leaving but wish timing could have been better ie. wait till RL is more settled in school. Oh well, things are always changing and even a 19 mth old is not spared from learning to adjust. :P

Brokenhearted

Was reading Tarzan story to RaeAnne, a bedtime staple since we came back from HK Disneyland. When I read that Kala was brokenhearted that Tarzan spend more and more time with the humans and less and less time with his gorilla family, RaeAnne said, "Mummy, I also brokenhearted because I go school, 我等很久你都没有带我回家。

Sigh, felt so guilty and brokenhearted when I heard that. Looks like it's almost 2 weeks but she still doesn't like full day CC. Every morning, she is still crying and whining that she doesn't want to go to school, she doesn't want to sleep in school, want me to bring her home, want Nai Nai to bring her home. But her cc teachers said she is fine, as in she sleeps in school n does not cry after I leave so maybe she is trying her luck.

Sending her to full day CC is the cheapest and easiest solution for us as adults since the maid refused to come back from home leave, Nai Nai cannot handle 2 young tots at home and I am going to get busy once I get my agent license, but is it the best solution for her? Even when I reminded her that she's the one who asked me to go to work when I said I got no $ to buy toys for her, even when I promised to earn $ & bring her on hotel room stays or buy a bathtub for her, she still say she doesn't want me to work.

Sigh... The dilemma of a SAHM going back to work. Will the extra $ (assuming that I do make $ as an agent) be worth putting her to full day CC though she is unwilling & the sacrifice of less time with the gals esp weekends? I don't know...

Professional Photo Shoot...... For Mummy ;)

Today is an easier day for me cos hubby asked MIL to come over and help in the morning. She was supposed to come at 8am so that I can bring RA to CC but I waited and waited but she didn't come. I called their house but no answer so had to assume she's not coming after all. End up I have to wake RL so that I can prepare her and go to RA CC together. Then MIL turned up. Poor Mei Mei was grouchy cos she got woken up from her beauty sleep, and because MIL suddenly came, I had to leave RL in her care and bring RA to school instead. Poor Mei mei cried and cried so I had to pacify her for another 10 mins until she calmed down. By the time, I left the house with RA, it was 830am. Late again, sigh. :P

But at least, arranged for MIL to bring RL back from school cos I need to go to Suntec and get my prof ERA photo taken. Bad hair, and bad complexion, so I decided to pay $50 for make up service. End up taking extra passport photos as well since already done the make up. After 2 years of no make up, frazzled hair, casual clothes of tees and bermudas, I finally look like a professional again. Haha. Even got convinced to take up their family photo promotion (up to 8 pax) for additional $69 (hard copies photo: 2 4R, 2 5R & 1 8R, soft copy at $8 each incl touch up) They have another studio at United Sq and that one have more toys for kids. Total damage: $200. :P


Rushed the photo down to ERA so that I can get my registration and sign contract with ERA. Paid more than $1000 today (OUCH!) cos need to pay registration, name cards, indemnity insurance & the ERA sales course too. :( Decided to go for the day course cos the evening course is too dragged out over 1 mth. Want to get the paperwork done asap so that I can apply to RA's CC for the subsidy. Wanted an employment letter but they can't give me that until I get my CEA license no. Oh well, so I asked for a duplicate contract instead. Will show it to the CC principal and hope it works.

Spent a long time at ERA office so I only reached home close to 7pm after taking a taxi. Couldn't pick RA in time so asked hubby to pick her up instead. She said I 'cheated' her cos I didn't go to pick her. Whenever she complained that she doesn't want to sleep in CC and ask why I am late to pick her up. I'll remind her that she's the one who asked me to go and work when I told her I have no $. ;P

Hubby and I didn't buy dinner for ourselves so after RA's dinner, showered her and we went to TM for dinner. Wanted to eat at Old Malaya Cafe but RA insisted that we go to MacDonalds. So, ended up eating fillet o fish instead. Rushed back to pick Mei Mei at 9pm. She actually fell asleep but was woken up by RA. :P

Just now while trying to make both of them sleep in the big bed, RA bit me so hard on my upper arm that she left a swelling on my arm. Dun know why she did it cos it was unprovoked. Furious with her so I beat her mouth and asked hubby to bring her out of the bedroom. She must learn that biting pp have serious consequences. No use saying sorry if you bite pp first, then say sorry when they get mad. :/

A Hectic Day....

RaeAnne is 1 month away from being 3.5 yrs old and today is my first day of trying out, looking after 2 kids esp in the morning since I'm now maidless. Poor hubby hide in the balcony while I got both gals ready to go for school. Mei Mei woke up first at 730am cos she is hungry so wash her face, brush teeth n changed to school uniform first. Went to wake RA in the morning n she refused to wake up. Threatened to leave her alone at home cos Mei Mei is all changed. While trying to clean RA, found out Mei Mei poo poo Liao so drop everything n wipe n wash her buttocks first. halfwaty through, RA said she also wants to poo. -_- while trying to wipe her bottom, Mei Mei went into the still wet toilet floor n slipped n cried. changed RA then finally left the house at 830am. :p thank goodness I bought a second hand buggy board so can push both kids. But got to push further to RA CC first then come back n drop off Mei Mei. :p

After quick bf with hubby, he went to work while I came back to prepare n cook lunch. Very tired cos Mei Mei woke up at 4+am then 7+am to drink milk (I have to attend to her cos as usual hubby KO) but i dun have time to nap.

Finish cooking porridge, steam fish with wolfberries & ginger, stir fry spinach with mushroom then rush to pick RL. Came back, tried to feed her but she refused to eat after 2 mouthfuls. Bo Bian change to cupcake but she ate less than half. Let her watch cartoon while I eat my lunch, was the dishes then bathe her. Feed milk she doesn't want to drink. 1pm, put her to bed but she refused to nap. Finally 2.15pm, feed milk again n 230pm, saw her sucking her thumb. Pull out her thumb n pat her n she finally slept. -_-

Start to prepare ingredients for dinner and cooked curry veg, already 4pm. Still tired so power nap with RL while waiting for hubby to come home. Started cooking again at 530pm. This time, cooked bah ku teh soup and steamed fish with RA's fav soy sauce. Luckily this time, both kids ate well so I'm not as 'qi keh'. :P

This morning, I just got my RES results online n I passed my exam. Yeah, can burn those notes liao. :) But the next ERA internal course is evening class for 1 month (starting 28 Jun, every Tues & Fri, 7-10pm) n I am not keen cos waste the whole day plus the course ends so late. By the time, I come home, it'll be 11pm liao. Definitely won't get to see the kids awake. But if it's 5 day day course then must wait until end July. But the sooner i finish the course, the faster i can get my cc subsidy. Dilemma. :p

Maidless

After being maidless for more than 2 weeks since 2 June 2011, must say it's really not easy. When my maid went back, RA peed on her queen size bed twice in a row though she hasn't had accidents for months. Even waterproof mattress protector didn't help.

Then ILs' place having renovation so we cannot bring the kids over even when my hubby has tuition. Have to ask my mum to come over and help me out for a while.Every night after putting the gals to sleep, hubby and I are busy washing clothes, bottles, tidying up the house when we used to surf net. Nowadays we are free at 12+am earliest, hardly have time to surf net, watch dvds or stone so we need to stay up late to have 'me' time.

Raeanne vomited from coughing last night, after catching a cold last Thurs. Maybe not used to sleeping in CC aircon. Raelynn also started a runny nose today. When the kids are sick, an extra pair of hands is useful esp when feeding med. :P

Now, at least hubby is having hols so can help out. If it's me again, dun know how I'll cope esp the morning rush to get 2 kids ready for school. Once in a while, the thought of having a maid again does cross my mind but I'll try to 'dong' as long as I can. Cos for now, I love having my house back. I can buy all the exp household or pots I like without worrying that the maid will spoil it. PT cleaners are good too except it's sometimes hard to fit them into our schedule.

But mainly, I love the closer family bonding without a 3rd party in the house. RL is getting more attached to me everyday though she still refuses to call Mummy. -_- she cries the moment I step into the shower and refuse to go out with hubby if I'm home. It's hard to cook or wash with a koala bear hugging my legs all the time, and asking me to 抱抱,抱抱 though. :P

First kiss ...

Got my first kiss from Raelynn. It was a funny incident actually. I was trying to put both gals to sleep lying on the sofa bed. Raelynn was either jumping around or sitting on my tummy trying to ride me like a horse. She bounced on my stomach hard and I yelped in pain. So, I started to scold her when she suddenly bent forward and kiss me on the lips. Of course, I had no heart to scold her after that.

Recently, she has been much more attached to me. Keep wanting me to carry or hold her hand while she walks. Even Daddy cannot take over. When hubby tried to put her on the stroller to go 'gai gai' to Nai Nai's house, she cried and cried until we abandoned plan.

Tonight, I can't even shower in peace cos she will cry and whine when she sees me entering the shower stall. I have already showered for her but I think she still wants a second go. I think she has shifted her reliance on the maid to me. I wonder what happened to my independent and fiesty little gal. :P

Raelynn's first day at school

Due to the maid issues, I went to ask RaeAnne's old PG school at Blk 702, n we r lucky cos we can enrol RL immediately, no need to wait as they have 2 kids dropping out after end June. There are 14 kids now but after June, should be 12.

Previously, i was thinking of sending RL to playgroup but didn't do it cos of the extra cost and logistics issues of 2 kids starting & finishing school at different timings ie. RA, 830am - 12pm & RL 9-11am, plus i didn't want the maid to be so free at home while I'm out. But since we have no maid anymore, decided to do it n enrol her for some social interaction n learning. Cos if i start course/work n we put her at ILs house the whole day, she won't learn anything except messing up the toys n pouring water everywhere. :p

So, yesterday, we dressed her up in Cheh cheh's old school uniform n brought her down at 945am n left at 10am when the kids were having tea break. She was curious n observed quietly. I am glad she didn't cry nor cling to me like a koala bear compared to RaeAnne. When the teacher/children sang songs, she started clapping. So cute. Today, we brought her down at 10am during the tea break n left at 10.15am when she was halfway through her stick biscuits, n went to run errands at NTUC n buy lunch before fetching her. No time to cook cos pt cleaner coming at 11am.

She was carried by Teacher Chris and crying when we came. Teacher Chris said she didn't cry at all when we left. She only started crying when another little gal snatched her piece of paper. Will let her start officially Tom since it's 16th n easier to calculate half month school fees. Will bring her down at 9am n hope she does equally well Tom.

Hk holiday n maid issues

This is an backdated post cos I am so busy these few days.

Good news first, we came back from hk. It was a good trip, not as bad as I thought traveling with 2 kids under 4 without maid or grandparents support. Even the flight was quite ok. We flew via tiger airways, super early morning flight at 6+am so we are really lucky that my bro gave us a lift and even my mum came to send us off. But cos it's budget airline, I got to entertain my kids myself, no inflight entertainment unlike SQ or CP.

RL continued to sleep in my bro's car but RA woke up and was alert after seeing me with the luggage bag cos she knows it's finally the day to go to her HK Disneyland Hotel. RL woke up when we were checking in.

When the plane took off, she was restless on the flight cos she doesn't like to be strapped to the infant seat belt. But luckily she can be distracted by food n her sister's toys. RaeAnne kept asking me why does it take so long to go to HK. :P

RaeAnne loves Disneyland, I am amazed that she is not afraid of the moving rides at all. In sg, she can't even stand motorized car rides in the malls. But she loves her hotel room n bath tub best, refuse to go out of her room to eat or shop. :p to avoid stressing ourselves n cos we were on holiday, we let the gals try pretty much anything, from cotton candy to ice cream to hk food from restaurants n chachanteng.

On the flight back, we had to order super exp airplane food cos it was a 11.15am flight and all of us didn't have lunch. Let the kids try instant noodles (no soup)for the first time cos the selection of food was so bad. Either jap curry rice or black pepper chicken rice (both spicy).

Then RL was awake while Raeanne slept shortly after lunch cos it was her afternoon nap time. :) Had a bad experience waiting for our luggage at the Budget terminal on our way back though, more than half an hour. Next time better fly Air Asia or jetstar cos they fly out from T1. :p But all in all, i think it was good family trip for our special bonding time w/o the maid and it also prepared us for what was ahead.

On fri night at 9+pm while we were trying to make RA sleep after we came back from hk, I got a call from Carine. As we suspected, Filamie changed her mind and is not coming back from her home leave. Carine said she wanted more pay, $600 n refused to listen to her filipino agent nor her.

Already have a standby solution before sending her off so we will be switching RaeAnne to full day cc wef tom, started Raelynn on RC playgroup n get MIL to look after RaeLynn n dun hire any more maids. Started looking for pt cleaner n got a few recommendations. Tried out the first one today, she is an experienced Filipino, fast but some parts not so clean cos I was too busy with the kids to tell her exactly what I want her to do.

Told Carine that I wanted to talk to Filamie personally cos I want closure before canceling her work permit n throwing away her things. N today the Filipino agent called me when I was going to fetch RaeAnne back from school. She said she was sorry but she can't go out n work anymore cos she needs to look after her son though she has no $ left. She cried when she talked to me n it has been a few days after n we have already adjusted our lives so I was quite calm. I asked her why she broke her promise but she just kept saying sorry. She also passed my kids photos back to Susy as I requested and even offered to give me a xerox copy of her work permit (which Carine had already done so).

In the end, I still wished her well cos she did take good care of Raelynn from birth to 18 mths. That's that, glad I am a SAHM so at least the impact on the kids r minimized. Even Mei mei adjusted after 2 nights of calling 'aunty aunty' while trying to sleep. Luckily, she only looks for her at night.

Just now, I typed a letter to MOM to cancel her work permit. Even though Carine said I can write that she cannot be trusted, wasted my $ and ask for her to be blacklisted and not allowed to return to Sg. But in the end, I didn't do it. I only stated the facts that she cannot be trusted but didn't want to ruin her livelihood in case she really wants to come back to SG. If she had stolen my money or ill treated my kids, I'll definitely be more harsh and blacklist. But since she did treat my children with a sincere heart, I also don't want to be so hard hearted on Raelynn's '干妈' for the last 18 mths. :P

A long week of flu, a super hectic day!

I have been having a very bad bout of flu since Sunday, saw dr on tues pm but the fever struck every 4-5 hrs like clockwork. So unlucky, tues is also the day that we got to send back the maid for her 2 weeks home leave so i am really miserable. Tues, 2 June, is also the day little Raelynn turned 18 mths, not so little anymore. she has a temper to match her sis n started throwing things n fun. She lost wt though, only 10.1kg after the last bout of coughing. Ht is 78cm, not much gain. :(

As I was sick, Hubby had to bring one kid over to ILs house on most days. Only started feeling slightly better on sun morning. Lost nearly a whole week of studying for my RES exams so had to spend Sunday mugging away until wee hrs of morning.

Today, went around panicking cos the luggages r barely packed but many things r missing at home so got to buy. Dun even have ink cartridge to print my airtic n hotel bookings. Luckily my mum came over to help these 2 days to help me cook, seeing that I am maidless n sick. All thanks to her, we got to zip out for a short while to grab last min items.

Less than 5 hrs before I need to wake up to go to airport for our short 4d3n holiday to Hong Kong With 1 night at Disney Hollywood Hotel with the two gals. I will be bringing my RES notes along cos exam is on the next day after I fly back, sigh. But hope it will still be a smooth n memorable family trip for us. :)

Raelynn's molars

Mummy has been quite dense, I didn't know RL already has 4 pre-molars out, though she has bitten me HARD twice so far. Her upper ones are fully erupted while her bottom premolar are partially erupted.

But I have an mitigating factor, the reason why I didn't notice is also because her canines (aka sharp teeth) have not erupted for her upper teeth at all and only partially erupted for her bottom canines. so, I'm surprised that she already has her pre molars.

Maybe I shouldn't be surprised, I think LIFE is fair. she loves to eat so she gets her pre molars first so that she can chew and grind. RaeAnne definitely got her canines first. haha. :)

I want 2 mummies...

Just now, when putting RaeAnne to sleep, she told me she wants 2 mummies. So, I ask her who she wants to be her other mummy secretly wondering which mummy friend she likes.

But she said 我要妈咪给我糖吃 (I want a mummy who gives me sweets).

So, I reminded her: "But I also give you sweets what, remember? I gave you milk sweets, ribena sweets, gummy bear sweets."

Her reply: 我不要吃药吃糖嘛。

Obviously, she has seen through our tricks of offering her sweets only when we have to give her med. -_-

No rabbit baby :(

May is coming to an end, and it's final. I won't ever have a rabbit baby (like myself). I have been harbouring hopes since Nov10 but now, I've officially missed the boat for this horoscope cycle (no thanks to the car accident which caused me to recuperate for 3 months due to spinal fractures, delaying my real estate sales career and hubby who thinks '2 is enough'). For those who dun know, the chinese horoscope repeats itself every 12 yrs and I'll definitely be too old for the next horoscope cycle at 48. :P

RaeAnne has been very sweet though. She heard me lamenting so often that I won't have a rabbit baby (usu triggered when I see a pregnant woman). Now, she will console me: 'Mummy, next time, 我长大了, I 'dang dang da dang' ('here comes the bride' march in music), I give you a rabbit baby. 我的Rabbit baby 很乖的, 你可以抱抱她.'

Oh well, better than nothing, hope she remembers her promise n marry early. Then I can look forward to having a rabbit baby grandkid to look after. :)

First Parent Teachers Conference at RaeAnne's CC

Finally, after hearing friends talk about PTC for 2 yrs (most of their kids r in childcare), hubby and I had our first PTC for RaeAnne. It's my first but definitely not hubby's though it's the first time he is there as a parent (& not a teacher).

We made the mistake of bringing RaeAnne with us. Apparently, that's not advisable cos the teacher cannot speak freely if she has anything 'bad' to share about the student as it may spoil the teacher-child relationship in future.

Luckily for us, Teacher Irene and 汪老师 did not have anything bad to say about RaeAnne. PHEW! I was so worried to hear about complaints about her bad temper and violent streaks which she displays at home.

The teachers assured me that she is a very good girl in class, she pays attention and is good at finishing her classwork on her own without further prompting once instructions have been given by the teacher.

Her only 'flaw' is that she is quiet (shy?) and not willing to speak up in class even when the teacher asks her a question. So it's a no-brainer that Speech & Drama was the answer Teacher Irene gave when I asked what kind of enrichment activities she would recommend for RA. She also mentioned that RA likes colouring so Arts is also a possibility. The nearby Global Arts Centre at the CC only accepts kids above 4yrs old.

I'll be on a lookout for speech & drama classes for tots but today, we just rejoined the Yamaha Music Wonderland class for another 1.5 months cos RA still mentions the music class once in a while and when I asked her if she still wants to go to Ms Chan's class, she said yes. No more leisurely Sat mornings. Dun know how we can still squeeze in S&D class unless we go for weekdays or June Hols intensive 1 week programes. Her CC has weekly S&D by an external vendor but it only starts at Nursery class ie. 4 yrs old so she will still need to wait for another 7 months. :P

We were given a CD of a powerpoint presentation of what she does in school (mainly pics) and I am so proud of our gal today. :)

Updates

It's been many days since I updated the blog after my Real Estate Sale course started on 9 May. My course is daily from 10-1pm and I need to make notes after I come back cos my exams will be straight after my HK holidays in June. What a great timing! I can't afford to fail since the exam fee is almost $250 so got to be hardworking and bring my notes to HK to study. ;/

The gals are still sick from cough/runny, after 3 visits to the GP. They have been prescribed a stronger antibiotics (augmentin) this time. RaeAnne is better but Mei Mei is still having bad runny nose n phelgmy cough, yesterday she was still vomitting at bedtime(twice in fact, first her milk then her porridge dinner) and now loose stools from augmentin. Our usual PD is away on holidays and will only be back on 22 May. Hope Mei Mei gets well soon. So heart pain to see her suffer. :(

Realise that Mei Mei can actually say quite a few words but she's not good at addressing us. This week, I heard her say Bear Bear, Wet Wet, dirty, :)

The gals are sick again :(

Sigh, RaeAnne has been running a fever for 2 days. She got an infection from her cough which started on Wed. So sian that she is always sick. Dun know if it's of the crazy hot & cold weather, cos ILs let her eat chocs (kit kat) at their house since I started my class or because there are sick classmates passing the bug. Probably all of the above. :P

Her bug spread to Mei Mei so I had to bring both kids (myself included) to see the GP on sat morning. Weekend burnt cos she refused to eat lunch nor milk on Sat, only grazed on some udon soup (brought her to Sakae sushi to whet her appetite) finally drank some milk on early Sun morning.

上汤苋菜

Had this dish at Crystal jade on Sat so decided to try cookiing it cos I still have a carton of 皮蛋安醇蛋 bought from Taiwan (and expiring by end of May 11 :P). Follow recipe from Noob cook.

Heat oil and fry a handful of whitebait (银鱼) until crispy. Set aside.
Fry the garlic (2 crushed cloves) until fragrant.
Add in the local spinach and fry until leaves are wilted.
Add 2 or 3 ladles of seafood soup (from yesterday's dinner but can follow the recipe which uses soup with abalone sauce), chopped century egg and chopped salted egg yolk and soaked wolfberries. Add hua diao wine from the side of the wok when the soup is boiling and simmering.
Switch off the flame then sprinkle the fried whitebait.

Verdict
The dish tastes quite nice considering it's my first attempt. But it can be improved cos 1) I forgot to take the white bait out so they are not crispy, 2) Didn't soak the wolfberries long enough so it had a bit of sourish taste 3) Added too much hua diao wine so the taste is a bit strong. :P

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to Waipo, Nai nai and of course myself.

Had dinner with my parents at Crystal jade yesterday and bought a cake for MIL. For our own celebration, hubby got me a stalk of red rose and a silver chain from Perlinni Silver. RaeAnne gave me a laminated handmade card with her finger prints. Kudos to the CC teachers for helping her with the rest of the card. The touching thing is that when I picked her up on fri, she immediately opened her bag to take out the card to give it to me. Even Teacher Irene commented, wa, she remembers. :)

Today, we went to try Trattoria Italian Kitchen at 313 Somerset, a place I wanted to try for a long time. I seldom get to eat Italian food cos the kids dun fancy cheesy stuff so I hardly cook it at home and we dun dine out with the kids at Italian restaurants either. We ordered the Trattoria Salad with chinese pears which was very good, the Mother's Day special - Lobster pasta aragosta which was good, but the aglio olio was so so, a sparkling fruit juice drink and a cappucino. Bill was $70+, reasonable cos the servings are quite big. We were stuffed. :)

Bacon cheese stuffed mushrooms

Mini portabello mushrooms were on offer at NTUC today so I bought a pack. Got inspired to make stuffed mushrooms for supper. So I googled for recipes there and then (ah... the convenience of an iphone). Bought the back bacon (less sinful than the streaky bacon though I love them too) since I already have cheese and onions at home.

Ingredients
1. 8 mini portabello mushrooms
2. 5 small shallots*
3. 6 pieces of Back bacon (prepacked from NTUC)
4. Chopped spring onions (extra from fridge, can omit)
5. 1 handful of pizza plus cheese (from NTUC)

Recipe (modified from online)
1. Prebake the oven (mine is microwave oven cum oven) at 250 deg.
2. Remove mushroom stems from portabellos, and chop coarsely.
3. Chop shallots (small red onions) coarsely.
4. Chop 6 pieces of bacon into 1 cm squares.
5. Fry the onions with some butter (I use salted so no need to add any seasoning), add in the chopped mushrooms stems then the bacon.
7. Stir in some chopped spring onions (extra in the fridge)
8. Stir in a handful of pizza plus cheese (from ntuc) until the mixture is a bit sticky.
9. Turn off the stove.
10. Scoop the cooked mixture onto the mushroom caps, sprinkle more cheese on top of each mushroom cap.
11. Grease a baking tin/pan with butter.
12. Bake them for 10-15 mins open faced until cheese has melted and looks golden brown.

Verdict
Hubby gave it a 3.5 out of 5 stars cos he said no water chestnut (duh, think he watched too much 三菜一汤) and not enough cheese on top (he sprinkled them on himself, hee). I though we baked for too long cos the mushrooms were oozing but he didn't mind the brown juices from the mushrooms cos he liked them juicy. Oh well, once I start on my RES course, dun think I'll be so free to make supper other than the usual instant noodles. Hope that will make him more appreciative. ;)

* I used this cos I ran out of yellow/white onions. Shallots have a distinctive aroma and tend to 抢味 from the portabello. Think Australian white onions will definitely be more complementary and sweeter in taste but they are pretty steep compared to other onions. Cos everytime, I get it weighed at the NTUC weighing counter, the friendly aunty never fails to warn me 'this onion more expensive, because it's from Australia'. hee)

新的哪有旧的好

At least for Mei Mei, the old bed may be better. Since we switched her to Cheh Cheh's toddler bed on Sat night, she climbed down to sleep with the maid several times. Then, on Sun night, she climbed down but I caught her in action and carried her up. for the next few nights, she didn't climb down but started waking up to cry or make sounds in her sleep.

Tonight, (after 5 nights) we are doing a new expt by putting her back on her old cot bed. We removed just 1 side and flushed her bed with the queen sofa bed so that if she decides to climb out of her cot, she will just climb onto the sofa bed instead. If she sleeps well tonight, maybe it means that she needs the 'security' of her cot bed rails (she likes being a prisoner? :P)

Today, I went for my first job interview in 10 yrs. Even went for a hair colour and hair cut to look more presentable. The interviewers were 15 mins late to meet me cos they were too enamoured with the previous candidate. I heard lots of laughter while I was walking up and down the corridor outside the staff meeting room. No, there were no chairs, no reception area, nothing. I felt awkward holding my portfolio in my suit and heels as hordes of students walked past me. :P Anyway, I didn't harbour high hopes for this job. It was something I wanted to try long ago but maybe timing is also not good now since I'm going to embark on my real estate option first. I'll know in 1 week's time if they dun call anyway. :P

Tonight, we were very late in picking RaeAnne from MIL house (950pm) cos our dear Mei Mei broke the handle of my specs. It's my fault for being complacent and over indulgent with Mei mei cos she has asked for my specs before to help me wear them but she has never broken it before. Hubby was not very sympathetic cos I already allowed RaeAnne to break one pair of my specs in 2009. Sigh, so, we had to rush to Tampines interchange to get my specs fixed. Cos I'm blind as a bat without my specs. Plus my small, dry eyes make it uncomfortable for me to wear contact lens. End up going to the wrong optical shop but at least they took just 15 mins to resize the lens to fit into the new specs. While waiting, we had early supper of oyster omelette and ice kachang at the food court. Total damage for the frames only: $70.

Reminder to self: Go for lasik once I have a decent pay check. :P

Raelynn is 17 months old! :)

Measured her today and her height is 78cm, not that short after all. ;) As for weight and photo, still waiting for Daddy dearest to fulfil his end of the promise. ;P

Finally in the last week, I heard her call Mamee, Mamee, Mamee quite often. Other than that, in terms of speech devt, slight improvement, she can say wet wet (when the floor is wet) and sing the 'twinkle twinkle little star' quite well. She will make ooh ooh ooh sound to me when she wants me to play the '坐火车' youtube video song from my iphone. As for animals, other than bird bird and dog dog and duck duck which she recognises, all other animals are randomly categorised by her as one of the three. :P

She still have only 8 visible teeth though she has been gnawing on everything for the longest time. Wonder if she could be sprouting molars instead? :PShe can understand instructions quite well but she is starting to throw tantrums more often when she doesn't get what she wants. Exact imitation of cheh Cheh, screaming and stamping her feet. Dejavu! :P

She makes her requests known by gesturing a lot though, putting her index finger into her mouth and moving it around to 'ask' me to fetch her toothbrush and toothpaste. She loves to help me with my daily activities. Eg. when she sees me in the morning without my specs (usually half stoned all thanks to Cheh Cheh who can find 1001 reason to wake up at night to 'ka cheow' me), she will run to my bedside and fetch my specs and twist it out of shape so I have to quickly grab it from her and wear it. If she sees me with my toothbrush in the morning (still half stoned), she will make lots of ahh ahh ahh sounds until I bend down and let her brush my teeth. Got to guide her cos her hands really don't have much strength to do the brushing action yet. If she sees me with a cup of water or coffee or milo, she will take my cup and try and feed me water. Otherwise, she will make herself 'useful' by stirring my spoon even though I will exclaim 'hot hot, don't touch'. With such a sweet loving nature, it's not a surprise that I love her to bits (though I can only spend pockets of time with her when Cheh Cheh is not dominating my time) :P

Poor Mei Mei is still sick, so is mummy who is nursing a sore throat from nasal drip (already finished our antibiotics). Between the two of us, we must have cross infected RA cos she started coughing again tonight. sigh, the whole cough/cold bug has been making its rounds in our family since 31 Mar and it's still not ended. :P

Bought Hungry Frog (a version of our childhood toy 'Hungry, Hungry Hippo') and all of us had fun playing it. It was easy to play and RaeAnne managed to win the game with 12 balls. :) Just need to make sure that the balls are kept properly so that no chance of Mei mei swallowing them. :P

P.S. weighed her today (wed) and she is still 10.2 kg. Poor gal's appetite hasn't been good for the last 2 weeks. :P Daddy finally took a photo too.

Mameee, Mameee, Mameee

Finally heard Raelynn call mummy, mummy, mummy today. Too bad Mummy is sick with headaches and bodyaches and cannot entertain her much. :P Went for facial in the afternoon, so did not go back with hubby and RaeAnne after her music class and hubby said when they got home, Mei Mei was making a lot of noise looking for me. So sweet, think she misses me after all. :)

29 April 2011

We finally collected our car from Ka Hup today. Coincidentally, our car's birthday is also the date of the Royal wedding, because we were supposed to collect the car on Wed. But on Tues, the car salesman said it won't be ready cos after servicing, still need to go for interior cleaning which takes some time. I quite like the salesman, Zheng Wenbin because like his name, he was 文质彬彬 even when he was under stress by me. He even got the service centre to take care of two deep scratch lines that we didn't notice on the bumper. Now that we got a car again, can start keeping the car seats and other barang barang into the car cos we need to upgrade Mei Mei's bed very soon. She is getting better and better at climbing out of her cot. :P

Poor Mei Mei started running a fever yesterday afternoon so hubby brought her to see GP last night. I didn't go cos I was having body aches (symptoms of flu). This morning, hubby woke up with fever and hives while my bodyaches n headaches got worse. No thanks to RaeAnne who kept me up from 2 - 320am. So I accompanied hubby to see dr together. saw dr as well. :P

Also went to ERA today and signed up for course and to be a new agent. Unfortunately, because I was sick, I had informed Riza that I will be late and missed the chance to under study her. She had already just signed up a new recruit so she passed to Bryan instead. Oh well, I wasn't very happy but they are in the same team and I guess if I can make it as a real estate agent, I can do well anyway. Problem is the course is Mon - Fri, 10am - 1pm, dun think MIL will be happy to look after RaeAnne everyday. Got to think of a way. Maybe get her to bring RaeAnne home from school and look after her until I get home at 1+pm.

Good Fri long weekend

On Good friday morning, we went to Marina barrage for the first time (so suaku) for a playdate with the Feb08 forum mummies & kids. It was a potluck so we all brought food. I volunteered to bring fishballs and made some skewers with fishballs, quail eggs, cherry tomatoes and Jap cucumbers.


It was a breezy morning and many pp were flying kites but we didn't bother to bring one for RaeAnne cos we'll be the one flying for her. hee. There was an Easter egg hunt organised by Eliaw. RaeAnne wanted to the pink and purple eggs but during the actual hunt, she avoided any corners that had other kids (competition averse?). So in the end, she only collected 2 eggs that are yellow and orange.


Mei Mei was a good gal and did not cry despite seeing so many new faces. She didn't try to snatch any toys from the other kids. But she was tired out by 12+pm and fell asleep in the taxi ride back, while RaeAnne napped for 1 hr after we reached home.

On Sat evening, we brought the family out to Crystal Jade for dinner. RaeAnne enjoyed her noodle soup and ate quite a bit. Mei Mei didn't eat much on Fri and Sat though. Think she's teething.

Filamie said Mei Mei can almost climb out of the cot. Looking for a pull out bed for a long time but can't find anything suitable yet. Might as well make use of the sofa bed first. I bought a set of Disney princess bedsheet for RaeAnne to convince her to use the queen size sofa bed. She said ok but she doesn't want Mei mei to sleep on her toddler bed. Duh. :P

More than 3 months after our car accident, we finally went car hunting at Automobile megmart at 4+pm cos it's at Ubi n nearer to home. I already did research at sgcarmart and mycar forum for more than 1 month and narrowed the choices to Nissan latio, Hyundai Avante and Renault Megane. But in the end still prefer Nissan Latio cos it's a Made in Japan car and car parts are not as expensive.

Hubby was not feeling well so he only test drove one car though we viewed 2 Latios. First, a Mar 06 Grey Latio Premium edition from Ka Hup Car Trading cos the other Sept06 Latio we saw at Car Design was not Premium version and it had the same asking price of $37.8k as the first car but the salesman increased the price by $1k to $38.8k when we told them that we are not taking loan. Also the second salesman was not as knowledgeable and seems very ah beng n bo chup. He was not keen to let us test drive and started smoking halfway.

So we went back to the first salesman cos we decided on the first car. When trying to negotiate for the Mar06 Latio, the salesman was initially confident that we can seal the deal at $36k but I tried to negotiate for $35k instead. He couldn't decide so he called to ask his boss (manager) and his manager in turn asked the boss. Who knows the boss said $36k, he cannot even buy another Latio from owner and wanted to sell $37k instead. I wasn't happy with his boss '坐地起价' but the other car was so much higher. Plus if the boss refuse to lower the price, I guess the price is already quite reasonable. Another reason is because Hubby is not interested in cars and doesn't like to go car hunting n I am tired of researching non stop on his behalf so we decided to take it at $36.4k after negotiating for 1 hr. Still need to pay $885 for admin fee, lta transfer fee n STA assessment fee.

3rd dr review

Went for dr review today, good news cos I can go for most activities eg exercise, yoga, swimming, 针灸，推拿, even go back to work (hahaha) etc. But she still advised not to carry heavy weights (babies) since I still have muscle aches at the fractured area. But guess it will get better. I'm relieved cos the dr said the recovery was similar to as if I had surgery and said maybe it's because I was compliant with the brace (oops, not all the time actually :P).

Anyway, time to make fresh plans for the future then. :)

Taobao spree for the gals

Haven't spreed for a long time since the accident. No mood and no car to pick up the loot from spreeists. But Jessie (Jan10 mummy) organised a taobao spree again in march and it was too good to miss cos I needed to restock on clothes for the gals cos I donated a big bag of old and fairly new clothes to the maid's bb niece cos she is going back to June for home leave. The loot costs $200 incl shipping but for 3 pairs of shoes, 4 l/s shirts, 2 sets of PJs, 6 pants/jeans, 3 dresses, 1 swimming towel, 1 pair swimming goggles, 5 pairs of socks, 1 electric toy, 10 scrunchies, 1 safety lock, 1 shoe hanger, should be worth it bah. Won't need to buy clothes for RaeAnne since some of the clothes are still too big for her and can keep until she is years old. :)

Singing babe

Today, when I was using the plastic threading star shape n singing twinkle twinkle little star to Raelynn, she imitated me and sang winker winker lil tar. The words are not very distinct but the tune is defintely right. When i used the butterfly shape n sang 'fly fly fly the butterfly', she sang something incoherent but the tune is right again n we seldom sing this song to her. She is growing up so fast.

Raelynn's first visit to the library

RaeAnne has been asking hubby to bring her to the library to borrow many many books. He decided to bring her this evening and I decided to go as well so that we can bring Mei Mei to the library for the first time.

They were very happy with the train at the children section esp RaeAnne cos today we have been singing 坐火车 (Nai Nai is the first person to teach her this song) and I even found the youtube clip and finally realised the whole song is so long. :P When we took a photo at the train, a little Indian gal just came forward and squeezed in beside RaeAnne for the photo. RaeAnne was obviously displeased and a bit anxious but I'm glad she didn't push the gal nor start crying. At least she can control her temper. :P

She was a bit tired as it was almost 8pm by the time we reached. But she was still happy taking books down, pushing the books in, flipping them and stepping on books (just for a moment). We had to leave when Mei Mei started to lie on the carperted floor of the library to sleep. She can really sleep everywhere. hehehe.

RaeAnne wanted to borrow so many books for herself and Mei Mei so she kept bringing books to her daddy, but in the end we shortlisted to 19 books which was still a lot. :P

Raelynn is 16 months old!

Raelynn is 16 months old. She is 65.5 cm tall and 10.2kg. Weight increased by 300g. She can do a rendition of Twinkle twinkle little star but only the words winker, star and up are clear enough. Training her not to suck her thumb is still work in progress. Imagine I have more than 10 pairs of legwarmers but phased out cos she knows how to pull them off. So, I've resorted to buying big Gap PJs (2T) for her so that the maid can tie off the ends to prevent her from sucking her thumb. The big callus on her right thumb is getting slighly better so hopefully we are on the right track. In terms of speech, she still doesn't talk much. But she calls a dog 'duck duck' and a bird 'burb burb'. Oh well, I think she is slowly getting there.

Today, we ate at Macdonalds for dinner at RaeAnne's request. I brought along home cooked plain porridge with fried egg, steamed threadfin and spinach for Raelynn (finally made use of my thermos 3 tiered food jar) but even after she finished most of it, she was giving me such imploring looks and reaching out her hands for my food as we ate, that I finally relented let her try a few fries (wipe off the salt with paper napkins), steamed corn and burger bun. Hey, even RaeAnne had KFC mashed potatoes in HK when she was just 11.5 months right? :P Of course, she ate the junk food much faster cos it was tastier. :P

Went for physiotherapy again on Friday, 1 April but we are reaching a bottleneck, the aches have shifted down from below the neck to my shoulder blades but they are still very much there. Even my PT doesn't know what to do. She said the shifting of the pain may be due to me consciously trying to arch my back to try and straighten and also because I don't have enough rest (how to with 2 active kids). Once I'm awake, and open my room door, they keep running to my room. Hiaz.

Anyway, since she can't magically wish for my kids to grow up, she told me to relax my shoulders and said I actually look ok. She did loosen my joints and immediately after that, the shoulder blades area were not as painful when she pressed on them. Next PT session is 26 April (almost 1 month away) but I can't keep paying $40+ each time for her to 'crack' my joints. The insurance payout has long been fixed and all my PT bills are not counted. :( So, I really hope that the aches will go away soon.

Stir fried bee thye mak

RaeAnne's latest hot favourite is Bee Thye Mak or 老鼠粉. she loves to suck them down cos they are so slippery. So, I decided to try to cook stir fried bee thye mak today cos I had long beans and fish cake that has been stuck in the fridge for a long time. The recipe is diy after getting some inspiration from website.

Recipe

Ingredients (for 3 adults & 2 kids)
1) 1 bag of Bee Thye Mak (abt $1 if buying from wet market), scald with freshly boiled water.
2) 1 medium shallot or 2 small ones, sliced.
3) 1 fistful of dried shrimps
4) 3 prawns cut into small pieces (extra from my fridge)
5) 2 pieces of fishcakes (cut into slices)
6) 3 strands of long beans (extra from my fridge if not I would have used cai xin and added it at the end), sliced finely
7) Minced meat (abt half a bowl). Pre-marinated with sesame oil, a pinch of salt and pepper
8) 2 eggs (beaten)
* can also add some dried mushrooms. I didn't have time to presoak so never use them.

Preparation
1) Soak a fistful dried shrimps in a small bowl of hot water. Reserve the water for later use.
2) Fry the sliced shallots (red onions) in low/med heat until the shallots are golden brown. Remove shallots for later use.
3) Switch to high heat. Then use the oil to '暴香' the dried shrimps (and mushrooms).
4) Add the long beans. Once they soften, add the minced meat.
5) Once the minced meat is 80% cooked, add the fishcakes.
6) Add the bee thye mak, and the reserved dried shrimp water.
7) Add 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce and 1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce (for colour)
8) Mix everything well then cover the wok.
9) Open the wok cover after 30 sec - 1min, then add the beaten eggs.
10) Don't stir too much if you want your eggs chunky.
10) Once eggs are cooked though, dish up and serve. :)

Verdict
1) RaeLynn loves it and ate very fast. Even pinched some from me when I was eating mine.
2) Hubby said it's nice. Like char kuay teow but not sweet.
3) But my most impt food critic (Ms RaeAnne Teo Kay Ris) REFUSED to eat it cos she said Bee Thye Mak should be white in colour not black. ALAMAK!!! Wasted my efforts to especially cook this for her.

In the end, I had to whip up a bee thye mak soup version for her last minute using dried silverfish as stock, added meatballs, fishcake and dou miao.

After I served her the bee thye Mak soup, she said something that made me laugh so hard: "Bee Thye Mak 本来就是这样的'. Sigh, so much for being adventurous in cooking. She just wants the usual brainless version. :P