Maid's off day

Today Filamie took her first off day since she joined us on 5 Aug 09. She wanted an off day though we said we can give her some time off to go to the post office to TT money back (as usual). But I respected her decision cos I promised to give her off day after 1 year. It's only human nature to want a break. And, she has been so happy the few days leading to her off day. She left the house slightly after 10am and I told her to come back latest by 6pm. She is quite blur with the Singapore transport system but I have brought her to take bus a few times and to the post office numerous times. Think she should be ok bah.

Anyway, with the maid off, we brought Raelynn to bond with Ye Ye and Nai Nai so that we can spend some time alone with RaeAnne. We brought RaeAnne to Ikea to have lunch, pick up our free photo and for her to try out the Ikea indoor play area. Had to wait almost 30 mins to get into the play area cos we didn't know need to take queue no. Anyway, she went in happily and even drew a picture of orange scribbles. But after just 5 mins, she burst out crying at the table and shouted Mummy, Daddy. The ikea staff was confused but I told her something must have happened, if not she will not suddenly cry like that. The staff decided to ask a few kids and investigate. End up it was an older boy who pushed her. The staff made the little boy apologise but our gal was still inconsolable. So, we brought her out. It was way past her naptime as it was 2+pm then too. The ikea staff was very apologetic but I am unfazed. Cos there will always be naughty boys and gals around so I rather she faces them when Daddy and Mummy are around than all by herself. Part and parcel of growing up and learning survival skills is to be bullied and learning to fend/fight for herself. Haha.

Ikea 2010 Catalogue Photo shoot

Signed up for the free Ikea catalogue cover photoshoot on 5 Sept since it's at Ikea Tampines and so near to home. The photoshoot was fast, only 10-15 mins and we only got back a hard copy of the catalogue. Asked for the soft copy but can only leave down the contact number and wait for them to get back to us.

Hubby commented that both gals did not smile. Told him that's the difference between a paid photo shoot and a free one. For the free one, the photographer is not obliged to make the kids smile before the camera. Haha.

Shin Yuu Japanese Restaurant

Went to try out this new Japanese buffet restaurant today, Shin Yuu Japanese Restaurant, located behind Nanyang Primary School at Hillcrest road. We have been going to Momoya at Jalan Pari Burong which is very near home and very good. But, their sashimi does not have swordfish plus the grilled shishamo is skinnier than me. :P Went to Hungrygowhere and Shin Yuu had pretty good reviews, so today we took the chance to try it out :)

The sashimi moriawase is really good (they have salmon, tuna, kingfish, swordfish and tako). The salmon was so soft that it's the melt in your mouth type. The tempura prawns and vegetables were also good. The batter is lighter and fluffier than Momoya's. Love the chawanmushi cos it has salmon roe on top, my favourite. The shishamo were very good too, plump with lots of roe. :) They have wafu steak (cut into bite sizes) and beef ribs but hubby didn't enjoy it as much as the yakiniku fried with special sauce at momoya.

The one dish that I will definitely not order again is the vegetable salad (it only has lettuce and some Japanese sesame dressing - so boring). The green tea was so bland that I ordered a Seasons lemon tea. Verdict: will probably go back to our good old Momoya cos the food variety is much more there plus it's so close to home. After pigging out, we are always so sleepy so it's great that it's just a short drive home and can go home to sleep.

The restaurant manager at Shin Yuu was hilarious, he remarked twice to ask us to quickly eat and even told me to stop taking photos cos the food must be eaten 'hot' to be nice. Luckily I face a super bossy daughter everyday or else I would have been super offended. But then, he's probably someone who takes a lot of pride in the food that they serve so he cannot take it when diners are not playing their role by eating them at their best. LOL.

P.S. Forgot to document that Raelynn can finally drink from a straw this afternoon. Tried the Pigeon mag mag cup using the old straw (from FIL house) cos it said for 8 months onwards and Raelynn is already 9 months plus. But she didn't know how to drink, kept biting the straw instead. Then, I decided to 'backtrack' and let her try the Avent sippy cup with spout. But she still didn't know how to drink. The cover of the Pigeon mag mag cup couldn't close properly so I told Filamie to wash and replace with a new one (with new straw attached). Then, when she tried again, she could suck the water. But she sucked so fast that she choked. LOL. :)

Ho wen Gor Gor Birthday party

Brought the 2 gals to Ho wen (my cousin's son)'s birthday party at Aranda Country club. Mei Mei got to try out the bicycle that they rented for the party. She loves it. Should rent one for her to try one day. After playing, she fell asleep there before she ate her porridge. Haha. :)

New car seats for the gals :)

'Detective' RaeAnne found the photos that I took of Mei Mei sitting in her old car seat in my HP. And said 'I don't want Mei Mei sit in my car seat.' I told her 'No, Mei Mei never sit in your car seat.' 'Got leh, I saw it in your HP'. Oops, guilty as charged cos we let Raelynn try sitting in the car seat when we drove to fetch Cheh Cheh at Nai Nai house. I never showed her the photos cos I know she won't be happy and yet she manage to find them in my HP. ;P

But last Sat, we finally upgraded RaeAnne to a Booster carseat after Taka delivered it last Fri to go to Ho-wen gor gor's BD party at Aranda Country club. Luckily after I kept telling her how nice her new car seat is (even show her photos and described the colours to her) and Mei Mei so poor thing to sit in her old car seat. She was happy to let Mei Mei sit in her old car seat. Just in time too cos Raelynn is already more than 9 months old, the age recommendation to be upgraded to a forward facing car seat though both of them have not officially reached the recommended weight of 9kg and 13.6kg respectively.

Both sisters enjoy the view from their car seats. And the maid got more space at the back while I don't have to move my car seat right to the front. I remember when I was preggie last year, the car seat problem was one of the main reasons why I wanted hubby to upgrade to a new car. Luckily he resisted plus COE prices went up up up so not worth it to buy cos it shows that we don't have to buy a new car after all. :)

Mummy's 口头禅 = RaeAnne's 妙语？

RaeAnne: You want the book? (tries to give Daddy the Clifford The Red Dog book)
Daddy: No, I don't want.
RaeAnne: Are you sure?
Daddy: 。。。。(Turns to Mummy, she asked 'Are you sure?')


Haha， I always ask her 'Are you sure?" when she tells me she don't want to shh shh... And now she is using it on Daddy. LOL.

Hello Kitty water mattress pad

Before

After


We finally retired the Hello Kitty water mattress today. Threw away the water pad but kept the hello kitty cover which has peeled off. RaeAnne loves it cos it is 'liang liang' and it was very useful on warm nights and when she was running a fever. But it has been through a lot of abuse since we got it in June 09.But after she started toilet training, she peed on it so many times while asleep at night and caught her pee (and saved us so many times from washing the bedsheet) that the maid has to wipe and wash very often cos it stinks after that.

End up the stitching was loose at the side and the mattress itself was breaking out, causing the water to leak out in segments. We tried to buy a similar one at Gurney Plaza when we went with the gals in June this year but the mobile push cart outside Cold storage was not there anymore. Oh well, she has to adjust to sleeping on the 'hot hot' mattress as she complained. Took a photo as testament of its long service, hope we can buy a similar one in Singapore one day... :)

Both sisters are sick...

Poor Raelynn started the morning with low grade fever. She started having red spots all over since yesterday. As her temperature was only 37.2-37.6, I did not bring her to see dr immediately. I tried to BF first around 9am to see if she would perspire. She did so I was not so worried. But around 12noon, she was getting more listless and after BF, she did not sweat at all.

No choice, had to bring RaeAnne to MIL house, leave her there for her milk feed/nap, then bring Raelynn and the maid to see GP. Dr said she is having viral fever and a viral induced rash. He prescribed antihistamines and asked me to give panadol syrup. Weighed her today and only 8.1 kg while RaeAnne was 11.9kg, so sad. Try so hard to plump them up esp Raelynn but think both of them lost weight after the recent bout of illness. :(

This afternoon, just before we were going to walk to Nai Nai house. RaeAnne asked me to take a photo of her feeding wawa. She said 'Wawa must drink all'. Think she didn't realise she was feeding Wawa orange juice and not milk. But I love the way she was holding Wawa with her fingers spread out to support her back. :)

After feeding, she said 'Wa wa sleep already' and put her on the bumper mat. RaeAnne came back from MIL house and her cough is worse. Hubby gave med at 830pm so she was already sleepy when she came back. I was BFing Mei Mei then. She refused to drink milk nor pass urine though and KO at 1015pm. Just before she KO, she gave me Wawa and said, I don't want Wawa. So I had to hold Wawa instead. Then, she said, 'Because I cough, I don't want Wawa.' What a responsible 'Mummy'. :)

Luckily by late afternoon, Raelynn seemed much better. Fed med at 7pm though her temperature had come down. Tested temp again at 1015pm and it was 36.8deg. Since she has fallen asleep, decided not to feed med again. Will check temperature again before we sleep. If still high then give med.

Hiaz, whole family sick including hubby and I'm falling sick with nasal drip too. Kept pumping myself with echinacea and Vit C. Hope I can avoid a cold/cough. :P

Raelynn is 9 months old! :)

My little darling Raelynn is 9 months old. She is starting to assert her independence and starting to develop survival instinct. Ie. when Cheh Cheh snatches away her toy, she will start crying loudly. I normally intervene and make Cheh Cheh share (if not I'll take one of her toys to give to Mei Mei). Raelynn is also standing independently especially when she is engrossed with playing with my pendant or my shirt. But she will gradually start squatting again as if she is tired. Hahaha. Can't wait to weigh her cos she has been aggravating my backaches nowadays. hee. ;)

P.S. Realised that for RaeAnne, I documented the foods that she has tried by 9 months so I will do the same for Raelynn. :)

Cereal
Organix Baby first rice cereal
Happy bellies brown rice
Happy bellies multigrain
Happy bellies oatmeal
Nestle rice cereal (without added milk)
Healthy times multigrain
Healthy times brown rice cereal
Heinz banana multigrain
(hehe, Mummy tried so many different brands, more adventurous, compared to RaeAnne's times)

Puree
Butternut squash
Avocado
(Sorry, Mummy very slack with this. Last time, Cheh Cheh tried broccoli and pea puree.)

Fruits
Apple
Pear
Kiwi (after 8 months)

Porridge
Lean pork
Threadfin
Salmon
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Spinach
Local spinach (heng cai)
Carrot
Sweet potato
Baby corn

Last but not least, the staple for all Chinese - Rice (just let her try on 5 Sept cos she made so much noise watching Cheh Cheh eat her dinner. So I mix 1/4 teaspoon of rice into her porridge and mix with some hot water so that it will be soupy, soft, just a bit grainy. She loves it. :)

Coughing...

RaeAnne started coughing on and off on Monday, Tuesday she seemed ok. But today, she started a persistent cough. Made her double boiled cordyceps soup but I think it's too late. Hubby helped to rub some mentholatum on her chest and back too but she has coughed a few times since falling asleep at 1030pm. Sigh, looks like got to start giving her cough syrup again soon... :P