RaeAnne nodding off

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

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

Hives attack

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

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

'Claypot' Chicken Rice

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

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

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

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

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

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

No leapfrog toys for RaeAnne.... :(

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

More than $250 on formula milk

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

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

Mummy's first day alone

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

RaeAnne is 14 months old today! :)

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

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

Social and Emotional

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

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

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

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

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

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

Not signing up for Little Neuro Tree

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Off day for Daddy and Mummy

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

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

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

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

Dinner

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

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

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

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